Hacker News Reader

seanmccannon OpenAI in Talks to Raise as Much as $100B

They've built one of the most successful products in the last decade. It has significantly changed jobs like software engineering in the span of 9 months.

seanmccannon There is an AI code review bubble

As Claude Code (and Opus) improves, Greptile is finding fewer issues in my code reviews.

seanmccannon Stripe Is Holding 25% of Our Funds, Indefinitely

Before Stripe and Braintree, requiring a reserve was common for a lot of merchant accounts to manage risk for new companies with no history. Sometimes they'd require an up-front reserve payment or accrual reserve (like 10% until desired reserve was met). The most reasonable is a rolling reserve (like Stripe is doing) where they hold the money a bit longer in case of chargebacks or other issues.

seanmccannon Canada aims to ban single-use plastics by 2021

To provide a convenience to customers that didn't bring a reusable bag and don't want to spend a few bucks on a bag they'll never use again and has an environmental impact 1-2 orders of magnitude worse than a single use paper or plastic bag.

seanmccannon Canada aims to ban single-use plastics by 2021

Which is funny because at most Canadian grocery stores they don't even offer or have paper bags. At least in Alberta.

seanmccannon Apple is looking for engineers to convert its code from C to Rust

My hometown. From what I heard, an engineer wanted to move home and started a small remote office there. I think the office is moving to Edmonton.

seanmccannon Coronavirus could force ISPs to abandon data caps forever

I called Comcast and had 2 options. Pay $50/month for unlimited or pay $25/mo for unlimited, but I would have to forgo using my own modem/router and use theirs. Decided to just pay the $50, but we'll see what happens. I could see them increasing the cap or forgiving overages for a few months.

seanmccannon Trading halted as U.S. stocks plummet

We hit 7% earlier today. If we hit 7% again today, nothing will happen. If we hit 13% we hit L2.

seanmccannon I had to get a background check for my job; the report is a 300 page pdf

You're absolutely right. Background checks for employment purposes are covered under FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act) and a myriad of other laws at various levels. Complying with these laws is not trivial, but the onus is on the employer to handle compliance if they are using data sources like this.

I work at a background check startup that puts a focus on fairness and compliance.

seanmccannon Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

Thanks for explaining this more eloquently than I was able to. I did a poor job of highlighting that I was mostly referring to to these out-patient drugs.

For example there is a drug you can take before chemo that reduces the side effects, it costs a lot, wasn't covered by the province and isn't free with private insurance. It can make a terrible experience a little more tolerable.

seanmccannon Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

Perhaps my error was in saying that the specific conditions that the OP listed would result in financial ruin.

My experience is anecdotal from close relatives in Alberta having severe diseases early in life. Their drugs and "required care" was expensive and not entirely covered by their private insurance. Their private insurance had caps (annual and/or lifetime), and after, their medical history made it difficult or impossible to get private insurance with adequate coverage.

The bills were significant, but maybe each province has programs to cover the difference for those that cannot afford the bills?

seanmccannon Low unemployment isn’t worth much if the jobs barely pay

As far as I understand — without private insurance in Canada, somebody with few resources in Canada is at risk of financial ruin from any of the health conditions you mentioned. For older Canadians, a pre-existing condition may not be covered, which means a serious condition could rack up significant medical bills.

Edit: I should have specifically said that I'm talking about expensive prescription drugs and required ancillary care that is not paid for by the province. Also, each province is different. Ex: cancertaintyforall.ca

seanmccannon Ruby 2.7

I had wondered why most recent Ruby releases were on Christmas Day and recently found out why. The Ruby creator Matz is religious (LDS), and he considers it a Christmas gift to the community. I thought that was really cool.

seanmccannon Schwab Leaves San Francisco for Texas

> The company said Monday that “a small percentage of roles may move from San Francisco to Westlake over time, either through relocation or attrition. The vast majority of San Francisco-based roles, however, are not anticipated to be impacted by this decision. Schwab expects to continue hiring in San Francisco and retain a sizable corporate footprint in the city.”

Doesn't sound like they are leaving San Francisco, just building a new office in Texas (suburb north of Fort Worth).

seanmccannon Brex wants to replace startup bank accounts with Brex Cash

First Republic and Schwab are common choices in SF that have good features/perks.

seanmccannon Ask HN: Who is hiring? (October 2019)

Checkr (YC S14) | San Francisco / Denver | ONSITE | Senior Software Engineers

For the unfamiliar, Checkr's a 5 year old company, redefining the way background checks are run today and how they influence the job market of the future. From the YC S14 class to raising a $160 million Series D last month to the profitable, fast-growing company we are today, it's been quite the ride. A little about our stack: Ruby/Sinatra/Rails/gRPC, MySQL, Postgres, Mongo, and Kafka for queueing. React frontends, growing Golang and Python microservices, Kubernetes and Docker for deploying.

