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User: AuMatar

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  1. Re:As an option, OK. As mandatory, NO. on Towards Public-Friendly Open Science: YouTube Alongside Journal Articles? · · Score: 1

    It's not the intellience, its not having specific background. If they're talking about a specific permutation of string theory, I'd be lost in a paragraph, even dumbed down. I don't have the math. Same for high level chemistry. Same for a lot of science. Explaining phd level science to a layperson isn't always possible or desirable.

  2. Re:Exclusive native apps still exist on WebAssembly and the Future of JavaScript · · Score: 1

    Non-iphone users would try to use your website and be unable to. This will make your software look crappy, which will cause bad reviews and diminished PR. Look at games- you can develop for just PS4, and that's fine because a PC user isn't going to even try to use it. Release an unusable PC port like the latest Batman game, and you get complaints, bad reviews, and lost sales because everyone's heard how crappy the game is.

  3. Re: Fallout on China's Stock Crash: $3.5 Trillion Wiped Out, $2.6 Trillion Frozen · · Score: 1

    If they did that, the bonds would be bought almost instantly. WOrst case there is that our new debt becomes slightly more expensive for a brief time as the market has a glut of the old stuff. Its not a disaster in the making.

  4. Re:Wait a minute... on Microsoft To Cut 7,800 More Jobs, Take $7.6 Billion Writedown On Nokia · · Score: 1

    Google and Motorola is a different story. They sold off parts of Motorola at various times making back most of their money. Plus they kept the patents, which definitely have value to one of their core businesses (Android).

  5. Re:I had to look up sparse array on AP CS Test Takers and Pass Rates Up, Half of Kids Don't Get Sparse Arrays At All · · Score: 1

    Would you really expect more? This test isn't a test for college grads- its a test for high school seniors to get them out of 1-2 semesters of bottom level CS courses, by proving they already know the basics. The point isn't to trick them or to expect them to know everything, its to see if they can save some time/money on intro level topics.

  6. Re:It's all about the environment... on Mob Programming: When Is 5 Heads Really Better Than 1 (or 2)? · · Score: 2

    Different people do well in different environments. I've been where everyone had offices. It sucked. Complete lack of human interaction, very few work friendships, and a high bar to actual collaboration. I found it a depressing environment. I work in an open environment now. Once in a long while I'll have trouble concentrating due to noise. But that loss in productivity is absolutely crushed by the gains due to just being able to talk to people. And crushed by the increased productivity I have due to higher morale and more fun at work. I'd run away from any environment with offices.

  7. Re:Mob Programming, huh? on Mob Programming: When Is 5 Heads Really Better Than 1 (or 2)? · · Score: 2

    No, design by committee fails because no matter how good the people are at their job, as you increase the number of people involved differences in opinion and politics magnify. Design by committee fails even if you have the best and brightest on the committee.

  8. Re:Mob Programming, huh? on Mob Programming: When Is 5 Heads Really Better Than 1 (or 2)? · · Score: 1

    You're unlikely to simply accept a sub-par solution, because you've got a couple other programmers to readily suggest solutions you haven't thought of yet.

    Absolutely wrong. If this was right, "design by comittee" wouldn't be a synonym for utterly fucked up. And the bigger the group, the more likely you are to just pick something to get the fights over with.

  9. Re:question about this on Mob Programming: When Is 5 Heads Really Better Than 1 (or 2)? · · Score: 2

    They don't. That's why nobody does pair programming in the real world. You might do a "hey can you look at this" and work together for 15-20 minutes once or twice a month, but that's about it.

  10. Re:Not sure what my employer is doing wrong on Average Duration of Hiring Process For Software Engineers: 35 Days · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If you want me to take less money, you need to provide additional value elsewhere. Better environment, equity, bonuses, vacation days, work/life balance, etc. If you don't why should I work for you over taking the money? If you do, you need to sell that.

    But having positions open for 2 months, especially if you're looking for experienced developers, isn't uncommon- in fact if you were filling most of your positions in 2 months you'd be amazingly good at recruiting. Good developers are hard to find- that's why they're expensive. Decide what's more important to you- the value that having the role filled will bring the business, or the cost of actually making your offers competitive. If the second brings more value, up your offers.

  11. Re:I'm working on apps without passwords on The Internet of Things Is the Password Killer We've Been Waiting For · · Score: 1

    Before going off on rants like this, I'd study what two factor authentication actually means. Hint: the idiotic idea I was responding to isn't even close.

  12. Re:I'm working on apps without passwords on The Internet of Things Is the Password Killer We've Been Waiting For · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ANd if they want to use their account on multiple devices? On their actual PC? On a PC at a firend's house or library?

    And email recovery- laughable. If they lost their phone, which was almost definitely logged into their email, then they've lost everything.

    Please name your apps, so I can be sure never to use them.

  13. Re:Don't worry, they'll try again on After Uproar, Disney Cancels Tech Worker Layoffs · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Not just interviewing, unionizing. If I was told me and my coworkers were being fired in 90 days and were to train our replacements, I'd gather up my coworkers and tell them we want a year's salary as a bonus now or we all walk that afternoon. Especially if they later try to pull this shit- I'd be demanding huge raises/bonuses to stick around for any time at all.

  14. Re:Other reasons on The Danger of Picking a Major Based On Where the Jobs Are · · Score: 1

    I graduated in 2001. My starting salary was 70K. I don't know anyone who started at less than 50.

  15. Re:Other reasons on The Danger of Picking a Major Based On Where the Jobs Are · · Score: 1

    There's dozens of unencumbered languages. C and C++ for a start. That isn't even remotely a problem.

