5 ms·

Codecademy Partners With The White House

93 points by bproper 15y ago

jleader 15y ago
They mention Los Angeles Code Academy meetups, I live in LA and know some people interested in learning to code, and in an admittedly brief search I haven't been able to find any evidence of such meetups.
- Samuel_Michon 15y ago
  The first meeting is on February 7th in Santa Monica: http://www.meetup.com/codeyear/Los-Angeles-CA/ http://www.meetup.com/codeyear/Los-Angeles-CA/
  - kafkaesque 15y ago
    Wow! I just found out about Codecademy and immediately signed up! It looks pretty cool! I basically have no programming experience, only a tiny bit. Do you know what the requirements are to attend the meeting? Or what it'll be about? Thanks for your help in advance!
    - Samuel_Michon 15y ago
      Oh, I'm not Codecademy staff, I just read the post a bit more careful than jleader had.
      - kafkaesque 15y ago
        Oh, my apologies. I was too excited and signed up quickly without reading it. Now that I have, it more or less answers my question: "You can meet weekly to discuss each Code Year lesson or whenever you’d like.". Thanks, anyway! (:
      - jleader 15y ago
        Thanks, I'm not sure how I missed that!
nhangen 15y ago
Wow, these guys have had incredible success in the press, almost as if they were first to market. Since they aren't, and there are many sites doing things like this already, I wonder what the secret is. Is it their investors? Is it the name? Is it something I'm missing?
- timjahn 15y ago
  I agree with you, I'm confused as to why they're constantly talked about. The idea is nothing new and there's plenty of competition. Personally, I think it's just the industry's current shiny thing. Regarding the constant press, I'd be willing to bet it's the investors. Money talks, right?
  - frasertimo 15y ago
    Geez, way to be so cynical guys. I think it's because they have a great UI, they respond to feedback, they've worked hard at marketing it, they impressed some VCs, and all the million other reasons that start-ups succeed. Don't complain about it, ask why.
    - hazov 15y ago
      You mean, skills and luck, right? For me this remembers Youtube, not the first but the most famous of them. We can build causal histories but maybe they exist just because they make sense not because they're true. EDIT: I added the second paragraph.
    - nhangen 15y ago
      My point is not that the product is bad, but that there are many products just as good, hitting the same demo. I'm sure the team is great and the investors are great, but let's be honest, the product is fairly light right now. The UI is nifty, but there's nothing special about it. I'm not trying to knock the guys, I'm simply trying to determine why they've become such media darlings without really having delivered anything.
      - 15y ago
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
tnorthcutt 15y ago
Today, we’re proud to announce that we will be working with the White House to get more kids and adults learning to code. With their Summer Jobs+ program, the White House has been working on finding jobs for hundreds of thousands of people over the summer. Did anyone else's stomach turn when they read this part? I think it's great that Codecademy want to help people learn to code and are effectively reaching such a large audience. However, I also think it's absolutely revolting that such a program exists at the federal government level. I think that's ridiculously beyond the scope of what the government should be doing. Remove some/most/all of the hindrances to running a business and hiring employees (convoluted and rage-inducing tax and HR regulations) so that more businesses would be willing and able to launch, expand, and hire. That would create jobs, including probably thousands of coding jobs. </rant>
- thmcmahon 15y ago
  You think it's beyond the scope of government to be assisting low-skilled people to gain skills and employment in quality jobs in industries with a future? I don't. By all means reduce regulation to encourage job growth, but there's more than one way to skin a cat.
  - mseebach 15y ago
    I don't think there's much a government of 350 million people can actively do to help here. Any practical, on-the-ground effort is bound to drown in bureaucracy. But this is not, as I read between the lines, what is going on here: This is a PR/photo-op thing where the White House puts it's considerable PR clout behind CodeAcademy's meetup push - maybe there's some spare change to hire a couple of CA coordinators, but nothing significant.
- superuser2 15y ago
  Okay. Let's try a government that conforms to your scope. No welfare, so employment is necessary for survival. No mandates for health insurance, facility safety or minimum wage. A few already-wealthy individuals form companies that offer jobs with 18-hour days, no weekends, no vacation, no health insurance, and just enough pay to keep the employees alive. Anyone who can't work (even for medical reasons, or because of the employer's negligence) is left to die on the street, their position easily filled by a new hire. Employers realize that, so long as nobody starts it, competition is voluntary. Any startup threatening to raise the market value of labor is quickly purchased and disbanded or undercut on price until it fails. Those few people become fabulously wealthy until everyone else catches on and nobody can afford to buy things anymore. Hm... sounds familiar. We went through this more than 100 years ago. Foxconn and other Chinese companies are still doing it. This is what happens when government doesn't step in with its "revolting" "hindrances" like making you pay people a living wage. Stop whining about government and come up with a business plan that doesn't depend on slavery. </rant>
mkramlich 15y ago
Yes I want a 100,000 people with no prior experience or proven talent in the area to take a few web-based tutorials and then start sending out those resumes for programming jobs.

