HNHacker News
TopNewBestAskShowJobs

rajeshmr

1,074 karma · joined March 3, 2011

submissionscomments
rajeshmr··on Fairphone 5 review: The most uncompromising repairable phone yet
well am in the tech industry, and i would like to own a fairphone purely for the repairability and replaceability and the extended life span. Agreed, the camera might be sub-par, but with this level of repairability, if fairphone can enable certified third-party parts, then we could replace the camera ourselves with certified better quality cameras in the future right ?

Also, the phone industry, especially the biggies are into planned obsolescence of their products in pursuit of more and more profits. I personally do not prefer replacing my phone every few years, and going through the hassle of backing up the files and setting up the new phone etc. I want a device that just works and isn't a botheration to maintain and upkeep for long.

The lifespan of products were much longer not too long ago, before the corporate interests figured out planned obsolescence. I remember as a kid, the products we purchased at our home, lasted much through my adolescence and into my adult life. For example, the radio which we bought worked for years without wasting much time of fixing it up every now and then, just a couple of batteries would last a really long time. All it needed was large batteries. I would prefer products that have a longer lifespan than being at the cutting edge, and wasting precious time chasing the latest and greatest. I have better interests to attend to :)

rajeshmr··on Fairphone 5 review: The most uncompromising repairable phone yet
Actually, iphones which are much costlier sell well in India! In fact, all the top-end phones sell well in India.

Indian population seeks value, and are pretty smart about their choice of investment. An iphone even though is much costlier in India, has longer os / security updates than any budget phone. So over a period of time, this would translate to a higher value for the device and hence the purchasing decision. Usually Indians try to ascertain the price to value ratio (something that Nothing phone ceo has acknowledged publicly) while making these decisions.

Definitely Fairphone has the appeal of repairability (which again is valuable for the average Indian) and the longer os / security updates are a boon.

rajeshmr··on Fairphone 5 review: The most uncompromising repairable phone yet
Fairphone would easily be a big hit in the Indian Market, i figure. If there are any fairphone folks here, please do consider to bring this phone in the Indian market. I would love to own a Fairphone.

At the bare minimum, all smartphones should allow for easy battery replacement like they do in Fairphone. (This was the norm, before the iphones and the androids took over)

rajeshmr··on Tell HN: UC Berkeley's CS61A/B/C are the best courses to learn CS and coding
Could you please post urls for the courses so it would be helpful to the community?
rajeshmr··on Ask HN: As a Python programmer, which packages have you used more frequently?
Thanks for your input!
rajeshmr··on Ask HN: As a Python programmer, which packages have you used more frequently?
Thanks for your input!
rajeshmr··on It's official: Smartphones will need to have replaceable batteries by 2027
Finally, a step in the right direction. So much struggle to get back what we once took for granted (user replaceable batteries).
rajeshmr··on Germany quits nuclear power, closing its final three plants
A million years...

" Now Germany must work out what do with the deadly, high-level radioactive waste, which can remain dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years.

Currently, the nuclear waste is kept in interim storage next to the nuclear plants being decommissioned. But the search is on to find a permanent location where the waste can be stored safely for a million years.

The site needs to be deep – hundreds of meters underground. Only certain types of rock will do: Crystalline granite, rock salt or clay rock. It must be geologically stable with no risks of earthquakes or signs of underground rivers.

The process is likely to be fraught, complex and breathtakingly long – potentially lasting more than 100 years. "

rajeshmr··on Ask HN: Looking for advice on my situation at work?
Quit. Been there myself, and it became obvious what my manager was upto, i helped the new team members get upto speed just like you, and taught them everything i knew about the product, but along with that, i also quit the organization. I knew this wasn't the kinda workplace i wanted to be in. I didn't receive a single hike or promotion for 3+ years, even though i was considered critical to the team before the arrival of the new team members (whom i eventually trained).

I raised concerns about my stagnation and brought up issues with the team and also confronted about the new team members getting personally trained on the product by me without showing me a roadmap for myself to get to the next level. He was acting smart i felt, and then eventually decided to move on.

Once i quit, i was offered ridiculous sums of money to withdraw my resignation however, i didn't accept the counter offer and left the place. Post my resignation, a lot of people resigned from that team, and subsequently that manager was fired (i came to know after i had left the org).