We are looking for:

- Engineers: Backend, Frontend, Fullstack, DevOps

- Product: Designers, PMs, Program Managers

Director of Eng - https://grnh.se/8609b8f81

Fullstack - https://grnh.se/41780b7e1

Sr PM - https://grnh.se/4147323f1

If you have questions feel free to reach out to me at sean.mccann@checkr.com

seanmccannon Ask HN: What service is Strava and Zapier using for their status pages?

https://www.statuspage.io as it says in the footer.

seanmccannon Ask HN: Who is hiring? (April 2019)

Checkr (YC S14) | San Francisco, CA | ONSITE | Senior Software Engineers For the unfamiliar, Checkr's a 5 year old company, redefining the way background checks are run today and how they influence the job market of the future. From the YC S14 class to raising a $100 million Series C in April 2018 to the profitable, fast-growing company we are today, it's been quite the ride.

A little about our stack: Ruby/Sinatra/Rails, MySQL and Mongo, RabbitMQ and Kafka for queueing, React frontends, growing Golang and Python microservices, Kubernetes and Docker for deploying, Presto for our data warehouse, moving to gRPC for service communication.

We are looking for:

- Engineers: Backend, Frontend, Fullstack, DevOps, Data/ML, Security

- Product: Designers, PMs, Program Managers

Backend/Fullstack - https://grnh.se/sw604uyn1

DevOps Engineer - https://grnh.se/e9b0b7fe1

SRE - https://grnh.se/b05154951

Sr PM - https://grnh.se/f97c45151

If you have questions feel free to reach out to me at sean.mccann@checkr.com

seanmccannon Ask HN: Who is hiring? (January 2019)

Checkr (YC S14) | San Francisco, CA | ONSITE | Senior Software Engineers

For the unfamiliar, Checkr's a four year old company, redefining the way background checks are run today and how they influence the job market of the future. From the YC S14 class to raising a $100 million Series C in April 2018 to the profitable, fast-growing company we are today, it's been quite the ride.

A little about our stack: Ruby/Sinatra/Rails, MySQL and Mongo, RabbitMQ and Kafka for queueing, React frontends, growing Golang and Python microservices, Kubernetes and Docker for deploying, Presto for our data warehouse, moving to gRPC for service communication.

We are looking for:

- Engineers: Backend, Frontend, Fullstack, DevOps, Data/ML, BI, Security

- Product: Designers, PMs, Program Managers

Backend/Fullstack - https://grnh.se/sw604uyn1

Frontend - https://grnh.se/gcb4q2vl1

Sr PM - https://grnh.se/f97c45151

If you have questions feel free to reach out to me at sean.mccann@checkr.com

seanmccannon [dead]

Checkr (YC S14) | San Francisco, CA | ONSITE | Senior Software Engineers

For the unfamiliar, Checkr's a four year old company, redefining the way background checks are run today and how they influence the job market of the future. From the YC S14 class to raising a $100 million Series C in April 2018 to the profitable, fast-growing company we are today, it's been quite the ride.

A little about our stack: Ruby/Sinatra/Rails, MySQL and Mongo, RabbitMQ and Kafka for queueing, React frontends, growing Golang and Python microservices, Kubernetes and Docker for deploying, Presto for our data warehouse, moving to gRPC for service communication.

We are looking for:

- Engineers: Backend, Frontend, Fullstack, DevOps, Data/ML, BI, Security

- Product: Designers, PMs, Program Managers

Backend/Fullstack - https://grnh.se/sw604uyn1

Frontend - https://grnh.se/gcb4q2vl1

Sr PM - https://grnh.se/f97c45151

If you have questions feel free to reach out to me at sean.mccann@checkr.com

seanmccannon Ask HN: Who is hiring? (December 2018)

Checkr (YC S14) | San Francisco, CA | ONSITE | Senior Software Engineers

For the unfamiliar, Checkr's a four year old company, redefining the way background checks are run today and how they influence the job market of the future. From the YC S14 class to raising a $100 million Series C in April 2018 to the profitable, fast-growing company we are today, it's been quite the ride.

A little about our stack: Ruby/Sinatra/Rails, MySQL and Mongo, RabbitMQ and Kafka for queueing, React frontends, growing Golang and Python microservices, Kubernetes and Docker for deploying, Presto for our data warehouse, moving to gRPC for service communication.

We are looking for:

- Engineers: Backend, Frontend, Fullstack, DevOps, Data/ML, BI, Security

- Product: Designers, PMs, Program Managers

Backend/Fullstack - https://grnh.se/sw604uyn1

Frontend - https://grnh.se/gcb4q2vl1

Sr PM - https://grnh.se/f97c45151

If you have questions feel free to reach out to me at sean.mccann@checkr.com

seanmccannon Ask HN: Who is hiring? (November 2018)

Checkr (YC S14) | San Francisco, CA | ONSITE | Senior Software Engineers

For the unfamiliar, Checkr's a four year old company, redefining the way background checks are run today and how they influence the job market of the future. From the YC S14 class to raising a $100 million Series C in April 2018 to the profitable, fast-growing company we are today, it's been quite the ride.

