richeyrw

I understand and am sympathetic to the aversion to "stealth mode" but it depends on the context. I've often had people use stealth mode to mean, "I don't want it getting back to my boss that I'm talking to you about job opportunity, tech, etc."

In fact I'd say both of the things you mention I've mostly seen come from people who are too close to the investor or investor mindset.

Really?!? Because I'm pretty sure no one is more excited than me...

I was just thinking of that same Cracked article. I think it stated things much better.

Is Plato still useful in today's world? I think if you answer that then you should be able to give a a minimum a qualified "yes" to the question about Lisp.

I'm glad more people are recognizing this truth. Though it's not like no one ever pointed it out. I would say that this was one of the central points of the E-Myth books (E for entrepreneur) http://www.amazon.com/The-E-Myth-Revisited-Small-Businesses/...

That said, it's possible "Follow your Passion!" is still a useful lie... I'm not sure, it's certainly a prevalent lie.

Is there any chance that Google decided to start developing self-driving cars just to have an answer for the insane safety hazard the glasses are going to pose?

I wouldn't say this is complete hyperbole, but it might need the additional clarification of "I could teach myself more useful stuff in one afternoon..."

Surely you've had an experience where something you picked up on a single afternoon had more long term value than an entire course?

My understanding is that best-practice on Hacker News is to post the title as is, but the title is somewhat misleading this article is about running photoshop on an android tablet through Windows 3.1 emulation.

I remember reading somewhere that everyone should always demand a jury trial as an act of non-violent protest. Currently, as I recall, only 5% of eligible cases go to juries. So obviously if everyone did it (or even if it only went to 10% or 15%) it would bring the criminal justice system to a screeching halt.

As I recall it was aimed at the War on Drugs, but as this article points out, unintended consequences have bleed out all over the justice system like the death scene in a B-movie.

If someone is curating a list of brilliant CS quotes, this should be added...

Humans are pretty bad thinking scientifically, particularly in the realm of knowing what a certain probability means (witness the lotto). So providing some relatable story that illustrates the data is a great idea. I generally try and open any presentation I give with just such an anecdote.

I live in SLC. It is pretty bad, though to be fair you get really pretty sunsets...

Parkinson's Law may be the greatest business book of all time. If you like business books and you haven't read it you're missing out on one of the true classics of the genre.

http://www.amazon.com/Parkinsons-Law-C-Northcote-Parkinson/d...

I don't think you're being too hard, but your instrument may be too blunt. If you basing a large part of your hiring decision off this one test then you may be eliminating people unnecessarily and occasionally including someone who doesn't belong. For example I'm pretty rusty as a programmer, having graduated to management many years ago (and a linux admin before that) and I could pass this test, but you wouldn't want me as a senior programmer.

The point I'm getting at, is that like any science experiment you need to control for the variables. Just like an economics experiment might control for wealth, or education, you have to control for people who get nervous during interviews, people who have a blind spot for this particular problem, etc.

An easy addition to your methodology would be to have three different problems and let them choose. I would see how that affects their performance.

In my company I give potential hires a test for them to complete at home, before even interviewing them. The average time to complete the test is 6 hours, but we've never had anyone outright refuse to attempt it, and it gives us a giant steaming pile of data. So if my experience is any guide (and it might not be) I would think you could make your test more intensive, and potentially end up with more and better candidates.

Unlikely, last time anyone tried to send him a check they were returned unopened. He appears to have, for whatever reason, decided to completely leave that life behind. No one would be happier than me to see him get money/credit, but I don't think he want's it.

http://web.archive.org/web/19990202052243/http://home.earthl...

Excellent. Thanks.

I like your construction, particularly the 2nd part. I think the trap I fall into is I know I only have an hour to work on things today. And I know I want it done by a certain deadline, but in between today and the deadline I have this vague sense that there is nigh infinite time, which of course isn't true...

The "Minto Pyramid Principle" looks interesting, unfortunately it appears to be out of print ($60+ on Amazon) do you have any recommendations for similar, perhaps cheaper books?

I'd love to see a chart that broke down startups (successful or otherwise) by number of founders. Anyone know of such a report?

This article would seem to indicate that it is in fact illegal.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/01/18/jonathan_coul...

I think my dad did the same thing. The two books I remember him recommending were: Have Spacesuit Will Travel by Heinlein and Ivanhoe but Sir Walter Scott. If you don't mind sharing what books did your dad recommend?

So my daughter is in High School and she's doing IB (International Baccalaureate) does that have any benefit for those aspiring to the Ivy League or similar?

The Japanese sure hope so.