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show hn: deebrief, a better way to comment on youtube videos
| so it's like soundcloud, but for videos? | the majority of youtube comments are garbage, so we built deebrief to allow for insightful comments and interesting questions at particular times in a video. for a good example, see <link>!/consume/53a37a3ba109a8020091e663 |
show hn: deebrief, a better way to comment on youtube videos
| the majority of youtube comments are garbage, so we built deebrief to allow for insightful comments and interesting questions at particular times in a video. for a good example, see <link>!/consume/53a37a3ba109a8020091e663 | really good, to be honest i really don't see me using a separate website to comment on youtube videos, would be a good product to be brought by google and integrate natively though. |
show hn: deebrief, a better way to comment on youtube videos
| really good, to be honest i really don't see me using a separate website to comment on youtube videos, would be a good product to be brought by google and integrate natively though. | pretty nice way to comment on video and highlight the portion you like. |
show hn: deebrief, a better way to comment on youtube videos
| pretty nice way to comment on video and highlight the portion you like. | cool idea! this adds a new dimension to youtube videos. also, great name! |
a company that got rid of email
| email is pull already, every email client can be configured to only pull manually. i never had blinking icons or anything and never understood the supposedly big problem with email communication. on the contrary i like it because it is a asynchronous way of communicating. i answer emails when i have the time to do so, not when someone calls and takes my attention. | this can be done without eliminating email altogether. disable notifications in your email program, and have it poll only manually.this lets you respond to email at your own pace. for me, working through my email once in the morning and once after lunch seems to be a good pace. my coworkers quickly adapted, and will use an instant message or phone call if something really needs immediate attention.this might not be as easy for non-programmers, but for me it helps me get more done since i can focus easier, which is ultimately what will keep my boss happy. in more tricky environments, you may be able to configure filters so that important emails do send notifications.hopefully in the future we can all have a digital assistant that watches our email for us and detects the level of urgency automatically. |
a company that got rid of email
| this can be done without eliminating email altogether. disable notifications in your email program, and have it poll only manually.this lets you respond to email at your own pace. for me, working through my email once in the morning and once after lunch seems to be a good pace. my coworkers quickly adapted, and will use an instant message or phone call if something really needs immediate attention.this might not be as easy for non-programmers, but for me it helps me get more done since i can focus easier, which is ultimately what will keep my boss happy. in more tricky environments, you may be able to configure filters so that important emails do send notifications.hopefully in the future we can all have a digital assistant that watches our email for us and detects the level of urgency automatically. | basically this force ppl to only check for things at specific times instead of having to instantly interrupt work.its more of a social issue than a technological one. some people will have proper notifications setup and even when they get them, will not go check what this is about immediately (maybe 3 or 4h later they will).
it requires a lot of self control or a certain mind set tho so i can see why you' technologically enforce that behavior.note that you have to suppress twitter, fb, sms, etc as well for this to work best.. thus.. thus there's still room for changing our habits when setting up notifications and responding to them.personally i made myself a rule that no notification is important enough for my direct attention. so i kept notifications via my phone vibrating only for direct calls (because people dont like voicemail and dont call a lot anyway) and for special msgs that due to the work i do need immediate attention (security incidents).everything else, even if they're "urgent" to someone, i wont get notified and wont check. i check twice a day instead, "manually" and this includes everything: mail, twitter, etc.
if its that important they'll call me. else they can generally in fact wait a few hours - turns out im better at deciding whats important to my own time than they are (obvious, i know).i strongly encourage people who havent tried to do that, to give it a go for a couple of weeks. note that this includes everything. your personal sms, tweets, what not as well. and that includes weekends and off hours too. otherwise this wont work.i feel a lot more free since i started doing that a few years back and i get a lot more done in fact - while i feel like i work less. win/win. |
a company that got rid of email
| basically this force ppl to only check for things at specific times instead of having to instantly interrupt work.its more of a social issue than a technological one. some people will have proper notifications setup and even when they get them, will not go check what this is about immediately (maybe 3 or 4h later they will).
it requires a lot of self control or a certain mind set tho so i can see why you' technologically enforce that behavior.note that you have to suppress twitter, fb, sms, etc as well for this to work best.. thus.. thus there's still room for changing our habits when setting up notifications and responding to them.personally i made myself a rule that no notification is important enough for my direct attention. so i kept notifications via my phone vibrating only for direct calls (because people dont like voicemail and dont call a lot anyway) and for special msgs that due to the work i do need immediate attention (security incidents).everything else, even if they're "urgent" to someone, i wont get notified and wont check. i check twice a day instead, "manually" and this includes everything: mail, twitter, etc.
if its that important they'll call me. else they can generally in fact wait a few hours - turns out im better at deciding whats important to my own time than they are (obvious, i know).i strongly encourage people who havent tried to do that, to give it a go for a couple of weeks. note that this includes everything. your personal sms, tweets, what not as well. and that includes weekends and off hours too. otherwise this wont work.i feel a lot more free since i started doing that a few years back and i get a lot more done in fact - while i feel like i work less. win/win. | > it's essentially a list of projects that every single individual and team is working on. each task shows what needs to get done, what has already been completed, and how many hours it should take. it also shows what everyone is working on at a given time. if someone needs something, he just creates a new project.it sounds like they made another bug tracker. |
a company that got rid of email
| > it's essentially a list of projects that every single individual and team is working on. each task shows what needs to get done, what has already been completed, and how many hours it should take. it also shows what everyone is working on at a given time. if someone needs something, he just creates a new project.it sounds like they made another bug tracker. | look at their working environment. they have eight employees with laptops sitting around a table. they had a total of twenty employees when they started this. they're so tiny they don't need internal e-mail. |
m/s estonia accident radio transcript
| having spent a little time on the sea, it's remarkable how much weather impedes any operations, and naturally accidents often happen at night in bad weather.these huge ferries just had to wait there and about a hundred people died right outside in the sea.just running a regular rubber boat in normally windy weather on the baltic is next to useless as the propeller spends a large portion of time out of the water and you can't get anywhere. coast guards and specialized rescuers have better high speed rib boats. and in the baltic it's probably nothing compared to north sea weather.if one could develop a large enough quad- or hexacopters that could be stored on all ferries and deployed to pick up people and lower them to ferry decks, that would help a lot. hypothermia kills people so quickly there's often not enough time to send specialized help craft from far away. | here is the relevant wikipedia article: <link> |
m/s estonia accident radio transcript
| here is the relevant wikipedia article: <link> | <link> |
m/s estonia accident radio transcript
| <link> | william langwiesche wrote a really good article on the view of passengers from inside the sinking vessel. it's well worth a read.<link> would be nice if someone could please not stick a fatuous "tldr" here. |
m/s estonia accident radio transcript
| william langwiesche wrote a really good article on the view of passengers from inside the sinking vessel. it's well worth a read.<link> would be nice if someone could please not stick a fatuous "tldr" here. | reading these disaster transcripts always haunts me. but it's also nice to see strangers rally to help each other. there is no discussion of cost, delay, or hardship.it seems very weird to me that ultimately, according to wikipedia, they buried he ship with pebbles. why was this done, i thought most sunken ships were left alone. |
an experiment that changed how we think about reality
| there is a gem of a book recommended at the bottom of the article - "boojums all the way through". | this is very confusing. "but according to quantum mechanics, the answer is 50%". how is this so? the article doesn't mention how quantum mechanics explains what is going on, just that "classical physics" doesn't. |
an experiment that changed how we think about reality
| this is very confusing. "but according to quantum mechanics, the answer is 50%". how is this so? the article doesn't mention how quantum mechanics explains what is going on, just that "classical physics" doesn't. | in brian greene's book "fabrics of the universe" he also mentioned some other experiments that completely shattered our understanding of reality. one such was the quantum eraser and especially delayed choice quantum eraser, which could mean causality can be violated.<link> |
an experiment that changed how we think about reality
| in brian greene's book "fabrics of the universe" he also mentioned some other experiments that completely shattered our understanding of reality. one such was the quantum eraser and especially delayed choice quantum eraser, which could mean causality can be violated.<link> | why do the 3-color passport stamps have to be distributed normally? if some patterns were more common than others, than couldn't it explain the 55.55%? |
an experiment that changed how we think about reality
| why do the 3-color passport stamps have to be distributed normally? if some patterns were more common than others, than couldn't it explain the 55.55%? | how does this relate to wired's other article on the pilot wave explanation of quantum mechanics?[1]"to some researchers, the experiments suggest that quantum objects are as definite as droplets, and that they too are guided by pilot waves — in this case, fluid-like undulations in space and time. these arguments have injected new life into a deterministic (as opposed to probabilistic) theory of the microscopic world first proposed, and rejected, at the birth of quantum mechanics."[1] <link> |
ask hn: if you were the ceo of yahoo, what would be your priorities?
mayer has been acquiring a lot of companies which haven't really generated a monumental revenue. and their alibaba ipo money is worth a ton. what would you be doing to make moves on google and their other competitors? | 1. focus on 3 products: homepage, mail, and photos. make a commitment to turn these into the most useful services on the internet. easy to use = yahoo's strength2. move everything else to a division called yahoo labs, maybe spin it off into its own company that can experiment more.3. invest heavily in the developer culture and developer ecosystem, and optimize for attracting new talent to the company. | yahoo needs to get into phones and for this it needs to develop a system that lets people replace google with yahoo. so emails, account sycing, photo syncing things like that. |
ask hn: if you were the ceo of yahoo, what would be your priorities?
mayer has been acquiring a lot of companies which haven't really generated a monumental revenue. and their alibaba ipo money is worth a ton. what would you be doing to make moves on google and their other competitors? | yahoo needs to get into phones and for this it needs to develop a system that lets people replace google with yahoo. so emails, account sycing, photo syncing things like that. | create a autonomic new flickr team to build a new consistent api and a ui that is actually nice and usable. |
ask hn: if you were the ceo of yahoo, what would be your priorities?
mayer has been acquiring a lot of companies which haven't really generated a monumental revenue. and their alibaba ipo money is worth a ton. what would you be doing to make moves on google and their other competitors? | create a autonomic new flickr team to build a new consistent api and a ui that is actually nice and usable. | 1. video and live streaming.
2. photo sharing made simple across devices.
3. continue mobile appification.
4. siri competitor for your life (email, contacts, calendar). this is what aviate needs to do. |
ask hn: if you were the ceo of yahoo, what would be your priorities?
mayer has been acquiring a lot of companies which haven't really generated a monumental revenue. and their alibaba ipo money is worth a ton. what would you be doing to make moves on google and their other competitors? | 1. video and live streaming.
2. photo sharing made simple across devices.
3. continue mobile appification.
4. siri competitor for your life (email, contacts, calendar). this is what aviate needs to do. | 1. stop all projects that are not contributing to revenue, don't have a path to revenue or aren't contributing to the community.
2. culture. focus on the teams building products, reward those doing well, and get rid of those not. restore work at home for those who do the work, get rid of those who don't. i don't agree with punishing everyone because of a few assholes.
3. clean up yahoo home page, it is cluttered and too busy. add a feature like the old igoogle for those who want the extra stuff on their landing page.
