skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
Ask HN: Would you go to Iraq for a year and be paid $200k?
Before I start, I wanted to say I have been apart of this community for over 3 years now and greatly trust the amount of thought and time taken in giving opinions here, so that is why I am asking on this forum.

I know this is sort of off topic, but I am a coder out of the Washington, DC area and I am about to be offered a job to go to IRAQ for 1 year at a pay of around $200k.

I am wondering, if offered, should I actually take it? I enjoy my job here and have actually just been transferred here about 4 months ago.

200k is a lot of money, I would be able to pay off all my student loans which equals about 80k and have some left over to invest in and maybe take another year off for setting up my own software project. I would also take the time off there to code and really focus on a project or two that I always wanted to get off the ground.

On another note, I truly live to experience. I love new experiences and this would truly be a once in a lifetime experience, so do I do it?

I can be debt free and sit and code hard for 1 year and push out something amazing also while enjoying the time in a greatly different country than what I am used to.

I do appreciate the responses!
More people using social networks than Email, Hogwash
If Amazon forces publishers to a price ceiling of $9.99 for Kindle eBooks; while the same books are selling for whatever price the publisher decides on iBooks/iPad, where do you think consumers will buy their ebooks? They're not blowing any advantage; it's a smart strategic move.
I think you've already decided. Do it.
*you're
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How Biometrics Can Make Super Bowl Ads Better
I'd do it. Living and working in Iraq would be an amazing and unique experience, even without the high pay. Pick up an Arabic phrasebook while you're on your way.
Hackers Steal Millions in Carbon Credits
The TC story is more interesting, but you can also read about the launch on their blog - http://www.kwedit.com/blog

Promise to pay. Get your stuff. Pay later ... or not, because there are "no real-world implications".
Loosely translated, it means "Don't try to figure this out yourself except for fun; use a library like bcrypt instead."
I think there's a component where the older I get, the easier it is to lose time and suddenly realise hours have passed.

Both because I know more / recognise more things so I have more mental world to wander around in, and also because I work on longer tasks, can concentrate for longer and take more interest in details so am not tripped up and awoken as easily.
Mostly manufacturing, I believe. If memory serves me, the process involves supercritical drying--you put a liquid-based gel into a vessel under very high temperature and pressure until the gas/liquid states become interchangeable, then gradually remove the supercritical fluid, tweaking the temperature as needed, until enough fluid is removed. Once brought back to STP, the gel structure is left behind in the same form it had with the liquid medium, but with all the liquid removed.

Mistakes at almost any step in the process will permanently ruin the batch of gel, of course.
I don't get the `shy of impossible to implement` part. It takes a good coder just a couple of hours (and maybe one hour to someone who has done it before).
‘The Amazon Effect’: Now Murdoch’s Gunning for the $10 E-Book
Peter Atkins on writing textbooks
Is OAuth hard to implement compared to OpenID? No. Tough compared to plain old stored passwords and auth headers? Definitely.

I say this as someone who's using OAuth - because it's The Right Thing To Do For My Users - but any integration with a third-party service involves a lot more logic and state storage than just asking for their account name and password on your own site. Does the code do the right thing if the user doesn't do anything on the screen you redirect them to, closes it but they then refresh your page? Or how about if they decline and the provider doesn't send them back?

All the current authentication processes are horrible hacks. Do you really believe that user's check the URL bar if I throw them at a page that looks like Twitter's login one from my OAuth app? How about if I put a look-alike in an iframe within my page?

This is something that's really hard to hack on top of the current infrastructure. I'm really hoping something that users understand (or grow to understand) is buildable, but we shouldn't pretend we're in a happy place right now.
Linus is a hacker, not an academic, so there is no clean high-level abstraction of git; no algebra of git. OTOH, it is ridiculously fast and ridiculously useful (for Linus, and for anyone who goes to the trouble to understand its execution model).

I think there'd be a paper or two in attempting to infer an algebra of git. There wouldn't be a clean one, so you could propose modifications of git to facilitate a clean algebra, in the way that physicists and biologists hypothesize laws to explain the observed universe.
Publication is a fancy way of saying dissemination. A blog post, a source-control commit to a public repository, a public presentation, all qualify as "publication".
Good point, def. will add that.
Also, while we have "crackpots elected to the senate", they are from the "Family First Party", not the "Pirate Party". tear
I remember this story from a couple years ago.

