m_fayer

74 ms·

811.
by m_fayer 11y ago
>Most consumers... They simply sign without reading... You seem to be implying that many people on HN do read them, and if that's the case, I would be very surprised. I certainly don't. There's frequently a new EULA I have
812.
by m_fayer 11y ago
It sounds like what he's actually arguing for is cohesion, not just simplicity. And if that's the case, I'm with him. Cohesion is achieved when the degree of complexity is determined by both domain and audience, so Photoshop&
813.
by m_fayer 11y ago
This used to be my argument with my very much scared and FOXNews watching family. Then I realized that what us hn reading empirically-oriented types see as rational applies to a tiny sliver of humanity. In fact most of humanity sees what we
814.
by m_fayer 11y ago
I tried to move beyond archaic Java with managed VMs when they were first announced. Back then it was half-baked and glitchy, it felt like Google was using its actual users to do their testing, I hope it's gotten better since. Generall
815.
by m_fayer 11y ago
As a longstanding gae user I have to disagree. The performance characteristics are esoteric, they're always a few generations behind wrt language updates and framework compatibility, and the whole platform is stagnating. At least in Ja
816.
by m_fayer 11y ago
And this is still happening. Someone among the powers that be, budget crunches and old equipment be damned, is still prioritizing the creation of beautiful things underground, with no less personality than what came before. http:/&#x2
817.
by m_fayer 11y ago
Over the years, many of us New Yorkers grow to love the vibe of the subway, and over the years the cleaner smaller newer systems in places like DC just start to seem antiseptic and unnecessarily cute.
818.
by m_fayer 11y ago
Genuinely interesting people are unlikely to tick all the (arbitrary) boxes expected by the universities. They might even have an unapologetic C in a class or two.
819.
by m_fayer 11y ago
>There have been plenty of severe economic climates before, and we haven't seen the same issues from those. And there was a lot more poverty then than we have now. There also wasn't the widespread expectation of having a "
820.
by m_fayer 11y ago
If you're a parent then, your decision looks like: Let your kid be a kid and bank on society having advanced far enough to allow success without a big-brand school on your CV. Barring that, hope your kid will be driven/creative&#x
821.
by m_fayer 11y ago
Although it's certainly subjective, I don't think what we call the middle class is such a fine-grained entity, and I do think the distinction between "working class" and "middle class" is useful. I would define
822.
by m_fayer 11y ago
> your liberal political agenda > protest when their kids don't get a trophy for losing a soccer game It's great to respectfully debate across an ideological divide, but these kinds of propogandistic catch phrases immediatel
823.
by m_fayer 11y ago
The idea that "today's youth" are more fragile than the youth of yore seems to be a growing meme. I do believe that there is a rise in mental health issues among young adults, but there are many potentially interacting causes
824.
by m_fayer 11y ago
I've been fine with recruiters until i came to berlin and somehow let my phone number slip to the uk recruiters. Now, I'm trying to figure out how to block all uk numbers, nothing I can say will make them stop cold calling me, and
825.
by m_fayer 11y ago
With the regular cruise control you still have to stay engaged with the road. Look at the video a few comments up. That situation is a nightmare - empty seemingly absolutely safe road, plenty of glowing digital distractions, a smooth quiet
826.
by m_fayer 11y ago
As someone in the orbit of Berlin startup culture, I'd say the answer is simple - you have to overcome arrogance and ageism. Let's be honest, those of us who have built careers on the "modern-web-stack running in AWS" te
827.
by m_fayer 11y ago
Absolutely. In addition to startups, I've worked with quite a few small-to-medium sized agencies, and as you say, they tend to have a small but manageable amount of Dilbertiness. As I see it, the crucial difference between Dilbert and
828.
by m_fayer 11y ago
Back then, I found it strange that people would cheerfully exchange stories such as yours, stick Dilbert strips all over their offices, swap dailywtf links, and just carry on. I was never able to compartmentalize enough to be happy while al
829.
by m_fayer 11y ago
My first real-world job in the industry was in a large-ish shop that worked as follows: Create a full-detail schematic of the system in version-controlled UML. At some point, "deploy" the UML by printing it into a 4 cm-thick binde
830.
by m_fayer 11y ago
My dad is in his seventies and an immigrant from Russia. He would absolutely do this because he never got past his distrust of banks and other major institutions, nor did he lose his tendency to transport valuables in cotton linings sewn in
831.
by m_fayer 11y ago
For those trying to escape poverty, disadvantaged teenagers must choose between debt and the permanent surrender of their hopes and dreams. Hardly a situation where the borrower can be expected to make a dispassionate calculation, nor is it
832.
by m_fayer 11y ago
I basically agree with your premise, but I think the fulfillment of your scenario will bring on a new age for humanity after a lot of upheaval. I would very much love to see this age, though I suspect it won't be in my lifetime. I thin
833.
by m_fayer 11y ago
I don't want the government doing my parenting for me but Lord knows I would love the government to help
834.
by m_fayer 11y ago
And yet the meat-and-potatoes of guys like Eliot and his adversaries are things like heartbleed or goto fail. (Missing bounds check, improper braces + copy-paste). The bugs you speak of are IMO mostly unexploitable, don't make the news
835.
by m_fayer 11y ago
While the technical stuff mostly manages to avoid degrading into gibberish, I find the philosophizing about "bugs in the system" cringe-worthy. The show would have the layman believe that bugs are some kind of metaphysical agents
836.
by m_fayer 11y ago
There is significant staff devoted to oversight-theater. Plenty of metrics with scant connection to reality are collected, and plenty of reports that no one reads are produced. Every few years, there's a disaster big enough to attract
837.
by m_fayer 11y ago
I also got out. There was a strange kind of resigned fatalism among the old-timers. When I started voicing my discontent, I would hear the same sentiment from older colleagues: "Oh yeah, I used to say the same thing when I was younger,
838.
by m_fayer 11y ago
The hard work is basically optional. It's very difficult to get fired if you do the bare minimum, and the organization is geared for about half it's staff to not be productive. If you want to move up, you do work and take up the s
839.
by m_fayer 11y ago
The article, dismayingly, matches up with my own experience. I was at the IAEA for 3 years, the first year as an intern and then two more as regular staff, coding tools for weapons inspectors. The organization is hardly irrelevant, so one w
840.
by m_fayer 11y ago
While I understand the impulse, IMO these people have learned the wrong lesson. The correct takeaway is not some anarchic version of "maximalist liberty above all else," but rather "correct" rule of law. In many of the e

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