4. pick a product/service and make it the best thing out there, too much diversity causes fragmentation and a lack of focus and doesn't attract or help you retain talent. this doesn't mean only do 1 thing, just focus to make 1 thing best in class first, then keep moving through each product.i am sure we have no clue of all the issues on-going within yahoo, but from a product/project and culture standpoint those would be my initial goals. |
i built a custom keyboard for ios 8
| regarding your german search terms: you should probably remove charakter (which usually refers to a person's character) and klaviatur (which only refers to the keyboard of musical instruments), and replace "eingang" (entrance) with "eingabe" (input or entry). | i would love the option to turn off certain groups of characters, since i won't be needing 95% of them. still cool nonetheless. |
i built a custom keyboard for ios 8
| i would love the option to turn off certain groups of characters, since i won't be needing 95% of them. still cool nonetheless. | ios8 keyboards still make me very uncomfortable. how many of them contain keyloggers?it's not even if i have one installed, the people i communicate with will be using them too, and they can compromise me. |
i built a custom keyboard for ios 8
| ios8 keyboards still make me very uncomfortable. how many of them contain keyloggers?it's not even if i have one installed, the people i communicate with will be using them too, and they can compromise me. | i also built a custom keyboard, designed specifically for project managers: <link> |
i built a custom keyboard for ios 8
| i also built a custom keyboard, designed specifically for project managers: <link> | hey, nice app! unfortunately it has a bug on my device (ipad air, ios 8.0.2) when used in other apps (notes app here): <link> keyboard never shows up, only this blank area. hope you can fix it, didn't want to spoil your reviews :). |
area programmer laments designers don’t use the same tools he does
| open source geometric kernel?it is called "open cascade":
<link> represent decades of hard work from dozens of programmers.license is lgpl.freecad is a very promising tool that uses the power of opencascade only a little(opencascade supports things that are way more complex than what freecad does).everything in freecad is a script in python. | one of the more interesting things about 3d printing is that it is igniting this sort of issue. a long time ago (like 1991) i was a working for sun and representing them at the "cad framework initiative" efforts or cfi. the express goal of this was to create a set of interchange formats for cad tools so that you could move things from one system to another, you could store and diff changes, and even if your vendor went out of business you could use your designs in another vendor's tool if it was cfi compliant.now the irritating part was that apollo computer turned it into a dce rpc vs onc rpc thing when the committee started leaning toward the simpler rpc/xdr format that sun had offered. the criminal part was that as soon as it became clear that the group was actually going to succeed nearly all support was yanked. the simple reality was that cad tools cost literally hundreds of thousands of dollars for a large shop and those vendors desperately needed the 'lock in' effect of a propietary data format and tool chain to keep themselves in play during the inevitable periods where their tools totally sucked (waterfall development at its finest). it still bugs me when i think about it over 20 years later!so to say i would be a huge supporter of an open cad standard is an understatement. and now that there is a fairly large body of people who are both code capable and desirous of such a standard in order to create, share, and modify 3d designs, there might be enough energy to make it happen. |
area programmer laments designers don’t use the same tools he does
| one of the more interesting things about 3d printing is that it is igniting this sort of issue. a long time ago (like 1991) i was a working for sun and representing them at the "cad framework initiative" efforts or cfi. the express goal of this was to create a set of interchange formats for cad tools so that you could move things from one system to another, you could store and diff changes, and even if your vendor went out of business you could use your designs in another vendor's tool if it was cfi compliant.now the irritating part was that apollo computer turned it into a dce rpc vs onc rpc thing when the committee started leaning toward the simpler rpc/xdr format that sun had offered. the criminal part was that as soon as it became clear that the group was actually going to succeed nearly all support was yanked. the simple reality was that cad tools cost literally hundreds of thousands of dollars for a large shop and those vendors desperately needed the 'lock in' effect of a propietary data format and tool chain to keep themselves in play during the inevitable periods where their tools totally sucked (waterfall development at its finest). it still bugs me when i think about it over 20 years later!so to say i would be a huge supporter of an open cad standard is an understatement. and now that there is a fairly large body of people who are both code capable and desirous of such a standard in order to create, share, and modify 3d designs, there might be enough energy to make it happen. | larch is a visual programming environment. <link> author also makes a procedural 3d modeler (<link> you should definitely check both of them out, and talk to the communities.one of the main examples in larch, is of modifying the visual representation of a polygon, rather than the textual representation. see: <link> |
area programmer laments designers don’t use the same tools he does
| larch is a visual programming environment. <link> author also makes a procedural 3d modeler (<link> you should definitely check both of them out, and talk to the communities.one of the main examples in larch, is of modifying the visual representation of a polygon, rather than the textual representation. see: <link> | > they are also not on github, which makes collaboration that much harder.this is now vim-emacs level zealotry. there are workflows which gasp do not mesh well with github. github issues/prs have almost no metadata and absolutely none that the issue submitter can set. |
area programmer laments designers don’t use the same tools he does
| > they are also not on github, which makes collaboration that much harder.this is now vim-emacs level zealotry. there are workflows which gasp do not mesh well with github. github issues/prs have almost no metadata and absolutely none that the issue submitter can set. | most of the people commenting here haven't used those tools.in a modern cad system, like solidworks and autodesk inventor, the systems retain much more than geometry. there's lots of structure. "this is a round hole" (stl doesn't even have that.) "this part is a 6/32 screw, pan head, 3/4 inch length". "this edge of this part aligns with this other edge of this other part" "this part is made of mild steel". "this subassembly is made of these parts and is used in these larger assemblies". "the holes in this part are projected downward from the larger assembly so the holes will line up".all the serious cad systems today understand those kinds of things. an object is represented as a series of operations in constructive solid geometry, not a mesh. relationships between parts are modeled. many parts are parametric - some dimensions depend on other dimensions, and you can change one and have the others change appropriately. ("appropriately" means this is more than scaling; making the thing longer doesn't turn round holes into ellipses.)capturing all that structure is complicated. open cascade doesn't do any of that stuff; it's just a geometry library.revision control for models is available. autodesk has autodesk vault. solidworks has workgroup pdm. revisions can be compared visually. it's a hard problem, and errors tend to have serious consequences, which is why most engineering shops have a rather rigid workflow.over in the animation world, there's alienbrain, a very expensive revision control system for big animation and game projects. there, you have many different formats to coordinate - video, background art, motion capture data, textures, etc., with different people working on each.these tools are expensive because the market isn't that big but the value they add is large. |
the definitive guide to syntax highlighting
| i've seen more than one talk where the presenter lamented a lack of highlighting based on highly nested structures. so, for example, changing the color based on the closure that one is in. or, changing the color based on the execution context one is in (so one can make sure they are modifying the variable in the appropriate context).this would be useful in langues that make heavy use of callbacks such as javascript or scala.not sure how hard it would be to implement though - it might require a full parse or compiler pass. | the article doesn't mention highlighting the declarations/definitions of types
& variables. i find it far less obtrusive, and more useful, than lexical
highlighting. it's surprisingly easy to do in emacs, and it works
reasonably well across most language modes. example screenshots:
<link> |
the definitive guide to syntax highlighting
| the article doesn't mention highlighting the declarations/definitions of types
& variables. i find it far less obtrusive, and more useful, than lexical
highlighting. it's surprisingly easy to do in emacs, and it works
reasonably well across most language modes. example screenshots:
<link> | it is interesting to implement syntax highlighters- to solve the problem of making them fast and efficient. in joe, i save the continuation of the syntax highlighter parser for the beginning of each line. when the user changes the file, the file is re-parsed beginning with the continuation at the start of the line. parsing stops early if the resulting continuation at the beginning of some subsequent line matches the saved value.joe's highlighter supports recursive calls: for example to switch syntax to a scripting language embedded in html. originally i implemented this with template instantiation of the sub-syntax. recursion is allowed, but to a limited depth: the advantage is that the state can still be represented as a single number.later, this was replaced with a real call stack. it turns out that the call stacks of the saved continuations are often identical (stated another way- there is already an identical continuation, so when there is a call, we search for and reuse it if found).the continuation also includes a buffer for saved data (for example for here document delimiters). the continuation ends up being 32 bytes on 32-bit machines: struct highlight_state {
struct high_frame *stack; /* closure */
int state; /* program counter */
unsigned char saved_s[24]; /* local data */
};
anyway, it's at least conceptually straightforward to extend this to have any kind of state. also, it should be possible to compile the syntax parser to the native machine code. even so, the interpreted implementation is quite fast. fast enough that there has not been a need to try to run it asynchronously or after a delay as in some other editors. |
the definitive guide to syntax highlighting
| it is interesting to implement syntax highlighters- to solve the problem of making them fast and efficient. in joe, i save the continuation of the syntax highlighter parser for the beginning of each line. when the user changes the file, the file is re-parsed beginning with the continuation at the start of the line. parsing stops early if the resulting continuation at the beginning of some subsequent line matches the saved value.joe's highlighter supports recursive calls: for example to switch syntax to a scripting language embedded in html. originally i implemented this with template instantiation of the sub-syntax. recursion is allowed, but to a limited depth: the advantage is that the state can still be represented as a single number.later, this was replaced with a real call stack. it turns out that the call stacks of the saved continuations are often identical (stated another way- there is already an identical continuation, so when there is a call, we search for and reuse it if found).the continuation also includes a buffer for saved data (for example for here document delimiters). the continuation ends up being 32 bytes on 32-bit machines: struct highlight_state {
struct high_frame *stack; /* closure */
int state; /* program counter */
unsigned char saved_s[24]; /* local data */
};
anyway, it's at least conceptually straightforward to extend this to have any kind of state. also, it should be possible to compile the syntax parser to the native machine code. even so, the interpreted implementation is quite fast. fast enough that there has not been a need to try to run it asynchronously or after a delay as in some other editors. | there is a really great mode [0] for haskell that does the same thing as hl-sexp-mode. oh and did i mention it fully supports structured editing? these kind of modes really make me question why programs are still written in text instead of adts... we don't need to run lexers and parsers to do our syntax highlighting and other fancy stuff... it would be awesome.[0] <link> |
the definitive guide to syntax highlighting
| there is a really great mode [0] for haskell that does the same thing as hl-sexp-mode. oh and did i mention it fully supports structured editing? these kind of modes really make me question why programs are still written in text instead of adts... we don't need to run lexers and parsers to do our syntax highlighting and other fancy stuff... it would be awesome.[0] <link> | an interesting and very clear article.as someone who started in an era when syntax highlighting didn't exist (at least on the machines and tools i was using at the time) i personally like it a great deal.i found something the other day in the intellij ide's that i really liked (and had not seen before though i may have missed it) which was the ability to highlight the variable under cursor contextually (different for reads and writes).like so <link> was a small change but when running through code you've not used/seen before i've found it a nice little touch at getting a good grasp of whats going on with variables. |
ask hn: what to put on a donated laptop for a 12yr old
hi fellow hners,<p>i know this question gets asked every now and again on various forums, but the answers also seem to change quite frequently, so here goes:<p>i'm giving a hand-me-down ex-asset (dell d610 latitude) laptop to a 12yr old that i don't know very well. he wants it for homework, and just as an 'own' computer. i'm assuming that his internet will be restricted by his parents (likely a good thing), so want to pack as much on there for offline use as i can, including possibly some small games and basic tools to learn programming.<p>what i have currently, is:<p><i>- ubuntu 12.04 running xfce 4 (light on resources</i><p><i>- libreoffice</i><p><i>- offline wikipedia dump and reader</i><p><i>- intellij ce along with a jdk (i'm thinking this is probably one of the easier intros using a mainstream language)</i><p>what other recommendations/ideas are there? perhaps people with kids in this age bracket could comment?<p>thanks! | <link>
<link>
<link>
<link>
<link> | i'd recommend ubuntu studio [1] over straight up ubuntu. first because it contains some really cool software. second because unity is enough of an odd-duck that a person should make an informed choice to use it.language number 1 for a kid: processing. it's simple, has a simple ide, and does some really interesting things.i think intellij is a bit of a loss as a way of introducing programming to a child. it's powerful, but the tools are mostly in the way of a novice.btw, don't bet on the whole "internet restriction" idea. many twelve year olds have been online via school since first or second grade. if the parents aren't setting up a laptop, they're probably not configuring their router to block packets either.[1] of course, grub should be set up to default to the normal kernel rather than low-latency.[2] <link>[3] <link> |
ask hn: what to put on a donated laptop for a 12yr old
hi fellow hners,<p>i know this question gets asked every now and again on various forums, but the answers also seem to change quite frequently, so here goes:<p>i'm giving a hand-me-down ex-asset (dell d610 latitude) laptop to a 12yr old that i don't know very well. he wants it for homework, and just as an 'own' computer. i'm assuming that his internet will be restricted by his parents (likely a good thing), so want to pack as much on there for offline use as i can, including possibly some small games and basic tools to learn programming.<p>what i have currently, is:<p><i>- ubuntu 12.04 running xfce 4 (light on resources</i><p><i>- libreoffice</i><p><i>- offline wikipedia dump and reader</i><p><i>- intellij ce along with a jdk (i'm thinking this is probably one of the easier intros using a mainstream language)</i><p>what other recommendations/ideas are there? perhaps people with kids in this age bracket could comment?<p>thanks! | i'd recommend ubuntu studio [1] over straight up ubuntu. first because it contains some really cool software. second because unity is enough of an odd-duck that a person should make an informed choice to use it.language number 1 for a kid: processing. it's simple, has a simple ide, and does some really interesting things.i think intellij is a bit of a loss as a way of introducing programming to a child. it's powerful, but the tools are mostly in the way of a novice.btw, don't bet on the whole "internet restriction" idea. many twelve year olds have been online via school since first or second grade. if the parents aren't setting up a laptop, they're probably not configuring their router to block packets either.[1] of course, grub should be set up to default to the normal kernel rather than low-latency.[2] <link>[3] <link> | i have a 16 year old that i setup a few years ago with a laptop and i have two more approaching the pre-teen years now.i initially set up a linux machine for him but found that in school they were forcing them into windows and working from that, it wasn't until he got into his high school that has a technology program that he is in that the linux became valuable. until then though, windows was way more beneficial for him for school and solved compatibility issues we were having with microsoft office and the open source office products, also power point etc. just a point, and i know you say the laptop is light on resources so windows may not be possible.offline wiki was a great idea, i need to remember that one.why not load up some good bookmarks too for things like stackoverflow and other potentially useful resources.webstorm is also a great ide for node.js, html and other projects. it is also from jetbrains and free for students. may not be necessary since you have intellij, but i know we use both webstorm and phpstorm.also, adobe reader, chrome, firefox, mysqladmin, filezilla, git/github, instant messenger of some sort and maybe skype.i know my kid uses skype for classes and for homework projects, and just to keep in tough with his friends of course. my younger ones even use it.just ideas. good luck! |
ask hn: what to put on a donated laptop for a 12yr old
hi fellow hners,<p>i know this question gets asked every now and again on various forums, but the answers also seem to change quite frequently, so here goes:<p>i'm giving a hand-me-down ex-asset (dell d610 latitude) laptop to a 12yr old that i don't know very well. he wants it for homework, and just as an 'own' computer. i'm assuming that his internet will be restricted by his parents (likely a good thing), so want to pack as much on there for offline use as i can, including possibly some small games and basic tools to learn programming.<p>what i have currently, is:<p><i>- ubuntu 12.04 running xfce 4 (light on resources</i><p><i>- libreoffice</i><p><i>- offline wikipedia dump and reader</i><p><i>- intellij ce along with a jdk (i'm thinking this is probably one of the easier intros using a mainstream language)</i><p>what other recommendations/ideas are there? perhaps people with kids in this age bracket could comment?<p>thanks! | i have a 16 year old that i setup a few years ago with a laptop and i have two more approaching the pre-teen years now.i initially set up a linux machine for him but found that in school they were forcing them into windows and working from that, it wasn't until he got into his high school that has a technology program that he is in that the linux became valuable. until then though, windows was way more beneficial for him for school and solved compatibility issues we were having with microsoft office and the open source office products, also power point etc. just a point, and i know you say the laptop is light on resources so windows may not be possible.offline wiki was a great idea, i need to remember that one.why not load up some good bookmarks too for things like stackoverflow and other potentially useful resources.webstorm is also a great ide for node.js, html and other projects. it is also from jetbrains and free for students. may not be necessary since you have intellij, but i know we use both webstorm and phpstorm.also, adobe reader, chrome, firefox, mysqladmin, filezilla, git/github, instant messenger of some sort and maybe skype.i know my kid uses skype for classes and for homework projects, and just to keep in tough with his friends of course. my younger ones even use it.just ideas. good luck! | minecraft.on the java side, if that's the route you wanna go, consider getting the stuff from <link> llewellyn falco took me through some of it at a conference a few years back and it looked pretty nice.(disclaimer: not a java person, no kids, but have geek-friends-with-kids ;-). |
ask hn: what to put on a donated laptop for a 12yr old
hi fellow hners,<p>i know this question gets asked every now and again on various forums, but the answers also seem to change quite frequently, so here goes:<p>i'm giving a hand-me-down ex-asset (dell d610 latitude) laptop to a 12yr old that i don't know very well. he wants it for homework, and just as an 'own' computer. i'm assuming that his internet will be restricted by his parents (likely a good thing), so want to pack as much on there for offline use as i can, including possibly some small games and basic tools to learn programming.<p>what i have currently, is:<p><i>- ubuntu 12.04 running xfce 4 (light on resources</i><p><i>- libreoffice</i><p><i>- offline wikipedia dump and reader</i><p><i>- intellij ce along with a jdk (i'm thinking this is probably one of the easier intros using a mainstream language)</i><p>what other recommendations/ideas are there? perhaps people with kids in this age bracket could comment?<p>thanks! | minecraft.on the java side, if that's the route you wanna go, consider getting the stuff from <link> llewellyn falco took me through some of it at a conference a few years back and it looked pretty nice.(disclaimer: not a java person, no kids, but have geek-friends-with-kids ;-). | you haven't said anything about the kid being interested in programming, so i'm not sure intellij is going to be of any use. it's a very heavy tool, perhaps too much for anyone just starting to learn how to program. |
did the vikings get a bum rap?
