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joshlegson The future of Ruby, Rubynation 2013

I think you miss the point. I don't think anything was attributed to gender. The two are unconnected, but they both stood out to the author. And if we're being frank, there is an underrepresenation of the female gender in programming. So I take it that, after being in the industry for years, the author is excited to see new developments on the technological, as well as the social, fronts of programming.

joshlegson Inappropriate comments at pycon 2013 called out

I'm not so sure the "boys club" is really the "boys club." It's more like the "in crowd." And many people suffer from not being part of it, men included. Anything that threatens the in crowd's exclusiveness is shunned. That said, there more than a few misogynists out there, and not just in the tech realm. You should have worked at my last job. Boss literally thought a woman's place was solely in the kitchen, and hired accordingly (or as much as he could get away with). He also thought all black people should be shot, or so he said on one incredibly surprising occasion.

joshlegson How Criticizing in Private Undermines Your Team

I was a part of a company that had this sort of practice. It was the worst company I ever have worked for. You end up with everyone trying to get everyone else thrown under the bus so they look like the good guy because they haven't fucked up. Pure idiocy at work.

joshlegson Things You Think Aren’t Sexist, But Really Are

i wonder how often things like "the pick up" happen in other industries as well. I would imagine women just see it in practice more often in the tech industry simply because of ratios. When you're the only woman there you're more likely to get hit on 500 times than if there were 500 women there. I also wonder if it's less acceptable in tech industries because you have bright women who would rather be respected because of their minds than their bodies, and are willing to say something about it. Not to mention, how often does the whole "boss having affair with secretary" happen? The problem is systemic everywhere. I just have a feeling it's more pronounced in tech because the same women see the problem over and over, versus a lot seeing it here and there.

joshlegson Be nice to programmers

I have to agree with you. In so many careers your performance is subjective. The cool thing about programming, to me, is that when there's something wrong, it's objectively wrong, meaning it can be fixed. Sure you might be able to 'fix' things more quickly or less quickly than someone else, or implement a solution better or worse. But the product you create pretty much either works or doesn't work.

joshlegson 40% of U.S. food wasted

So, you're saying we are the 1%?

Actually i was thinking about this issue the other day with regard to that 99% movement not too long back. We really do have more than we could ever need in the US, and should honestly try to be responsible with it

joshlegson How Paperbacks Transformed the Way Americans Read

It does sound reminiscent doesn't it. I tweeted the story because music/movie/software execs need to learn a new business model. Entrenching oneself in the old mind set is a good way to move into extinction.

joshlegson Ask HN: Asking what you did wrong in an interview?

One employee at my work (I will not name it) was initially passed over for a job because he called the company by the wrong name in his cover letter. He emailed and asked what he could do better for his next job interview. That email got him the job.

He was fired some time later for messing up too much on the job. [I couldn't imagine that there would be any kind of predictor for that] ... I suppose it just depends on who you ask and when you ask them.

joshlegson I just left 200 fake parking tickets at YC Demo Day...

I don't know that 'impersonating' would really be a good description here. The rest of the 'ticket' makes things pretty clear that it is not an official communique of the city's.

joshlegson How to Get a Job as a Developer in Less Than Six Months

Just because you have a degree doesn't mean you're good at something ...

joshlegson How to Get a Job as a Developer in Less Than Six Months

So I take it you'd never hire someone who is just graduated either, based on your argument? Of course there is a learning curve to anything, even brain surgery. If he has basic ability, why not hire him? It seems the company knows what it is getting itself into. As someone else pointed out, it's a junior position -- they're not looking him to be a project manager or anything.

Not to mention that the consequences of hiring a noob programmer vs. hiring a noob brain surgeon are on totally different levels ....

joshlegson How to Get a Job as a Developer in Less Than Six Months

I wholeheartedly agree with you. I have been learning code about a year and now I have a part time job doing it.

The key thing is to demonstrate aptitude. Period. You obviously have done this. Also, eagerness to learn is a huge huge selling point -- because apparently you do that throughout your programming career. But the biggest thing is to demonstrate an ability to code. You might not know everything a university graduate does, but then again, I hear a lot of the people coming out of university aren't very good programmers right now. =\ Not really sure.

University teaches you a lot of foundational stuff, but if you have someone willing to work with you a little, you'll learn the same stuff (and likely already have a little of it under your belt).

