eaguyhn

I wanted to do some simple tabulations on COVID19 data so I did some work with Excel and public datasets. Never used Power Query before, so learned that.

I remember listening to WWV for a leap second when I was in high school. :D

Khosla seems to say the issue is maintaining the access path.. parking, bathrooms, etc. Is that correct? If so, would it make sense for California to seize that part the access path via eminent domain and provide those services?

I love this type of material - I was exposed to some of it in college and found it to be extremely valuable to me during my software career. It completely changed my approach to troubleshooting.

True, that. I was a schmuck that saw his equity diluted with every angel round in the one successful startup. But I'm still glad I went through it all.

People can take this as a cautionary tale to make sure your equity is protected or from an optimistic view that, at least, you gained something other than abundant riches :)

I worked at four startups and gained so much experience at each. Even with the long long hours I really liked it. Three of the four failed - the fourth one eventually succeeded after 15 years and I received about $4,000 for my original shares as employee #3 (I can relate to the point in one comment about being a founder instead of an employee).

DESQview API was pretty nice for the time.

I almost got to use OS/2 for a commercial project.. we had fetch information from a PC desktop and feed it to an IBM mainframe while servicing up to two simultaneous users.

OS/2 1.1 EE had EHLLAPI support but was still a few months from release and I couldn't wait for it. I was really disappointed I didn't get to explore it fully because first look was really impressive.

I ended up using DOS + DESQview, and it worked out fine.

He also talked a struggling U.S. Grant into writing an autobiography which Twain then published. This basically saved Grant's family economically. (Grant's autobiography is a great book, btw)

You could use Yubikey with Yubico Authenticator - the secret key is stored in the Yubikey. I did this because phone upgrades were a PITA, as you alluded. If you wanted you could have two Yubikeys (I have my second one in a safe deposit box).

When I saw this article I figured it would go to MS. https://www.businessinsider.com/sec-of-defense-to-look-into-...

There are sites that show how to move your key to multiple Yubikeys. (Basically, backup your keyring before moving to Yubikey, then restore and repeat move to a new Yubikey).

This is the guide I followed: https://github.com/drduh/YubiKey-Guide

In our company at the end of the 1980s we built embedded systems based on Z80 and 8051 chips; our compilers were CP/M. We maintained the builds from a 386i/SunOS environment using make and SCCM. The builds were done using DOS with a CP/M emulator. Builds were run from a SunOS makefile.

Cool stuff for the time.

A more interesting story is how the Constitution came about, and how the Confederation nearly split apart during ratification.

NHK has a great documentary series, "The Body". This episode focuses on the microbial activity in the gut: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/documentary/20181021/4...

NIST provides a standard way to introduce leap seconds, I believe. What alternatives are there for this? (One proposal eliminates leap seconds.)

Be careful about being "typecast". You may find yourself doing work that is necessary but not something you'd want to focus on career-wise. However, everyone else may start thinking of you as the specialist for that work.

Example from my career - I joined a startup as a senior-level architect. There were only a few tech folks at the time and my background was databases, so I ended up doing a lot of the database work. It was something I was good at, but I considered it part of a past from which I was moving on.

Eventually I was typecast as an operational DBA - a tactical role rather than the strategic one I envisioned. When management decided to adjust my salary accordingly, I had to leave.

Lesson: Communicate to management all the technical roles that are required in your startup. Let them know which ones align with your own career path. Remind them that they eventually need to get others to fill the other roles. You will have to repeat this often, just not often enough to be a pain about it.

A similar example - San Luis Reservoir in California consists entirely of pumped water. Its main purpose is to act as a regulator supply for the state's aqueduct, but to offset costs the operators do the same trick of generating electricity during the day, and replenishing the reservoir at night.

There are times when this is not practical, but when it is it helps to defray operating costs.

There was a very good documentary about the history of English. Episode 4 covers the "Guid Scots Tongue"

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7UG6vHXArlk&list=PL6D54D1C7DAE...

It's a struggle for me, too. People sometimes rest on their assumptions even though new technologies and paradigms can invalidate old rules (I'm sure everyone has lots of examples).

I found that constant communication and scenarios help bridge the gap between how they think things work and how you do. It doesn't always work - a lot of time people don't care to discuss things in detail.

But sometimes it worked and the other person came to realize a new way of thinking. Sometimes the discussion made me realize I was the person using invalid assumptions :)

I liked embedded systems because I didn't have to write a GUI - most use of the module usage was with other systems so I had to design message protocols (no users, yay!)

For me, transition into API design and web services was a natural progression. FWIW.

The best thing about my college years was learning scientific methodology.

The next thing was a very deep dive into computer architecture, starting from flip-flops, to circuits, to microcode, to building operating systems.

I may be an outlier, but these two things really shaped my career.

There was a documentary produced back in the 1980's called, "The Story of English" and it explored the origins and evolution of the language. Episodes 2 and 3 focus on Chaucer, Shakespeare, and the arrival of Raleigh in America. Cool stuff :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UG6vHXArlk&list=PL6D54D1C7D...

The Great Transition, James Martin.

My father was stationed at Beale and I went to school in Wheatland.

I remember being in middle school and watching them bank right over the school after lifting off from Beale. Cool stuff.

This was pretty cool - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qhXQ_1CQjg

Don't forget the Scientific Method (it is Computer Science, after all)

https://blog.makersacademy.com/scientific-method-in-programm...

Not all pension systems are the same. In California, each locality has its own, even if they are all managed by CalPERS.

For example, the spiking that is mentioned in the thread (Vacation cash-outs, overtime, etc.) is not available in the State employee system.

Not quite "last-minute" - the highest one year of salary was the old pension formula. New hires are required to use the highest three years.