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nxtrafalgar

129 karma · joined July 2, 2016

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nxtrafalgar··on Show HN: Bear – Minimal blogging platform
There's no simple commercial solution that does exactly this that I know of, but you can get very close with Google Cloud Functions, a GitHub Pages site, and a Google Sheets spreadsheet as a datastore. Not static, but it is fast, and you get a 'CMS' for free (the spreadsheet). Plus all of these services can be used completely for free.
nxtrafalgar··on Generating a Useful Theory of Software Engineering [pdf]
The systematic study of methods for producing high quality software. Your comment is equivalent to calling a flexural test machine 'materials engineering'.
nxtrafalgar··on Generating a Useful Theory of Software Engineering [pdf]
This does not describe software engineering, as that term is academically defined.
nxtrafalgar··on We need to document macOS
So, what point are you trying to make here? That everybody should write their own tools?

That seems like a pretty inefficient use of everybody's time.

nxtrafalgar··on Ask HN: When has switching the language/framework made an important difference?
Vue is great.

Currently using it in a ColdFusion project to retrofit a modern frontend to oldish code. Works like a charm, without a full rewrite.

nxtrafalgar··on How sandboxing works in Fuchsia
As I interpreted it, that's not their position.

They're saying that if Google were to pursue their OS goals, specifically using Linux as a base, then they would likely end up doing things that would earn the scorn of the Linux community (at least; it's more likely that what they want to do is GPL-violating).

nxtrafalgar··on Emmanuel Macron presidency prompts French startup boom
>You still get a visa to enter Taiwan. It's just a "visa on arrival" as opposed to needing to obtain a visa prior to travel.

Sure -- 'doesn't require me to get a visa' as in I don't have to make a trip to an embassy or pay a fee.

I'm sure I'll visit China eventually, but for the sort of low-budget travelling I'm doing, an entry visa represents a not-insignificant amount of the total cost. It also makes things less flexible: as I understand, authorities must be notified of exact travel plans before you depart.

nxtrafalgar··on Emmanuel Macron presidency prompts French startup boom
Exactly. Countries definitely lose out because of these policies.

I intended to visit China in the near future -- but I've booked a trip to Taiwan instead, almost entirely because Taiwan doesn't​ require me to get a visa.

Likewise, I can't see myself ever living in the US as long as I have access to free movement in Europe.

nxtrafalgar··on Ask HN: How do I earn money as a teenage programmer?
I'm typing this on my way from work to university.

I'm 19 with no formal qualifications except high school. Not a 'genius'.

There are jobs out there for young developers!

nxtrafalgar··on Silk Road founder loses appeal
So I agree there are substantial harms from alcohol, but the context of alcohol sales is still different. It occurs in a regulated market with oversight, safety standards, etc. Now perhaps the market for, say, heroin should be legal and regulated, in order to reduce social harm, but it currently isn't.

That means by facilitating the distribution of a drug, you are propping up an illegal industry, perhaps run by organized crime and so on.

I don't disagree that there is an element of regulatory / governmental failure here, but to suggest that these activities are equivalent strikes me as a stretch.

nxtrafalgar··on Silk Road founder loses appeal
>Do you believe life imprisonment is the correct answer for every bar and liquor store owner in the world, or every pain management MD that is overprescribing Oxycontin? At the worst, Ulbricht has no worse social effect than these people.

There's a substantial difference between social drinking or overprescription and facilitating the large-scale sale of hard drugs.

nxtrafalgar··on ReactOS 0.4.5 Released
I don't think it's supposed to look like Windows 98.

Here's Windows XP's 'Classic' theme, for reference: https://i.stack.imgur.com/lZp4Q.png

nxtrafalgar··on United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler
On minor routes Jetstar is bad, but I flew domestically with them half a dozen times last year.

The worst problem I experienced was a 30-delay one time.

nxtrafalgar··on United removes first-class passenger to make room for 'higher-priority' traveler
I am constantly surprised when reading about the US. You would think that there would be more similarities with New Zealand, my home country.

Anecdotally; I flew to Australia a few months ago on an economy-class ticket purchased at very short notice. My trip through both Auckland and Melbourne airports was very pleasant, and I had no need to even interact with any of the personnel the whole way through. The flight was full but not overbooked and we arrived early.

Reading the stories about travel to the US is very discouraging and erases any desire I had to visit. I suppose there isn't much of an incentive to improve anything in the US, because the economy doesn't rely on tourism to the same extent we do here.

nxtrafalgar··on The Gig Economy Celebrates Working To Excess
I mean, there are jobs generally, but not really in tech. I was slightly exaggerating to say there are 'no' jobs, but in reality the NZ tech industry is not very mature.

If people leave, normally they leave for Australia (because it's very easy to do so).

nxtrafalgar··on The Gig Economy Celebrates Working To Excess
Take living costs and so forth into account also. California probably isn't as great at the figures suggest.