Anyway, kudos to you for sticking it out and being aggressive. Great example.

joshlegson Saylor Foundation: Computer Science

And yet most CS graduates can't even (allegedly) solve fizzbuzz ...

joshlegson Curiosity rover: Martian solar day 2

Coming soon from Google, Mars Maps!

joshlegson Mars 360-degree panoramic view from Curiosity

Why is it all just barren desert? :D

Too bad it's not enough for a complete 360 panoramic :(

joshlegson Show HN: Sell your stuff for more money with less hassle

>so it isn't just CL, though admittedly it works well there.

Just out of curiosity, have you tested this or is this just supposition? It was the first thought that came to mind when I read about bidkat (posting it on CL, that is). I would just wonder whether people viewing the posts on CL actually click to go to another site?

joshlegson Elon Musk Wants to Put Man on Mars in '12 to 15 Years'

> We don't have a good way to land humans on Mars.

yet. Always tack on "yet." ;)

joshlegson Elon Musk Wants to Put Man on Mars in '12 to 15 Years'

I would also point out that when people did first start exploring our own world, it was fraught with peril. Many died as they settled new areas and explored.

So, obviously we see what happened as we explored our own world and some of the benefits it has reaped (opening up new resources, etc.). So why WOULDN'T we want to explore other worlds?

joshlegson Ask HN: How can I start learning physics?

You could always take the Newtonian approach and just sit under an Apple tree ...

joshlegson Google's Autonomous cars complete 300,000 miles without an accident

> Like personal, on demand buses

That use a heck of a lot more gas ;)

joshlegson Google's Autonomous cars complete 300,000 miles without an accident

Now just imagine putting in an address into the GPS and not missing any turns on the way there cuz your computer-car does everything for you.

Now also imagine if that address isn't up-to-date (I found it on the web!), or there is some other problem with the address.

joshlegson Beware, Tech Abandoners. People Without Facebook Accounts Are 'Suspicious.'

I was just reading some other similar article someone posted from the India Times. What is alarming, to me, is that anyone would realistically say someone who does not acquiesce to societal pressures to share every tiny detail of their personal lives is somehow criminally insane. It is a very disturbing trend.

If everybody jumped off a bridge, would you do it too? Psychologists say you might just be insane if you wouldn't.

joshlegson Non-Facebookers could be insane

Well I guess the objectivity of the India Times just went out the window. Facebook is a huge time sink and a way to counterfeit real relationships. Since I've quit the site, I have found my happiness and quality of life have shot up dramatically.

You know why? It's because I'm making real connections with people, instead of reading superficial status updates and being stalked. I am ashamed that this concept could get such traction. Shame on you, humanity.

joshlegson Ask HN: How can you turn solar energy into thrust?

I guess I didn't mention space being the focus in the first post. Obviously a propeller wouldn't work there, but I'm not sure something like compressed air would work either, because you'd have to create more air, I believe, for it to be successful.

I'll hvae to read more about the ion engine though.

joshlegson Ask HN: How can you turn solar energy into thrust?

Thanks for the link. I read a little about solar sails in some of the other stuff I saw. This is a bit more comprehensive on the topic. I would imagine, though, that converting it is theoretically possible, since thrust is just the expenditure of energy, which the sun provides. I just didn't know if there was some technology that would allow for it.

joshlegson Python 101: An Intro to logging

You know, I really love the Python posts on here.

Obviously there is a (hard-to-get-to) search function here. But it would be cool if you could set up like newslists or something for certain keywords in post titles, such as Python, etc.

joshlegson California Says Tax Revenue ‘at Risk’ From Facebook Drop

I agree wholeheartedly.

Then again, it seems that California is a horrible manager of money. So maybe we shouldn't be too surprised.

joshlegson Facebook Bots Are Not Stealing Your Ad Spend

I tend to agree with the parent of this comment. Most people on facebook are clueless when it comes to even simple privacy fixes, and even the technorati have trouble tweaking things properly.

I thought the same thing as parent. It seems the poster is suggesting that tons of people are using https, and I can almost certainly say that just about everyone I know does not use that feature.

I believe the poster of that facebook post (Limited Run) said they would post their analytics details or something like that. I'd kind of like to see them, myself.

joshlegson How to Write

I took it to be an exercise in sarcasm to emphasize the point being made. Admittedly, though, I didn't read many of the points through all the way ;)

I do have a habit of reading partially through an article and then commenting ...

joshlegson How to Write

I disagree. There be much good advice in there; all stuff I learned in writing college.

My favorite? Rule No. 10: Revise, revise, revise.

I can't tell you how many times I've written something, had it published (through the newspaper I work at), then read it 2 weeks later and thought "DAMN! I should have changed that!!"