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zithtar

10 karma · joined June 21, 2012

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zithtar··on If you were given $50,000 - what kind of note taking software would you build?
Not the OP, but here's an idea:

A math-centric piece of software that allows you to write in equations via a stylus, then converts these to working equations. So, you write down the quadratic equation and can define in the software what a and b are, then solve for x.

There has to be something similar to this already.

zithtar··on No to Nuclear Power
It's cheaper for the consumer directly, but it costs a similar amount to produce (according to this article, which is again not cited anywhere). The difference comes in the government subsidies, which the consumer pays for only indirectly.

I'm not disagreeing with you, just pointing out that small semantic difference.

zithtar··on Apple Changed Search Algorithm for App Store
There are a number of different review teams and Apple has outright told different things to different teams.

I'm not an iOS dev and this is why.

zithtar··on Stop the Captcha madness
And I think of that every time someone mentions ReCAPTCHA
zithtar··on Apple retail employees respond to NYT’s profile
$17 is quite a bit of money for a retail position. My first IT job, which required a 4-year degree and was salaried, worked out to be less than that factoring 40-hour weeks (which were the exception).

And given the fact that $25k is the number mentioned tells me that's the floor. $17 for 40 hours a week for 50 weeks a year is $34k. It's probably not unreasonable to assume that folks with seniority and/or in management positions are pushing $20/hr or more.

zithtar··on Ask HN: How do you sell yourself as a new freelancer to clients?
I say this as someone who was a contract developer from 2008-2011 and survived solely on that income from 2009-2011.

Don't ever use the word freelance. It implies that it's not your focus; whether that's because you have other things you really enjoy (product work?) or that you have a full-time job, there's nothing you get from using that word that you don't from "contract designer" or something similar. Better yet, spend a few hundred dollars on an LLC and operate as a business and not a sole proprietorship/individual.

Right or wrong, "freelance" implies to clients that you can be paid less for the same work, or not paid at all.

zithtar··on There is no talent shortage
I'd love to hear the arguments for doing $11/hr programming jobs instead of just getting downvoted.
zithtar··on What the hell is an information architect?
> and help optimize information flow between various parts of a business.

Yes, they're go-betweens. I don't think this was meant to imply that IAs can't be good at what they do. There are plenty of great HR people.

I think the point was that the job of IA is similarly useless, and just like I don't think anyone has ever said "Oh thank the FSM, we have another HR analyst," I don't think anyone has every said "We finally have an information architect!"

> they aren't DBAs, but they seem like it sometimes.

I think that goes right along with the comment of doing several things poorly and nothing well.

zithtar··on Stop the Captcha madness
Only one of the words is actually known and used to verify humanness. The other is an unknown scan from a book, and after a certain number of identical entries (3?) is considered known.
zithtar··on Show HN: Weekend project, Political Screaming Match
Well that's boring.
zithtar··on There is no talent shortage
Just don't tell prospective employers about doing programming gigs for $11/hr, that certainly doesn't speak very well to your judgment.
zithtar··on How We Die
Cancer rates increase as life expectancy does.
zithtar··on Why do you think people are poor?
I hate these "it's the system" arguments almost as much as I hate argument ignoring the systemic issues entirely.

It's clear that in your world view, a bunch of rich, white "fat men" (read: Republicans, according to you) are controlling everything from banks to schools to everything else. I feel sorry for you. The world is not the gigantic conspiracy you've created in your mind.