As some others have said, a home can be an income generator for some folks. For me, I made some money on my house. It pales in comparison to the money I could have made doing contract work on the side instead of working on my god damned house. Houses are great if you want to get distracted and collect a bunch of shit. Houses are great if you really need personal space. Houses tie you down and limit your opportunities in life.
Now, I was forced to liquidate my house to settle a divorce, so take my thoughts as sour grapes if you like, but now that I'm a renter I'm appreciating the benefits. It's nice to be mobile and have the freedom to follow the jobs.
Regarding Pittsburgh... The thing is, when you move to a cheaper place like that it can trap you. You're suddenly making less money, and have less assets. When that lucrative California job appears in 10 years, guess what? You can't take it. If I stay in the valley I retain my option to move wherever I like. It's a one-shot deal(not really, but it sort of is), so use it wisely.
Is there an advantage to moving somewhere cheap and getting paid less? Yes! You pay less in taxes. I'd rather get paid more and pay slightly more taxes than just make less money. It's up to you.
Never had this. I have had endless recruiters send me job offers for things outside my core competency(embedded linux, c/c++/python). I have never gotten close to the interview stage without establishing the requirements of the job. My time, and the time of the interviewer, is very valuable. Senior dev time is expensive. Both me and the companies I have interviewed with have always made damn sure, usually through phone interviews, that we are on the same page regarding the job's requirements. I think you need to turn down interviews where you haven't directly spoken with the company beforehand.
I couldn't care less about Python's whitespace handling. Once you accept it, it just fades away and you deal with it. I'm much more annoyed by Python's dynamic typing. I work at a place that has decided to use Python as a 'systems language' on an embedded platform. Navigating large Python codebases is difficult because you can't say what a function expects or returns without thoroughly examining it. I started my current job with a deep fondness for Python but now I'm less fond of it. Python, like many languages, has it's place and does certain things well.
I prefer C. C++ is interesting but they keep bolting on shit that doesn't seem to flow with the rest of the language. I like "C with classes" style C++ but beyond that you can keep it.
I recently taught myself Javascript. The language itself is atrocious but I like working with the DOM and CSS. You get a lot of cool things for very little work. It's worse than Python in many ways yet I'm strangely comfortable with it. I'm looking forward to doing some more JS.
At the end of the day, I'll do whatever pays well. I have alimony to worry about so I'll do whatever dance I have to in order to be able to retire some day. I'm probably going to leave the embedded world soon because, despite the increased difficulty, it just doesn't seem to pay well these days. People want enterprise programmers and full-stack developers, so that's what I'm looking at transitioning to. It's a step down from what I used to make, but I'm looking at a ~$150k/year work from anywhere gig, 40 hours a week, doing full-stack shit.
Pretty easy when you don't have alimony payments. Some of us have to work just to pay our court ordered obligations, whether or not we like it. Must be nice to have options.
Effing slashdot... I didn't reply to that guy, I replied to the other guy who thought we'd have 26 more weeks of 30% growth which is unsustainable(and obvious with a bit of math). It looks like I replied to the Bitcoin skeptic, but if you click 'parent' on my reply it shows the other guy.
Grandparent's math is correct. The current growth rate is not sustainable.
It depends on how powerful the next generation of phones/tablets/goggles are. If they are powerful enough to present a reasonable VR gaming experience at an affordable price then there will likely be no need for a next generation of consoles. If, however, more computing power can be crammed into a console device, and if developers can take advantage of that extra power, and if the total experience can be delivered at a competitive price point then I expect consoles to continue to be developed.
Tablets certainly have a lot going for them. They are portable. They do multiple functions reasonably well. A wider audience may already own them. Maybe most of all - there are only two OSes to develop for. Now the hardware does vary, so unless the APIs are well designed you're going to have to deal with varying user experiences.
How do they still get full 3d with the pancake design though? I mean, if I tilt my head to the side so that my view is orthogonal to the plane of the camera system, would I still see accurate 3d? I'm guessing not.
Nonononono. It's a 360 degree VR camera. It is *not* also 3d. I don't think anyone has one of those yet, right? It would be difficult to get both omnidirectional *AND* binocular(i.e. 3D) in the same design.
I wonder if something like the Lytro tech would help with that...
Hey cool I'll have to check that out! IMHO, despite making money implementing the various UI's on various platforms(I'm an embedded sw guy), I would much prefer a 3rd party UI to unite everything.
to continue to have access to their mediocre collection of content.
Hulu Plus with adblocking is far and away a better return on investment... that said, I cut the cable, so I'll happily throw $10 at them so I can keep myself busy browsing their catalog for something to watch. That activity alone eats up hours of my time every month.
