HNHacker News
TopNewBestAskShowJobs

s0uthPaw88

139 karma · joined September 5, 2013

submissionscomments
s0uthPaw88··on “Your monthly rent .. shall increase from $2145 to $8900”
You are correct that removing rent control would not completely solve the problem. The underlying reason for the increase in rent prices (and thus the need for rent control) is that there is a fixed supply of housing. The city has strict zoning laws that have limited the ability to build up[1]. Without a way to increase the supply of housing the only way for the market to reach equilibrium is for prices to rise.

So to make prices reasonable, both zoning laws and rent control will have to be reworked.

(1)http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/04/11/san_francisco...

s0uthPaw88··on “Your monthly rent .. shall increase from $2145 to $8900”
This is a perfect example of why rent control is a terrible system that leads to market inefficiencies and worse outcomes for a community. The law has made it more profitable for this landlord to remove housing stock and charge market rate for the remaining unit than to rent out both units in the building under rent control laws. Cities with low vacancy rates like SF need to rethink their approach to housing if they want to remain attractive places to live.
s0uthPaw88··on Ask HN: How do you politely refuse to disclose previous salary information?
I use one of two responses depending on where in the interview process I am.

1) Early in the interview process I respond with: "I’m sure we’ll find a number that works for both of us, but for now, I want to make sure it’s a good fit."[1]

2) If it is during a final round or they are offering the job, I like to turn the question on the interviewer and ask: "What is the salary range you have in mind for this position?"

1. http://bucks.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/on-refusing-to-dis...

s0uthPaw88··on Ask HN: Does anyone actually hire from 'developer bootcamps'?
But if you were in the same large scale hiring situation again and can bring on junior devs, would you do it again?
s0uthPaw88··on New Science on Building Great Teams
The article discusses some different interventions that were used to improve communication on teams:

1) "Every day for a week, we provided team members a visualization of that day’s work, with some light interpretation of what we saw. (Keep in mind that we didn’t know the substance of their work, just how they were interacting.) We also told them that the ideal visualization would show members contributing equally and more overall contributions. By day seven, the maps showed, the team’s energy and engagement had improved vastly, especially for the two Japanese members, one of whom had become a driving force."

2. "The manager wanted to raise energy and engagement in lockstep. We suggested instituting a common coffee break for each team at the call center. This increased the number of interactions, especially informal ones, and raised the teams’ energy levels. And because all team members took a break at once, interactions were evenly distributed, increasing engagement. When we mapped energy and engagement against AHT afterward, the results were clear: Efficiency in the center increased by 8%, on average, and by as much as 20% for the worst-performing teams."

s0uthPaw88··on Ask HN: What is the best JavaScript stack for a beginner to learn?
This has not been my experience at all. Ember-cli post 0.1.0 release has been very easy to work with and has helped me and my team get started using the Ember very quickly. We now have two Ember apps and have not looked back since!
s0uthPaw88··on Ask HN: Bored at my dev job. Don't know what to do
My advice would be as follows:

1) Take a deep breath and relax. What you are going through is normal. Your whole life up to a few months ago has basically been spent working towards this ultimate goal of getting a college degree. It is normal to feel a bit of a let down coming off this achievement high.

2) Realize that developing an elite skill set is the key to finding exciting and meaningful work. For more on this check out this book: http://www.amazon.com/Good-They-Cant-Ignore-You/dp/145550912...

3) Get to work honing your craft.

s0uthPaw88··on Some thoughts on asking for a raise
What I like about this article is that it points out that human capital is a marketplace. No matter what you perceive your value or worth to be, your worth in the marketplace is only what you can get someone else to compensate you for.

If you feel there is a discrepancy between what you are currently being compensated and what you are worth then it is your job get fair value for your skills. Either you prove your worth to your current employer or you find someone in the marketplace that is willing to pay the price you have set for your skills.

s0uthPaw88··on Trends in the Silk Road 2.0
http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/11/21/alleged...
s0uthPaw88··on Ask HN: What are the best resources to learn modern web development and design?
Thoughtbot's Upcase provides some excellent material for both development and design. I would highly recommend it.
s0uthPaw88··on Ask HN: How did you get from learning to code to making your first dollar?
Here's my timeline:

June 2013 - decide to change careers and become a developer. Learn basics of looping, branching and data structures in Javascript. Apply to code bootcamps.

July 2013 - Accepted into Epicodus. Complete class prep work and now understand basics of HTML, CSS and JQuery.

August thru November 2013 - Attend Epicodus. 40 hours per week learning Javascript and Ruby.

Feb 2014 - after lots of interviews, I am offered a 6 week contract with the possibility of being hired full time at the end of the contract.

April 2014 - brought on full time as a Junior Developer

s0uthPaw88··on The Economy Got Off to a Historically Bad Start in 2014
Monetary policy has very limited effect when you are up against the zero lower bound of interest rates as the US has been for quite some time.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/15/five-on-the-floo...

← PreviousPage 2 of 2