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pjbeam

861 karma · joined June 30, 2021

[ my public key: https://keybase.io/patbeam; my proof: https://keybase.io/patbeam/sigs/853A_Kk6_A0pQBpSBrczC1dix6kTfZMxipMyMIsRbl0 ]
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pjbeam··on Ask HN: Is anyone experimenting with different ways of using LLMs for coding?
I'm in the middle of it so don't have any conclusions for you, but I started mucking with building my own cli coding app and there are _tons_ of levers available that aren't apparent from claude code or codex.

Including altering the turn concept. I think it is still ultimately call and response but instead of everything is a quarter note you can get a little closer to a beat you like.

pjbeam··on I was banned from Claude for scaffolding a Claude.md file?
My take was more a kind of amusing laughing-through-frustration but also enjoying the ride just a little bit insouciance. Tastes vary of course, but I enjoyed the author's tone and pacing.
pjbeam··on A Fond Farewell
Huh, this always seemed like such an institution it never occurred to me that people have to produce Farmers' Almanac. Which of course they do. Didn't have this on my bingo card today, makes me a little sad.
pjbeam··on The number line freaks me out (2016)
Maybe intended as wordplay with scrutable, which is a word?
pjbeam··on The number line freaks me out (2016)
I like to think of continuity as always having more "resolution" available if a sharper "picture" is required. It is _weird_ though.
pjbeam··on Weierstrass's Monster
For sure, I meant something more like a slot with a name.
pjbeam··on Weierstrass's Monster
The issue there I think is the idea of two reals having a "between."
pjbeam··on Show HN: I built an active community of trans people online
(I work in social media content moderation.)

Echoing some other comments here, I highly recommend (in strongest possible terms) that you sit down with a lawyer well versed in Internet law wherever you are based out of and lay all of this out on the table for them.

All it takes is a bored official finding this thread or your site directly and your sincere effort here will transform into some kind of nightmare. Particularly given some of the major political swings recently, you have a target on your back and no megacorp legal team to protect you.

It is crazy easy to end up hosting an image known to NCMEC as seriously bad news and have no idea. Or NCII and not have an adequate reporting/actioning mechanism. Or someone tosses your user DB and people get harassed, swatted, or worse.

Not to mention you yourself are a target. By working on your passion project you've definitely already crossed lines that put you at physical risk if your info gets out. And over time the chance that it will climbs toward certainty.

I don't mean to dissuade you or wrap subtext in plausible corpolegal BS. I do mean, one human being to another, that you aren't merely building a fun community for people, you've also entered a field where very real, very heavy consequences--legal or not--now need to be a core part of your daily risk calculus.

pjbeam··on Ross Ulbricht granted a full pardon
DPR is free!! I'm very happy for him and hope he makes good on this second lease on life.
pjbeam··on Jack Elam and the Fly in 'Once Upon a Time in the West'
My read of the end of this is that the author of TFA replaces the "elevated" interpretations in the cited academic works with "the fly scene's purpose is the be awesome (Leonesque)"--is that right?

Love this movie and the scene but definitely don't relate much to more involved interpretations. That said, I'm the first to admit I'm no sophisticate and am interested in other takes.

