Hacker News Reader

smk11on Anonymous declares 'war' on ISIS, vows cyberattacks

While this feels great, I worry if this is a good idea to threaten ISIS on behalf of the French government without the French government's backing or approval. I like that Anonymous is taking a stand against these attacks, but worry about their plans clashing with the governments. And maybe the boasting is unnecessarily going to invigorate ISIS. I wish they would just simply declare cyber war against them, then take them out, and boast afterwards.

smk11on Modern life has not changed sleeping patterns as much as some believe

I sleep way better when I use a sleep mask or sleep in a blacked out room. Even moon light is a problem for me. When I remove all light, I wake up less at night and can sleep in longer.

However, I have always wondered why when we talk about getting better sleep by sleeping like our pre-tech ancestors, why is the light from the stars and moon rarely mentioned. I'm sure much of our ancestors were not able to sleep in black out conditions. And in the summer months, many places would not have enough hours of darkness to get the recommended amount of sleep. I know its not "blue light" from screens, but it is enough to disrupt my sleep.

smk11on Developers are the autoworkers of our generation

Yeah, that sounds plausible, but would have many draw backs that are big enough, I think, to prevent it from happening where I work. For example, needing a code change last minute before role close to be able to force parcels through role before the normal close date, etc. Not to mention the red tape that would prevent the department from being able to do that.

Also, in this scenario, I would hate to be one of the employees who uses the software, because it is very complicated, and for them to have to ability to meat with the development team face to face for training, feature requests, or bug reports is very beneficial. But, it is unfortunate that some companies often don't see the benefit of having good in house IT professionals and developers, at least when they are looking for more ways to please stakeholders.

smk11on Developers are the autoworkers of our generation

Plus, anyone can jump into the place of an auto-worker with very minimal training. That will never be the case for programmers.

smk11on Developers are the autoworkers of our generation

programmers (unlike auto workers) have not locked in long term benefits

This is true in many of the developer communities. But I work for a local government agency as a programmer. So, I have long term benefits and a retirement plan, and I assume there are lots of programmers in this category, they just aren't publicized like the start-up and web community.

I am thankful for the influential programmers that live more risky and work at start ups, but there is also a place for programmers that have a secure job, working at companies/organizations with specialized software. However, I know that many bad workers have been created from these environments...there is always a group that will ruin it for everyone.

smk11on Developers are the autoworkers of our generation

>Most of the software getting written for business today is highly specialized. Highly specialized software = no out of the box solution

This is one part of the developer community that doesn't get publicized as much. The Startup web companies are not the only place where developers work, but they are the most competitive. I work for an Assessor's office as a developer, and we develop our management information system in house. There are only about 7 developers that know how it works, and each one is specialized in certain areas of it. There is no way that someone could come in and replace us without spending years working with the software first. There is no out of box program that could take the place of this specialized and customized software. And even if there was a company this department could out source too, they would not get bug fixes and new builds as fast as they do now.

smk11on What Happens to the Brain When You Meditate

I agree. Relying on an app and voice guide is a bad idea. You are supposed to not concentrate on anything, except for breathing, and having a voice guide would take away from that.

smk11on What Happens to the Brain When You Meditate

I think those people are the ones who are getting into in an extreme way, for long periods at a time. And if they are "giving up on life", then they are probably using the euphoria it can cause to hide their problems the same way people use drugs or religion.

smk11on What Happens to the Brain When You Meditate

I have read some zen meditation material and I remember them usually suggesting to meditate with your eyes open, but not all the way open. If you are in the traditional mediation position, looking a few feet ahead, towards the ground with eyes about 25% open. However, being new to this and trying to learn, I have had better results with my eyes closed.