Sad that the courts appear to not be going his way. That said, I'd love to see what the planning commissions specific complaints are, to see if we're dealing with some sort of legitimate concern, or if it's just general abuse of power.
> I think that part of the problem is that no one (whom I've seen, at least) has explained in a brief, easy to follow manner just what the Lisp macros get you beyond all of the parse tree manipulation, code generation, and "metaprogramming" you can already do with Ruby.

Uh, the stuff you can do with ruby (short of the Ruby2Ruby parse tree generation) is incredibly limited compared to the arbitrary transforms that macros, especially tools like macrolet (lexically scoped macros) and symbol-macrolet (lexically scoped symbol expansion) allow you to do.

Ruby2Ruby lets you do almost arbitrary parse tree transforms, but again it does this at runtime. Unless you specifically architect your program in a somewhat non-rubyish fashion to have a sort of "compile" phase where your transforms are completed.

> Performance, by the way, won't be enough: language implementations are always getting better.

... I say this as a fan of ruby who's made a career out of it for years. Ruby's performance improvements move at a snail's pace. If someone said, "Hey, you can do everything Ruby2Ruby can do, but with 0 performance penalty" then that'd be a huge value add. If you say it isn't, you're being unreasonable. "It is fast enough" is a mantra you can foist off on people who haven't put up production systems on a Merb stack.
> It would be un-Pythonic to write code that a less expert programmer couldn't understand.

I assume you have syntactical concerns and syntactical concerns only in mind, as domain knowledge and local style and creative decisions are far more important for maintainability. Even so, I don't believe you. I've seen far too much Python code which uses decorators and generators and list comprehensions to believe that it's un-Pythonic to "write code that a less expert programmer couldn't understand".
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Thank you dskhatri.
- I really like the idea of showing a smaller toolbar when a users selects an item to start working with.

- Your right, I will hide all instances of join now for logged in users.

- I love the Welcome, start here. That would be much easier to understand

- No joining would be awesome but I guess I'll have to think through how to implement that. I guess I could send a link to let them edit it later...
Malkavich Malkavich, Malkavich Malkavich Malkavich
First of all, your objection to anonymous functions with an example that names the function in two different places kind of takes us off topic from the discussion of "anonymous" functions, but I will still respond.

Second of all, multiline-lambdas are already possible in Python, but they are not anonymous functions.

Anonymous functions, as I said, allow for rich syntax; they do not affect the Turing completeness of the language. The context I am speaking of is "expressibility" in the sense of natural language, not whether or not something is expressible at all.

Ruby allows you to do stuff like this fairly naturally:

def process_event_until_timer_expires
# check time, then call block only if
# timer not expired
end

process_events_until_timer_expires { |t, event|
puts t
fire_event_downstream(event)
}

Having an anonymous function here allows you to read from outside in, which is more natural. From the outside, you know you are in some event loop, then you can look inside the block to see the details of how the event are handled. It's really that simple. Not earth-shattering different than Python, just subtly different and more expressive.

I've been using Python for a decade, and Ruby's still overly exotic to me, so I am sympathetic to people that defend the more Pythonic approach. But Ruby does allow for a different kind of expressiveness here.

Javascript also makes heavy use of anonymous functions, and if you use anonymous functions in other languages, you realize that they have value, even if they are occasionally abused and technically unnecessary.
Similar, but with pictures: http://www.davidjarvis.ca/entanglement
Hah, so there is a secret cow level after all!
If you're targeting web designers without programming skills, you may do well mentioning something to that effect on the home page. My first thought when looking at it was that it was for people who have never made a website.

Also, the "than before" in the blurb on the left seems awkward to me. Perhaps take it out?
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That's a shame. It's a beautiful house.

Another instance of beaurocracy failing the common man. I highly doubt he is hurting anyone or anything. Especially considering it's placed in the middle of a field and no one noticed for two years.
very cool idea!
Yep, my mention of do/end or squigglies was just a caveat on the Ruby-is-more-terse-in-this-example statement in the context of anonymous functions or blocks. I wish there was a language that won on both terseness metrics--i.e. a Ruby with indentation or a Python with anonymous functions.
Making Cheap Insulin with Flowers
As long as it'd be safe, I'd go for it without hesitation. New place, fun work, big accomplishment, lots of money and free time? I'm not sure what down side you see, but it would need to be huge to turn this down.
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Using Digital Protocol to Sign Secure, Legally Binding Contracts Over the Phone
If you only have one copy of your materials for a presentation, I'd say that you're unprepared for said presentation. What if GitHub was up but the network where the presentation was being given was down? Would tethering really provide for a smooth presentation? What if tethering was overloaded due to all the other people "listening" to your talk using it instead?
my mind says yes, but my body says stay the fuck away, I dont wanna die. So the question still remains and I definitely am looking for advice.
sorry to sound snarky (i think scheme is awesome as well), but you probably shouldn't advertise this as a "scheme game", since your potential audience probably doesn't care what technologies you use to write the game. i'd suggest to focus on your target demographic and focus on pitching it to them.
I was about to write the same :D
sounds like an interesting decision. best of luck.