  16. Re:Where in tech is the bubble? on Ask Slashdot: How to Avoid The Worst of a Tech Bubble? · · Score: 1

    That's a good point. And in reality no place is 100% safe- secondary effects happen, and it will cut down open jobs as the job market has more supply than it can handle for a while. Even safer jobs will see less money as raises slow or stop due to market conditions.

    Another good area would be boring old line of business apps for established non-tech companies. Unless of course I'm wrong about where the bubble is forming, in which case this could be totally off.

  17. Re:Unemployedd means unemployable on Ask Slashdot: How to Avoid The Worst of a Tech Bubble? · · Score: 2

    I've avoided being the Peter one so far, one of the reasons why I'm still a coder and not a manager :)

  18. Re: "Crunch Time" == Bad Project Management on Stress Is Driving Developers From the Video Game Industry · · Score: 1

    First off, a television programmer isn't a computer programmer. (Normally television programmer means picking whats on TV, unless you mean you were a computer programmer for a TV station). Different fields, so I have no idea what your realistic expectations are.

    But when they asked you to quit if you didn't like it, you should have. On the spot, no notice given, right then. "Then I quit" and walk right out the door. Odds are good you'd have the job back paying a lot more in 3 days. If not, either they'll grow to really regret you leaving or you'll find out you weren't really that good. But either way accepting that treatment is the worst thing you could do- now they know you're a doormat and will show you absolutely 0 respect.

    As for a town with 10% unemployment- general unemployment means jack shit for specialized jobs. Unemployment for software engineers has been sub 2% (basically normal frictional unemployment from job switching) for years and in some areas is negative. So that's fear and ignorance talking. Not to mention even if it was that bad you can always move. It doesn't take that much (a cross-country move can be done for 5K) and most companies will pay to relocate you.

  19. Re: "Crunch Time" == Bad Project Management on Stress Is Driving Developers From the Video Game Industry · · Score: 1

    90K is a lot of money in even most big cities. I made 90K for a few years in Seattle. I had my car (paid off), a downtown condo (not paid off), my utilities paid and was still saving 20K a year. With a family I'd have been living in the suburbs and paying half the housing cost. Re-evaluate your spending. The only place it would be even remotely tight would be San Francisco or New York- and even then its quite managable. Not to mention those are entry level wages for programmers in either city. Nor is 90K anywhere near the top of the scale in Seattle- good senior programmers there make at least 120.

  20. Re: "Crunch Time" == Bad Project Management on Stress Is Driving Developers From the Video Game Industry · · Score: 1

    Then don't be a single income family. Then don't have kids. Those are choices you made. The tradeoff of making them is that you lose flexibility at work. Obviously you thought that's worth it.

    Its also not as hard as you think it is. Go back to basics. Don't eat out- ever. Don't by gizmos and gadgets. Don't go on expensive trips. My family lived on a single teacher's income in the 80s. And we still managed to save money. My father's income then would have been less than 40K, that equals about 80K in today's dollars. If you're making less than that as a programmer you're fucking up majorly.

  21. Re:Unemployedd means unemployable on Ask Slashdot: How to Avoid The Worst of a Tech Bubble? · · Score: 1

    I have a decade and a half of experience, I've been tech lead at 2 successful startups that sold for large profits and a principle at a 3rd. I have CEOs and VCs who would go to bat for me, so no I have 0 worries that I personally will be unemployable. Nobody with experience should have that worry- if you're any good you have former coworkers who will vouch for you.

    And your fear of gaps is overwrought. I've also had multi-month gaps in the past- in 2009 because I decided I'd rather not work for the assholes who bought one of those sartups any longer, even if the economy sucked and in 2012 because I took the profits from the sale of the 2nd and decided to travel for 6 months. After the second one I ended up making 30K more a year than I was before. I've never had more than a casual question on either gap. Nobody gave a fuck.

  22. Re:it's not a desert on As Drought Worsens, California Orders Record Water Cuts · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Because they pump in water from non-desert areas. Not all of CA is a desert, but much of it is. Nor is "dry barren area" the definition of a desert- a desert is defined by the amount of rainfall a year. Most of southern CA qualifies.

  23. Where in tech is the bubble? on Ask Slashdot: How to Avoid The Worst of a Tech Bubble? · · Score: 5, Informative

    The bubble isn't really tech. Its some aspect of tech. Just like the .com bust was caused by too much money in startups without legitamate ways of raising revenue and the 2008 collapse wasn't a banking collapse, it was a ssubprime mortgage collapse. Figure out what the cause will be, and find a company that is not in that subfield and has minimal reliance on it. This won't allow 100% avoidance, but will limit your exposure.

    FWIW I expect the eventual burst to be due to an advertising collapse- someone has to actually sell something at some point. Established companies that sell physical goods should be immune, firmware would be a good call.

    Also, the best way to be bubble immune- cash in the bank, so you can ride it out. I don't need to work this decade, so a few months without a job won't hurt me.

  24. Re: "Crunch Time" == Bad Project Management on Stress Is Driving Developers From the Video Game Industry · · Score: 1

    Then save some money. We make a ton of it as programmers, there's no excuse not to have at least 6 months, preferably more, in your emergency funds. I have enough I don't need to work this decade. If any employer wants to abuse me, I say "no". If they threaten to fire me I say "go ahead"- it will cost them tens of thousands of dollars to find my replacement, and I'll have a job inside 3 weeks. Hell it would be a nice little surprise vacation.

  25. Re:Piss-poor situation on Rare 9-way Kidney Swap a Success · · Score: 1

    From the dead? Sure, why not? Prioritize from areas that would be covered at burial.