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new_hackerson Ask HN: Reneging Accepted Internship for Better Offer

Do you have a time limit in which you need to complete your internship (for instance I did a 9 month internship before my final year of college).

Here is the deal: you are an intern. You probably aren’t instrumental to their operations. I say go for your new gig if it’s a guaranteed hire. That’s capitalism. Don’t try to negotiate with your current company. And don’t burn bridges (you arent). Just simply say you have another opportunity you are going to pursue, and submit your 2 week resignation. Thank your current company for their offer and time (since in reality you were probably costing them money). Best of luck!

new_hackerson On becoming a better developer (2015)

For your comment about Laravel and PHP, I think it is a valuable exercise to complete a project using a framework like Laravel and PHP.

Realize that the people who contribute to Laravel and to PHP are trying to solve real problems, and there implement patterns used in other frameworks and languages.

Without deep-diving some, you won't be able to recognize those patterns in other frameworks and languages.

For instance, I did a very brief stint with Ruby on Rails. I've also tried out Django with Python, Laravel with PHP, Phoenix with Elixir, and Caliburn with C#.

In each of these cases, I became more familiar with common patterns (Model-View-Whatever, Dependency Injection), and how each framework attempted to solve the problem.

So to answer your question: yes, "mastering" a technology can transfer to another similar technology. So don't be afraid to dig in, best of luck!

new_hackerson What Did Ancient Romans Do Without Toilet Paper?

or PowerShell

new_hackerson Talent, luck and success: simulating meritocracy and inequality

There is truth to this, however there has also been major changes to how we live and the expectations.

"my grand parent could buy their own house while only one was working, and a job that didn't require any diploma"

Yes, but they probably couldn't buy a house anywhere in the world they wanted. The house size was probably much smaller than the sizes of today's suburban houses. I would argue that one could by a small, economical home in the midwest.

"If they want to eat for the same price as their grand parents they need to eat junk food."

Again, look at the diet lifestyle choices of Gen Y versus their grandparents. My grandparent (I'm a Gen Xer) told me stories of eating onions for a month because his parents were migrant workers and they worked picking onions when they were in season.

Even today, it is possible to eat simply (rice, beans, in-season vegetables and fruits) for a low-price. You won't be eating much meat, and you won't be eating "luxury" items. But that is very similar to how people ate in the 30's, 40's and early 50's.

new_hackerson UK Hacker Won't Be Extradited to the US Because American Prisons Are 'Medieval'

"Voters in the US don't care so much about this issue"

Agreed. I'd even go so far as to say there is a certain segment of the population that is "happy" with it. I've seen many examples of lower-middle-class people that seem to need a lower class of people to exist. They hold a deranged view of "shadow justice" that exists in our prisons. So many times we hear "he/she will get what they have coming in prison".

new_hackerson Send the Barbarian in First

kudos, you seem like a really cool dad!

new_hackerson Commitment vs. Forecast: A Subtle But Important Change to Scrum (2011)

Agreed. I wonder if any manager would ever put in "walks", or "cool downs" into the schedule. Meaning allocate a week (or some time span) in between each sprint to do all those things you wish you had time to do in the sprint.

I know a "walk" is yet just another physical analogy for a software production process (which the analogies don't always work), but maybe it is more of a cultural mindset to value longterm team health without it becoming just a "slacking" week?

new_hackerson Mothers who regret having children are speaking out

we taught our girl to nod "Yes". after that it became much easier. She was able to nod "Yes" when she was hungry. After you rule out hunger, there are only a couple more things to check before you typically fix the problem.

new_hackerson Where’s the Next Silicon Valley? VC Is Betting on the Midwest

yes, and the northwest arkansas corridor is a very pretty part of the country. But apparently for tech, they don't

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/429589/walmarts-new-high-...

new_hackerson The Silicon Valley paradox: one in four people are at risk of hunger

Yes, clearly Nebraska has nothing to offer, move along

www.berkshirehathaway.com

new_hackerson 3-D printed plastic objects that can communicate with WiFi devices

reliability was my first thought with these. It is a very clever technique. However, the mechanical spring properties would seem to be very important. I'm sure they have designed the spring to be in an approximately linear stress/strain region, but material creep seems like it would be more prevalent than traditional engineering materials. Perhaps if the lifespan of these objects is relatively short, then they would satisfy the reliability goal.

new_hackerson Fewer toys at once may help toddlers to focus better and play more creatively

I do not have any research. My personal observation and belief is:

A young child (0 to ~3 years) does not understand electronics. The input output response from a battery device cannot be easily guessed from only physical examination, thus it is not a good toy to develop a mental model.

