You should check out the parks/beaches in some towns in Westchester and CT (e.g. around Greenwich). It is a disgrace that they have people sitting there enforcing access (e.g. residency).
I thought this is an extremely inaccurate portrayal of CS PhDs who want to get into good startups. Pretty much all the PhDs I know can hack prodigious amounts of code and are not totally incompetent socially. Where they lack are mature sw dev skills (unit test, fancy design patterns, comments in their code, variable names). This is not because they are lazy or unawares. Most systems grad student projects have a specific structure that makes this a reasonable choice. Many students don't work with teams of devs during their PhD education. So please .. do not think most PhDs can't code.
At maker faire SF there was a $10-$15 kids plastic watching making kit some association was selling. Search for Horology, AWCI (http://www.awci.com/). I have been obsessed with lego-based pendulum clocks for a while as well as how cuckoo clocks work.
I don't think it is going to be easy. If you had a SQL db, moving to a different one would be hard enough. GraphDBs are quite unstandardized last time I looked. Migrating the data is one thing, changing a lot of application logic is going to be a challenge. Unless you used an ORM or some other layer? Also, how big is the data and how much of downtown can you take?
If only these things had screws! My biggest issue was opening it up (popping out the screen, digitizer, etc.) and putting it together back to its original state.
I loved my N5 but the battery wasn't user replaceable. I am not one to crack open my phone (plus the power switch died). I got a 5x .. decent phone but had speed slowdowns since day 1. I made the mistake of getting a 16 GB version (lack of expansion is mind boggling). I'm also disappointed with the Pixel's price. Might get an iPhone next.
Your comment is spot on about the tech (won't comment on the social points). The weight check is broken. If you have to pay for bags, you want to use the least bags possible. This is incompatible with the operation of all the check out machines I've seen. Get rid of the weight check OR allow all you can use bags for free.
Check out the 8020 set. That is what I grew up with. Beautiful models (in my eye as a kid and as an adult), and an amazing number of them with the same set.
But I don't disagree with your points. I think if you lose control over any hobby, interest or indulgence, you end up in a bad place. I warned about lego because I didn't consider the dark side when I started :)
This is the artificial scarcity problem I mentioned ... there is no reason one cannot pay extra, heck 100% extra, and get any set from Lego's catalogue on demand.
One factor that greatly limits my use of VR is that it is so uncomfortable with glasses on. I've seen people propose hacks and kickstarter projects. I don't understand why the people leading VR are turning a blind eye to the problem (no pun intended).
As an adult who has had to deal with a Lego addiction, my suggestion is IF you have an addictive personality and not money to burn -
please .. don't start. I sunk 1-2 grand into sets - for me it wasn't worth it. The old legos were a lot better. Reusable pieces that make them an investment. The newer sets often have special purpose pieces and instructions to just build 2-3 models. I thought I was learning about mechanical stuff - differential steering, inside of an engine, etc. Frankly, watching Youtube videos is a much more cost effective way of learning. What is the worst thing of it all - artificial scarcity. I'd buy sets I didn't really care for because I was afraid they would go out of stock. This has happened to some of the popular sets where scalpers charge 10x. They even have web sites where people do this full time. Just say no.
So .. I'm a professional scientist. ACM isn't a fly-by-night operation. It is very similar to IEEE in terms of stature. In CS, I consider ACM conferences slightly higher tier but this is not a hard and fast rule.
Yes .. they do send a lot of material I don't care for. But if you are a student, it is definitely cheap and worthwhile to join. As a professional, you have to make your own call .. I pay for it because I feel the money goes to conferences, student subsidies, etc. (not really charity but I feel like I am paying it forward). You get discounts at conferences but my employer pays for those anyways.
Not the same as the US. In the US, if you lose your job, you lose health care. That is a big motivator for people with families. I've seen people take a lot of crap in the name of a job. In Canada, it is not that bad unless you took a crazy mortgage in the last 5 years.
Exactly. A USD 200K software eng simply cannot move to Canada. It is messed up. That is more than a director or higher's salary in a place like Toronto.
Umm .. I had one person give me a hard time when I was coming by car. Had to freakin drive back and get my diploma in the frame - next guy at the border literally waved me in.
If salaries and housing prices in Canada were at all reasonable, I know many fellow Canadians would move back from the Bay area in an instant. Toronto is the other major tech center which is stupidly priced (hopefully the new govt measures slow things down). If you can speak french, consider Montreal.