On an unrelated note... Does anyone else feel like we should be able to pay for access to content separately from the UI? I know solutions like TiVo allow you to search multiple content providers, but you still have to use a different user interface for each provider. I'd rather have a single UI(don't mind paying for it) and just pay Hulu, Netflix, Vudu, etc for access to their content. I don't need 5 streaming apps, each with it's own quirky UI.
I'd buy a super mac-mini in a heartbeat. The wife and I are pretty tired of OSX, but I'd still go for it if it was available. We're looking to upgrade our 2008 24" iMac and at this point we're both(!!! - she's not a nerd) leaning towards Linux or even Windows. I'm just not willing to pay the mac tax for outdated hardware. I could go for an iMac, but then I have the same problem I'm facing now - a nice display that's going to go in the garbage because the associated hardware is outdated.
Just remember, a closed-source device that can do TTS locally, and one which can connect to the net, can possess nearly all of the same nefarious capability as one which sends everything to the cloud.
It would be trivial to load(and even field upgrade) a list of watch words which trigger steganographic(or just overt) communication back to a server regarding what is being said. Uploading the raw data to the cloud just makes it easier.
Run the ad in a jail and don't let the pixels it wants to draw ever reach the viewer. Sure, your browser is still bogged down by the ads but your mind won't have to deal with them.
Haha, I worked at a company whose bread and butter were devices like that... then they got into payment processing as well.
Products were barely cobbled together by people with not enough time or understanding to make a secure system. I left, and they tried to get me back to do some consulting.. I asked em about what kinds of security testing they do... 'well we use openssl'... hahaha ok... sure.. jesus.
Even if you *can* program it doesn't mean you'll actually want to do it.
Many aspects of programming are boring and tedious. You need someone who can handle the abstract thinking, memorize the various components involved, understand how they fit and how to change them, and then sort through the various administrative steps(version control, bugtracking, communicating with devs/qa/mgmt, etc). Also, many programming jobs are very un-social. I've had times at work where I did't speak to another human for several weeks.
A few of us current engineers got started as kids doing stupid things that only resembled real engineering. I used to spend my allowance at radio shack buying random components only to hook them up to a 9v battery and a metal file to make sparks.
Take away the backstory about how his dad probably used the kid for politics and political gain, and take away the family's scary religion, and you have a guy a lot of us would sympathize with. We were weird kids who did stupid things and scared people.
I guess if I sat around listening to the right wing shitstorm over the issue I might feel differently. As much as I am appalled at the family's lawsuit and monetary demands, I have to admit that they did a good job trolling a bunch of stupid school administrators and small town law enforcement. The over reaction of the school and cops opened them up to this. Seriously... interrogating a kid without his parents? I remember when they tried that shit on me.
The drone bikes/skateboards/small cars will come first. Especially easy when the cars are also driving themselves, however, cars currently integrate pretty well with bicycles, so I see no reason they couldn't integrate with a self-driving, smaller sized vehicle.
There's no reason to send a package via air unless speed it the utmost priority. Even when Amazon can offer drone delivery by air, they'll likely deliver more packages via ground based drones. I see a future of skateboard-sized vehicles which grab your package via a vacuum. They roll up to your house, wait, and when you pick up the package they roll on. You could standardize a (inductive?) charging system too, so they can charge while they wait.
For efficiency, I could see a larger vehicle like a UPS truck which deploys the smaller package delivery vehicles.
I bet you could craft a local, static HTML page which would present you with a search box into which you could type your search. You could then wrap each term in quotes and send the whole thing off to google.
You could also make a second text entry box when you want the entire string to be quoted.
Yes, you can always add quotes manually, but that's tedious.
I wonder if Firefox has an extension which provides a 'literal google' search option?
I've always wondered about skimming using nothing more than a high speed camera and a zoom lens. I'm guessing you could point a camera at a gas station card reader from 200' away and read the entire back of the card as it goes in and out.
I look like a nutcase when I use my credit card in public for this very reason. Sadly it's easy to get a misread when you're awkwardly trying to shield both sides of the card with your hands.
Slashdot Mirror
came here to say the same thing. That data is gold. It lets Amazon know who to target next.
This.
As some others have said, a home can be an income generator for some folks. For me, I made some money on my house. It pales in comparison to the money I could have made doing contract work on the side instead of working on my god damned house. Houses are great if you want to get distracted and collect a bunch of shit. Houses are great if you really need personal space. Houses tie you down and limit your opportunities in life.