A little about our stack: Ruby/Sinatra/Rails, MySQL and Mongo, RabbitMQ and Kafka for queueing, React frontends, growing Golang and Python microservices, Kubernetes and Docker for deploying, Presto for our data warehouse, moving to gRPC for service communication.

We are looking for:

- Engineers: Backend, Frontend, Fullstack, DevOps, Data/ML, BI, Security

- Product: Designers, PMs, Program Managers

Backend/Fullstack - https://grnh.se/sw604uyn1

Frontend - https://grnh.se/gcb4q2vl1

Sr PM - https://grnh.se/f97c45151

If you have questions feel free to reach out to me at sean.mccann@checkr.com

seanmccannon Ask HN: Who is hiring? (October 2018)

Checkr (YC S14) | San Francisco, CA | ONSITE | Senior Software Engineers

For the unfamiliar, Checkr's a four year old company, redefining the way background checks are run today and how they influence the job market of the future. From the YC S14 class to raising a $100 million Series C in April 2018 to the profitable, fast-growing company we are today, it's been quite the ride.

A little about our stack: Ruby/Sinatra/Rails, MySQL and Mongo, RabbitMQ and Kafka for queueing, React frontends, growing Golang and Python microservices, Kubernetes and Docker for deploying, Presto for our data warehouse, moving to gRPC for service communication.

We are looking for: - Engineers: Backend, Frontend, Fullstack, DevOps, Data/ML, BI, Security - Product: Designers, PMs, Program Managers

Backend/Fullstack - https://grnh.se/sw604uyn1

Frontend - https://grnh.se/gcb4q2vl1

Sr PM - https://grnh.se/f97c45151

If you have questions feel free to reach out to me at sean.mccann@checkr.com

seanmccannon Ask HN: Who is hiring? (September 2018)

Checkr (YC S14) | San Francisco, CA | ONSITE | Senior Software Engineers

For the unfamiliar, Checkr's a four year old company, redefining the way background checks are run today and how they influence the job market of the future. From the YC S14 class to raising a $100 million Series C in April 2018 to the profitable, fast-growing company we are today, it's been quite the ride.

A little about our stack: Ruby/Sinatra/Rails, MySQL and Mongo, RabbitMQ and Kafka for queueing, React frontends, growing Golang and Python microservices, Kubernetes and Docker for deploying, Presto for our data warehouse, moving to gRPC for service communication.

We are looking for: - Engineers: Backend, Frontend, Fullstack, DevOps, Data/ML, BI, Security - Product: Designers, PMs, Program Managers

Backend/Fullstack - https://grnh.se/sw604uyn1

Frontend - https://grnh.se/gcb4q2vl1

Sr PM - https://grnh.se/f97c45151

If you have questions feel free to reach out to me at sean.mccann@checkr.com

seanmccannon Ask HN: Who is hiring? (June 2018)

Checkr (YC S14) | San Francisco, CA | ONSITE | Senior Software Engineers

For the unfamiliar, Checkr's a four year old company, redefining the way background checks are run today and how they influence the job market of the future. From the YC S14 class to raising a $100 million Series C last month to the profitable, fast-growing company we are today, it's been quite the ride.

A little about our stack: Ruby/Sinatra/Rails, MySQL and Mongo, RabbitMQ and Kafka for queueing, React and Angular frontends, growing Golang and Python microservices, Kubernetes and Docker for deploying, Presto for our data warehouse, moving to gRPC for service communication.

We are looking for: - Engineers: Backend, Frontend, Fullstack, DevOps, Data/ML, BI, Security - Product: Designers, PMs, Program Managers

Backend/Fullstack - https://grnh.se/sw604uyn1

Frontend - https://grnh.se/gcb4q2vl1

Sr PM - https://grnh.se/f97c45151

If you have questions feel free to reach out to me at sean.mccann@checkr.com

seanmccannon Man Allegedly Used Change of Address Form to Move UPS Headquarters

I just did this yesterday and it verified my credit card billing with either my previous or new address. Probably not that hard to pass that with a prepaid card.

seanmccannon Form a California LLC in 10 minutes for $70

You do have to file 2 tax returns and suffer double taxation for your Canadian corporation. The benefit of a LLC is that it's pass through and reported on your personal tax return. It can minimize tax prep and taxes (YMMV).

seanmccannon Making a Crypto Utopia in Puerto Rico

I believe capital gains are not taxed in PR to incentivize new investment from the US. There are a handful of other tax incentives too.

seanmccannon Bitcoin’s energy usage is huge – we can't afford to ignore it

This is anecdotal but my family operated a store in a rural vacation area and over half of our customers used cash. In the 2000s, we'd have to drive the cash 30+ minutes to the bank, twice weekly to mitigate the risk of a robbery. We sold the business, but more electronic transfers hopefully reduces the required driving miles, and overall cost to transact in cash.

seanmccannon Uber Paid Hackers to Delete Stolen Data on 57M People

In about 2014 I noticed that the logged in API request, on Uber's website, included full driver info nested under the ride JSON object. It included the drivers full address, license, phone numbers, etc. They patched it a few months later, but it was the worst data leak I've seen.