| i stumbled across a video on youtube some time ago which demonstrates sword-and-shield tactics likely used by the vikings, backed up by well thought out and credible explanations. it's a fascinating watch and for me it really brought home the fighting intelligence and elegance of viking warriors: <link> | the article does a lot of discounting 'the vikings where no more "bloodthirsty than other warriors of the period" over and over, and then contradicting it by "pope placed limits on christian warfare and threatened excommunication for leaders who became unduly aggressive. the vikings had no such inhibiting force".they also minimize raids, ransoms, and murders by saying : well there were witnesses left. plenty survived the death camps but that made them no less brutal.in short? nothing the author writes is quantified. how often did they go to war, raid, etc? how often did the ones 'no more then other warriors of their time' do the same, and how much vs the christian nations, etc. |
did the vikings get a bum rap?
| the article does a lot of discounting 'the vikings where no more "bloodthirsty than other warriors of the period" over and over, and then contradicting it by "pope placed limits on christian warfare and threatened excommunication for leaders who became unduly aggressive. the vikings had no such inhibiting force".they also minimize raids, ransoms, and murders by saying : well there were witnesses left. plenty survived the death camps but that made them no less brutal.in short? nothing the author writes is quantified. how often did they go to war, raid, etc? how often did the ones 'no more then other warriors of their time' do the same, and how much vs the christian nations, etc. | history channel's "vikings" is actually a quite good remedy for your got withdrawals. as a dane, and even after reading this article, i find the series very accurate, only embellished in obvious places (blood eagle, mushrooms etc).at the least they got the scandinavian personality traits right. |
did the vikings get a bum rap?
| history channel's "vikings" is actually a quite good remedy for your got withdrawals. as a dane, and even after reading this article, i find the series very accurate, only embellished in obvious places (blood eagle, mushrooms etc).at the least they got the scandinavian personality traits right. | the vikings are an example of history written by the losers. the people who lost the battles (literate christians) wrote the history. the vikings didn't have nearly that much writing, so they came off very bad in european history. |
did the vikings get a bum rap?
| the vikings are an example of history written by the losers. the people who lost the battles (literate christians) wrote the history. the vikings didn't have nearly that much writing, so they came off very bad in european history. | well, obviously the vikings didn't besiege paris just because they wanted to visit the museums, but they also traded quite a lot, something which is often overlooked. they also made up the varangian guard, the reputedly incorruptible bodyguard of the eastern roman emperors. there is also little doubt that the christian sovereigns of this time period (and later) were not shy about the occasional gruesome slaughter against defenseless civilians, so i'd say the point made in the article about their brutality being a feature of the times is pretty accurate.i can recommend northlanders [1], by brian wood of dmz fame, on this topic. fairly well-researched and with good characterization.1: <link> |
a virginia hacker catches the attention of federal law enforcement
| this guy is an idiot. maybe he's very good technically, but this isn't even good policework. this is straight out of the troll method of questioning [1].[1]
"detritus was particularly good when it came to asking questions. he had three basic ones. they were the direct (“did you do it?”), the persistent (“are you sure it wasn’t you that done it?”), and the subtle (“it was you what done it, wasn’t it?”). " -- terry pratchett, feet of clay | don't talk to police
<link> |
a virginia hacker catches the attention of federal law enforcement
| don't talk to police
<link> | i don't think "you're such a talented criminal, would you like a job?" coming from a federal agent is terribly trustworthy. it was previously used to catch the half life 2 hacker back in '04, although granted he basically did it to himself.at the very least, it would seem like a bad idea to sign something like that without a lawyer, who i assume wasn't involved because, well, what lawyer would say "yeah, go ahead and sign a confession in exchange for an informal verbal job offer"? |
a virginia hacker catches the attention of federal law enforcement
| i don't think "you're such a talented criminal, would you like a job?" coming from a federal agent is terribly trustworthy. it was previously used to catch the half life 2 hacker back in '04, although granted he basically did it to himself.at the very least, it would seem like a bad idea to sign something like that without a lawyer, who i assume wasn't involved because, well, what lawyer would say "yeah, go ahead and sign a confession in exchange for an informal verbal job offer"? | i was an early 2000's script kid who got in a lot of hot water over my actions. then three years later, right before i was to go off to college, two fbi agent showed up at my house to offer me a job. they went about it in an extremely sketchy way that made me very uncomfortable. i said no and called a lawyer.the big thing i learned from that whole situation is that you should say as little as possible to law enforcement without a lawyer present. |
a virginia hacker catches the attention of federal law enforcement
| i was an early 2000's script kid who got in a lot of hot water over my actions. then three years later, right before i was to go off to college, two fbi agent showed up at my house to offer me a job. they went about it in an extremely sketchy way that made me very uncomfortable. i said no and called a lawyer.the big thing i learned from that whole situation is that you should say as little as possible to law enforcement without a lawyer present. | > [...] will randomly cause a digit to flip and a web user will be sent to the wrong site — for instance, micro2oft.com instead of microsoft.com.disappointed, but not surprised, that the given example is incorrect - micro3oft.com would have fit.<link> |
mystery man who moves japanese markets made more than 1m trades
| if you're generally interested in asset trading and came looking at this story for lessons to learn, these are the two i found in the story:* cut your losses quickly and with determination, while you should let your winners run as long as possible.* buy stocks that is being bought. sell stocks that are being sold. (in other words, keep track of the stock order flow. bid/asks).feel free to complement this, if i missed anything. in general an interesting read/story. | it's incredibly difficult in the long run to make money by day trading. you need to be in the top 20% of trading ability to just break even (meaning, 80% of people who day trade outright lose money) and among the top 2-3% of traders if you want to make any substantial profits.i personally take charlie munger's approach of going long a us equity index with most of my money and then using leftover funds to exploit what i perceive as structural mispricings in different asset classes/financial markets that i think will correct themselves in the short/medium term. bitcoins, for example, have been a fun ride since i bought some at the start of 2013.see this study on day traders for more info:<link> |
mystery man who moves japanese markets made more than 1m trades
| it's incredibly difficult in the long run to make money by day trading. you need to be in the top 20% of trading ability to just break even (meaning, 80% of people who day trade outright lose money) and among the top 2-3% of traders if you want to make any substantial profits.i personally take charlie munger's approach of going long a us equity index with most of my money and then using leftover funds to exploit what i perceive as structural mispricings in different asset classes/financial markets that i think will correct themselves in the short/medium term. bitcoins, for example, have been a fun ride since i bought some at the start of 2013.see this study on day traders for more info:<link> | "he owns two apartment buildings, the larger of which—a modernist cube in central tokyo with a french bar on the ground floor"hmm, that information seems a little too identifying. |
mystery man who moves japanese markets made more than 1m trades
| "he owns two apartment buildings, the larger of which—a modernist cube in central tokyo with a french bar on the ground floor"hmm, that information seems a little too identifying. | reminds me of a ghost in the shell plot, where one man wrote software that dominates the japanese market. i'd make a joke, but that would fall into spoiler territory. |
mystery man who moves japanese markets made more than 1m trades
| reminds me of a ghost in the shell plot, where one man wrote software that dominates the japanese market. i'd make a joke, but that would fall into spoiler territory. | how can we make this title a complete aliteration? |
california blue whales, once nearly extinct, are back at historic levels
| i would be suspicious of any claims to returning to "historic levels" - hunting whales got serious in the 1800s, lighting and powering the industrial revolution, long before we counted the numbers sensibly. | if they were hunted to nearly extinction and have recovered now, we're going to be seeing some of the founder effect: <link> |
california blue whales, once nearly extinct, are back at historic levels
| if they were hunted to nearly extinction and have recovered now, we're going to be seeing some of the founder effect: <link> | well i'm glad we all learned a lesson from star trek iv. |
california blue whales, once nearly extinct, are back at historic levels
| well i'm glad we all learned a lesson from star trek iv. | i saw some on an excursion to the farallones. just briefly saw their backs as they came up for air, nothing spectacular, but well worth the cold and sea sickness. |
california blue whales, once nearly extinct, are back at historic levels
| i saw some on an excursion to the farallones. just briefly saw their backs as they came up for air, nothing spectacular, but well worth the cold and sea sickness. | shush people will just use this as an excuse to roll coal! |
building os x apps with javascript
| you know, i understand the urge, once one has really gotten deep and mastered their first language, to try to apply it everywhere. but i really must strongly encourage the kids on the come-up to continue mastering new tools. it's not that javascript is a bad language (although that helps), so much as the industry doesn't allow any of us to rest on our laurels. this year's rock star is tomorrow's dinosaur. | that pipe is a c bitwise or operator. i’m not gonna pretend to know what that means.i'm honestly not being sarcastic, but i think there's something interesting about reading an enjoyable programming article by someone who doesn't know what bitwise or is. it sorta feels like a huge reminder we've moved on to a whole new generation/level of abstraction where competent developers no longer need to understand binary.i gave a talk the other day about the future of code (think 2024 and on) and one of the biggest things out of my research was that we'll eventually not need to think about intermediate data structures in code anymore as ai profilers, vms, compilers, etc. will be able to optimize and profile almost everything away with developers working more with specifications and constraints. i wonder if in 10 years' time a programmer not knowing what a linked list or a binary tree is will not be considered unusual either. |
building os x apps with javascript
| that pipe is a c bitwise or operator. i’m not gonna pretend to know what that means.i'm honestly not being sarcastic, but i think there's something interesting about reading an enjoyable programming article by someone who doesn't know what bitwise or is. it sorta feels like a huge reminder we've moved on to a whole new generation/level of abstraction where competent developers no longer need to understand binary.i gave a talk the other day about the future of code (think 2024 and on) and one of the biggest things out of my research was that we'll eventually not need to think about intermediate data structures in code anymore as ai profilers, vms, compilers, etc. will be able to optimize and profile almost everything away with developers working more with specifications and constraints. i wonder if in 10 years' time a programmer not knowing what a linked list or a binary tree is will not be considered unusual either. | will apple allow apps written with this to be distribued on the mac app store?i don't see why they wouldn't, but i couldn't find a confirmation either way. |
building os x apps with javascript
| will apple allow apps written with this to be distribued on the mac app store?i don't see why they wouldn't, but i couldn't find a confirmation either way. | the really cool thing about this is that you can also use alternative languages which compile to javascript. i develop cursive, an ide for clojure and clojurescript, and one of my users has a native app written in clojurescript published on the app store. he had to jump through a few hoops to get the repl working but once he got it going he could edit code on his device live. it's really cool to see. i'm hoping to add debugging support using the webkit remote debugging protocol, which will make it even nicer. |
building os x apps with javascript
| the really cool thing about this is that you can also use alternative languages which compile to javascript. i develop cursive, an ide for clojure and clojurescript, and one of my users has a native app written in clojurescript published on the app store. he had to jump through a few hoops to get the repl working but once he got it going he could edit code on his device live. it's really cool to see. i'm hoping to add debugging support using the webkit remote debugging protocol, which will make it even nicer. | learning objective-c was never the limiting factor for me writing native os x code. the hard part about it was always figuring out the apis. it's one of those things where if you have someone to teach you it's great, but learning on your own is time consuming and tedious and frustrating.as much as i like using js for scripting purposes in the os, i feel like with this, i have the same problem: namely that the cocoa apis are massive and i have trouble understanding what's going on, even after trying to learn them three or four times in the past decade. |
ask hn: relational databases and concepts
hi,<p>i have never really dived into databases a lot, apart from some contact to sql (wrote some select statements to extract some data, etc.) but i never fundamentally got into <i>theory</i> or on a conceptual level, i.e. an sql database to me was just a set of tables that were kind of unhandy to work with.<p>until recently, when i touched databases again (using python sqlalchemy's query language [not the orm]). for the first time i was really exposed to the foreign-key concepts etc. and i think i saw quite some parallels to declarative languages such as prolog, etc.<p>all of the sudden i am eager to learn some more on the relational database concepts and i wonder where to find good material on that. unluckily a lot of stuff i found on the web is in-the-trenches tutorials or get-yourself-started-with-php-mysql.<p>i am especially interested in<p>- design of good database schemas
- refactoring of database schemas
- best practices
- conceptional treatment of database operations and their relation to logical/declarative programming languages such as prolog.<p>i would very much appreaciate any input on this. | there is a good introductory course at coursera, taught by professor jennifer widom. i liked it, not only because of the contents and the format (which are good, and work for me), but because of how intensely enthusiastic the dr widom was. a++, would take a course taught by her again. | i strongly recommend the book "seven databases in seven weeks" if you want to understand a bit of "theory" around databases. the first chapter focuses on a relational database, postgresql, but by learning about the other types (columnar, document-store, graph, etc) you also learn more about relational databases by learning what choices they make and how they could have gone otherwise. |
ask hn: relational databases and concepts
