swombat

74 ms·

721.
by swombat 13y ago
Full context: > But it's particularly hard for hackers to know how good they are, because it's hard to compare their work. This is easier in most other fields. In the hundred meters, you know in 10 seconds who's fastest.
722.
Joanna Shields, tech executive, bullied to the point of breakdown(redonline.co.uk)
5 points by swombat 13y ago|1 comments
723.
by swombat 13y ago
Big difference: Skype had many more than the handful of employees needed to run WhatsApp. Their cost base was hundreds of millions. WhatsApp seems to run lean and mean, and that makes a big difference in terms of keeping it profitable.
724.
by swombat 13y ago
Your comment responds to the title without addressing any of the points made in the article. Did you bother reading it?
725.
by swombat 13y ago
Dunno why you're being downvoted. That could well be the case. Back in my Accenture days, I recall senior managers going for over £2k a day, and that was 10 years ago. This is a very high-level executive, who can jump into the CIO role
726.
by swombat 13y ago
Because nobody would have hired me for £400/day at the time, since I had no experience. The cachet of "Accenture" was what allowed them to sell me at that price. Without Accenture, I would not even have been considered for th
727.
by swombat 13y ago
This article is highly misleading. Shoddy reporting from the Guardian there. She's not on a £2k/day salary, that's just the rate paid to Capita, a consulting company. For a senior person (e.g. partner-level), £2k is actuall
728.
What Google's been up to with photo tech: Google+ Awesome(support.google.com)
3 points by swombat 13y ago|0 comments
729.
by swombat 13y ago
I'm Swiss and I agree with the entire comment above. The result was shameful, but hopefully it will be diluted into nothingness over the years it will take before it is implemented...
730.
by swombat 13y ago
So you could get insurance against expensive medical conditions - but if you had to claim on that insurance, suddenly your premiums would start rising by 30% a year, and you would have no alternative because of your pre-existing condition.
731.
by swombat 13y ago
France is a free country, by any sensible definition of the term. Sure, you can coin a definition of "free" that excludes France, but you can do that for any country, including (and perhaps especially) the United States. (or perha
732.
by swombat 13y ago
The "article" relies entirely on this faulty graph, and then draws spurious conclusions... The graph by itself may be forgivable, but surrounded by this pattern of faulty thinking it is just one more piece of nonsense.
733.
by swombat 13y ago
That recent immigration vote has been a major point of discussion with every Swiss person I've spoken to since the weekend. It's not business as usual, it's very concerning, and people in the more populated parts of Switzerla
734.
by swombat 13y ago
The big difference is that the cases you mentioned are exceptional and typically make the news. From the looks of this thread, the situation with the Police in the US is an everyday, normal, expected thing... That's very bad. Abuses wi
735.
by swombat 13y ago
In civilised countries, the police are the good guys, and having them nearby makes you feel safer. Encounters with the police should not be scary if you've done nothing wrong. There was a place I've heard about where the police wa
736.
by swombat 13y ago
It's high time to make the cops wear video cameras that are permanently turned on while on duty, and to make it a penalisable infraction for them to obstruct the camera without filling in reams of paperwork to justify it afterwards. FT
737.
by swombat 13y ago
This is a perfect example of the disconnect between "hackers" and the real world. I consider myself part of the HN community because I hope for a society shaped by its ideals, but the real world is so far removed that time spent
738.
by swombat 13y ago
The first 15 years or so of life are just tutorial missions, which suck. There’s no way to skip these. Umm... right. Seriously? That's all the advice this guy has on the first 15 years of life? Reading the rest, it doesn't look
739.
by swombat 13y ago
I find myself agreeing with you on this particular case, though I do feel there's a serious problem with HN's moderation. Perhaps an effort to make the (manual AND automatic) moderation processes more transparent would go a long
740.
by swombat 13y ago
SMS is also a proprietary solution, as far as I know. If you don't think so, check the costs of integrating with SMS...
741.
by swombat 13y ago
I don't think the really bad IAPs/scams like Clash of Clans or Farmville or this Dungeon Keeper incarnation can really be considered works of art...
742.
by swombat 13y ago
That sounds awfully like Popcap games, with Plants vs Zombies... PvZ 2 was a total waste on me. I hesitated a long time before downloading it, and only did so because the reviews said you could play through the whole thing without buying an
743.
by swombat 13y ago
Yes, that is another application of word power tools... although if I wanted to make it even more arm-twisting I would say "Because you read this far, you should follow..." "Because" is another well-known power word.
744.
by swombat 13y ago
Very good article. Posted my response here: http://swombat.com/2014/1/31/let-me-know-if-i-can-help
745.
by swombat 13y ago
It depends on the bank. Some require more data than others. In either case, though, if the transaction turns out to be fraudulent, it's the merchant that pays, so the merchant has a strong incentive to ask for more rather than less.
746.
by swombat 13y ago
"Push her into a career"?? Who said anything about that? I'm just trying to counter the natural tendency the world will have to push her away from that career through millions of little cues like toy selection, teacher and
747.
by swombat 13y ago
Mostly because you don't squat properly and/or aren't used to squatting... In China, until recently, all toilets were basically squatting toilets, yet octogenarians had no issue squatting to use them... how old are you that y
748.
by swombat 13y ago
Looking at e.g. http://shop.lego.com/en-GB/LEGO-DUPLO-All-in-One-Gift-Set-10... I'm wondering if the flower in the middle isn't exactly the sort of thing babies swallow and choke on?
749.
Ask HN: Appropriate toy for a 1-year old girl that may lead to programming
17 points by swombat 13y ago|67 comments
750.
by swombat 13y ago
This is mis-pitched in the sense that it shouldn't be pitched at you to have a conversation with your deceased dad... it should be pitched at you to enable your great-great-grandchildren to have a conversation with their long-deceased

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