one thing to keep in mind is that 200k probably means more like 100k after taxes. that only leaves you about 20k overhead after you pay your student loans. just something to think about.
Where are you going? How safe is it? What type of insurance do you get. What would happen if in the worst case you lost your leg or arm? Do you have family to support/be away from.

If your a single guy going to relatively safe spot I'd say go for it.
Niels Bohr, liked to take time off from figuring out the structure of the universe by watching westerns.

Bohr noticed that the man who drew first invariably got shot, and speculated that the intentional act of drawing and shooting was slower to execute than the action in response.

Haha, really? So he formed a hypothesis based on movies? I'm fairly sure its just poorly written in the article but if it is not thats just silly.

Edit: Formatting
Doesn't DC have one of the highest murder rates in the country? Whats to stop you from getting shot or into a bad car accident in Washington D.C.?

Point is, theres always going to be a risk, regardless of where you happen to live. Might as well go somewhere interesting (and make a good bit of $ while you're at it, in this case).
I don't like the idea that web sites are just implementations of scripts. They are applications.
Someone sells a photo album application, not a photo album script with a pretty html+css layout.
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I can't agree at all about the WordPress admin interface, which I use to run the website of my nonprofit (because that is what was set up by someone else). It's a very annoying interface and one I hope to replace as soon as possible--although I acknowledge I am still shopping for what to replace it with.
Pc to Phone Calling Card
One of the biggest concerns for anyone who chooses to live abroad is a way to stay connected with loved ones, friends and colleagues in their country. Without doubt, the fear of being isolated and in touch is not something that prevents some deciding to move to another country.
You're totally right. The audience for my personal blog though is techy people, and I'm advertising it as a Scheme game to get some attention from the tech crowd. However, when I actually publish the game, I will dedicate a website to the game and market the heck out of it to the casual consumer never mentioning Scheme.
You're not giving us the alternatives. From how you've described it, the opportunity sounds great.

But we don't know much about your current working situation. From what you have written, I assume that the other alternative you have pay (considerably?) <$200K. We don't know anything else about your current job. Thus it's tough to say NO because there's really only one choice that you've presented.

So without knowing much about your best alternatives, I'll leave you with this piece of advice. When considering a new job, consider 1. the people, 2. the position, 3. the salary and 4. the company. And place a big emphasis on numbers 1 and 2 rather than 3 and 4.

Also, the other guys are right - it does sound like you're very excited. I'm only hesitant to say "Go for it!" because I don't know anything about what it's like in Iraq. I'm all for new experiences but I wouldn't be able to recommend something I had no clue about.
eek http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=300+yen+to+us+dollars per sheet and must be bought in lots of 1000
The term "idiot" was introduced in the submitted article title, so we know where that problem began.
From the 'too little, too late' department...
When you say your company will have a forum, do you mean internal forum for the company or a forum hosted by the company?

If its former, I assume there will be a way to find out who is trolling if it gets out of hand.

If its the latter, it really depends on the company and type of forum, I'd think we need more information for your situation.

However, I voted "NO" in general because we see here that it works out quite well, so its possible to avoid.
Usually the first $80k is tax-free for travels to Iraq/Afghanistan, after that you get taxed at the "normal" rate.
You're missing the point.

Nothing in your sarcastic "Uh ..." missive makes me or anyone else care about the features you just named. Yes, I know Ruby doesn't have True Lisp Macros. The point is, why should I care? What real-world problem can I not solve elegantly in Ruby because it lacks this language feature?

"It is fast enough" is a mantra you can foist off on people who haven't put up production systems on a Merb stack.

Well, seeing as how I have deployed Merb in production as well, maybe we can discuss the merits without trying to measure egos based on who's deployed what?

Again, my point is that if you can't name a single real world benefit of macros over what's already in Ruby, then why should anyone care how fast they are?
I would as long as I'm not used as a flesh shield ;) What kind of job would you have there?
Where can I find a job like that?
I grew up in a quaint British farming village, and I'm pretty conflicted about this story.

- My family are all nurses, and my brother and sister can't dream of buying a house in our home-town, it's too expensive.

