Hacker News Reader

vijayron California Police Chiefs Misrepresent License Plate Privacy Bill

Why?

Your phone number is public, but you wouldn't be happy if the lat/long of your phone during various times of the day is public, right?

vijayron Ask HN: What are the better countries to immigrate for software developers?

From my limited research Germany and Australia seem good, though it doesn't seem easy in Germany if you want to become a citizen. With more and more job losses and automation, I think this hysteria against (legal) immigration is only going to grow, justified or not. There would always be a place for people with highly valued skills though.

I wonder if there are smaller countries (like Estonia etc) which might be worth exploring.

On this topic, does anyone know of any resource that can ask a series of questions (age, qualifications etc) and suggest countries they are qualified for?

vijayron Dropbox Developer Terms and Conditions

It is beyond absurd. It is a lose-lose situation for end users - if we read each line of every EULA, thats all we would be doing all day. If we don't, then we accept very unfriendly terms.

Here is a funny example:

https://www.geek.com/games/gamestation-eula-collects-7500-so...

vijayron How Automakers Invented the Crime of “Jaywalking”

But there is a difference between promoting a product vs shifting blame, isn't it?

vijayron How Automakers Invented the Crime of “Jaywalking”

Reporters could send in the basic details of a traffic accident and would get in return a complete article to print the next day. These articles, printed widely, shifted the blame for accidents to pedestrians

To me, that is the craziest sentence in the article. Reporters were outsourcing writing to the auto industry? Of course they blamed the pedestrians! In what world is this ethical?

What is next? Sending overdose details to pharma companies for them to blame the drug users?

vijayron The British Once Built a 1,100-Mile Hedge Through the Middle of India

India was a collection of many many smaller kingdoms when the British came to the scene. There was a whole bunch of infighting and backstabbing going on which the British happily encouraged and exploited.

It is definitely amazing that they could do what they did, considering the sheer size of the country.

vijayron U.S. Bicycle Industry: Statistics and Facts

I was thinking the same. Many links on the page are behind a paywall (ex: https://www.statista.com/statistics/225342/export-value-of-b...) Curious on kind of people who use this, journalists maybe?

vijayron A Cryptocurrency Website Changes Its Data, and $100B in Market Value Vanishes

Does anyone know where CMC gets the circulation numbers?

vijayron Apple's privacy feature costs ad companies millions

Here is an experiment that seems to have gone well (banning outdoor advertising)

https://99percentinvisible.org/article/clean-city-law-secret...

vijayron James Damore has filed a class action lawsuit against Google

presence of Caucasians and males was mocked with ‘boos’ during companywide weekly meetings.

What does this even mean? People booed simply because they were white and male? I honestly don't get it. And who did the booing?

vijayron Motel 6 routinely gave guests' information to immigration officials

My experience is similar to your parent comment - I've never been able to check into a hotel without showing photo ID (I never paid cash btw, always credit card, always in advance and in many cases had the print out of the booking). Same for hip boutique hotels and motels.

There was a free street concert - even for that the road was blocked on both sides and only those with valid IDs could get in.

So yeah, maybe not universal but it happens enough to be a hassle.

vijayron Canadian open data portal

One of the most striking columns in that list is the "Government Spending" column. It is red all over the place, including top two in the list - Taiwan and Australia!

vijayron Cities with Uber Have Lower Rates of Ambulance Usage

They sent me a bill for over $900. For taking a picture, and giving me tylenol and an ace bandage.

That is awful :(

Imagine someone making minimum wage. 900$ is huge for most people.

Honest question - outside of politics, is there anything a person on the road do to help make this situation better (other than not falling sick)? Any company/org working on solutions?

vijayron Can You Think Yourself into a Different Person? (2015)

I've seen this mentioned multiple times here. Did you go to any of the retreats? Could you share a bit more info, about your experience?

vijayron Land Registry data reveals London’s secret tunnels

This blog is awesome. Some of the entries are eye opening and scary - like this one https://whoownsengland.org/2017/04/17/the-thirty-landowners-...

Is there anything like this for the U.S?

It is crazy to see such huge amounts of land owned by a few individuals/companies.

vijayron Ask HN: What are you planning to learn next year and why?

Any specific projects you are planning to make? Also, what resources are you using to learn?

vijayron Ask HN: How can I become a self-taught software engineer?

This might be true in law, medicine etc, not necessarily software. Sure, there are some big companies that will filter resumes based on degrees, but there are tons of companies that will hire based on skill set and expertise. Software development is still one of those jobs where one can go pretty far with skills alone (both technical and soft skills).

Also, "most coveted" in this case may be big companies

vijayron Female Congressional Candidate Ends Run After Being Accused of Sexual Harassment

It has already happened with kids - how many men hesitate to become teachers? Even though there are lots of men who want to teach and are good at teaching?

vijayron Ask HN: What applications does blockchain tech have, other than cryptocurrency?

Any favorite resources you use to learn?

vijayron F.C.C. Repeals Net Neutrality Rules

It's intentionally designed so that good people can sometimes do something unpopular in the public interest.

Except in this case, it is not in public interest

vijayron Yahoo Finance has added over 100 cryptocurrency quote pages

Where can one get historical and current prices of all crypto currencies as a downloadable dataset, even for commercial use?

vijayron Larry Ellison allegedly tried to have a professor fired for benchmarking Oracle

This sounds like a terrible idea. Maybe if one is a 15 year old kid, sure, for shits and giggles. Why would a researcher do this, damaging their reputation in the process? And what good does it serve anyone?

vijayron Radical diet can reverse type 2 diabetes, new study shows

Not faddish at all. I've read about fruitarians, people who eat only one food item at a time (mono meals) etc - all claim it worked for them.

Thank you for the book recommendations, ordering two of them.

vijayron Radical diet can reverse type 2 diabetes, new study shows

Could you please share some details? What did you eat? Do you think it is possible to reverse it, even if the person was diabetic for a long time?

vijayron Ask HN: Is 23andme (and others similar to it) worth the cost?

okay, any recommendations of smaller shops?

vijayron Ask HN: Is 23andme (and others similar to it) worth the cost?

I am not too interested in ancestry, I'll probably just look at it out of curiosity and thats it. More interested in their health reports.

What do you mean by "ruined others"?

vijayron When Unpaid Student Loan Bills Mean You Can No Longer Work

This is an exceptional case of cruelty - imagine spending years learning a craft (and spending thousands and thousands of dollars for it) and one fine day, not being able to use it anymore. It is even more worse in cases of healthcare professionals, as the aging population needs all the help it can get. No-one benefits at the end. I really wish we put common sense and compassion before commerce.

vijayron America’s ‘Retail Apocalypse’ Is Really Just Beginning

same with airports - just why do we need sooooooo many shops right next to the terminals? I understand travelers might need some basic stuff (food, water etc) but why other crap, especially so close to the terminals? no wonder airports are so huge