hi,<p>i have never really dived into databases a lot, apart from some contact to sql (wrote some select statements to extract some data, etc.) but i never fundamentally got into <i>theory</i> or on a conceptual level, i.e. an sql database to me was just a set of tables that were kind of unhandy to work with.<p>until recently, when i touched databases again (using python sqlalchemy's query language [not the orm]). for the first time i was really exposed to the foreign-key concepts etc. and i think i saw quite some parallels to declarative languages such as prolog, etc.<p>all of the sudden i am eager to learn some more on the relational database concepts and i wonder where to find good material on that. unluckily a lot of stuff i found on the web is in-the-trenches tutorials or get-yourself-started-with-php-mysql.<p>i am especially interested in<p>- design of good database schemas
- refactoring of database schemas
- best practices
- conceptional treatment of database operations and their relation to logical/declarative programming languages such as prolog.<p>i would very much appreaciate any input on this. | i strongly recommend the book "seven databases in seven weeks" if you want to understand a bit of "theory" around databases. the first chapter focuses on a relational database, postgresql, but by learning about the other types (columnar, document-store, graph, etc) you also learn more about relational databases by learning what choices they make and how they could have gone otherwise. | i am currently enjoying the first edition of database systems: the complete book. i picked up a very good copy from amazon for $6.99 [ $3.00 plus $3.99 shipping ].<link>'ve become a fan of ullman...bell labs plus academia is a pretty comprehensive range of experience.also widom's introduction to databases is available as a self-paced course from coursera. it was among the initial batch of stanford courses that rolled over into coursera.<link>, my take is that the computer science of database systems is important enough in the modern world that i should be familiar with it as computer science and not so much as a set of copy and paste code from the internet. |
ask hn: relational databases and concepts
hi,<p>i have never really dived into databases a lot, apart from some contact to sql (wrote some select statements to extract some data, etc.) but i never fundamentally got into <i>theory</i> or on a conceptual level, i.e. an sql database to me was just a set of tables that were kind of unhandy to work with.<p>until recently, when i touched databases again (using python sqlalchemy's query language [not the orm]). for the first time i was really exposed to the foreign-key concepts etc. and i think i saw quite some parallels to declarative languages such as prolog, etc.<p>all of the sudden i am eager to learn some more on the relational database concepts and i wonder where to find good material on that. unluckily a lot of stuff i found on the web is in-the-trenches tutorials or get-yourself-started-with-php-mysql.<p>i am especially interested in<p>- design of good database schemas
- refactoring of database schemas
- best practices
- conceptional treatment of database operations and their relation to logical/declarative programming languages such as prolog.<p>i would very much appreaciate any input on this. | i am currently enjoying the first edition of database systems: the complete book. i picked up a very good copy from amazon for $6.99 [ $3.00 plus $3.99 shipping ].<link>'ve become a fan of ullman...bell labs plus academia is a pretty comprehensive range of experience.also widom's introduction to databases is available as a self-paced course from coursera. it was among the initial batch of stanford courses that rolled over into coursera.<link>, my take is that the computer science of database systems is important enough in the modern world that i should be familiar with it as computer science and not so much as a set of copy and paste code from the internet. | any of the books by chris date are a good place to start, although some find him a bit strident.a lot of people rip on sql, but knowing it well is extremely helpful. with all the nosql hype it's easy to overlook the stuff rdbmss are very, very good at--but they're not good at everything.(with the caveat that pg's json stuff brings nosql into the sql world.) |
ask hn: relational databases and concepts
hi,<p>i have never really dived into databases a lot, apart from some contact to sql (wrote some select statements to extract some data, etc.) but i never fundamentally got into <i>theory</i> or on a conceptual level, i.e. an sql database to me was just a set of tables that were kind of unhandy to work with.<p>until recently, when i touched databases again (using python sqlalchemy's query language [not the orm]). for the first time i was really exposed to the foreign-key concepts etc. and i think i saw quite some parallels to declarative languages such as prolog, etc.<p>all of the sudden i am eager to learn some more on the relational database concepts and i wonder where to find good material on that. unluckily a lot of stuff i found on the web is in-the-trenches tutorials or get-yourself-started-with-php-mysql.<p>i am especially interested in<p>- design of good database schemas
- refactoring of database schemas
- best practices
- conceptional treatment of database operations and their relation to logical/declarative programming languages such as prolog.<p>i would very much appreaciate any input on this. | any of the books by chris date are a good place to start, although some find him a bit strident.a lot of people rip on sql, but knowing it well is extremely helpful. with all the nosql hype it's easy to overlook the stuff rdbmss are very, very good at--but they're not good at everything.(with the caveat that pg's json stuff brings nosql into the sql world.) | first, i'll say this, relational databases are super powerful and extremely valuable in today's world and while no-sql is really awesome too relational won't go anywhere so it is a very valuable skill set to have.as for learning relational databases. first, research some books on amazon and look at the reviews, because there just are so many good books on them. in general, remember that even within relational databases there are different design guidelines for oltp (transaction systems think ecommerce) and olap (reporting, analytics) etc. imo, for now, stick with oltp (transactions based) books and systems.outside of reading some books, also checkout stack overflow and other sites to get examples of good schema's and bad schema's. and review as many schema's as possible so you get a feel for what works and what doesn't. i look at a ton of schema's in consulting and can tell people problems they are having before they have even told me anything about their issues because it is obvious from their data schema. it doesn't necessarily mean their schema is a bad design, just that all of them have tradeoffs and the best way to learn is to see real schema's and datasets.also, search for "relational database schema examples" in google image (without the quotes of course), and look at some of the image samples that come up. this will also give you a better feel for how the er notation or uml notations work. you'll figure them out they aren't that hard.it really is a huge subject, so hunt around for some online training and then ask people for recommendations after you see a few to see if anyone can give you specific feedback on them. |
ask hn: how do i choose between 2 startup accelerators?
i have applied to 3 different accelerators and got accepted to 2 and i'm quite close to being accepted into the 3rd. i decided against going with the first one (multiple reasons).<p>the 2nd one is <link> . axel springer is this huge publishing house (the largest in europe), they have numerous big newspapers (bild, for example). i'd spend 3 months in berlin working in their office along with other startups. 25k eur for 5% equity. demo day. they recruited in berlin and krakow (application -> short pitching & q&a), so i guess most of the participants will speak german. they started a year ago.<p>the third is <link> . their recruitment process was much cooler, it involved a few hours of 1 on 1 coaching sessions with 6 mentors. it's 1 month, more business oriented (no time to work on a product) and no money/equity involved (they're a non-profit). they said there's a 10k eur convertible note along with a 30k grant from finnish govt. the program ends with a demo day they organise at the slush conf. they started in 2012.<p>both offer mentoring, workshops, all the good stuff. same with a trip to the valley for the most promising alumni.<p>my story: mobile app(s), quite a bit of traction (over 1m downloads), pretty solid plans for rapid and rather inexpensive growth. enough revenue to support my family, but at least a few months away from that growth. also need 2-3 people for that (have specific people in mind, axel springer's money would make it possible).<p>this is all i know. i don't have any tools at my disposal to evaluate those two programs. i can't compare mentors, alumni or investor pitching potential.
* what's your general opinion based on what you just read?
* what questions would you ask the before deciding?
* if you know anything about either one of those, please share!
* are there some websites that would make the comparison easier for me? | when it comes to class-b/c accelerators (not yc et al.) i'd generally completely discount the value of mentoring, their network etc.
i'd just evaluate the purely financial value of both investments. and maybe just give berlin more weight for having a better startup reputation and being closer to poland (assuming you live there and want to stay there).
if you can raise non-accelerator money at better terms consider that too. | my personal opinion: with an app, which already has 1m downloads you don't need those accelerators anymore. find a good business angel (or two) with expertise in the areas you need and work with them. also consider moving to one of the startup hotspots (sf, london, berlin...).as a side note: i'd avoid to be connected to the "bild" (assuming you are not in the yellow press business). |
ask hn: how do i choose between 2 startup accelerators?
i have applied to 3 different accelerators and got accepted to 2 and i'm quite close to being accepted into the 3rd. i decided against going with the first one (multiple reasons).<p>the 2nd one is <link> . axel springer is this huge publishing house (the largest in europe), they have numerous big newspapers (bild, for example). i'd spend 3 months in berlin working in their office along with other startups. 25k eur for 5% equity. demo day. they recruited in berlin and krakow (application -> short pitching & q&a), so i guess most of the participants will speak german. they started a year ago.<p>the third is <link> . their recruitment process was much cooler, it involved a few hours of 1 on 1 coaching sessions with 6 mentors. it's 1 month, more business oriented (no time to work on a product) and no money/equity involved (they're a non-profit). they said there's a 10k eur convertible note along with a 30k grant from finnish govt. the program ends with a demo day they organise at the slush conf. they started in 2012.<p>both offer mentoring, workshops, all the good stuff. same with a trip to the valley for the most promising alumni.<p>my story: mobile app(s), quite a bit of traction (over 1m downloads), pretty solid plans for rapid and rather inexpensive growth. enough revenue to support my family, but at least a few months away from that growth. also need 2-3 people for that (have specific people in mind, axel springer's money would make it possible).<p>this is all i know. i don't have any tools at my disposal to evaluate those two programs. i can't compare mentors, alumni or investor pitching potential.
* what's your general opinion based on what you just read?
* what questions would you ask the before deciding?
* if you know anything about either one of those, please share!
* are there some websites that would make the comparison easier for me? | my personal opinion: with an app, which already has 1m downloads you don't need those accelerators anymore. find a good business angel (or two) with expertise in the areas you need and work with them. also consider moving to one of the startup hotspots (sf, london, berlin...).as a side note: i'd avoid to be connected to the "bild" (assuming you are not in the yellow press business). | apply for yc too. |
ask hn: how do i choose between 2 startup accelerators?
i have applied to 3 different accelerators and got accepted to 2 and i'm quite close to being accepted into the 3rd. i decided against going with the first one (multiple reasons).<p>the 2nd one is <link> . axel springer is this huge publishing house (the largest in europe), they have numerous big newspapers (bild, for example). i'd spend 3 months in berlin working in their office along with other startups. 25k eur for 5% equity. demo day. they recruited in berlin and krakow (application -> short pitching & q&a), so i guess most of the participants will speak german. they started a year ago.<p>the third is <link> . their recruitment process was much cooler, it involved a few hours of 1 on 1 coaching sessions with 6 mentors. it's 1 month, more business oriented (no time to work on a product) and no money/equity involved (they're a non-profit). they said there's a 10k eur convertible note along with a 30k grant from finnish govt. the program ends with a demo day they organise at the slush conf. they started in 2012.<p>both offer mentoring, workshops, all the good stuff. same with a trip to the valley for the most promising alumni.<p>my story: mobile app(s), quite a bit of traction (over 1m downloads), pretty solid plans for rapid and rather inexpensive growth. enough revenue to support my family, but at least a few months away from that growth. also need 2-3 people for that (have specific people in mind, axel springer's money would make it possible).<p>this is all i know. i don't have any tools at my disposal to evaluate those two programs. i can't compare mentors, alumni or investor pitching potential.
* what's your general opinion based on what you just read?
* what questions would you ask the before deciding?
* if you know anything about either one of those, please share!
* are there some websites that would make the comparison easier for me? | apply for yc too. | my impression is that it depends on what your startup needs. if it's really just business side help then the "cool" one might be a good fit, but if your product isn't where it needs to be, then not having time to improve it may not be the right fit for your company.otherwise, the difference between 5% equity and 0% isn't going to determine if the company makes you wealthy. hard odds is that they are both worth exactly the same in the long run because to a first approximation all startups fail.the reason to take investment is to grow. if you need people to grow, then the one that best facilitates that may make the most sense.good luck. |
ask hn: how do i choose between 2 startup accelerators?
i have applied to 3 different accelerators and got accepted to 2 and i'm quite close to being accepted into the 3rd. i decided against going with the first one (multiple reasons).<p>the 2nd one is <link> . axel springer is this huge publishing house (the largest in europe), they have numerous big newspapers (bild, for example). i'd spend 3 months in berlin working in their office along with other startups. 25k eur for 5% equity. demo day. they recruited in berlin and krakow (application -> short pitching & q&a), so i guess most of the participants will speak german. they started a year ago.<p>the third is <link> . their recruitment process was much cooler, it involved a few hours of 1 on 1 coaching sessions with 6 mentors. it's 1 month, more business oriented (no time to work on a product) and no money/equity involved (they're a non-profit). they said there's a 10k eur convertible note along with a 30k grant from finnish govt. the program ends with a demo day they organise at the slush conf. they started in 2012.<p>both offer mentoring, workshops, all the good stuff. same with a trip to the valley for the most promising alumni.<p>my story: mobile app(s), quite a bit of traction (over 1m downloads), pretty solid plans for rapid and rather inexpensive growth. enough revenue to support my family, but at least a few months away from that growth. also need 2-3 people for that (have specific people in mind, axel springer's money would make it possible).<p>this is all i know. i don't have any tools at my disposal to evaluate those two programs. i can't compare mentors, alumni or investor pitching potential.
