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iAMAGuest

40 karma · joined October 19, 2017

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iAMAGuest··on Over 95 percent of IT “engineers” in India are incapable of basic programming
same site reports

>Jews in US Congress Urge Israel to Accept UN “Deal” to Deport African Invaders to White Countries

I don't think this would qualify as a creditable new source for IT information.

iAMAGuest··on When the business model is the privacy violation
> If you click on an ad and buy the product, you’re paying for that impression as well as 100s of others that resulted in a small annoyance instead of a conversion.

Free shipping isn't really free, the cost of a product can include multiple different factors.

As far as the annoyance point, I guess that is somewhat balanced out by the importance of the site.

But that isn't the point I was making, the point I am making is that advertising is genuine way for companies to make money from offering services. There isn't really any other valid alternatives to this over than user pays or giving it away.

iAMAGuest··on When the business model is the privacy violation
I think there are some services which people will pay for. People have been paying to be entertained for decades with pay TV models.
iAMAGuest··on When the business model is the privacy violation
I think the problem behind this is that ad revenue is not the same as a subscription revenue. You cannot assume that if a user was worth $3 a month in ad revenue that that would translate to a $3 a month subscription.

For example, I would have no doubt the the customer acquisition cost for an "free" application with advertising is a lot lower than trying to sell that same user a membership.

When it comes to social networks I would suggest that the stickiness is because your friends/family etc are on the same network. It's not if you are willing to pay, it is only really worth it, if your friends are willing to pay.

If you are talking more about a paid and free version, then there are already services out there like YouTube Red (available in some areas for $9.99+ USD). There are always options out there.

iAMAGuest··on When the business model is the privacy violation
I like pretty much everyone else dislikes advertising, but it is a genuine source for a company to generate revenue.

I really don't know any other real alternatives other than making the user pay, which would in turn make the internet just basically one big subscription model. The majority of the "free" services which many people enjoy now, like YouTube, Facebook, etc probably could not exist as they do.

What is needed is some clear boundaries (legislation), and education. I believe without advertising that the internet would not have been what it is today, and I don't think it would have exponentially better.

iAMAGuest··on My experience with off-shoring teams and what went wrong
> But that was very exhaustive and couldn't obviously go on like that forever. Then we switched to weekly meetings, reviews were mostly done by their team lead.

That's where you went wrong first. You let go of the responsibility and handed it over to people who did not necessary have your best interests in mind. Quality, schedule, outcomes etc need to be managed, and managed so problems can be picked up early.

Secondly "It turned out that from those 8-9 developers we hired, at the end of the project only 3 of them were actually committing code. Although I never got an explanation ...", point to another management issue.

I am sitting in a country with a reputation for being an outsourcing hub, I am from the western world and I can tell you that there are many talented developers. The problems are the same as I have had with managing western teams, personal issues, skill levels etc though some of higher or lower impact. But the basic fact remains, the further you distance yourself from responsibility the greater the risk of failure.

iAMAGuest··on AppSumo.com not honoring lifetime deal and deleting reactions in Facebook group
This seems like a branding vs product issue.

Kingsumo is the brand and the products are 1) a SaaS, 2) a wordpress plugin.

From their FAQ (https://kingsumo.com/faq)

> I use the WordPress version. Why isn’t my login working for the web app?

> If you already have the WordPress plugin, you’ll need to register again. This new web app version is different than the WordPress plugin version. We’ll continue to support both, but since they’re two separate products you can register for each.

iAMAGuest··on MPEG-2 Patents Have Expired
Algorithms are not dependent on being implemented in software or run on a machine.
iAMAGuest··on MPEG-2 Patents Have Expired
> To me, software and algorithms are the same thing

Algorithms exist outside of software.

Algorithms are formulas or functions for solving a problem.

Software is usually the implementation of one or more algorithms on a computer.

iAMAGuest··on What happens when I choose to “Suppress Ads” on Salon?
> Make it 100% opt-in

It seems to be 100% opt-in in the terms of either you select ads or mining, I am certain you probably mean you want to opt out of ads and mining.

iAMAGuest··on Richest 1% took 82% of new global wealth last year, report says
I live in a country were just under a 1/4 of the population lives in poverty, on mass most people don't even come close to earning 32K USD a year. The average is around 1/7th of that at approximately 7K USD.

So, is it fair to compare someone in the US living of 32K a year and someone earning 32K a year where the laborers are being paid $2 a day, well the answer to that is yes. After all you would be talking about edge case, as there isn't a lot of people living in those circumstances in developing countries, while the mass in the US is living under those circumstances.

If you want to talk about the "standard" of living, then the cost of the same standard in developing countries is often the same as developed countries, Petrol, cars, healthcare (though this may differ in some areas), quality food, are comparative in cost, as many of these products are provided from the same or similar sources as where US consumers get their products.

iAMAGuest··on [dead]
From my perspective her intent was

1) To embarrass and humiliate Aziz 2) To suggest that men even those who are standing up for #metoo are culpable. 3) To suggest even further that in the man vs woman debate, men are more responsible due to the fact that woman do not have choices when dealing with aggressive men.

My reading of these events is that it is fairly polarizing for many, some suggesting (on twitter) that men should learn to read "signals" and this is common issue. While others suggesting that her own actions like the oral sex are the signals.