rajeshmr··on Ask HN: Why did the Touch Bar fail?
Because it was a solution in search of a problem.
rajeshmr··on WhatsApp, FB, and Instagram Down
Yeah it is down
rajeshmr··on Show HN: 40k HN comments mentioning books, extracted using deep learning
Can you provide a way to export the dataset ?
rajeshmr··on Ask HN: My friend made it big. How to handle?
Agreed, and i believe it works both ways. Money can show who you really are, and money can change you as well (especially big money).
rajeshmr··on Ask HN: My friend made it big. How to handle?
Money changes you, and big money alters you completely (at least from what i saw!). No regrets actually :) They had to go, and i cannot put up with people who look differently upon friends purely based on monetary status (are they friends really ?)
rajeshmr··on Ask HN: My friend made it big. How to handle?
I have had a couple of my college buddies startup and work on their own and become wealthy, the side effect of this was their attitude change and entitlement and them looking at me differently because i was working a job. At some point, i decided to cut my ties with them because they had utter disregard to my life context and why i had to choose a job over starting up. I still want to work on my own, but my responsibilities,dependencies and life context is different, which is why i continue to work a job to save and buy some time to do things on my own. I will take time, meanwhile they can bask in their glory. Unfortunately, they don’t have a place in my life. Just sharing my experience here.
rajeshmr··on Amazon will monitor workers' keystrokes to 'combat data theft'
1984
rajeshmr··on For programmers, remote working is becoming the norm
I am pro remote working as i do not see a need for physical presence in office for software professionals. The commute kills my soul, and the pointless dressing up for office chores do not excite me at all. And i have observed that am far more effective / productive working from home than i am working from office and the commute time which got freed up, i can spend with family which is great for me. But i can understand if some would like to work out of office. I guess it is individual preference and i hope in the near future both choices are available to employees with no disparities in pay between remote and office workers since value shouldn’t be determined by location.
rajeshmr··on Ask HN: How to best move away from an unpleasant job?
Option 2, have faith in your abilities and take the leap. Toxic workplaces can affect your mental makeup and the effects can last longer than one might realize. Always keep some money in your savings and quit if you ever get stuck in a toxic / BS job. And don't worry about age, there are companies which are open minded enough to hire talented and experienced people - the world isn't doomed yet for 30+ software engineers :) Just sharing my opinion with you :) Good Luck to you!
rajeshmr··on The Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity (2017)
Quitting smartphone has been incredible for me and i don't miss it at all. :)
rajeshmr··on Ask HN: Taking a sabbatical during a global pandemic?
You mention that you have enough saved up for 4-5 years (8-10 years if conservative) - and then you also mention "quit my job for a few months".

So my suggestion would be to get clear on the timeline you are looking at for your break. For example, i am taking a year off no matter what.

Once you are clear on that, moving to the next aspect of your story is that, you have everything that a typical professional would aspire for "pay, great boss, good work" etc. So when considering this, it could also be that your mind is playing some tricks on you.

Give it a few more months (maybe 6 months?) and see if you feel the same way. If you think you won't be able to push that far, then you are ready to quit.

Obviously, quitting during a pandemic (and with no clear signs of when the economy would recover) is not ideal, if you think you might change your mind later and would want to get back to work. Since the unemployment rates are high right now, your place will be taken up by someone else pretty quick, and you would have to wait for openings etc (which could get frustrating)

But if you decide on the time you want off, you can always plan around that. 6 months to 1 year off and things can start recovering by then, and jobs will be available etc.

Honestly, if you have enough saved for 4-5 years, you can take a break. But decide what you want to do after you have quit. Since you cannot travel much during these times, so you would be pretty much stuck at your place for most of the days, and during a pandemic sitting at your place with nothing to keep you busy could quickly drive you nuts. So that's there. So have a plan like the non-profit project after you have quit.

rajeshmr··on Heart Influences What You Perceive and Fear
Hey, maybe you can post a blog and share the link to HN ?
rajeshmr··on Ask HN: Hackerrank like platform for Semiconductor world?
Indeed, in terms of scale it does allow access to a larger pool! But the reality is that even good candidates, on a given day can perform bad on these platforms - and that becomes the basis for the initial impressions. How many people would be willing to take up the next round of interview for a candidate who might have otherwise performed bad on these platforms ?

Also, on the contrary, these platforms are used to eliminate a majority of "unpromising" candidates. It's just the easy way out for recruiters - outsourcing filtering mechanisms.

As such the hiring problem is multi-layered. Programming is just one aspect of software engineering. Well designed software requires wearing multiple hats and requires thinking which novice programmers lack.

When you make hiring a sport, you are likely to find more gamers of the platform than real problem solvers.

Just read the comments on this article for the general feeling amongst experienced developers : https://dev.to/raddevon/hackerrank-is-teaching-you-to-write-...

rajeshmr··on Ask HN: Hackerrank like platform for Semiconductor world?
You will likely miss out on some good candidates. Just saying. Programming based hiring platforms are overrated imo.
rajeshmr··on Hacker News Design Is Ugly
Excellent satire :)

"Until then, go here and browse some more trends to follow at the cost of authenticity, objectivity, originality, reasoning and fundamental understanding of how to design user interfaces"

rajeshmr··on Ask HN: Is there any point in trying to clear your online footprint
Exactly! Once you leave an online trail, its hard to undo.
rajeshmr··on Ask HN: Is There any good way you are using to tracking your books reading
Goodreads?
rajeshmr··on Ask HN: How do you keep track of the interesting things you find on HN?
Pocket + tags
rajeshmr··on Scientists Say They've Cooked Up an Endlessly Recyclable Plastic
Why can't we just stop manufacturing and using plastics ? Invention for the sake of invention ? Curious. The damage is already done, why keep insisting on using plastics ?
rajeshmr··on Great developers are raised, not hired
How many prodigies exist ? How much demand is there for developers in the market at present ? Does the demand for developers match the number of prodigies available at any given time ? Some prodigies know their strengths early and some prodigies are to be discovered. I think the author refers to the latter.
rajeshmr··on Great developers are raised, not hired
Well put and very refreshing to read this. Hope more people speak this language in this industry.
Page 1 of 7Next →