Now, I was forced to liquidate my house to settle a divorce, so take my thoughts as sour grapes if you like, but now that I'm a renter I'm appreciating the benefits. It's nice to be mobile and have the freedom to follow the jobs.
Regarding Pittsburgh... The thing is, when you move to a cheaper place like that it can trap you. You're suddenly making less money, and have less assets. When that lucrative California job appears in 10 years, guess what? You can't take it. If I stay in the valley I retain my option to move wherever I like. It's a one-shot deal(not really, but it sort of is), so use it wisely.
Is there an advantage to moving somewhere cheap and getting paid less? Yes! You pay less in taxes. I'd rather get paid more and pay slightly more taxes than just make less money. It's up to you.
Never had this. I have had endless recruiters send me job offers for things outside my core competency(embedded linux, c/c++/python). I have never gotten close to the interview stage without establishing the requirements of the job. My time, and the time of the interviewer, is very valuable. Senior dev time is expensive. Both me and the companies I have interviewed with have always made damn sure, usually through phone interviews, that we are on the same page regarding the job's requirements. I think you need to turn down interviews where you haven't directly spoken with the company beforehand.
I couldn't care less about Python's whitespace handling. Once you accept it, it just fades away and you deal with it. I'm much more annoyed by Python's dynamic typing. I work at a place that has decided to use Python as a 'systems language' on an embedded platform. Navigating large Python codebases is difficult because you can't say what a function expects or returns without thoroughly examining it. I started my current job with a deep fondness for Python but now I'm less fond of it. Python, like many languages, has it's place and does certain things well.
I prefer C. C++ is interesting but they keep bolting on shit that doesn't seem to flow with the rest of the language. I like "C with classes" style C++ but beyond that you can keep it.
I recently taught myself Javascript. The language itself is atrocious but I like working with the DOM and CSS. You get a lot of cool things for very little work. It's worse than Python in many ways yet I'm strangely comfortable with it. I'm looking forward to doing some more JS.
At the end of the day, I'll do whatever pays well. I have alimony to worry about so I'll do whatever dance I have to in order to be able to retire some day. I'm probably going to leave the embedded world soon because, despite the increased difficulty, it just doesn't seem to pay well these days. People want enterprise programmers and full-stack developers, so that's what I'm looking at transitioning to. It's a step down from what I used to make, but I'm looking at a ~$150k/year work from anywhere gig, 40 hours a week, doing full-stack shit.
> None went to a job he did not like,
Pretty easy when you don't have alimony payments. Some of us have to work just to pay our court ordered obligations, whether or not we like it. Must be nice to have options.
Effing slashdot... I didn't reply to that guy, I replied to the other guy who thought we'd have 26 more weeks of 30% growth which is unsustainable(and obvious with a bit of math). It looks like I replied to the Bitcoin skeptic, but if you click 'parent' on my reply it shows the other guy.
Grandparent's math is correct. The current growth rate is not sustainable.
Oh, look, another coinhead who can't do math.
actually they just released a new roamio dvr for $400 flat and no monthly fees targeted at cord cutters.
tivo actually may do well over the next year or so unless PS Vue, slingtv and others pick up steam.
I doubt very many /.ers are stupid enough to run out and buy a Dyson... ...and it's a crowd that likely isn't very Dyson(i.e. gimmick) friendly.
If it's a /.vertisement, it's money poorly spent.
It depends on how powerful the next generation of phones/tablets/goggles are. If they are powerful enough to present a reasonable VR gaming experience at an affordable price then there will likely be no need for a next generation of consoles. If, however, more computing power can be crammed into a console device, and if developers can take advantage of that extra power, and if the total experience can be delivered at a competitive price point then I expect consoles to continue to be developed.
Tablets certainly have a lot going for them. They are portable. They do multiple functions reasonably well. A wider audience may already own them. Maybe most of all - there are only two OSes to develop for. Now the hardware does vary, so unless the APIs are well designed you're going to have to deal with varying user experiences.
Ok, I stand corrected.
How do they still get full 3d with the pancake design though? I mean, if I tilt my head to the side so that my view is orthogonal to the plane of the camera system, would I still see accurate 3d? I'm guessing not.
> "17-lens 3D VR camera"
Nonononono. It's a 360 degree VR camera. It is *not* also 3d. I don't think anyone has one of those yet, right? It would be difficult to get both omnidirectional *AND* binocular(i.e. 3D) in the same design.
I wonder if something like the Lytro tech would help with that...
Hey cool I'll have to check that out! IMHO, despite making money implementing the various UI's on various platforms(I'm an embedded sw guy), I would much prefer a 3rd party UI to unite everything.