That said, speaking as a New Zealander: don't come here. There are no jobs, and if you find one, you will be underpaid. If you're looking for the weather and standard-of-living combination offered by the southern hemisphere, consider Melbourne or Sydney instead. Very few of my graduating class at the University of Auckland will end up remaining in the city, I suspect.

nxtrafalgar··on Your yearly dose of is-the-universe-a-simulation
Would answering the question of whether we're in a simulation have any impact on your behavior, thoughts, and actions? Probably not. So what does it matter?

If we could prove (or even make a strong, but unverifiable argument) for or against the claim that we live in a simulation, then that would have a real-world effect.

A concrete example: if we knew we lived in a simulation, and therefore knew that the simulation of an entire universe were possible, we'd probably expend resources on research and engineering efforts to create such a simulation.

nxtrafalgar··on Overkill: Java as a first programming language (2010)
I disagree with this. The second course most [software] engineering students at my university are exposed to, after basic MATLAB and C programming, is 'Object Oriented Design', which teaches the fundamentals of OOP using Java.

It's very useful to have a consistent mental model of classes, methods, variable lifetimes, etc. early on.

Of course, if you're teaching yourself to program (or recommending a language for self-teaching) then Java probably isn't the way to go. However, with a competent teacher, fundamental Java knowledge can be invaluable.

nxtrafalgar··on The last patent on AC-3 (Dolby Digital) expires at midnight
So if the premise is that ideas are not patentable and inventions are, then what makes an audio codec constitute an 'invention'?
nxtrafalgar··on US Customs block Canadian man after reading his Scruff profile
As a New Zealander, it amazes me that the US and Canada do not have closer relations with regards to customs and so forth. I understand that both countries are large, but this situation seems a little ludicrous.

I recently travelled to Australia on business - which, I suppose, is the larger neighbour in the same way the US is to Canada.

Through immigration and customs at both airports, I was never obliged to actually interact with a real person: only check-in machines, face scanners, and a quick walk past sniffer dogs.

nxtrafalgar··on Uber Investigating Sexual Harassment Claims by Ex-Employee
"Harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision"

Seems pretty clear-cut to me?

nxtrafalgar··on Uber Investigating Sexual Harassment Claims by Ex-Employee
The statute -- at least in my country -- is quite unambiguous [1].

What is difficult is proving that what is alleged to have happened actually transpired (or if cases are not properly investigated).

But this is why we have a justice system. If there is a paper trail, and evidence of repeat activity, as in this case, there is little ambiguity.

[1]: https://employment.govt.nz/resolving-problems/types-of-probl...

nxtrafalgar··on Ask HN: Which developers do you closely follow?
What?

It is an attempt to normalise the idea that non-male programmers can work and communicate competently in their field. Whether you like it or not, certain elements of the technology community implicitly or explicitly reject this idea.

If this idea is normalised, then finally 'gender will not matter'.

nxtrafalgar··on Ask HN: Which developers do you closely follow?
Some people might wish to diversify the range of blog authors they read.

Contrary to the implicit assertion you make, nothing -- not even programming (and writing about programming especially) -- is inseparable from identity. Consider, for example, that where someone grew up is likely to influence how they think and write about programming. Why would gender not also have an influence?

nxtrafalgar··on Galaxy Note7: What We Discovered
'Proud of' is an acceptable colloquial substitute here for 'pleased with'.
nxtrafalgar··on Getting Past C
>I work on a C codebase that does this

And more power to you. Note the beginning of the parent comment, however:

> Just because you 'can' write such an array implementation doesn't mean you will

So yes, even if the codebase you work on does have these 'mythical', hard-to-achieve properties, that doesn't mean that most or even many C codebases will.

Good engineering entails observing what problems actually occur and working to fix those. Memory safety issues do commonly occur in C codebases. Regardless of whether the fix in C is simple or even trivial, programmers aren't doing it. So, Rust has some value because it forces the programmer to produce code that is largely free from this type of issue.

Enforcing norms like 'be more disciplined when writing C' or 'stop using external libraries' is much harder than simply using a different language.

nxtrafalgar··on Why do traders in investment banks feel their jobs are immune from AI, etc?
Perhaps things are different internationally, but if word got out that agents from the estate agencies I work with were regularly screwing buyers, they'd sink quickly.

> plus they get to keep the down payment if the buyer pulls out.

What? Where does this happen?

nxtrafalgar··on Excessive load on NTP servers
On my device, at various points, Snapchat and Uber have both been completely nonfunctional for days on end. I didn't think building phone apps could be so difficult for these large companies.
nxtrafalgar··on Ask HN: Is the concept of a one-person software shop still viable?
Yes. I am my boss's only employee, and I only work part-time while studying. Before he hired me, it was just him. We develop software for the real estate industry for property management and trust accounting. We have one major client that we work with directly, and we have a specific version of our software that we only supply to them. We also have a partnership with another company overseas who we license our software to, while they handle client relations and support.

It appears to working out quite well for him, as he is currently on holiday overseas.

nxtrafalgar··on HashLink is a virtual machine for Haxe
Looks like serious attention is finally being paid to Haxe performance:

> Initial benchmark shows that HL/JIT outperforms Adobe AIR and Node/V8 in many cases.

I am very interested to see how that stacks up, as well as seeing what sort of compile times we get.

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