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tomwhipple

29 karma · joined May 9, 2011

http://tomwhipple.com
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tomwhipple··on Ask HN: Solo Senior Developers, Where do we find you?
It sounds like you need a marketing agency, not a developer.
tomwhipple··on N8n raises $180M
As a software engineer I find it cumbersome and frustrating to use. When something doesn't work it can be difficult to see the true cause of the error. That said, those who are slightly less technical like analysts or PMs are able to put together reasonable POC solutions relatively quickly. (Though it remains to be seen how well this holds up when those POCs become business critical)

Further nitpick: Their Python implementation is based on WSAM so libraries that require C compilation won't work.

However if this funding let's them integrate a Claude-Code like tool, they'll have an amazing product.

tomwhipple··on The Corpus of United States State Statutes–Design, Construction and Use
In Minnesota, the Office of the Revisor of Statutes does this. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/. I have to imagine most states have a similar function. The point being that it is a public agency and its work product should be accessible to the public.
tomwhipple··on Small business owners say they're pressured to hire off-duty cops for security
I lived in Minneapolis in the late 90s/early 2000s. As I look back, I think the MPD is one of the most corrupt of all the places I've lived or worked.

The sheer number of off duty "security" was surprising. As was the fact that cops never waited at stop lights. Instead, they'd roll up, flick on their lights for a second, then just roll through and keep driving.

I've never seen anything like it since.

tomwhipple··on Turns Out Wearing a Hi-Vis Vest Gets You into Everything for Free
Similarly, a white pickup/van with a ladder on it can be a pass to park nearly anywhere.
tomwhipple··on Ask HN: What can be done to prevent a climate catastrophe?
Start by voting for candidates who believe in science.

It seems odd to need to say this in 2018, but disbelief in clear scientific evidence should be a disqualification from holding office.

tomwhipple··on Iowa ranks as the best state to live in America, U.S. News says
And being an actuary is the "best" job. But also mind-numbingly boring.

Goes to show that choice of metrics matters.

tomwhipple··on Ask HN: Do you think software can be art?
What is art anyway?
tomwhipple··on Slaves endure 'a living hell' on remote South Korean islands
It seems to me that we should be talking about sanctions & boycotts of Korean products. An obvious first place to start is the products produced by slave labor. But I think it's reasonable to extend a boycott to the rest of an economy that is turning a blind eye to such atrocities.

So think about the plight of these slaves considering a purchase of Samsung, Mitsubishi, Kia, or other items built in Korea or owned by Korean companies. Then buy something else.

tomwhipple··on Pierre Sprey on the F-35 [video]
Long wave radars are fine for early warning. (e.g. HEY! There's some thing out there!) But they can't help you figure out where it is exactly. (e.g. guide an anti-aircraft missile to intercept).
tomwhipple··on How I resurrected my MacBook Pro by putting it in the oven
See also http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4088?viewlocale=en_US&locale=e...

I printed the article, the GPU kernel panic log and took them to the Genius bar. Apple replaced the mainboard for free, more than 3 years after the purchase.

It took me more than a year of dealing with random crashes and several visits to the genius bar before I found this article.

Though the downside is that you'd miss the excitement described here...

tomwhipple··on Ask HN: Why is PGP not used widely?
Root cause: Usability. It's difficult to quickly set up. But there are (at least) two components to this:

1. Portability. How do I manage keys across my computers, phones & tablets?

2. Ease of use. What do I do to set this up? Most common clients don't support PGP out of the box. Even once plugins are added, they are complicated to use.

As a result, no one uses it. So, if you want to start, you need to convince your friends/colleagues to also use it.

I've recently started signing email from my home computer as a hint to others to do the same. So far no takers.

tomwhipple··on Poll: What chat service are you using for internal communication with your team?
kato.im
tomwhipple··on What it's like to uncover a $1 billion fraud
This story doesn't sound too surprising, as these kind of scumbags are out there, but it would be helpful to know the names of those involved.

For example, Carl Freer or Rich Jenkins of Gizmondo/GetFugu/Serge fame. see http://carlfreerscam.wordpress.com/.

Sadly, if these folks put as much effort into building a real company as they did their criminal enterprises, they might actually achieve legitimate success and not have to run from the FBI.

tomwhipple··on Google App Engine is down
so is developer.android.com.
tomwhipple··on The Shape of Mobile Development To Come
The idea that we'll be able to write apps in an interpereted language is probably a long ways off, but the second idea about more portable object models is spot on.

I would argue that such a model would need to include the ability to easily manage per record image assets. (think about how often we have images in a table view cell)

To that end, I've created an iOS library to deal with downloading these tables and images in a reasonable way. If you're interested: https://github.com/Smartovation/STRemoteResources