These are largely solved issues. Standups can be done over a web chat, and may actually be even better with todays screen sharing capabilities, where you can actually SHOW everyone what you are working on. Tools like tmux have had the remote pairing issue solved as well. Face to face is good here and there, but I see no reason why agile cannot be practiced just as effectively remotely.
I used to work in insurance in a hurricane zone. Yes, claims hurt an insurance company, but right after the storm is also when everyone calls up and upgrades their policies. I would say its a wash, if not actually a positive. If 5 homes get knocked over by a tornado, it is pretty much free advertising to millions of homes in the region as it makes the news rounds.
> which means for an RTS game you would be no worse off than using a trackpad over a mouse.
Just about anyone who plays RTSs would agree that trackpads are completely unacceptable for input. For a game like SC2, you might as well not even play, because you would be lose so badly at against anyone at a similar skill level.
> You can't leave your brain at work if your job is mostly mental work.
Trust me, you can. I simply ignore emails after 6pm. I will look at them first thing at 8am the next day, but not after 6. If someone presses you on it and they won't take "I have a life" for an answer, just lie and say you didn't see it or that you were at your kid's baseball game. I suspect that the frequency of someone's boss actually getting pissed that they did not respond right away to a 9pm email to be extremely low. In the unlikely occurrence that you actually work in an environment like this, I suggest polishing up the resume, because there are plenty of jobs out there that do not require your brain 24/7.
In that case... TRWTF is that he did not charge them an arm and a leg for all of those planning meetings. If you charge appropriately, only necessary changes get made, and only needed software gets built (most of the time, but you stay paid and happy either way).
I have done it for a few files here and there without too much hassle. An entire project sounds like a nightmare though. Also, which language you are converting from/to will have a big impact. VB.Net>C#; no big deal. FoxPro>Erlang; ouch.
I use the title that will make me look the best for the roles I am after. I currently have the title of Software Architect, which is probably about as pompous a title as it gets. To my clients, however, it conveys that I focus on large interconnected systems where the need is less about code and more about system design, and that equals more $ and more projects that fit my skill set. I could care less what a certified architect actually does. Nobody is asking me to design their house, and titles in the software industry are not yet standardized. It is not a "scam" to optimize your title for fit and profit (provided it is legal and is not completely misrepresenting what you do).
Exactly. People seem to think that you make money by riding a bubble to the top, then jumping off when the timing is right at its peak. Turns out that is a great way to lose money (nobody jumps off fast enough). The real money is made cleaning up after a disaster.
I upgraded from a 4 as well. I could not be happier so far. There were many apps that I had thought were just complete sh that now zoom on the 5s (spotify, g+, and a few others). Finger print reader is surprisingly useful, although a minor feature. Possibly the most noticeable thing for me from the 4 to the 5s is the speaker. I always have podcasts running as I walk around the house and noticed a huge difference in quality and volume. With the 4 I often had to plug in headphones to be able to hear over an AC unit or a my car's engine. The 5s speaker cuts through a lot better.
For certain things, it is unfortunately one of the few options. Slashdot is a wasteland nowadays. Hackernews is good, but the emphasis has been shifting to startup finance rather than hacking. Programming subreddits are some of the best sources for info, at least in combination with others.
When I think of fedoras I think of terrible ska bands from the 90s where every member of the band had one on. I have no issue with the current variant, but I do think I was permanently scarred by ska music, so the hate will remain in that context.
> Admission rates for colleges have been dropping across the board, for top tier schools even more sharply
I do not see how this could be happening in aggregate. College attendance is way up over the last few decades, even at the graduate level. Sure, top schools are more competitive, but that is only because their is more to filter out, and newer schools would seemingly pick up the slack. Many of the less than reputable for-profit schools have pretty much no admission requirements (except $$$). I personally think this new evolving system is still extremely problematic, but not because of admissions.
Legal smeagle. I would bet that 99% of people (including boomers) think that 20 year olds should be able to drink. The oft cited argument that "we let 18 year olds man nuclear subs that could take out a city" is just too obvious.
Jira has a kanban feature now (Greenhopper, I think?). I have seriously considered it, although I am fearful of the ability for PMs and clients to use Jira's bazillion other features to make my workflow process hell. I do enjoy Trello's forced fluidity, and cannot wait to port my last few clients off redmine (love the project, kanban fits my flow 1000x better).
In one of the other boroughs or the surrounding area, however, you can find stuff for a good bit cheaper. Hoboken avoids city taxes and is a 10 minute subway ride to Wall Street. You have to go into war zone ghetto or out to a much longer commute to find something more affordable in SF. The job market for tech in NYC is going to be of a more boring variety on average, but with comparable salaries and I would guess increased stability and benefits. Definitely different strokes for different folks, so not a 1-to-1 by any means, but could be a reasonable option for many people.
I have no problem saying that people should have a right to minimum sustenance and medical care. If this was not the case, we would not bother giving either in prison. A doctor in an ER has a moral imperative to not deny life saving treatment due to lack of ability to pay. If someone is literally starving to death, let them eat the farmer's food; that is the price civilization pays for the truly destitute not to overthrow the system. "Rights" are a creation of humans, and we can choose to make them pragmatic and reasonable. The whole modern idea of personal property rights is not even that old.
My money is on Austin. Low taxes, reasonable rents, plenty of culture (SXSW, "Keep Austin Weird", lots of nightlife, etc.), and a history of tech seems like the perfect combination.