* what's your general opinion based on what you just read?
* what questions would you ask the before deciding?
* if you know anything about either one of those, please share!
* are there some websites that would make the comparison easier for me? | my impression is that it depends on what your startup needs. if it's really just business side help then the "cool" one might be a good fit, but if your product isn't where it needs to be, then not having time to improve it may not be the right fit for your company.otherwise, the difference between 5% equity and 0% isn't going to determine if the company makes you wealthy. hard odds is that they are both worth exactly the same in the long run because to a first approximation all startups fail.the reason to take investment is to grow. if you need people to grow, then the one that best facilitates that may make the most sense.good luck. | > i can't compare mentors, alumni or investor pitching potential.why not? those are 3 vital criteria to evaluating the programs value.alternatively, suggest hacking together you're own personal accelerator program using an autodidact approach. you can also buy your own ticket to the valley. |
dear clueless assholes: stop bashing bash and gnu
| the clueless assholes could not be stopped, because it is another name for the vast majority - the 84%.)the problem is the same as with openssl's flaws - when we accept all the contributions without detailed code-review we often incorporate code written by over-enthusiastic amateurs (and sometimes even over-confident idiots).lots of problem of really open open-source projects (sorry for this tautology) are from the fact that they are open for everyone.imagine everyone could commit (without code review) in haskell compiler tree, linux kernel or, say, openbsd. but in early times of gnu movements this was a very common case.so, the problem is in the lack of code-reviews, not in gnu movement, let alone stallman himself.it is quite easy for ignorant to under-emphasize the importance of gnu tools to what we now call the internet. it is not just bash, which is very important tool, but in the first place emacs, gcc, binutils, gnu make, flex, bison - all the development tools which made possible the raise of early bsd and linux systems. it is impossible to imagine the world of free, open source software without gnu toolchan.nowadays i very much like the example of nginx - it has bigger market share than iis, while originally was a solo effort, compared to millions of dollars and man-hours which have been spent on development and marketing of iis. this is how open source model works. another good example is erlan/otp. | i think that bashing bad code, bad practices and whatever lead to any security-critical bug (and any bug whatsoever, for that matter), should happen. if there weren't rants, flame wars and insults in the free software movement, i guarantee it wouldn't have come near where it is today. it's a big part of what drives innovation in all spheres, not just this one: the harsh (and not-so-harsh, sure) comments, the passive-aggressive forks, the rewritings, the heated discussions.but bashing a person for writing that code? never. i can't say my views on software politics are aligned with mr. stallman's, and neither i can say i have given that much thought to them. but i have enormous respect for everyone who has contributed to free software and helped shape the world, even with the smallest contributions... and mr. stallman's are one of the biggest. everyone in this area should have the deepest respect for the enormous amount of work this man has done, and given it all to the community. it's hard, if not impossible, to stumble upon an anticonformist such as stallman, who honestly does not care about the superficial things we all, unfortunately, do. i guarantee he could've leveraged everything he's done and been a multi-billionare by now. instead he decided that the benefit the community can get from his work is far greater than the benefit he himself can get, so he did the only moral thing to do: he gave it all for free. and look at the gnu project now, or the fsf. magnificent stuff.mistakes such as this one (and a great majority of developers make dozens of these on a weekly basis), are probably the most idiotic reason to call out a person for incompetence or senility. it's ridiculous. it's completely unacceptable to now demonize a man such as rms, if not for other reasons, then because none of us will probably ever come close to what he has done to change this world for the better. |
dear clueless assholes: stop bashing bash and gnu
| i think that bashing bad code, bad practices and whatever lead to any security-critical bug (and any bug whatsoever, for that matter), should happen. if there weren't rants, flame wars and insults in the free software movement, i guarantee it wouldn't have come near where it is today. it's a big part of what drives innovation in all spheres, not just this one: the harsh (and not-so-harsh, sure) comments, the passive-aggressive forks, the rewritings, the heated discussions.but bashing a person for writing that code? never. i can't say my views on software politics are aligned with mr. stallman's, and neither i can say i have given that much thought to them. but i have enormous respect for everyone who has contributed to free software and helped shape the world, even with the smallest contributions... and mr. stallman's are one of the biggest. everyone in this area should have the deepest respect for the enormous amount of work this man has done, and given it all to the community. it's hard, if not impossible, to stumble upon an anticonformist such as stallman, who honestly does not care about the superficial things we all, unfortunately, do. i guarantee he could've leveraged everything he's done and been a multi-billionare by now. instead he decided that the benefit the community can get from his work is far greater than the benefit he himself can get, so he did the only moral thing to do: he gave it all for free. and look at the gnu project now, or the fsf. magnificent stuff.mistakes such as this one (and a great majority of developers make dozens of these on a weekly basis), are probably the most idiotic reason to call out a person for incompetence or senility. it's ridiculous. it's completely unacceptable to now demonize a man such as rms, if not for other reasons, then because none of us will probably ever come close to what he has done to change this world for the better. | i'm amazed that he's being bashed for this. there are a lot of security flaws out there, this one is - as stallman says - a blip on the radar. |
dear clueless assholes: stop bashing bash and gnu
| i'm amazed that he's being bashed for this. there are a lot of security flaws out there, this one is - as stallman says - a blip on the radar. | so is it wrong to criticize bad code for being bad if it was written by mother theresa?i think that if code is bad, it should be pointed out. some will take it as bashing. doesn't matter. we all want to run well written, secure software. when you're getting exploited, it doesn't matter if the code was written by a saint. |
dear clueless assholes: stop bashing bash and gnu
| so is it wrong to criticize bad code for being bad if it was written by mother theresa?i think that if code is bad, it should be pointed out. some will take it as bashing. doesn't matter. we all want to run well written, secure software. when you're getting exploited, it doesn't matter if the code was written by a saint. | anybody know bryan lunduke? he's a guy giving talks called "linux sucks" in which he basically bashes linux for 20 minutes and then concludes that linux is the best foss os community because they can take the bashing (get it?). he's been giving these talks for quite a while now. everybody knows theo de raadt is crazy (and stallman isn't) and of course everybody knows apple fanboys tear up every time somebody implies apple software has a bug in it.in my experience it's the exact opposite. i've been hearing a lot of explanations for the bash debacle in the last couple of days and they all amaze me to a certain degree. let me share a couple of them with you.1. total breakdown - "no software is ever safe, so what the hell do you want from me." yeah, well ... don't write software then.2. it's not my fault - "bash is written in c. c is unsafe." quite a lot of people write safe, well tested, maybe even formally verified c code. so, yeah ... don't hack in c maybe.3. linux is still fine - "bash is just a tiny part of linux. the rest is still good to go." turns out the bash codebase looks a lot like the rest of the gnu/linux universe. old, untested c code that's hard to read and even harder to understand. that's why nobody dares to touch it in the first place.4. it's foss - "you can't expect anything to work. cause, you know, it's free." if that were true, using foss would be a terrible idea.5. you're using it wrong. ... just wow.can't we just all agree that this kind of thing is an endemic problem in most of the code bases we use (including my beloved freebsd) and we have to figure it out over the next couple of years. there are loads of tools that should have never been implemented in c/c++ in the first place (ssh, make, apt, etc.). i'd say the best idea is to port a lot of these code bases to languages like go or rust maybe, but if that's not feasible for some reason, at least write some unit tests and do static code analysis. and, this is probably the most important point, if you don't want to do any of this, please don't make lame excuses when it all falls apart eventually. |
the shockingly obsolete code of bash
| is this trolling?maximum of 5 global variables?
for loop syntax?
"objective" measures of code quality?this kind of code shows up in any legacy code base, and style isn't what leads to bad code. bash had a parser bug, a bug which anyone could have introduced irrespective of style. | at the risk of sounding rude, this guy probably only learned c last week. i mean, all but one of his complaints are noise.> k&r function headersunusual, but totally valid, even in c99. a minor syntactical difference. not a style i'd use, but no different to the alternative. and if a static analyser would find this confusing, you probably shouldn't use it.> global variablesi buy this. although your figure of "5" global variables is totally arbitrary. "0, 1, or infinite" principle.> lol wat?granted this for loop is arcane, but it's obvious what it does. note that the suggested alternative increments the index at the end of the loop body, etc. might not have been exploited there, but perhaps it's a style used somewhere else where it does matter, and it's been used here to maintain consistency.regardless, it's probably better to use const size_t len = strlen(env);
for(size_t i=0; i<len; i++)
//etc
and using an assignment expression in a boolean statement is totally valid.> no banned functionsat this point i decided the author clearly does not know what he's talking about, and has joined a bandwagon of code-hate.banned functions. unsafe memory moves. "what if the destination is too small for the result?". urgh. look at the code that was pasted. strcpy, obviously has pitfalls that can easily overwrite random bits of memory. but this code cannot possibly exhibit it. if you want to complain about safe use of strcpy for the functions potential unsafe-ness, well, you may as well argue that c is an unsafe language, as the runtime doesn't catch out-of-bounds accesses, etc.> where to go from hereif you've got style complaints about bash's source, change it, and submit patches. blog posts like the one posted do not help anyone. |
the shockingly obsolete code of bash
| at the risk of sounding rude, this guy probably only learned c last week. i mean, all but one of his complaints are noise.> k&r function headersunusual, but totally valid, even in c99. a minor syntactical difference. not a style i'd use, but no different to the alternative. and if a static analyser would find this confusing, you probably shouldn't use it.> global variablesi buy this. although your figure of "5" global variables is totally arbitrary. "0, 1, or infinite" principle.> lol wat?granted this for loop is arcane, but it's obvious what it does. note that the suggested alternative increments the index at the end of the loop body, etc. might not have been exploited there, but perhaps it's a style used somewhere else where it does matter, and it's been used here to maintain consistency.regardless, it's probably better to use const size_t len = strlen(env);
for(size_t i=0; i<len; i++)
//etc
and using an assignment expression in a boolean statement is totally valid.> no banned functionsat this point i decided the author clearly does not know what he's talking about, and has joined a bandwagon of code-hate.banned functions. unsafe memory moves. "what if the destination is too small for the result?". urgh. look at the code that was pasted. strcpy, obviously has pitfalls that can easily overwrite random bits of memory. but this code cannot possibly exhibit it. if you want to complain about safe use of strcpy for the functions potential unsafe-ness, well, you may as well argue that c is an unsafe language, as the runtime doesn't catch out-of-bounds accesses, etc.> where to go from hereif you've got style complaints about bash's source, change it, and submit patches. blog posts like the one posted do not help anyone. | really? complaining about the style of a for-loop? they are scraping the bottom of the barrel here. |
the shockingly obsolete code of bash
| really? complaining about the style of a for-loop? they are scraping the bottom of the barrel here. | sigh. new famous bug, and again it’s everyone’s obligation to open the code and express their tsk-tsk, how bad, how bad. |
the shockingly obsolete code of bash
| sigh. new famous bug, and again it’s everyone’s obligation to open the code and express their tsk-tsk, how bad, how bad. | among some valid criticism, the author complains a lot about trivial things. he also thinks that assignment inside the comparison part of a for loop is 'weird'.sure, it could and perhaps even should be avoided in this particular case, but in general it's a useful and common c idiom. compiler writers are aware of that and avoid issuing warnings if you parenthesize the offending assignment expression.he also compares pointer values against null. if i were as uncharitable as he has been, i'd argue that this shows a 'shocking' lack of knowledge about how c works. in c, comparing against null is as 'bad' as comparing boolean expressions against true and false in other languages.edited: be less cranky |
ask hn: is there something wrong with my cv or skillset?
hi there,<p>i'm a software developer (former sysadmin) who's just getting into the field. this summer, i finished my first large solo freelance project (a web application pulling data from a network of remote sensors, which i also set up and programmed).<p>my programmer friends have been telling me to "just apply for a job, you're better than you think" for a long time now, but after this project i finally feel competent enough to call myself a programmer.<p>just a few weeks ago, i moved to a new country, where the job market is kind of crappy. i applied for some local sysadmin gigs because the few programming jobs i see here all revolve around java, c#, or php. i had one interview but nothing came of it.<p>i've been applying to remote jobs for about 3 months now (ruby/rails, some python/flask), mainly by sending out my resume/cover letter on cybercoders, stackoverflow, etc. this hasn't gotten much in the way of results.<p>a few days ago, i posted a 'hire me!'[0] on hn, but it was buried within minutes. i did get some good feedback, though, pointing out that most companies aren't eager to give out non-senior dev positions to remote people.<p>i'm starting to suspect that something is terribly wrong with my cv. as a sysadmin, i was used to being hired within 3 weeks of starting to send out applications in a new city. what am i doing wrong?<p>i've posted my resume[1] -- if you've got a minute, could you look over it and tell me what critical flaw i'm not seeing? this seems like the best time in the history of humanity to be a programmer; why am i having so much trouble finding a job?<p>i can't offer much in return, except this: i travel a lot; if you help me and i'm ever in your city, i'll get in touch with you and buy you a beer.<p>thanks!<p>[0] <link>
[1] project768.com/files/cv_programming.pdf | i think your cv is fine. my advice is to just make yourself more visible. it's been a long time since i got a job by applying for it; these days you're in the best bargaining position if they approach you, not the other way around.my top 5 strategies are:1. be active on linkedin, make sure your specialties/skillsets are all filled out. comment in the group-forums regularly.2. be active on angellist, fill out a hiring profile completely.3. make as many of your github repos public as you can. add more projects in your spare time.4. be active on stackoverflow (and careers.stackoverflow)5. be active here! (hn). you'd be surprised who is reading these threads.no actual 'applying to jobs' should be necessary. just being visible should be enough; you'll be beating them off with a stick in no time.normally 'attending meetups' would be near the top of my list, but i have no idea if there is an active meetup community in your locale. if there is, go to as many as you can stomach! | hi david,your cv is bottom heavy: much of the interesting stuff is buried in the experience section below the fold, so to speak.in the experience section, the line spacing is too big for me to be able to easily and quickly form a mental picture of your experience. i should be able to do this in a quick glance. i wouldn't extend the experience section above 2 pages.the bottom line is that i cannot quickly determine what you're about. unable to determining that quickly, and by extension your 'fitability' to the position i'm recruiting for would make me put your cv at the bottom of the pile to focus on if i don't find any suitable candidates in the easy-to-categorize pile of cvs.i would:- start with the experience section (no longer than 2 pages)- move everything i can from the experience section to the skills section (tech used, etc); if i wouldn't want to list some tech i used just for one job, in the skills section, i would make it a one-liner at that particular job description: "technologies used: postgis, ldap, etc"- switch the focus of the experience section from what i did, to what i accomplished. there's plenty of opportunity for the company to ask me about what i did at the interview; remember: the only purpose of the cv is to get you an interview, not to tell the story of your life. this doesn't mean you shouldn't list things you did that you feel proud of or feel that are very important/relevant.- get rid of the objective. it doesn't serve the purpose of a cv. i don't think a recruiter wouldn't select you for an interview because your cv doesn't contain an objective, so it's more noise at best, at worst it makes the recruiter not select you because of something you've written in the objective.- add some color to the cv. use different fonts. experiment with different layouts. make it memorable!finally, you are better that you give yourself credit for! |
ask hn: is there something wrong with my cv or skillset?
