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wengzilla

197 karma · joined January 3, 2011

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wengzilla··on Popcorn Time in Your Browser
is this traceable to an individual computer? for instance, if i am using this on a college campus that traditionally bans the use of torrents, am i likely to get caught?
wengzilla··on Ask HN: Are EMBA programs worth it?
Some EMBA programs aren't trivial to get into... Especially ones like the Wharton EMBA or the Harvard EMBA.

Prestige aside, I think the value of the MBA (or the EMBA) still lies in the potential to network with other individuals who work in similar spaces as you do. This is probably one of the best / only reasons to do it.

wengzilla··on Show HN: Spoffer – Not just another deals site
Just out of curiosity... How are you planning on monetizing this?
wengzilla··on Best site for coding interview practice?
The two main sites that I find myself going back to practice interview questions (non-algorithmic) are Codewars (http://codewars.com) and Project Euler (https://projecteuler.net). Give them a shot sometime!
wengzilla··on Ask HN: Who wants to be hired?
USA, Relocation | Intern

Stack: Ruby on Rails, Android

Resume: Email for more info

Contact: ZWR3ZW5nIFthdF0gZ21haWw= (base64, all the rage these days!)

Currently on the mobile-web team at a large ecommerce shop (read: SOA). Planning on matriculating at Harvard Business School in the fall and would like to spend a summer building some cool stuff.

wengzilla··on Python for Finance
The gold standard for quant books: Hull's Options, Futures, and Derivatives.

http://www.amazon.com/Options-Futures-Derivatives-DerivaGem-...

wengzilla··on Ask HN: Idea Sunday
That's actually been tried by Groupon in the past... It wasn't successful largely because it's hard to get merchants to adopt that way of thinking and also because people don't walk around with the Groupon app open all the time.
wengzilla··on Working From Home? Here's an Extra Shot of Focus
do you really have a pet goat?!
wengzilla··on Ask HN: UC Berkeley or UPenn for CS undergrad?
"then transfer to Harvard or Yale." this is not very likely. Harvard and Yale have extremely low transfer rates.
wengzilla··on Y Combinator Winter 2014 Batch Rankings and Quick Reference
lol. merge conflicts: "<<<<<<< HEAD"
wengzilla··on Ask HN: How would you teach web development to college students?
Not sure this is a legitimate concern though... The experienced CS majors will be able to blaze through HTML/CSS just as they would be able to blaze through Ruby. I also think they'll find themselves sufficiently occupied helping their classmates and/or implementing more challenging projects.

It's fine to start with HTML, but recognize that it's a markup language, not a programming language. Aside from that, you'll be able to cover most of the HTML/CSS within the span of a week (hopefully faster with the CS majors).

wengzilla··on Ask HN: How would you teach web development to college students?
I'd probably structure it a lot like a bootcamp. Check out Flatiron, gSchool, or Dev Bootcamp's curriculum for some good ideas. To summarize, though, typically it's a few weeks of learning a high-level language (Python or Ruby). From there, it's typically a solid couple of months of learning the corresponding framework (Django or Rails). All the while, sprinkling in some JS and CSS magic.

They're usually able to churn out some pretty decent full-stack programmers after 3 months, or so (granted they meet a lot more frequently than 3 hours per week). You'll have to be super diligent about giving them assignments, but the nice thing is that there are so many resources around Ruby and Python... Codecademy, Treehouse, Rails for Zombies, etc.

Come back and let us know how it worked out!

wengzilla··on Rap Genius is Back on Google
Infinite scroll (or some type of weird JS) won't let me get to the bottom of the page... Ain't got ish to do with this but I just thought that I should mention.
wengzilla··on The Inverse Power of Praise (2007)
I don't think the article necessarily says NOT to praise your children. It just says to praise them for specific things in their own control (e.g., hard work or listening to instructions) rather than praising them for things out of their control (e.g., being smart).
wengzilla··on Ask HN: What's your speciality, and what's your "FizzBuzz" equivalent?
I was an electrical engineer before I was a computer programmer and people liked asking questions about Ohm's law and calculating total resistance of resistors in series and parallel.

EDIT: I should clarify... They weren't asking about the theory behind Ohm's law but rather to apply it to various circuits.

wengzilla··on Sticker shock: Why are glasses so expensive? [video]
this is such an interesting piece... would love to see if in 10 years this tactic becomes more adopted amongst companies trying to start vertically-integrated businesses, or whether the tactic starts to receive backlash.
wengzilla··on If you can’t get into a top-five MBA program, don’t bother
These MBA bashing articles always focus on the same thing: that an MBA no longer guarantees a good job and that it doesn't help you start your own company. I would love to see an article that examines the real value of an MBA: its network. Does the value of the connections you make during an MBA program outweigh the cost, both time and money?
wengzilla··on Show HN: Former R&D manager for Xbox Kinect sensors, this is my new project
Cool project! Aside from price, is there a big difference between this and say, Nike+?
wengzilla··on There's no avoiding Google+
I absolutely HATE the fact that google forces me to have a profile on Google+, but Google Hangout is so compelling that I've done it anyways.

I am hoping that Google bumps up security and visibility preferences for Google+ profiles in 2013.

wengzilla··on Basic Option Strategies
You don't mention the downside of buying options... If it goes up, but doesn't hit the strike, you lose all your money. Options are a pretty risky play and it's typically not recommended that your average investor play the options market.
wengzilla··on List of best free online learning sites
I'm a HUGE fan of memrise (www.memrise.com). Easy to use, clean interface, and a great concept. I've been using it to learn mandarin and have found it to be infinitely better than self-studying out of a textbook.

Check it out if you get a chance.

wengzilla··on [dead]
clickable link: http://www.zorter.com/rankers/yc

Zorter is a ranking framework that lets you build and share dynamic rankers.

The idea: People have largely failed to recognize that rankings aren't a one-size-fits-all product nor do they have to be. We’ve built Zorter to do three things: to make rankings more personalized, more accessible, and more fun. In addition to being able to use Zorter to help make tough decisions, users can generate their own ranker in seconds by uploading a spreadsheet of data to our site.

We're still in beta and are making a lot of changes to the site, but we wanted to get some feedback from HN. If there are any features or datasets you'd like to see on Zorter, let us know!

Thanks!

wengzilla··on If you're applying this cycle: How to Apply to Y Combinator
I believe TS and Dreamit are both making decisions about a month before YC.
wengzilla··on Ant colony simulator
Sim Ant... Brings back some really good memories.
wengzilla··on Tell HN: Get feedback about your YC application from YC alumni
any yc alums up for a weekend dinner in nyc?