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tehwalruson Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (August 2026)

Location: Cambridge UK

Remote: Yes

Willing to relocate: No

Technologies: Python, Docker, Linux systems, Postgres/PostGIS. A little JS/React, C/C++. A long tail of other tech.

Résumé/CV: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1awfB0pwyXaEtHTjqnTGxHvsbHmH...

Email: joe.jordan [at] cantab.net

Hiya, looking for my next opportunity. I've got a Physics PhD, and have worked on device drivers, GIS databases, GUIs and REST APIs over a long career. I've held the Senior Developer role the most, although I have worked as a Manager and a Developer Relations/Evangelist too.

I'm interested in writing code, but I don't mind a little of the other roles here and there. My main strengths are Python and Linux, where I've got quite a deep knowledge, and my communication (translating geek to human).

tehwalruson The Downside to Life in a Supertall Tower: Leaks, Creaks, Breaks

In the UK, high rises are cheap social housing, and rarely have any of these features.

(it's possible a few nice ones were built here at there, but those are the exception - people here value houses and gardens, and nobody builds high rises with large floorspace.)

C.f. the fallout from the Grenfell Tower fire. Most of our tower blocks are like that, and all the flats are currently impossible to sell because they all have the wrong, dangerously flammable cladding on.

tehwalruson John Conway

They may not become famous in their fields, but they're not going to be worrying about that stuff anyway, so will probably be happier. Which, it turned out for me, was a better goal all along.

tehwalruson The boss who put everyone on 70K

The independent wealth was what allowed them to do science in the first place, nobody else had time or equipment (at least, that's the normal rationalisation).

tehwalruson Ask HN: What has your work taught you that other people don't realize?

Those are all things that fall into the second category (subjective stuff I wouldn't call lying). But saying that something works in X case when it doesn't (or even when you don't know for sure), and everyone estimating four stories based on that assumption, is a big problem.

tehwalruson Ask HN: What has your work taught you that other people don't realize?

I think I agree more with the parent than with you, particularly in engineering.

Lying in engineering means saying anything that's not true with any certainty. I wouldn't hold it against someone, but I would ask them to think carefully before speaking, to make sure what they said is true, as it can lead meetings to decide the wrong actions if nobody present happens to be able to contradict it.

Outside of engineering, all the same outcomes can occur, but proving the truth is much more difficult. And thus, while it may still technically be lying, it is impossible to tell and unfair to call someone on it.

tehwalruson What are those grids of glass in the sidewalk and why are they purple?

See also Rome, which is built on top of about eight more layers of Rome. Residents often get architectural and history students asking to look at something weird in the basement.

tehwalruson Oslo had 0 pedestrian, 0 cyclist, 0 children and 1 driver trafic deaths in 2019

When I visited the USA for a conference, I looked up a nice coffee place that was just across the street from the academic campus where I was staying. I went to the nearest crossing point, waited for several cycles of the traffic lights, and still couldn't deduce when it was safe to cross.

The road markings were black and white stripes, which mean "cars must always stop for pedestrians crossing here" where I live (UK). The description above chimes with my experience. Who does have priority when the light is red but cars are still turning right?

In the end, I went back and had the nasty coffee in the university. It seemed to dangerous to try to cross.

Edit: this is different in different states? It was in North Carolina for reference.

tehwalruson Why Three Prongs? (1996)

Similarly, lowest voltage ever to kill someone was 48V.

tehwalruson The unlikely resurgence of Dungeons and Dragons

I learned 4e first (modulo a one-shot 3rd ed game a long time before). I think it has excellent potential as a system that allows you to tell stories, even if the actual game mechanics are a bit too simple for most AD&D-heads. Check out the Critical Hit podcast by Major Spoilers, to see where a very effective DM can turn even 4e into a compelling story.

(I now play 5e whenever I run a game, because I can get people to actually play it with me.)

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

Established in 1991 Pico soon became a leader in the field of PC Oscilloscopes and data loggers. Based out of our head office in St Neots, UK, our software development teams work in an agile environment creating innovative software using C#, solving problems such as visualising large data sets.

Due to continuous growth plans Pico Technology are looking to recruit C# Software Engineers with proven C# development skills who are passionate about the code they develop. Additional skills in the following areas would be of interest:

C++, JIRA, Microsoft Visual Studio, DVCS, MVVM, WPF, Cocoa and / or Gtk#, Intel IPP / OpenCV, Azure / AWS

Equal to the technical skills our developers possess, we also value excellent organisational, communication and interpersonal skills.