hi there,<p>i'm a software developer (former sysadmin) who's just getting into the field. this summer, i finished my first large solo freelance project (a web application pulling data from a network of remote sensors, which i also set up and programmed).<p>my programmer friends have been telling me to "just apply for a job, you're better than you think" for a long time now, but after this project i finally feel competent enough to call myself a programmer.<p>just a few weeks ago, i moved to a new country, where the job market is kind of crappy. i applied for some local sysadmin gigs because the few programming jobs i see here all revolve around java, c#, or php. i had one interview but nothing came of it.<p>i've been applying to remote jobs for about 3 months now (ruby/rails, some python/flask), mainly by sending out my resume/cover letter on cybercoders, stackoverflow, etc. this hasn't gotten much in the way of results.<p>a few days ago, i posted a 'hire me!'[0] on hn, but it was buried within minutes. i did get some good feedback, though, pointing out that most companies aren't eager to give out non-senior dev positions to remote people.<p>i'm starting to suspect that something is terribly wrong with my cv. as a sysadmin, i was used to being hired within 3 weeks of starting to send out applications in a new city. what am i doing wrong?<p>i've posted my resume[1] -- if you've got a minute, could you look over it and tell me what critical flaw i'm not seeing? this seems like the best time in the history of humanity to be a programmer; why am i having so much trouble finding a job?<p>i can't offer much in return, except this: i travel a lot; if you help me and i'm ever in your city, i'll get in touch with you and buy you a beer.<p>thanks!<p>[0] <link>
[1] project768.com/files/cv_programming.pdf | hi david,your cv is bottom heavy: much of the interesting stuff is buried in the experience section below the fold, so to speak.in the experience section, the line spacing is too big for me to be able to easily and quickly form a mental picture of your experience. i should be able to do this in a quick glance. i wouldn't extend the experience section above 2 pages.the bottom line is that i cannot quickly determine what you're about. unable to determining that quickly, and by extension your 'fitability' to the position i'm recruiting for would make me put your cv at the bottom of the pile to focus on if i don't find any suitable candidates in the easy-to-categorize pile of cvs.i would:- start with the experience section (no longer than 2 pages)- move everything i can from the experience section to the skills section (tech used, etc); if i wouldn't want to list some tech i used just for one job, in the skills section, i would make it a one-liner at that particular job description: "technologies used: postgis, ldap, etc"- switch the focus of the experience section from what i did, to what i accomplished. there's plenty of opportunity for the company to ask me about what i did at the interview; remember: the only purpose of the cv is to get you an interview, not to tell the story of your life. this doesn't mean you shouldn't list things you did that you feel proud of or feel that are very important/relevant.- get rid of the objective. it doesn't serve the purpose of a cv. i don't think a recruiter wouldn't select you for an interview because your cv doesn't contain an objective, so it's more noise at best, at worst it makes the recruiter not select you because of something you've written in the objective.- add some color to the cv. use different fonts. experiment with different layouts. make it memorable!finally, you are better that you give yourself credit for! | your cv doesn't matter. what matters is your approach. pick companies you want to work for. research them to death. imagine a dream role at that company, one where you're generating enormous value for that company while enjoying yourself immensely. find hiring managers at that company. pitch them. listen carefully, refine your pitch. be persistent. until you have a job you love, hit everyone once a month.your resume plays virtually zero role in this whole process. |
ask hn: is there something wrong with my cv or skillset?
hi there,<p>i'm a software developer (former sysadmin) who's just getting into the field. this summer, i finished my first large solo freelance project (a web application pulling data from a network of remote sensors, which i also set up and programmed).<p>my programmer friends have been telling me to "just apply for a job, you're better than you think" for a long time now, but after this project i finally feel competent enough to call myself a programmer.<p>just a few weeks ago, i moved to a new country, where the job market is kind of crappy. i applied for some local sysadmin gigs because the few programming jobs i see here all revolve around java, c#, or php. i had one interview but nothing came of it.<p>i've been applying to remote jobs for about 3 months now (ruby/rails, some python/flask), mainly by sending out my resume/cover letter on cybercoders, stackoverflow, etc. this hasn't gotten much in the way of results.<p>a few days ago, i posted a 'hire me!'[0] on hn, but it was buried within minutes. i did get some good feedback, though, pointing out that most companies aren't eager to give out non-senior dev positions to remote people.<p>i'm starting to suspect that something is terribly wrong with my cv. as a sysadmin, i was used to being hired within 3 weeks of starting to send out applications in a new city. what am i doing wrong?<p>i've posted my resume[1] -- if you've got a minute, could you look over it and tell me what critical flaw i'm not seeing? this seems like the best time in the history of humanity to be a programmer; why am i having so much trouble finding a job?<p>i can't offer much in return, except this: i travel a lot; if you help me and i'm ever in your city, i'll get in touch with you and buy you a beer.<p>thanks!<p>[0] <link>
[1] project768.com/files/cv_programming.pdf | your cv doesn't matter. what matters is your approach. pick companies you want to work for. research them to death. imagine a dream role at that company, one where you're generating enormous value for that company while enjoying yourself immensely. find hiring managers at that company. pitch them. listen carefully, refine your pitch. be persistent. until you have a job you love, hit everyone once a month.your resume plays virtually zero role in this whole process. | what shock says is correct.some of my thoughts:
you list education and interests before experience, in my circles experience is the first thing an employer looks at and it should be listed first.your layout lacks style or flair, you being a sysadmin and programmer, things like typography probably didn't even cross your mind but as it turns out, employers love cvs that looks like some effort was put into it.the cv is too long, your font is too big and too much spacing between lines and sections. also sections have different spacing between them that makes it look unprofessional. it used to be that fonts should be large for readability, but that is not the case anymore especially if you can send the cv in as a pdf. if you have to send a printed cv, take font sizes more into account.there is too much detail on your projects, if an employer is interested in the tech and projects you list they will ask questions. it is true that it is better to leave something to be desired. entice them, do not force feed them.i will include my cv in english version (not final version as i got a job in norway :p)
not to brag but my cv got praised and hung on a wall in a design firm where i worked for a while. i hope you can take some inspiration, but also, research how cvs are expected to look in the region where you apply for jobs, this varies from place to place, sometimes drastically.also, if you think you have made a new and better cv and application, it is absolutely allowed to apply for jobs somewhere you applied before, even the same position. this might even boost your image as a person very interested in the job.<link> |
ask hn: is there something wrong with my cv or skillset?
hi there,<p>i'm a software developer (former sysadmin) who's just getting into the field. this summer, i finished my first large solo freelance project (a web application pulling data from a network of remote sensors, which i also set up and programmed).<p>my programmer friends have been telling me to "just apply for a job, you're better than you think" for a long time now, but after this project i finally feel competent enough to call myself a programmer.<p>just a few weeks ago, i moved to a new country, where the job market is kind of crappy. i applied for some local sysadmin gigs because the few programming jobs i see here all revolve around java, c#, or php. i had one interview but nothing came of it.<p>i've been applying to remote jobs for about 3 months now (ruby/rails, some python/flask), mainly by sending out my resume/cover letter on cybercoders, stackoverflow, etc. this hasn't gotten much in the way of results.<p>a few days ago, i posted a 'hire me!'[0] on hn, but it was buried within minutes. i did get some good feedback, though, pointing out that most companies aren't eager to give out non-senior dev positions to remote people.<p>i'm starting to suspect that something is terribly wrong with my cv. as a sysadmin, i was used to being hired within 3 weeks of starting to send out applications in a new city. what am i doing wrong?<p>i've posted my resume[1] -- if you've got a minute, could you look over it and tell me what critical flaw i'm not seeing? this seems like the best time in the history of humanity to be a programmer; why am i having so much trouble finding a job?<p>i can't offer much in return, except this: i travel a lot; if you help me and i'm ever in your city, i'll get in touch with you and buy you a beer.<p>thanks!<p>[0] <link>
[1] project768.com/files/cv_programming.pdf | what shock says is correct.some of my thoughts:
you list education and interests before experience, in my circles experience is the first thing an employer looks at and it should be listed first.your layout lacks style or flair, you being a sysadmin and programmer, things like typography probably didn't even cross your mind but as it turns out, employers love cvs that looks like some effort was put into it.the cv is too long, your font is too big and too much spacing between lines and sections. also sections have different spacing between them that makes it look unprofessional. it used to be that fonts should be large for readability, but that is not the case anymore especially if you can send the cv in as a pdf. if you have to send a printed cv, take font sizes more into account.there is too much detail on your projects, if an employer is interested in the tech and projects you list they will ask questions. it is true that it is better to leave something to be desired. entice them, do not force feed them.i will include my cv in english version (not final version as i got a job in norway :p)
not to brag but my cv got praised and hung on a wall in a design firm where i worked for a while. i hope you can take some inspiration, but also, research how cvs are expected to look in the region where you apply for jobs, this varies from place to place, sometimes drastically.also, if you think you have made a new and better cv and application, it is absolutely allowed to apply for jobs somewhere you applied before, even the same position. this might even boost your image as a person very interested in the job.<link> | so it looks like you're looking for work in galway - often called an overgrown village. galway definitely does have a software development industry but it is not exactly a hackers mecca. just be aware that you are not in a big market. in ireland dublin is by far the best place to be getting work.as others have said; get your cv to within 2 pages.other local knowledge:- the objective section of the cv is pretty common in ireland as an alternative to a cover page.- recruitment agencies dominate the market. if you are avoiding them this will seriously hurt your prospects.- i'd strike out the austria address if you still have it in there, as an island anything hinting that you are not based in the country will put people off. also you should get an irish mobile number, the +43 says "i'm not based here" to me.- work histroy is generally the top section (after an objective/about section if you have one). make sure work history highlights competency for the roles you are going for.- don't include a photo, it is the done thing in a lot of europe but is not done in ireland. |
what's up with the number 163?
| here's another directly related phenomenon.look at the function f(n) = n^2 + n + 41. now start plugging in nonnegative integers. you get 41, 43, 47, 53, 61, 71, 83, 97, 113, 131, 151, 173, .....all primes?! well, not quite, plug in n = 41. but the fact that you get primes for so long is quite directly (but in a rather complicated way) explained by what colinwright describes. | math continues to fascinate me. here's another one i love: <link>'ve spent hours in front of google trying to find other random symmetries.. :] |
what's up with the number 163?
| math continues to fascinate me. here's another one i love: <link>'ve spent hours in front of google trying to find other random symmetries.. :] | i'll be honest -- i don't find this sort of thing terribly interesting. i feel when reading this as if i'm being pressured to ooh and ahh, but to me the magic is just not there.it also strikes me as backwards that people are referring to these incredibly deep algebraic connections as explanations. they're not explanations -- they're just connections. i don't need any of that stuff to prove these identities. i just need a pocket calculator. the algebraic connections might be useful for discovering these identities in the first place, but are not necessary for proving anything here. for any given arithmetic identity i'm sure you can find some remarkably obtuse algebraic connection which illustrates the same identity. these connections are interesting only insofar as the other stuff is interesting. the monster group is interesting, but this identity itself is not particularly amazing to me.finally, is .999 really "extremely" close to an integer? in engineering, maybe. but in pure mathematics that seems "extremely" far from an integer. |
what's up with the number 163?
| i'll be honest -- i don't find this sort of thing terribly interesting. i feel when reading this as if i'm being pressured to ooh and ahh, but to me the magic is just not there.it also strikes me as backwards that people are referring to these incredibly deep algebraic connections as explanations. they're not explanations -- they're just connections. i don't need any of that stuff to prove these identities. i just need a pocket calculator. the algebraic connections might be useful for discovering these identities in the first place, but are not necessary for proving anything here. for any given arithmetic identity i'm sure you can find some remarkably obtuse algebraic connection which illustrates the same identity. these connections are interesting only insofar as the other stuff is interesting. the monster group is interesting, but this identity itself is not particularly amazing to me.finally, is .999 really "extremely" close to an integer? in engineering, maybe. but in pure mathematics that seems "extremely" far from an integer. | since numbers are infinite and the ways we can manipulate them are infinite (or at least large) doesn't it mean that unlikely or strange things happen all the time?i would be more surprised if they wouldn't happen. |
what's up with the number 163?