I would much rather my child (at a very early age), form the basic mental models of the physical world so that she can predict how the world will react around her. Throwing a ball, banging a percussive instrument, stacking blocks. These all help form physical models of the world.

What solidified this belief for me was watching my ~11 month old frantically pushing the button on a battery operated rocking horse she had received as a present from her aunt. My child could not understand why the horse had made noise before, but (once I took the batteries out) did not make noise. After seeing that, I realized that we needed to make things simpler before we made them more complex.

new_hackerson Fewer toys at once may help toddlers to focus better and play more creatively

I do this. I also like to throw in that my child only eats organic products, that have not been fried, that are also free of added salt and sugar. We also use cloth diapers, which I like to mention.

My wife and I agree on these things and think it best for our child. Our relatives and cousins look at us like we are from another planet LOL!

new_hackerson Ask HN: How to use my VPS for good?

Yeah, I wasn’t mean switching, but offering compute power perhaps?

new_hackerson Ask HN: How do you triage issues from log dumps?

I've used Splunk for this. It is very easy and powerful.

new_hackerson 60 journalists all spend one week covering Cincinnati's battle with heroin

Wow, just wow. As someone not affected by the heroin epidemic, this was very hard to read. I was almost brought to tears at how many stories involved children of heroin users and how their lives are affected.

new_hackerson A collection of things software developers should know

I wasn't really meaning the As-Seen-On-TV "rich and happy".

I meant "happiness" more as the opposite of "pain and despair". If you are not in a place mentally to have a partner and children, don't do it.

Same with "health". If you aren't healthy, either by circumstance or by choice, you probably aren't ready for a partner or kids.

"Money" is relative. I really mean, if you have enough resources to provide for more than yourself. If you can't provide anything for a relationship, or kids, you aren't ready.

You could draw this as concentric rings of self-control, and only once you are in control of the inner ring, can you progress to outer rings.

You must control your mind, body, environment, relationships, and offspring. If you lose control of one of the inner rings, then you cannot control the outer rings.

new_hackerson A collection of things software developers should know

Really? It would seem that:

Happiness, Health, Money, Marriage, Kids

would be the correct order to process these tasks? Without the previous item(s), the latter item is harder to obtain and maintain at full functionality.

new_hackerson Ask HN: How to transition out of startup I founded?

Have you grown and developed other leaders in the company? I think this is the answer to any "how to transition" question. Is there someone whom you have groomed and wants to take over?

new_hackerson Every attempt to manage academia makes it worse

For a professional engineer's license, you have to demonstrate competence and have 4 letters of recommendation from PEs who have either managed you directly, or have overseen your work. So there is not a requirement that you (as a budding prospective PE) may never work for someone who isn't a PE, however it does limit your ability to achieve your own license. Therefore, there is a desire from the younger engineers to seek out PEs to work under.

new_hackerson Programming won’t be automated, or it already has been

    User: 'Make me a sandwich'

    *mighty robot slices up user and places in between two pieces of bread*

    Computer: 'You are now a sandwich'

new_hackerson Netflix Replacing Star Ratings With Thumbs Ups and Thumbs Down

the histogram of the star ratings are much more valuable. I tend to avoid bathtub curves.

new_hackerson Netflix Replacing Star Ratings With Thumbs Ups and Thumbs Down

not for me. I rarely watch movies twice, even those I really enjoy. A better metric for me would be "am I glad I watched this movie"

new_hackerson Ask HN: Developers with kids, how do you skill up?

Make time and have a super-human SO :-)

new_hackerson Dot Watch – A braille and tactile smartwatch

Agreed, the sea creatures have evolved to capture even more light. I'm only guessing, but I would think the pressure and temperature sensors on fish would be more important than sight?

new_hackerson Dot Watch – A braille and tactile smartwatch

also the medium in which we primarily exist (i.e air). If we existed in water, or in soil, then the collection and classification of light would not be as important.

new_hackerson Ask HN: What's the single best piece of advice you've ever heard?

Don't be an asshole

new_hackerson Adding a SHA1 collision vulnerability test hoses WebKit's source repository

In this scenario, the reasoning usually is: since both sha1 and md5 are vulnerable, it is possible to construct a document in which both the sha1 and md5 match. I don't know the feasibility of this, nor do I know how much compute time it would add. But that is a typical argument against those type of "combine two hashes" approach

new_hackerson Brilliant Jerks Cost More Than They Are Worth

I was a jerk at my last job (btw, I'm not saying I'm brilliant either). It ended up costing me and I was shown the door. However, I was picked up by some former co-workers that knew I had some talent.

Now I actively manage my "jerk" tendencies. While I still have my jerk moments, I think my co-workers realize that I'm trying not to be a jerk so they let it slide. And when I am being a jerk, they will call me out on it.