D'oh sorry, that's what I meant. Definitely worth the $14.99 or whatever it is they're charging me. Vastly better content library than Netflix.
to continue to have access to their mediocre collection of content.
Hulu Plus with adblocking is far and away a better return on investment... that said, I cut the cable, so I'll happily throw $10 at them so I can keep myself busy browsing their catalog for something to watch. That activity alone eats up hours of my time every month.
On an unrelated note... Does anyone else feel like we should be able to pay for access to content separately from the UI? I know solutions like TiVo allow you to search multiple content providers, but you still have to use a different user interface for each provider. I'd rather have a single UI(don't mind paying for it) and just pay Hulu, Netflix, Vudu, etc for access to their content. I don't need 5 streaming apps, each with it's own quirky UI.
I'd buy a super mac-mini in a heartbeat. The wife and I are pretty tired of OSX, but I'd still go for it if it was available. We're looking to upgrade our 2008 24" iMac and at this point we're both(!!! - she's not a nerd) leaning towards Linux or even Windows. I'm just not willing to pay the mac tax for outdated hardware. I could go for an iMac, but then I have the same problem I'm facing now - a nice display that's going to go in the garbage because the associated hardware is outdated.
Just remember, a closed-source device that can do TTS locally, and one which can connect to the net, can possess nearly all of the same nefarious capability as one which sends everything to the cloud.
It would be trivial to load(and even field upgrade) a list of watch words which trigger steganographic(or just overt) communication back to a server regarding what is being said. Uploading the raw data to the cloud just makes it easier.
Run the ad in a jail and don't let the pixels it wants to draw ever reach the viewer. Sure, your browser is still bogged down by the ads but your mind won't have to deal with them.
> serial-to-Ethernet stuff
Haha, I worked at a company whose bread and butter were devices like that... then they got into payment processing as well.
Products were barely cobbled together by people with not enough time or understanding to make a secure system. I left, and they tried to get me back to do some consulting.. I asked em about what kinds of security testing they do... 'well we use openssl'... hahaha ok... sure.. jesus.
Even if you *can* program it doesn't mean you'll actually want to do it.
Many aspects of programming are boring and tedious. You need someone who can handle the abstract thinking, memorize the various components involved, understand how they fit and how to change them, and then sort through the various administrative steps(version control, bugtracking, communicating with devs/qa/mgmt, etc). Also, many programming jobs are very un-social. I've had times at work where I did't speak to another human for several weeks.
A few of us current engineers got started as kids doing stupid things that only resembled real engineering. I used to spend my allowance at radio shack buying random components only to hook them up to a 9v battery and a metal file to make sparks.
Take away the backstory about how his dad probably used the kid for politics and political gain, and take away the family's scary religion, and you have a guy a lot of us would sympathize with. We were weird kids who did stupid things and scared people.
I guess if I sat around listening to the right wing shitstorm over the issue I might feel differently. As much as I am appalled at the family's lawsuit and monetary demands, I have to admit that they did a good job trolling a bunch of stupid school administrators and small town law enforcement. The over reaction of the school and cops opened them up to this. Seriously... interrogating a kid without his parents? I remember when they tried that shit on me.
The drone bikes/skateboards/small cars will come first. Especially easy when the cars are also driving themselves, however, cars currently integrate pretty well with bicycles, so I see no reason they couldn't integrate with a self-driving, smaller sized vehicle.
There's no reason to send a package via air unless speed it the utmost priority. Even when Amazon can offer drone delivery by air, they'll likely deliver more packages via ground based drones. I see a future of skateboard-sized vehicles which grab your package via a vacuum. They roll up to your house, wait, and when you pick up the package they roll on. You could standardize a (inductive?) charging system too, so they can charge while they wait.
For efficiency, I could see a larger vehicle like a UPS truck which deploys the smaller package delivery vehicles.
9 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Probably done a lot earlier than that.
Why is it that R/C helicopter with 2 blades == good, but 4 blades on a "drone" == scary evil skynet?
I bet you could craft a local, static HTML page which would present you with a search box into which you could type your search. You could then wrap each term in quotes and send the whole thing off to google.
You could also make a second text entry box when you want the entire string to be quoted.
Yes, you can always add quotes manually, but that's tedious.
I wonder if Firefox has an extension which provides a 'literal google' search option?
I've always wondered about skimming using nothing more than a high speed camera and a zoom lens. I'm guessing you could point a camera at a gas station card reader from 200' away and read the entire back of the card as it goes in and out.
I look like a nutcase when I use my credit card in public for this very reason. Sadly it's easy to get a misread when you're awkwardly trying to shield both sides of the card with your hands.