| since numbers are infinite and the ways we can manipulate them are infinite (or at least large) doesn't it mean that unlikely or strange things happen all the time?i would be more surprised if they wouldn't happen. | in major league baseball (<link>, the season lasts 162 games, from late march/early april to the very end of september. game 163 is played, only if necessary, as a tiebreaker game (<link> that usually determines which team is heading to the postseason and which team is “going home.”why 162? in 1961, the american league expanded from 8 teams to 10 teams, so instead of playing 154 games against 7 different opponents (22 each), a team now played each other 18 times. (this also works well because 18 is a factor of 3, and baseball often plays its games in a series of 3, held at the same ballpark.) the next year the national league followed suit.if there are any game 163’s this season they’ll happen monday. |
ask hn: where can i find technical co-founders?
can anyone help me out with some advice on this?<p>i need to find technical co-founders as i am a sales and marketing focused business owner £2m t/o.<p>technical co-founders in the uk (near bristol) would be ideal as that is where i am based, but i might consider people in the valley as we may end up there anyway.<p>my business idea is focused on a concept that would eventually render my own business model redundant.<p>i don't need work done for free - i am happy to employ someone to de-risk their time investment and i already have 2 investors who will fund us. however, i will self fund for as long as possible.<p>any advice is gratefully received.<p>thanks.<p>nick | you should check out ycombinator's startup class. (it's free) <link>
according to them, your better off with no cofounder than some random person you meet online. ideally though, you should have someone you've known for many years. | flat out hire a technical advisor. don't bother dangling equity, just pay their rate like you would an attorney - retainer + hourly. ask them to create a technical roadmap and architecture. with that in hand you can then find a first employee to implement it.in this way, you can leverage the expensive expertise of a very senior level person where it's most needed and then hire a less experienced and less expensive individual to perform the daily work.it's like building a house, hire an architect first, but then a general contractor to make it happen. |
ask hn: where can i find technical co-founders?
can anyone help me out with some advice on this?<p>i need to find technical co-founders as i am a sales and marketing focused business owner £2m t/o.<p>technical co-founders in the uk (near bristol) would be ideal as that is where i am based, but i might consider people in the valley as we may end up there anyway.<p>my business idea is focused on a concept that would eventually render my own business model redundant.<p>i don't need work done for free - i am happy to employ someone to de-risk their time investment and i already have 2 investors who will fund us. however, i will self fund for as long as possible.<p>any advice is gratefully received.<p>thanks.<p>nick | flat out hire a technical advisor. don't bother dangling equity, just pay their rate like you would an attorney - retainer + hourly. ask them to create a technical roadmap and architecture. with that in hand you can then find a first employee to implement it.in this way, you can leverage the expensive expertise of a very senior level person where it's most needed and then hire a less experienced and less expensive individual to perform the daily work.it's like building a house, hire an architect first, but then a general contractor to make it happen. | hi nick,swfounders meetup in bristol is a good place to start <link> it seems to attract a couple senior devs looking for an opportunity when i've been there.secondly, feel free to drop me an email (freebananas at gmail). i run <link> if you can give me some more details i occasionally find out if someone is looking for something. |
ask hn: where can i find technical co-founders?
can anyone help me out with some advice on this?<p>i need to find technical co-founders as i am a sales and marketing focused business owner £2m t/o.<p>technical co-founders in the uk (near bristol) would be ideal as that is where i am based, but i might consider people in the valley as we may end up there anyway.<p>my business idea is focused on a concept that would eventually render my own business model redundant.<p>i don't need work done for free - i am happy to employ someone to de-risk their time investment and i already have 2 investors who will fund us. however, i will self fund for as long as possible.<p>any advice is gratefully received.<p>thanks.<p>nick | hi nick,swfounders meetup in bristol is a good place to start <link> it seems to attract a couple senior devs looking for an opportunity when i've been there.secondly, feel free to drop me an email (freebananas at gmail). i run <link> if you can give me some more details i occasionally find out if someone is looking for something. | that is a tough question, as startup advice out there is "look between your friends". this is the same as saying "sorry if you didn't go to a top cs college to have smart developers friends. there is nothing you can do". sam altman in his last startup class went as far as to say that non-tech people have no business founding a tech business, quoting "software people should found software companies, media eople should found media company". i found that a little bit sad to hear.anyway, my advice. start with "freelance-as-a-test-to-cto contract". but the secret is to find a developer who is not a freelancer. freelancers already made their mind, they don't want to be a cto, they will treat your contract as any other job, probably not even prioritize yours.you must find a non-freelancer developer with an interest to start a start-up. maybe a guy with a dayjob who needs the paycheck and can't afford to quit it, or some other who already failed in one or two of his own ideas. or a young smart developer who is still lookong for his idea of a startup.finding the right profile, you must deal with the agreement the right way. you must convince the developer that your idea has the potencial to be big. you must value his time and pay a reasonable fee. i think the right one won't charge the top market he would if he was a freelancer. he must gain other thngs than money with the job. learning mostly. learning about a code, as he will build a software from scratch, probably learnng new tech. also learning how a business is built. if it fails he must be better prepared to startup his own thing, for example. that is the hard thing to get with freelancers. they will accept your proposal only for the money. you will never know if they are really interested in being part of your business for real. this is become a 100% certainty if you are outsourcing to a software factory or remote freelance, so don't even consider about it.
i would start with an hourly fee, i think it is better for a test than a fulltime hire. sometimes might be even irresponsible to hire a developer to such an only-idea startup. too risky.hire the guy to make the mvp with an hourly fee. this way you will know if the guy is good, if you work well together, if you cmmunicate well. he will also know if it is something he wants to dive in. so this would be the freelancer as a test to cto.now, actualy answering the qustion to where find it. i don't believe in startup events or regular networking for this. you hire the more outspken and available developer, not the right one. a good tip that worked for me is to keep an eye for this guys that show up at hn front page with a technical post or a show hn. rule out the very experient and famous developers who are regulars to hn front page. search for the new, unknown guy who did something bright (hn upvotes are a great filter from tech guys for this). at the show hn rule out the full formed startups, look, again, for the new, unknown guy who built something great as a side project.if you have experience in the field, a good idea and money to fund (and a willingness to go to sv), i think you are in good position to attract the top talent that appear here.also, look for someone in "who is hiring" hn thread (definitely not at "needs a freelancer?" thread). |
ask hn: where can i find technical co-founders?
can anyone help me out with some advice on this?<p>i need to find technical co-founders as i am a sales and marketing focused business owner £2m t/o.<p>technical co-founders in the uk (near bristol) would be ideal as that is where i am based, but i might consider people in the valley as we may end up there anyway.<p>my business idea is focused on a concept that would eventually render my own business model redundant.<p>i don't need work done for free - i am happy to employ someone to de-risk their time investment and i already have 2 investors who will fund us. however, i will self fund for as long as possible.<p>any advice is gratefully received.<p>thanks.<p>nick | that is a tough question, as startup advice out there is "look between your friends". this is the same as saying "sorry if you didn't go to a top cs college to have smart developers friends. there is nothing you can do". sam altman in his last startup class went as far as to say that non-tech people have no business founding a tech business, quoting "software people should found software companies, media eople should found media company". i found that a little bit sad to hear.anyway, my advice. start with "freelance-as-a-test-to-cto contract". but the secret is to find a developer who is not a freelancer. freelancers already made their mind, they don't want to be a cto, they will treat your contract as any other job, probably not even prioritize yours.you must find a non-freelancer developer with an interest to start a start-up. maybe a guy with a dayjob who needs the paycheck and can't afford to quit it, or some other who already failed in one or two of his own ideas. or a young smart developer who is still lookong for his idea of a startup.finding the right profile, you must deal with the agreement the right way. you must convince the developer that your idea has the potencial to be big. you must value his time and pay a reasonable fee. i think the right one won't charge the top market he would if he was a freelancer. he must gain other thngs than money with the job. learning mostly. learning about a code, as he will build a software from scratch, probably learnng new tech. also learning how a business is built. if it fails he must be better prepared to startup his own thing, for example. that is the hard thing to get with freelancers. they will accept your proposal only for the money. you will never know if they are really interested in being part of your business for real. this is become a 100% certainty if you are outsourcing to a software factory or remote freelance, so don't even consider about it.
i would start with an hourly fee, i think it is better for a test than a fulltime hire. sometimes might be even irresponsible to hire a developer to such an only-idea startup. too risky.hire the guy to make the mvp with an hourly fee. this way you will know if the guy is good, if you work well together, if you cmmunicate well. he will also know if it is something he wants to dive in. so this would be the freelancer as a test to cto.now, actualy answering the qustion to where find it. i don't believe in startup events or regular networking for this. you hire the more outspken and available developer, not the right one. a good tip that worked for me is to keep an eye for this guys that show up at hn front page with a technical post or a show hn. rule out the very experient and famous developers who are regulars to hn front page. search for the new, unknown guy who did something bright (hn upvotes are a great filter from tech guys for this). at the show hn rule out the full formed startups, look, again, for the new, unknown guy who built something great as a side project.if you have experience in the field, a good idea and money to fund (and a willingness to go to sv), i think you are in good position to attract the top talent that appear here.also, look for someone in "who is hiring" hn thread (definitely not at "needs a freelancer?" thread). | tldr; show you are willing to put in effort and labor aside from generating ideas/spending/raising capitalhi nick -i can speak for myself. i am a primarily technical, sole founder of a 3+ years profitable company who had to develop the business know-how along the way.with the ability to see both sides, what i've found is the business-side components are equally as important as the technical components; that is, neither can live without the other. but here's the rub: the technical side is a thousand times more laborious to become proficient at, and there's not even a comparison.if you're able to take that with more than a grain of salt, it implies while your contributions are equally as important as a technical co-founders to the overall business' success - the technical co-founder is not likely to see it that way because they won't be looking at things in terms of value (which is what matters most from the business man's point of view) but in terms of value + effort.the way you can make developers feel good about working with you is to emphasize something aside from money (risk) to contribute which shows you will be putting in a substantial amount of effort which then has tangible, measurable results. for example, if you are a good writer and willing to write lots of content for seo.you say you are a sales and marketing focused person, so really stress what it is you will be doing work-wise that will compel the technical co-founder to want to work with you. will you be cold-calling 100 people with a 5 percent conversion rate every day? will you be spending 4 hours a day using x, y, and z tool to come up with keyword permutations for adwords campaigns? will you be reaching out to a minimum of 3 potential affiliate / rev-share partners a day to maximize those types of relationships? show what makes you good at what you do and the effort you will be putting forth to achieve your results. |
ask hn: final year project in cs
hey i need to choose the topic of my final year project of bsc software engineering. my uni obviously gives whole bunch of topics to choose from, but none of them are interesting to me. they are super boring (build a website for some uni department, etc.) - boooring!<p>i would love to do something outstanding, something what i could show of with to my future employers.<p>i am interested in big data, ai. i was thinking of doing something with drones, or some social media data analysis, or something with computer vision.<p>any advice? | major projects take a lot more effort than you might expect. i would try and have lot's of small milestones that actually do something useful. the idea is even if you don't get everything working you still have something significant to fall back on. | my senior project was a super nintendo emulator. it worked out well because 1) there's a decent amount of documentation out there on sites like romhacking.net, 2) there's usually at least one open-source emulator that you can use to figure out tricky bits (we used bsnes to help us understand how to render graphics when the documentation was vague or incorrect), and 3) emulators are super-easy to demo and verifying if you got it right is easy due to existing code you can run to test. |
ask hn: final year project in cs
hey i need to choose the topic of my final year project of bsc software engineering. my uni obviously gives whole bunch of topics to choose from, but none of them are interesting to me. they are super boring (build a website for some uni department, etc.) - boooring!<p>i would love to do something outstanding, something what i could show of with to my future employers.<p>i am interested in big data, ai. i was thinking of doing something with drones, or some social media data analysis, or something with computer vision.<p>any advice? | my senior project was a super nintendo emulator. it worked out well because 1) there's a decent amount of documentation out there on sites like romhacking.net, 2) there's usually at least one open-source emulator that you can use to figure out tricky bits (we used bsnes to help us understand how to render graphics when the documentation was vague or incorrect), and 3) emulators are super-easy to demo and verifying if you got it right is easy due to existing code you can run to test. | building a website for the archeology department is a real engineering project. it requires domain knowledge, requirements gathering, specification, working with stakeholders, iterative design, deployment, and consciousness of maintainability."something with drones" is not a software engineering project. writing a poem about drones is enough. on the other hand, if you can show future employers that you solved ai or big data as a senior project, the road ahead will be paved with yellow bricks.the critical thing is to show your ability to execute and part of a portfolio is to provide a familiar context in which to discuss engineering decisions as engineering decisions.don't get me wrong, some students will have really cool ideas for their senior project. many of them will have been thinking about it for a long time. a few of them will just be the sort of person who comes up with cool ideas. it's a bit late to try and become either type.good luck. |
ask hn: final year project in cs
hey i need to choose the topic of my final year project of bsc software engineering. my uni obviously gives whole bunch of topics to choose from, but none of them are interesting to me. they are super boring (build a website for some uni department, etc.) - boooring!<p>i would love to do something outstanding, something what i could show of with to my future employers.<p>i am interested in big data, ai. i was thinking of doing something with drones, or some social media data analysis, or something with computer vision.<p>any advice? | building a website for the archeology department is a real engineering project. it requires domain knowledge, requirements gathering, specification, working with stakeholders, iterative design, deployment, and consciousness of maintainability."something with drones" is not a software engineering project. writing a poem about drones is enough. on the other hand, if you can show future employers that you solved ai or big data as a senior project, the road ahead will be paved with yellow bricks.the critical thing is to show your ability to execute and part of a portfolio is to provide a familiar context in which to discuss engineering decisions as engineering decisions.don't get me wrong, some students will have really cool ideas for their senior project. many of them will have been thinking about it for a long time. a few of them will just be the sort of person who comes up with cool ideas. it's a bit late to try and become either type.good luck. | pick an open source project that you like, fix a couple of bugs to show you're serious then talk with the project maintainer(s) and tell them you want to do something that takes 150 hours or so.the reason for doing something open source is that you can point to it when a future employer asks. if you choose a "brand name" project, you can get a lot of kudos for being associated with something like that. |
