Hacker News Reader

fearingreprisalon Spotify signs ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’ to an exclusive multi-year deal

I'm not sure why you think Youtube is "truly free". They run an enormous amount of advertising. Rogan's show has always been ad supported. Possibly you use an ad-blocker, like I do, and don't see them.

fearingreprisalon Do not Draw a Penis

1st prize goes to...

fearingreprisalon Do not Draw a Penis

https://imgur.com/a/PxUghdz

My contribution. This rather severe depiction managed to fly under the radar. The AI was even kind enough to heap praise upon my illustration.

fearingreprisalon Don't Mess with Texas

I sure hope that on the day China puts boots on US soil, there are enough people left who aren't as much of an intellectual titan as whoever made this picture.

fearingreprisalon Don't Mess with Texas

Why exactly would 'US separatist extremist groups' ( how many of these can you name? ) and secessionist groups be interested in joining the federally run US army? Wouldn't mundane army portrayals just appeal to their sense of dissatisfaction with a society that many already see as far too passive? Or, as you so smugly put it, 'fuel that fire'. You forgot to mention Cheeto Hitler in your post. There's still time to edit though, so it's okay.

fearingreprisalon Ask HN: Granting access to your digital life in case of your death

The metal cards idea sounds fantastic. Great post!

fearingreprisalon Ask HN: Granting access to your digital life in case of your death

Exactly. I'm not asking what the legal requirements here are. I'm trying to figure out the best technical means. As my post stated, I imagine using legal means to obtain access to my online accounts to be impractical. I'm a reasonably privacy conscious individual and for the most part I've endeavoured to make it difficult, if not impossible, to link these online identities with my real life identity while I'm alive, let alone after I'm dead.

fearingreprisalon Ask HN: Granting access to your digital life in case of your death

Thank you for this suggestion, that sounds like something good to keep in mind! It makes sense that companies are beginning to think about this as well.

fearingreprisalon Asimov’s Empire, Asimov’s Wall

These kind of "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" arguments in social-justice topics constitute a Kafka-esque trap from which the accused cannot argue their case any further in a reasonable manner.

fearingreprisalon Asimov’s Empire, Asimov’s Wall

Don't imply that I have a crab-in-a-bucket mentality. I don't want my industry to be unfriendly and unwelcoming. I didn't tell you how it has affected me personally either.

fearingreprisalon Asimov’s Empire, Asimov’s Wall

> From an early age, Asimov was drawn to the communal aspects of fan culture, but he made it more difficult for women to experience that sense of community. Women have long occupied an ambiguous place in science fiction, where they have been alternately welcomed, dismissed, and harassed...

There's a common refrain heard recently regarding basically any historically male dominated domain, that women are not welcomed or encouraged. This is unfortunately all-too-common in software engineering. As a male software engineer, I feel as though no-one is welcomed or encouraged. I feel as though women are reacting to industries that have always been harsh and unwelcoming and feeling uniquely victimised.

fearingreprisalon IncludeOS: a minimal unikernel operating system for C++ services

I'm really surprised this isn't in SPARK considering security is a priority. Rust's type system still isn't capable of formal verification of lack of run-time errors... You know, considering security is a priority.

fearingreprisalon Thoughts On a Year of Exercise

Huh? What part of that is supported by any kind of evidence? You can lift for many years and keep improving consistently if you stick to a good regimen. I also have a great routine that I stick to consistently and enjoy immensely, you're speaking for yourself.

fearingreprisalon Tell HN: I used to be homeless and want to work as a software developer

Agreed. From time to time I've interviewed candidates for junior position and it's the first thing I look for.

fearingreprisalon Tell HN: I used to be homeless and want to work as a software developer

I agree. Every point he's listed is more or less accurate in my experience.

fearingreprisalon Tell HN: I used to be homeless and want to work as a software developer

I'll second 1/2. This is something I did and it definitely helped me.

fearingreprisalon Tell HN: I used to be homeless and want to work as a software developer

Without wanting to sound unsympathetic, what relevance does your history of homelessness actually have to your question? To qualify my point: Ideally, you won't be explaining your personal history to a prospective employer in these terms. It's unfortunately all too common for people to fall on hard times resulting in prolonged periods of unemployment. Breaking ( back ) into a career after these gaps is an extremely hard task for an individual. Most people I've known ( myself included ) were able to do it though, through either good luck or perseverance ( or some mix thereof ). Don't expect to be given a chance on the basis of sympathy. I'm sorry that this might sound a bit unfriendly, but it's the unfortunate truth. You'll need to accept the fact that your personal history will be a setback, to one extent or another.