Our Software Engineers benefit from a working environment that encourages them to produce excellent code with a customisable workstation, multiple monitors and an open plan office. Development Engineers can use Wednesday afternoons to work on inspirational projects either as part of a team of individually.

Away from the desk our Development Engineers can be found competing in our annual pool tournament, playing arcade games in the kitchen, gathered round the table football or simply enjoying our picnic benches in the garden. The flexible working hours suit many different lifestyles, with core hours from 10 till 3, Monday to Friday as well as an annual profit related bonus. A full list of the benefits can be found on our careers website.

If this sounds like the environment you would thrive in and are interested to find out more apply now for immediate consideration. Please mention Hacker News in the "where did you hear about us" box!

Check out our latest recruitment video, @tehwalrus features! https://youtu.be/CKJWzBJuZ5E

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

Established in 1991 Pico soon became a leader in the field of PC Oscilloscopes and data loggers. Based out of our head office in St Neots, UK, our software development teams work in an agile environment creating innovative software using C#, solving problems such as visualising large data sets.

Due to continuous growth plans Pico Technology are looking to recruit C# Software Engineers with proven C# development skills who are passionate about the code they develop. Additional skills in the following areas would be of interest:

C++, JIRA, Microsoft Visual Studio, DVCS, MVVM, WPF, Cocoa and / or Gtk#, Intel IPP / OpenCV, Azure / AWS

Equal to the technical skills our developers possess, we also value excellent organisational, communication and interpersonal skills.

Our Software Engineers benefit from a working environment that encourages them to produce excellent code with a customisable workstation, multiple monitors and an open plan office. Development Engineers can use Wednesday afternoons to work on inspirational projects either as part of a team of individually.

Away from the desk our Development Engineers can be found competing in our annual pool tournament, playing arcade games in the kitchen, gathered round the table football or simply enjoying our picnic benches in the garden. The flexible working hours suit many different lifestyles, with core hours from 10 till 3, Monday to Friday as well as an annual profit related bonus. A full list of the benefits can be found on our careers website.

If this sounds like the environment you would thrive in and are interested to find out more apply now for immediate consideration. Please mention Hacker News in the "where did you hear about us" box!

Check out our latest recruitment video, @tehwalrus features! https://youtu.be/CKJWzBJuZ5E

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

Established in 1991 Pico soon became a leader in the field of PC Oscilloscopes and data loggers. Based out of our head office in St Neots, UK, our software development teams work in an agile environment creating innovative software using C#, solving problems such as visualising large data sets.

Due to continuous growth plans Pico Technology are looking to recruit C# Software Engineers with proven C# development skills who are passionate about the code they develop. Additional skills in the following areas would be of interest:

C++, JIRA, Microsoft Visual Studio, DVCS, MVVM, WPF, Cocoa and / or Gtk#, Intel IPP / OpenCV, Azure / AWS

Equal to the technical skills our developers possess, we also value excellent organisational, communication and interpersonal skills.

Our Software Engineers benefit from a working environment that encourages them to produce excellent code with a customisable workstation, multiple monitors and an open plan office. Development Engineers can use Wednesday afternoons to work on inspirational projects either as part of a team of individually.

Away from the desk our Development Engineers can be found competing in our annual pool tournament, playing arcade games in the kitchen, gathered round the table football or simply enjoying our picnic benches in the garden. The flexible working hours suit many different lifestyles, with core hours from 10 till 3, Monday to Friday as well as an annual profit related bonus. A full list of the benefits can be found on our careers website.

If this sounds like the environment you would thrive in and are interested to find out more apply now for immediate consideration. Please mention Hacker News in the "where did you hear about us" box!

Check out our latest recruitment video, @tehwalrus features! https://youtu.be/CKJWzBJuZ5E

Find us at PyCon UK this year (in a week and a half) in Cardiff. @tehwalrus will be going, and is especially interested in speaking to other Pythonistas who can test (i.e. Who are at home ordering -99 beers).

tehwalruson Ask HN: Who is hiring? (August 2018)

Established in 1991 Pico soon became a leader in the field of PC Oscilloscopes and data loggers. Based out of our head office in St Neots, UK, our software development teams work in an agile environment creating innovative software using C#, solving problems such as visualising large data sets.

Due to continuous growth plans Pico Technology are looking to recruit C# Software Engineers with proven C# development skills who are passionate about the code they develop. Additional skills in the following areas would be of interest:

C++, JIRA, Microsoft Visual Studio, DVCS, MVVM, WPF, Cocoa and / or Gtk#, Intel IPP / OpenCV, Azure / AWS

Equal to the technical skills our developers possess, we also value excellent organisational, communication and interpersonal skills.

