tom_rath

21 ms·

121.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Find me five examples of where it has worked. Can't be hard if it's true.
122.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Cute idea, but it sounds like a nasty way of introducing non-native microbes and insects to new places and would likely do far more long-term harm than good.
123.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Dude, you're hiring contractors for temporary work. Of course they have their own businesses! Put someone on your payroll full-time with benefits, paid vacation and sick leave and then encourage them to start a business on their own time w
124.
by tom_rath 18y ago
A contractor's business is based upon providing the best possible service to their clients. If you retain a contractor, you're one of their clients and any improvements they make to their business benefits you. If an employee on your payrol
125.
by tom_rath 18y ago
As I mentioned in replies to your other comments above, running a business requires your full attention. It's not a hobby. It's not a side-project. It's a way of life. You cannot work for another person while running your own business.
126.
by tom_rath 18y ago
You're paying temporary contractors, not retaining permanent employees. There's a big difference.
127.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Get back to me after you've run a business of your own. Not a hobby: A self-supporting corporation which provides your full livelihood. Let me know then how well you'd do as an employee working for someone else, and if you'd be eager to h
128.
by tom_rath 18y ago
I've nothing but good things to say about employees working on "side-projects" and open source projects. They're superb for self-education (I enjoyed participating in both while I was an employee) but are completely different than running
129.
by tom_rath 18y ago
"Side projects" and open-source projects are great for self-education. I've nothing but good things to say about them for employee improvement. Running a separate business is a different story altogether. Do you really have productive emp
130.
by tom_rath 18y ago
I don't think it's morally acceptable to freeload, but for big businesses the point is likely moot: The IP agreement they will have had you sign at the start of your job will take away all rights to your on-your-own-time product in any cas
131.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Games, drinks, children, etc. are diversions from the activities of software development and business which the employer is paying you to engage in on their behalf. Participating in them outside of office hours would tend to _increase_ your
132.
by tom_rath 18y ago
This can be really nasty for a small business. On the one hand, you understand the desire to build a seed for a software company, on the other you're dedicating scarce resources to pay this employee to work exclusively for you. I'd tend to
133.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Creating a video can require significantly more effort than you'd think and the results will probably appear amateurish, even if you've a ridiculous amount of time and budget to call upon (see Vayner). Your best option would be to focus on
134.
by tom_rath 18y ago
You get a gold star for pedantry but if those risks aren't already covered by your home/apartment insurance, that should be the first thing you purchase. If you don't have enough space to store extra rice and underwear, you're unlikely to h
135.
by tom_rath 18y ago
With $2,000, the best investment you can make is purchasing quality, non-perishable dry goods in bulk as you spot them on sale. That's not sarcasm. You'll be eating and wearing out your stuff one way or another and buying a year's worth of
136.
by tom_rath 18y ago
That sounds reasonable. The impression I gained from your blog post was that of willy-nilly denormalization and data duplication to accommodate edge-cases (which often become anything but) as they're discovered to make problems quickly go a
137.
by tom_rath 18y ago
...Except the 'fixes' you've given aren't fixes: They're patchwork on-the-spot kludges which let you ignore the problem until it crops up again. A few years of that will give you spaghetti code that is a nightmare to maintain. How about t
138.
by tom_rath 18y ago
No way. If you discover your database model is incorrect, fix it. Data kludges and hacks are not professional solutions. The individual who wrote this is dead wrong and either headed for a lifetime of maintenance pain or a well-deserved r
139.
by tom_rath 18y ago
As a undergraduate bonus, one might learn an additional verb/adjective/noun to use when expressing one's dissatisfaction.
140.
by tom_rath 18y ago
I'll miss settling down in my favourite pub with a weekend edition full of analysis and commentary from people who are truly experts in their fields. Casually reading a broadsheet on a Sunday afternoon is a decadent pleasure (pretty-much go
141.
by tom_rath 18y ago
There are a few of those. They're actually quite vile: The webcomic artists depend on the ad revenue received from people visiting their sites, so the scrapers which aggregate other web comics end up leeching bandwidth while snatching reve
142.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Looks like he forgot "Don't put textured background behind site content".
143.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Who would buy those ads? That seems to be Facebook's problem. The 'platform' seems to be dominated by idle people who prefer free services that let them spend their day throwing virtual sheep at each other. That's not a particularly valua
144.
by tom_rath 18y ago
With so many 'co-founders', a good deal of that stress should be off-loaded to others. That confessional reads as though she's swimming through it all alone.
145.
by tom_rath 18y ago
You can make oatmeal in a rice cooker?!?! How can I have missed something so obvious! Roger Ebert, yet again you have enriched my life!
146.
by tom_rath 18y ago
Finding and internalizing that "5% of insight" is why I read at a normal pace.
147.
by tom_rath 18y ago
For understanding, repetition and context will help more than speed. Read a number of articles on the subject. Write out the definition in your own words or explain it to a friend. Complete a few textbook exercises to calculate the values
148.
by tom_rath 18y ago
I don't. Quantity rarely corresponds with quality. The greatest value I gain from books is in identifying how the subject discussed can apply to my own circumstances. That insight often comes to me in the pauses between pages and paragra
149.
by tom_rath 18y ago
I predict you're in for an unpleasant surprise.
150.
by tom_rath 18y ago
If the scorn of others is enough to dissuade you, you will not have success in business.

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