Just so you don't think I'm overly unsympathetic, here is my personal story: I had a very rough upbringing. I moved between an unstable and violent household and the streets throughout my teens. I had very little positive influence throughout my childhood. I dropped out of school at 16 years old and lived as a petty criminal until my mid twenties. I did work some minor entry-level jobs from time to time, but certainly nothing that I would even want to list on a resume. Mostly manual labor. I spent some minor time incarcerated as a result of being convicted of many minor crimes. I feel very fortunate that I do not live in the US, where a history of incarceration permanent blacklists you from most professions. During an altercation I was injured very badly. I suffered ligament and tendon damage in my leg which near crippled me. It took two years of physiotherapy before I was able to even run at a jogging pace. I wasn't going to be very good at my present vocation if I could only limp around the place. This necessitated major changes in my life. I was very depressed and purposeless for some time, but after a bit of an epiphany I won't bore you with I decided to seek gainful employment.

I was about 26 years old at this point. I had some minor experience with programming from having an interest in graphic design as a kid. I took a terrible entry-level job in technical support and taught myself some web development while there. I was basically exploited by this company but I gained a sense of pride in being a reliable and competent worker. I had expected to be spat on by the rest of society, but I found that I was a smarter and more reliable worker than my peers and was quickly promoted. By complete chance I overheard a different department interviewing applicants for a web design/development role within the company. In a pivotal moment that would change my life I decided to just knock on the hiring manager's door and tell him that I had these skills. They submitted me to the same test they gave the applicants, which I ended up acing. From that day on I moved into my first programming role. The rest is history. I've been in this field for years now at a variety of companies. I have had to explain my past a few times, never publicly. Fortunately it's been 8 years since I last had any trouble with the law, so most companies have been able to overlook this.

It is certainly possible to break into the industry with minimal experience and a terrible past. You can always start in very junior positions just to get your foot in the door and improve your resume. From there you can bend the truth without pushing the envelope. Work your actual skills into your work history creatively, pursue every chance you get to prove yourself to your employer. Jump at every chance you get to excel! There's no need to be brutally honest about your history either. Don't expect anyone to take pity on you, they won't.

Best of luck, and merry Christmas!

fearingreprisalon Ask HN: Who Wants to Be Fired?

I've always wondered the same thing. I've lived a reasonably stressful life, living through much worse things than the daily monotony of office life as a software engineer. However there are some days where it truly just crushes my spirits and leaves me completely spiritually depleted. There's truly something to be said regarding the elasticity of our mental health and how large a role expectations and norms play in our mental well-being. Not to mention there may be something particularly dehumanizing about the profession of software engineering.

fearingreprisalon I’m Suing Lyft

It's a little unclear what Lyft's response to the driver actually was. One article ( from heavy.com ) says that "Lyft continued to allow this driver to continue driving for Lyft under a different name", which suggests the possibility that the driver may have been suspended and re-registered under a psuedonym. The implication is that this is fine by Lyft, which is unclear. Please don't take me as being unsympathetic, I certainly am not. Here's some food for thought: If you were falsely accused of a crime of this nature, heaven forbid, your life pretty much depends on you receiving the full due process of the law granted to you by your rights as a citizen. Cases like this can take years of litigation to resolve, which is very unfortunate. This is not because the legal system does not care about women, it's because the legal system cares about the rights of the accused. Unfortunately sometimes this can mean guilty people being able to fall through the cracks, but if you can think of a better system for guaranteeing individual rights we'd all like to know. Until proven guilty you are presumed innocent. Unless remanded to custody, you are free to go about your life in the meantime. If you were fired from your job at the first hint of accusation, the ramifications for you as an individual could be very severe. In this case it sounds like the driver was guilty. However, I'd advise you and many other people to resist the urge for lynchings, kangaroo courts and witch-trials.

fearingreprisalon I’m Suing Lyft

Other articles have pointed out that she hadn't immediately reported the rape to Lyft. The medium article makes it sound like Lyft were completely indifferent to the kidnapping and rape, but the related articles seem to agree that the first contact Lyft had was a complaint regarding her charge. Lyft themselves claim that the police had not given them a subpoena for information until six months after the incident had taken place. I'm very sympathetic towards Ms Turkos and feel for what she's been through, but the way this article is written is very disingenuous.