Our Software Engineers benefit from a working environment that encourages them to produce excellent code with a customisable workstation, multiple monitors and an open plan office. Development Engineers can use Wednesday afternoons to work on inspirational projects either as part of a team of individually.

Away from the desk our Development Engineers can be found competing in our annual pool tournament, playing arcade games in the kitchen, gathered round the table football or simply enjoying our picnic benches in the garden. The flexible working hours suit many different lifestyles, with core hours from 10 till 3, Monday to Friday as well as an annual profit related bonus. A full list of the benefits can be found on our careers website.

If this sounds like the environment you would thrive in and are interested to find out more apply now for immediate consideration. Please mention Hacker News in the "where did you hear about us" box!

Check out our latest recruitment video, @tehwalrus features! https://youtu.be/CKJWzBJuZ5E

tehwalruson Ask HN: Who is hiring? (July 2018)

Established in 1991 Pico soon became a leader in the field of PC Oscilloscopes and data loggers. Based out of our head office in St Neots, UK, our software development teams work in an agile environment creating innovative software using C#, solving problems such as visualising large data sets.

Due to continuous growth plans Pico Technology are looking to recruit C# Software Engineers with proven C# development skills who are passionate about the code they develop. Additional skills in the following areas would be of interest:

C++, JIRA, Microsoft Visual Studio, DVCS, MVVM, WPF, Cocoa and / or Gtk#, Intel IPP / OpenCV, Azure / AWS

Equal to the technical skills our developers possess, we also value excellent organisational, communication and interpersonal skills.

Our Software Engineers benefit from a working environment that encourages them to produce excellent code with a customisable workstation, multiple monitors and an open plan office. Development Engineers can use Wednesday afternoons to work on inspirational projects either as part of a team of individually.

Away from the desk our Development Engineers can be found competing in our annual pool tournament, playing arcade games in the kitchen, gathered round the table football or simply enjoying our picnic benches in the garden. The flexible working hours suit many different lifestyles, with core hours from 10 till 3, Monday to Friday as well as an annual profit related bonus. A full list of the benefits can be found on our careers website.

If this sounds like the environment you would thrive in and are interested to find out more apply now for immediate consideration. Please mention Hacker News in the "where did you hear about us" box!

Check out our latest recruitment video, @tehwalrus features! https://youtu.be/CKJWzBJuZ5E

tehwalruson A major physics experiment just detected a particle that shouldn't exist

Interesting, but almost certainly a systematic error. We have a lot of experiments over the last few decades detecting neutrinos, and only 2 detecting "sterile" ones (i.e. slightly too many) seems like the outlier.

(These experiments are usually buried underground or similarly crazy in their location, so if they got something wrong about the setup/geology, e.g. If the rocks are slightly radioactive, that could skew the results like this in exactly this way.)

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

C# Software Engineer | ONSITE | St Neots, Cambridgeshire, UK | £30k - £50k | jobs.picotech.com

Established in 1991 Pico soon became a leader in the field of PC Oscilloscopes and data loggers. Based out of our head office in St Neots, UK, our software development teams work in an agile environment creating innovative software using C#, solving problems such as visualising large data sets.

Due to continuous growth plans Pico Technology are looking to recruit C# Software Engineers with proven C# development skills who are passionate about the code they develop. Additional skills in the following areas would be of interest:

C++, JIRA, Microsoft Visual Studio, DVCS, MVVM, WPF, Cocoa and / or Gtk#, Intel IPP / OpenCV, Azure / AWS

Equal to the technical skills our developers possess, we also value excellent organisational, communication and interpersonal skills.

Our Software Engineers benefit from a working environment that encourages them to produce excellent code with a customisable workstation, multiple monitors and an open plan office. Development Engineers can use Wednesday afternoons to work on inspirational projects either as part of a team of individually.

Away from the desk our Development Engineers can be found competing in our annual pool tournament, playing arcade games in the kitchen, gathered round the table football or simply enjoying our picnic benches in the garden. The flexible working hours suit many different lifestyles, with core hours from 10 till 3, Monday to Friday as well as an annual profit related bonus. A full list of the benefits can be found on our careers website.

If this sounds like the environment you would thrive in and are interested to find out more apply now for immediate consideration. Please mention Hacker News in the "where did you hear about us" box!

Check out the recruitment video, @tehwalrus features! https://youtu.be/CKJWzBJuZ5E

tehwalruson Ask HN: Who is hiring? (May 2018)