But overall in my mind this was feminist revenge porn, which has been triggered by the growing influence of the #metoo movement. It was definitely not representative of the movement, help to the movement, or anything other than just a vexatious attempt to get some revenge.

iAMAGuest··on Ask HN: Does anyone use an alternative to a password manager?
Similar setup, MacPass (a new implementation of keepass for the mac), ChromePass for autologins, and KeePass2Android on my phone. Works well, not perfect but enough for what I want.
iAMAGuest··on Call to ban sale of mini mobile phones
I guess they could use a "stingray" type device, which could be used to control, rather than interrupt the cell signal.
iAMAGuest··on Call to ban sale of mini mobile phones
Faraday prison cells.
iAMAGuest··on What is it like to live and work in Bali as an engineer?
He does mention his wife is Indonesian, so maybe some kind of spouse visa
iAMAGuest··on Canadians can buy, but not sell on Coinbase
I was under the impression that visa allows for a payment back to the card if they are CFT enabled.
iAMAGuest··on Using a logbook to improve your programming
> If there's logic or design that's complicated and not properly commented or documented, then that's worth doing and sharing with the team

It's the meta also, it is capturing the models mentally and ideas and notes. This reduces cognitive load, and actually by making notes increases the chances of you remember something.

> And stuff I learn is learned, so I don't need to write that down :-)

Hey if thats the case then fine, but generally memory deteriorates, recall becomes more difficult and the details change.

> Working in a team, shared information is critical and logbooks just aren't the best way to achieve that.

Log books are not generally for the team, they are for you.

But as you say each to their own.

iAMAGuest··on Using a logbook to improve your programming
- The logic/design of parts of the code base which you might newly encounter

- What work was done for the day, yes you might use something like Jira but a journal can be also good at the same time

- New things you learn.

etc etc etc

iAMAGuest··on Mark Zuckerberg Sued Native Hawaiians for Their Own Land [video]
> Better for who though?

Subjectively him, and that is why I am gathering he is (was) doing it, and I cannot blame him. These are not your "normal" titles, ownership of land is passed down through generations with little record as to the direct ownership of land.

iAMAGuest··on Mark Zuckerberg Sued Native Hawaiians for Their Own Land [video]
Look while it might sound horrible of a billionaire to do so, the way the titles work is quite difficult.

You buy the land from someone, and then 6 months down the track a relative turns up and claims they own part of the land etc etc. So pre-empting this, it is better to sue first than be tied up in court cases with people turning up over the next 20 years.

iAMAGuest··on Why I’m Against Unions at Businesses I Create
> I wasn't aware I was making an argument.

Ok that makes sense now.

iAMAGuest··on Why I’m Against Unions at Businesses I Create
Yes you/we do, for that we should be appreciative. But that doesn't speak as to the relevance of unions today.
iAMAGuest··on Why I’m Against Unions at Businesses I Create
> If it's not all that much, why not share it equally among all employees. You want everybody to be sitting in the same end of the seesaw, right?

Ok, but remember you take the good with the bad. Statistically more business fail than survive, so if you want to take that risk then why not. But even easier you could start your own business and share the utopian form of employment with your staff.

iAMAGuest··on Why I’m Against Unions at Businesses I Create
> "Many rights of workers are protected by legislation" - sure but employees are rarely able take the case to court without union backing.

In several countries where I have lived you don't need a court for industrial conflicts, there are arbitrators, mediators, and small courts which deal with such items.

iAMAGuest··on Why I’m Against Unions at Businesses I Create
> There's an entire holiday in the US, Labor Day

For those of us whom are not American, there is a similar day strangely called Labour Day, which is celebrated world wide for similar reasons, Small world hey :)

But in context what the unions did was important, it doesn't mean that they are needed, relevant, or beneficial in current day. We celebrate Xmas, but that doesn't mean that we have a guy wearing a Santa (non-christian) uniform everyday.

iAMAGuest··on Why I’m Against Unions at Businesses I Create
> How do you think those rights found their way in to the legislation, and remain there?

Look I not blind to the history, and protectionisms which came about from unionism. But that is a common retort, but also a bit of a straw man argument.

iAMAGuest··on Why I’m Against Unions at Businesses I Create
> Never mind that the founders or CEO will have 1000X more equity than you, employee (if you have equity at all). You're in it together!

It's a falsehood to think that every company is a profit machine, many employers are small business so 1000x more equity is not really much.

iAMAGuest··on Why I’m Against Unions at Businesses I Create
> In short; 'JR' has better success in business when he can under-pay his workers and ignore their health and safety needs and human rights.

Being anti-union doesn't mean favoring slave labor or breaking laws. Many rights of workers are protected by legislation (depending where in the world you live), and unionism doesn't mean higher wages.

iAMAGuest··on Sued over screenshots of 59-year-old show
yet walking down the street and taking a picture of Kevin Spacey walking on the other side of the street is also copyright'ed. There is no artistic form in that, there is no creativity, or even intellectual effort.

To clarify my previous comment a little more, "I don't think "simply" taking a photo of a person is creative work". But I also are aligned with you somewhat, that when there is effort there is creative work.

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