pjbeam··on Jack Elam and the Fly in 'Once Upon a Time in the West'
One _possible_ out for Snakey here is that in old percussion cap revolvers (like Colt Dragoon), the safe thing to do was keep an empty chamber in front of the hammer when not engaged in active shooting. It's been a while though, and my fuzzy memory leans more toward the guns supposed to be Single Action Army-esque and not cap/ball era so maybe no excuse for Snakey after all.
pjbeam··on WSDA, USDA announce eradication of northern giant hornet from the United States
Did your mechanic visit happen soon thereafter? Was it alive?
pjbeam··on AT&T says criminals stole phone records of 'nearly all' customers in data breach
My read of responsible people are corporate officers and executives--people who actually choose what to work on and are substantially rewarded by the corporation.
pjbeam··on The Star – Arthur C. Clarke (1967) [pdf]
Seems like the University of Northern Iowa's concern, no?
pjbeam··on Northlight technology in Alan Wake 2
If you do please advertise it on HN. I'll buy a copy.
pjbeam··on Productivity has grown faster in Western Europe than in America
It isn't, at all. It's laziness on the part of management.
pjbeam··on Tech Workers Paying $700 a Month for Tiny Bed 'Pods' in San Francisco
That's an interesting take that seems so obvious now that you've said it. I've spent my whole life in single family homes and never quite "got" the "go work in a cafe" and similar stuff. Seems like a pretty rich tapestry of possible experiences to miss out on. Huh. Will be chewing on that for a while.
pjbeam··on Ask HN: Is the market bad, or am I having the worst luck job hunting?
The internal standards are basically the same but who gets an interview has dramatically changed due to the enormous resume pools. Where we would have interviewed a decent chunk of generically plausible candidates before the lay-off waves we now tend to be interviewing plausible candidates with some kind of special expertise related to the role.
pjbeam··on Ask HN: Is the market bad, or am I having the worst luck job hunting?
We are getting literally thousands of more or less qualified applicants for most of the roles we're hiring for at Dropbox right now. Can't speak for other places but I imagine it's similar for some. I don't know anything about your resume or qualifications but it very well may not be _you_ that's the problem, per se. As others have suggested I would see who you know places who can pull you out of the pile.
pjbeam··on The timing of computer search warrants when it takes years to guess the password
Do you keep searching your house for something after you find it? Apple's claim is an upper bound, it's pretty rare that the thing you're looking for is in the last possible place it could be.
pjbeam··on PyPI Was Subpoenaed
As in eagerly consume into poster's lexicon I think.
pjbeam··on Ask HN: Is "At which age did you start coding?” a good data point for hiring?
I wouldn't ask anything age related at all in an interview.
pjbeam··on Open RuneScape Classic
Oh the nostalgia is rushing back. I love to see this!
pjbeam··on I Am the Ghost Here
Honest question--is Michelle a real person the author is recounting events about or is this some kind of literary device? Maybe my brain isn't working today but I gave up halfway through this without getting it.
pjbeam··on As Carvana crashes, used car dealers, not buyers, stand to win big
We sold my wife's old Versa for more than she paid new to Carvana about 2 years ago. I wasn't upset but definitely didn't seem sustainable??
pjbeam··on Twitter Office Supply Auction
I finally did in '21 and it was worth every penny. YMMV but my attitude on price vs value for high end chairs changed quite a bit when I got one.
pjbeam··on Twitter’s Entire A11y Experience Team Let Go
Ask your business counsel if accessibility is important.
pjbeam··on To get kids into science, just do it
A little bit of wow factor from infotainment at an impressionable age can lead to lifetime interest that is far, far more impactful than the "educational" quality or content of these classes.

Not always of course but this kind of thing can definitely be valuable.

pjbeam··on Telling people you're a self taught developer in YouTube is a big business now
There is no checkbox for someone to check that once done that's it, they're now a programmer and can just do it in every situation without learning. I work with very talented and experienced developers who learn new things frequently.

The ability to constantly self-teach is table stakes for programming. I suspect what you're asking is is it possible for someone to teach themself from nothing enough to get a job and I think so--although it depends on the job and there is definitely a progression, or a "meta-career", that goes beyond the basic act of performing fizz-buzz or inverting trees for interviews.

If you aren't asking about employment the answer is still yes--it's quite accessible to self-learn enough programming to do something useful, satisfying, and or fun. Does that mean everyone is capable of rising to any challenge on any day based on what they've already taught themselves? Of course not.

My read of your post, which may be missing something important, is that you've succumbed to the common trap that there's some mystical mountain that once you climb it you're good and the journey is over. This seems to be a common viewpoint of non-technical people.

Sure, with experience and or education the surface area of problems that one can readily solve grows, but no one can solve all programming problems merely with what is already in their head.

pjbeam··on The SAFe Delusion
SAFe was implemented top down at CVS Health when I was there. Main benefit I got from it was the parties in the evenings after PI Planning days were excellent.

Otherwise I don't miss anything about it.

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