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I have one regret. I was a java back-end developer on a major EU gambling site for a year. I was distracted by quite extreme (and cool) scalability and up-time

I have one regret. I was a java back-end developer on a major EU gambling site for a year. I was distracted by quite extreme (and cool) scalability and up-time requirements. This was years before cloud existed. I was ignoring that this was funded by a dodgy billionaire seeking to maximize profits by hosting the site on the least gambling restrictive countries in EU; and ultimately exploiting people who are vulnerable to gambling habits. I consider contributing to gambling (and a very short list of other businesses) as a negative contribution to the world; and I won't do it again.

maxehmookau 8y ago
Good for you. Unfortunately it seems most EU gambling sites are still run that way, I'm glad there's one fewer developer working on these applications.
vortegne 8y ago
Was the company name E G*?
BurnGpuBurn 8y ago
Good you got out. I've been offered a job like that on the Isle of Man once, and I'm glad I turned it down. Seems like that place is a haven for gambling companies.
mb_72 8y ago
Good for you. I've had a 'no online gambling / no defence work' clause in my resume / Linked-In profile for a while now, cuts down on a lot of crappy or dodgy offers, that's for sure!
- finnjohnsen2 8y ago
  You're not worried your profile could come across as pretentious?
  - Juliate 8y ago
    I'd call this specific, or focused, not pretentious.
    - finnjohnsen2 8y ago
      I wasn't making the accusation, rather asking if you may have missed some opportunities by coming across as it to strangers. Being a contractor, its a perceived strength to be as flexible as possible.
      - brazzledazzle 8y ago
        I review a fair amount of resumes and I wouldn’t give it a second thought if I saw that. I’d probably assume it was a religious requirement of some sort before I even considered other possibilities.
      - sbarre 8y ago
        As someone who reviews a lot of candidates, I would appreciate it if someone was to tell me up front whether or not they are interested in the kind of work I am offering. I think this is a good thing. I'll take honesty and transparency over perceived flexibility any day.
  - beefeater 8y ago
    +1. I work in neither in Gambling nor Defense, but I still wouldn't hire this guy because he sounds difficult to work with.
    - deleted 8y ago
      [deleted]
  - tyrust 8y ago
    Filtering an employer that finds having a couple clearly established moral boundaries "pretentious" would probably be working as intended.
EdgarVerona 8y ago
Thank you for sharing that story. I think it's important for young software engineers to see and hear about these stories, and for those of us who have experienced them to share them. Software development is such a rush when you're young, and it's easy to be blinded to other concerns by the thrill of it. Those of us who have had this desire manipulated for malicious ends need to keep speaking up, to remind people that there can be real harm done by our actions and that we have to be thinking not just about the interesting problem spaces we're exploring but also what the product we're making is doing, what it's intent is, what effect it might have on people. Please keep sharing this story to young engineers as you come across the opportunity to do so. It's a sobering truth about our duties that often goes unspoken.

maxehmookau 8y ago

Good for you. Unfortunately it seems most EU gambling sites are still run that way, I'm glad there's one fewer developer working on these applications.

vortegne 8y ago

Was the company name E G*?

BurnGpuBurn 8y ago

Good you got out. I've been offered a job like that on the Isle of Man once, and I'm glad I turned it down. Seems like that place is a haven for gambling companies.

mb_72 8y ago

Good for you. I've had a 'no online gambling / no defence work' clause in my resume / Linked-In profile for a while now, cuts down on a lot of crappy or dodgy offers, that's for sure!

finnjohnsen2 8y ago
You're not worried your profile could come across as pretentious?
- Juliate 8y ago
  I'd call this specific, or focused, not pretentious.
  - finnjohnsen2 8y ago
    I wasn't making the accusation, rather asking if you may have missed some opportunities by coming across as it to strangers. Being a contractor, its a perceived strength to be as flexible as possible.
    - brazzledazzle 8y ago
      I review a fair amount of resumes and I wouldn’t give it a second thought if I saw that. I’d probably assume it was a religious requirement of some sort before I even considered other possibilities.
    - sbarre 8y ago
      As someone who reviews a lot of candidates, I would appreciate it if someone was to tell me up front whether or not they are interested in the kind of work I am offering. I think this is a good thing. I'll take honesty and transparency over perceived flexibility any day.
- beefeater 8y ago
  +1. I work in neither in Gambling nor Defense, but I still wouldn't hire this guy because he sounds difficult to work with.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
- tyrust 8y ago
  Filtering an employer that finds having a couple clearly established moral boundaries "pretentious" would probably be working as intended.

EdgarVerona 8y ago

Thank you for sharing that story. I think it's important for young software engineers to see and hear about these stories, and for those of us who have experienced them to share them. Software development is such a rush when you're young, and it's easy to be blinded to other concerns by the thrill of it. Those of us who have had this desire manipulated for malicious ends need to keep speaking up, to remind people that there can be real harm done by our actions and that we have to be thinking not just about the interesting problem spaces we're exploring but also what the product we're making is doing, what it's intent is, what effect it might have on people. Please keep sharing this story to young engineers as you come across the opportunity to do so. It's a sobering truth about our duties that often goes unspoken.