93 points by bproper 15y ago

They mention Los Angeles Code Academy meetups, I live in LA and know some people interested in learning to code, and in an admittedly brief search I haven't been able to find any evidence of such meetups.

Samuel_Michon 15y ago
The first meeting is on February 7th in Santa Monica: http://www.meetup.com/codeyear/Los-Angeles-CA/ http://www.meetup.com/codeyear/Los-Angeles-CA/
- kafkaesque 15y ago
  Wow! I just found out about Codecademy and immediately signed up! It looks pretty cool! I basically have no programming experience, only a tiny bit. Do you know what the requirements are to attend the meeting? Or what it'll be about? Thanks for your help in advance!
  - Samuel_Michon 15y ago
    Oh, I'm not Codecademy staff, I just read the post a bit more careful than jleader had.
    - kafkaesque 15y ago
      Oh, my apologies. I was too excited and signed up quickly without reading it. Now that I have, it more or less answers my question: "You can meet weekly to discuss each Code Year lesson or whenever you’d like.". Thanks, anyway! (:
    - jleader 15y ago
      Thanks, I'm not sure how I missed that!

nhangen 15y ago

Wow, these guys have had incredible success in the press, almost as if they were first to market. Since they aren't, and there are many sites doing things like this already, I wonder what the secret is. Is it their investors? Is it the name? Is it something I'm missing?

timjahn 15y ago
I agree with you, I'm confused as to why they're constantly talked about. The idea is nothing new and there's plenty of competition. Personally, I think it's just the industry's current shiny thing. Regarding the constant press, I'd be willing to bet it's the investors. Money talks, right?
- frasertimo 15y ago
  Geez, way to be so cynical guys. I think it's because they have a great UI, they respond to feedback, they've worked hard at marketing it, they impressed some VCs, and all the million other reasons that start-ups succeed. Don't complain about it, ask why.
  - hazov 15y ago
    You mean, skills and luck, right? For me this remembers Youtube, not the first but the most famous of them. We can build causal histories but maybe they exist just because they make sense not because they're true. EDIT: I added the second paragraph.
  - nhangen 15y ago
    My point is not that the product is bad, but that there are many products just as good, hitting the same demo. I'm sure the team is great and the investors are great, but let's be honest, the product is fairly light right now. The UI is nifty, but there's nothing special about it. I'm not trying to knock the guys, I'm simply trying to determine why they've become such media darlings without really having delivered anything.
    - 15y ago

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

tnorthcutt 15y ago

Today, we’re proud to announce that we will be working with the White House to get more kids and adults learning to code. With their Summer Jobs+ program, the White House has been working on finding jobs for hundreds of thousands of people over the summer. Did anyone else's stomach turn when they read this part? I think it's great that Codecademy want to help people learn to code and are effectively reaching such a large audience. However, I also think it's absolutely revolting that such a program exists at the federal government level. I think that's ridiculously beyond the scope of what the government should be doing. Remove some/most/all of the hindrances to running a business and hiring employees (convoluted and rage-inducing tax and HR regulations) so that more businesses would be willing and able to launch, expand, and hire. That would create jobs, including probably thousands of coding jobs. </rant>

thmcmahon 15y ago
You think it's beyond the scope of government to be assisting low-skilled people to gain skills and employment in quality jobs in industries with a future? I don't. By all means reduce regulation to encourage job growth, but there's more than one way to skin a cat.
- mseebach 15y ago
  I don't think there's much a government of 350 million people can actively do to help here. Any practical, on-the-ground effort is bound to drown in bureaucracy. But this is not, as I read between the lines, what is going on here: This is a PR/photo-op thing where the White House puts it's considerable PR clout behind CodeAcademy's meetup push - maybe there's some spare change to hire a couple of CA coordinators, but nothing significant.
superuser2 15y ago
Okay. Let's try a government that conforms to your scope. No welfare, so employment is necessary for survival. No mandates for health insurance, facility safety or minimum wage. A few already-wealthy individuals form companies that offer jobs with 18-hour days, no weekends, no vacation, no health insurance, and just enough pay to keep the employees alive. Anyone who can't work (even for medical reasons, or because of the employer's negligence) is left to die on the street, their position easily filled by a new hire. Employers realize that, so long as nobody starts it, competition is voluntary. Any startup threatening to raise the market value of labor is quickly purchased and disbanded or undercut on price until it fails. Those few people become fabulously wealthy until everyone else catches on and nobody can afford to buy things anymore. Hm... sounds familiar. We went through this more than 100 years ago. Foxconn and other Chinese companies are still doing it. This is what happens when government doesn't step in with its "revolting" "hindrances" like making you pay people a living wage. Stop whining about government and come up with a business plan that doesn't depend on slavery. </rant>

mkramlich 15y ago

Yes I want a 100,000 people with no prior experience or proven talent in the area to take a few web-based tutorials and then start sending out those resumes for programming jobs.