ask hn: final year project in cs
hey i need to choose the topic of my final year project of bsc software engineering. my uni obviously gives whole bunch of topics to choose from, but none of them are interesting to me. they are super boring (build a website for some uni department, etc.) - boooring!<p>i would love to do something outstanding, something what i could show of with to my future employers.<p>i am interested in big data, ai. i was thinking of doing something with drones, or some social media data analysis, or something with computer vision.<p>any advice? | pick an open source project that you like, fix a couple of bugs to show you're serious then talk with the project maintainer(s) and tell them you want to do something that takes 150 hours or so.the reason for doing something open source is that you can point to it when a future employer asks. if you choose a "brand name" project, you can get a lot of kudos for being associated with something like that. | build the website for some uni department.do a good job. with all the time you save, you can focus on doing things with drones or ai or whatever you want. then inevitably when the scope of those projects goes out of control you won't have the stress hanging over you of it being for school and will be able to explore the domain with a light heart! |
libressl: more than 30 days later
| interesting and quick work. the story of the libcrypto srp glass house makes me feel like a little kid who just heard a ghost story.is openssl being notified of security bugs you all find in your pairing down process? | > in particular, we answer the question "what would the user like to do?" and not "what does the tls protocol allow the user to do?"this makes me think of the laudable approach taken by the developers for the cryptography library for python. expose functions to users with sane and safe settings to users, and provide the abilities to override the defaults if you really must (but in such a manner that it's extremely clear that you're stepping into dangerous territory) |
libressl: more than 30 days later
| > in particular, we answer the question "what would the user like to do?" and not "what does the tls protocol allow the user to do?"this makes me think of the laudable approach taken by the developers for the cryptography library for python. expose functions to users with sane and safe settings to users, and provide the abilities to override the defaults if you really must (but in such a manner that it's extremely clear that you're stepping into dangerous territory) | i've said this before, but kudos to the openbsd project for shouldering a disproportionate share of the burden of maintaining core bits of our libre/open infrastructure. i can't think of anyone in tech who has not benefited mightily from openssh and who will not benefit mightily from libressl.this article is a good reminder for me to get off my arse and cut my meager grad-student checks to the eff and openbsd project. |
libressl: more than 30 days later
| i've said this before, but kudos to the openbsd project for shouldering a disproportionate share of the burden of maintaining core bits of our libre/open infrastructure. i can't think of anyone in tech who has not benefited mightily from openssh and who will not benefit mightily from libressl.this article is a good reminder for me to get off my arse and cut my meager grad-student checks to the eff and openbsd project. | it's pretty surprising that they are using cvs for a new project |
libressl: more than 30 days later
| it's pretty surprising that they are using cvs for a new project | among the good and bad stories this year, so far, libressl is the good story of the year.also happy to hear a bit about the ressl api. to me it sounds like a focused, high-level api that makes it easy to get right and hard to get wrong. so kind of like nacl. it's clearly the future -- look at the huge amount of software being written for sodium now, for example. it's huge. |
the downfall of quora (2013)
this is the email circulating the valley. the high profile venture capitalist's name has been redacted along with that of the recipient.<p>february 1, 2013<p>[name redacted],<p>since you asked what i think about quora and its latest pivot, here's my answer. it's probably far more than you expected but bear with me. from its early days the big question about this site has been "can an almost unlimited supply of siliconvalley cash and hype turn a mediocre idea into a success?" | this piece starts out teasing some kind of business or market analysis about quora, which would be interesting to read, but it almost immediately descends completely and permanently into drama, some of which seems like it's only really intelligible to people who spend a lot of time on quora.it's not a worthwhile read, and we'd be better off discussing quora based on virtually any other story about it. | i mentally blacklisted quora when it was proudly us only (i'm canadian). their reasoning was extremely dubious: something about "cultural differences" and "language barriers" preventing "high quality content".foolishly, i gave them another chance when they opened registration worldwide. the second strike was when i found out that they showed the googlebot different content, à la experts exchange.and the third strike was the heavy handed social integration. can't post (or even read content) unless you link with facebook, etc.it's a shame. as others have noted here i think the web could use an improved version of "yahoo answers"; something with a stackoverflow feel. especially since google answers (the one you paid bounties for) went the way of the dodo in 2006. |
the downfall of quora (2013)
this is the email circulating the valley. the high profile venture capitalist's name has been redacted along with that of the recipient.<p>february 1, 2013<p>[name redacted],<p>since you asked what i think about quora and its latest pivot, here's my answer. it's probably far more than you expected but bear with me. from its early days the big question about this site has been "can an almost unlimited supply of siliconvalley cash and hype turn a mediocre idea into a success?" | i mentally blacklisted quora when it was proudly us only (i'm canadian). their reasoning was extremely dubious: something about "cultural differences" and "language barriers" preventing "high quality content".foolishly, i gave them another chance when they opened registration worldwide. the second strike was when i found out that they showed the googlebot different content, à la experts exchange.and the third strike was the heavy handed social integration. can't post (or even read content) unless you link with facebook, etc.it's a shame. as others have noted here i think the web could use an improved version of "yahoo answers"; something with a stackoverflow feel. especially since google answers (the one you paid bounties for) went the way of the dodo in 2006. | this issue hits a home run with me: "ideological moderators".i was a very active quora user on 2010-2011, i'd visit the site over 10 times a day, i would write any answers on word, make sure they were thorough, well written, etc, before i replied to question. i made an effort, both offline and online. what i really enjoyed was the initial community, the well thought questions and answers. during this 18-24 month period i also got thousands of upvotes, lots of thank you messages for my answers, etc.one day an army of moderators came along. these moderators weren't quora staff, but volunteers. i get it, it takes considerable man power to go through many of those questions and answers. i can work with that.it was when i asking a question on movies & documentaries that i had my first encounter with them. i can't recall the exact question i asked, but it something along the lines "what are the most interesting documentaries released in 2011?". one moderator, without contacting me, changed the question to something more specific, he added a sub-genre to the question. i got notified of the change, went back, and changed it to the original question. after a couple of hours i get a message from the moderator telling me that that question isn't a "good/relevant" question (i'm paraphrasing). i ask why, and i get told that "you can't ask generic questions". once more, i change the question to the original one and ignoring the random argument by the moderator. then this moderator contacted a second moderator in order to gang-up on me, supporting each other random policies in order to make a statement.it was then that i realised that these people didn't like to moderate quora for the content quality, but for the feeling of 'power' and control moderation creates. i noticed that these guys liked being moderators because they enjoyed telling others what to do, with no regards for the content, quality, or users. that same day i deleted all of my questions, answers, and quora account. i haven't used it again since then, and it feels great. |
the downfall of quora (2013)
this is the email circulating the valley. the high profile venture capitalist's name has been redacted along with that of the recipient.<p>february 1, 2013<p>[name redacted],<p>since you asked what i think about quora and its latest pivot, here's my answer. it's probably far more than you expected but bear with me. from its early days the big question about this site has been "can an almost unlimited supply of siliconvalley cash and hype turn a mediocre idea into a success?" | this issue hits a home run with me: "ideological moderators".i was a very active quora user on 2010-2011, i'd visit the site over 10 times a day, i would write any answers on word, make sure they were thorough, well written, etc, before i replied to question. i made an effort, both offline and online. what i really enjoyed was the initial community, the well thought questions and answers. during this 18-24 month period i also got thousands of upvotes, lots of thank you messages for my answers, etc.one day an army of moderators came along. these moderators weren't quora staff, but volunteers. i get it, it takes considerable man power to go through many of those questions and answers. i can work with that.it was when i asking a question on movies & documentaries that i had my first encounter with them. i can't recall the exact question i asked, but it something along the lines "what are the most interesting documentaries released in 2011?". one moderator, without contacting me, changed the question to something more specific, he added a sub-genre to the question. i got notified of the change, went back, and changed it to the original question. after a couple of hours i get a message from the moderator telling me that that question isn't a "good/relevant" question (i'm paraphrasing). i ask why, and i get told that "you can't ask generic questions". once more, i change the question to the original one and ignoring the random argument by the moderator. then this moderator contacted a second moderator in order to gang-up on me, supporting each other random policies in order to make a statement.it was then that i realised that these people didn't like to moderate quora for the content quality, but for the feeling of 'power' and control moderation creates. i noticed that these guys liked being moderators because they enjoyed telling others what to do, with no regards for the content, quality, or users. that same day i deleted all of my questions, answers, and quora account. i haven't used it again since then, and it feels great. | quota. ?share=whateverthat to me sums up the site in its entirety. a content seo google cheater that tries to con people into signing up to boost its user numbersthey should have looked to stackoverflow as a good example of how you build a proper community, and more importantly, nurture it.good ridance. |
the downfall of quora (2013)
this is the email circulating the valley. the high profile venture capitalist's name has been redacted along with that of the recipient.<p>february 1, 2013<p>[name redacted],<p>since you asked what i think about quora and its latest pivot, here's my answer. it's probably far more than you expected but bear with me. from its early days the big question about this site has been "can an almost unlimited supply of siliconvalley cash and hype turn a mediocre idea into a success?" | quota. ?share=whateverthat to me sums up the site in its entirety. a content seo google cheater that tries to con people into signing up to boost its user numbersthey should have looked to stackoverflow as a good example of how you build a proper community, and more importantly, nurture it.good ridance. | this article nails it. i remember when quora first came out, i thought that it was a great idea, like a stack overflow for the masses. fast forward to now though and i find myself avoiding it at all costs. quora seems willing to try any and everything to fix itself except for solving its most glaring and obvious problem, its closed ecosystem. on mobile it is ridiculous when you do a search in browser and click a quora link it forces you to install the app to see the answer. if you do make the mistake of installing the app you are then inundated with useless notifications about things you don't care about. i know that there is good information hidden in there, but its a terrible strategy to make people jump through hoops to access it. meanwhile stack overflow became stack exchange with sub-sites for more and more topics thus transforming itself into what quora could have/should have been in the first place. its open nature has driven its growth to a top 200 alexa rank while quora seems destined to continue its semi-annual pivoting. |
perl's problems
| to put it bluntly: the next perl release should be 6.0.the existing perl6 projects can figure out their own branding, because it's clear they are no longer "successors" or replacements for perl. | > is the difference between arrays and array references really necessary?this is certainly a annoyance compared to e.g. ruby. it's getting easier to just always use references [0], but i haven't been using perl much for a few years and am not sure if this is still considered experimental.[0] <link> |
perl's problems
| > is the difference between arrays and array references really necessary?this is certainly a annoyance compared to e.g. ruby. it's getting easier to just always use references [0], but i haven't been using perl much for a few years and am not sure if this is still considered experimental.[0] <link> | the article "addresses perl's perceived problems" more then it tries to find what the real problems of perl are.so here's my take on it:1. syntax. and how it's almost impossible to change it after a certain level of language-adoption. perl coders knew it needed to be radically changed, understood how that was impossible, and moved on.2. as a result of 1: the shrinking community. it is a clear red flag, no-one wants to start a project in based on (soon to be) legacy technology.3. the existence of very suitable languages for perl-refugees. when perl ruled the web it was pretty much the only open source, web-focussed, runtime-typed language with a package manager fully of goodies. but with ruby, python (, etc.) and their very active communities around, it became very easy to switch.4. it missed academic backing. having programmers "schooled" in a particular language seems to be important in this world. the winners in this area seem to be java, c-sharp, c++, c, python and to some extend haskell; perl never managed to enter this league (and does not seem very fit). |
perl's problems
| the article "addresses perl's perceived problems" more then it tries to find what the real problems of perl are.so here's my take on it:1. syntax. and how it's almost impossible to change it after a certain level of language-adoption. perl coders knew it needed to be radically changed, understood how that was impossible, and moved on.2. as a result of 1: the shrinking community. it is a clear red flag, no-one wants to start a project in based on (soon to be) legacy technology.3. the existence of very suitable languages for perl-refugees. when perl ruled the web it was pretty much the only open source, web-focussed, runtime-typed language with a package manager fully of goodies. but with ruby, python (, etc.) and their very active communities around, it became very easy to switch.4. it missed academic backing. having programmers "schooled" in a particular language seems to be important in this world. the winners in this area seem to be java, c-sharp, c++, c, python and to some extend haskell; perl never managed to enter this league (and does not seem very fit). | i agree with most of what is here save for the perl 5/6 issue. perl 5 needs a name change of some kind or another (since perl 6 isn't going anywhere or changing its name). you can't really write it off as people not "understanding how version numbering works" when the common way it works is by incrementing the major number when a new version is out. |
perl's problems
| i agree with most of what is here save for the perl 5/6 issue. perl 5 needs a name change of some kind or another (since perl 6 isn't going anywhere or changing its name). you can't really write it off as people not "understanding how version numbering works" when the common way it works is by incrementing the major number when a new version is out. | i've always found it funny how many of the people who decry perl as being "line noise" will then go on to praise such languages as apl, j and k. i think it might be because of their more esoteric paradigms and the fact that they do not follow the formulaic von neumann architecture, making them good targets for people to assert how atypical they are, unlike those other blub programmers. |
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