- The planning restrictions are pretty draconian. This keeps the supply of housing very limited, but also prevents the fields between us and the next village from being covered in houses and turning us into a suburb of Cambridge.

- The local farmers own land that's benefited from the rise in prices, and so tend to be pretty rich, hence the castle-building.

So I do end up admiring this guy's chutzpah, but I can't summon up too much sympathy when everyone else is stuck following the rules. I'd be much more interested in a campaign to change the planning regulations and skip the current uber-NIMBYism.
Iraq is a lot safer than it was a few years ago. I don't think you would have much to worry about from a safety perspective.

Just curious, if you accepted, would you have to go through the State Department training and carry a weapon?
Allow me to be the dissenter.

If you're doing this for the military or the government, I would urge you to consider if your work is contributing to all of the wrong reasons why we (as a country) are there, or if it's going to contribute to helping correct the mistakes that got us there.

Is war really something you want to experience? Things are calm there now, relative to a few years ago, but - imho - still is a pretty bad place for American civilians.

Anyways, if it were me, it would more or less come down on the morality of what I'm contributing to directly through my work. Yes, 200K is a lot of money, but there isn't any reason, if you're good, that you won't eventually be making that every 1.5-2 years in a metropolitan area like NYC.

This is all under the assumptions you'd be working for the US government.
It's fairly easy to say that I would do it, especially without being in this position.

Really, I think you would have to evaluate your current situation. Do you have other job offers, or a current job? How do those jobs weigh in comparison? The fact that you are asking us leads me to suggest that perhaps you want to go and people are trying to convince you otherwise? If that be the case, then I suggest you do what you want to do, screw what other people think - unless you have significant others, or kids depending on you.

However, if you are solely interested in the money, but scared of going to Iraq I really would advise against taking the offer. Going to a place like Iraq for that much money seems like you would be getting yourself into a situation you couldn't easily back out of. It would suck to live an entire year in regret - especially in that part of the world.

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck. Take our suggestions as a grain of salt. You will have to live with your decision for an entire year..not us.
> I'm just saying that it's irrational to think that MPEG LA's plan is to sue consumers. Us being "hackers" does nothing to change those odds.

Some of us make products that may want to use h.264 and would be liable to have to pay to do so. Not as consumers, but as businesses.

> Certainly, that's not great either. But no, MPEG LA are not coming after "_you_".

Not if you're just a consumer, but we are not all just consumers on HN. So they might come after us.
Pretend the salary is the same in both places, and judge the decision just on the experience factor. (I say this because for a variety of reasons, you could make that much money in the States as a reasonably curious, skilled person. You read Hacker News after all :D You know all about salary ranges, entrepreneurship, affiliate programs, Parrot Books, and Adsense. I'm not saying we all make 200K, we just all know about opportunities... :D ).

So... unless it's desperate, debt or any kind of financial incentive is probably a bad reason to pick any job under such unique conditions. That said, if the experience is compelling, then listen to that part of your heart.

Good luck. Let us know what you choose.
Hell yeah.

I say so now, but i wonder if I'd get over there and have to confront Hurt Locker-esque situations. I'm 22, so my risk tolerance may be above average.
To gain market share, maybe; but there are an insane number of devices running Symbian. This might allow us to do some interesting tinkering.

Speaking of Symbian - I remember an entire floor at Fujitsu's building in Musashi Kosugi in Kawasaki was completely locked down; no in or out without special clearance. That entire section was devoted to coding in Symbian, and they had some proprietary information about the OS from Nokia about the system.
Shan't tell you what to do mate, but after seeing a family member go out there and get his leg blown off, I highly suggest you to avoid this kind of environment. Keep your mind focussed on what you are doing, and not avoiding bullets, incoming shells, kidnapping, etc.
I'm not sure, there are jobs (at least in SV) that while not at that pay level, are probably between your current pay and $200k, that would allow you to be around very bright potential co-founders, and do not involve a non-zero risk of being killed. But, as metra said, without knowing your current salary, it's hard to give firm advice one way or the other. I also put considerable emphasis on the caliber of the other developers I work with.
Heard this on NPR today while driving, they seemed to focus more on the fact that it was a castle and he hid it for four years by building a giant haystack wall around it, and not so much on the fact that the gov't is ordering him to tear it down.
cool, dude. best of luck to you!
From the article:

About a third of the Android code base is open and nothing more,” says Williams. “And what is open is a collection of middleware. Everything else is closed or proprietary.”

Can anyone with more Android experience comment on this? What is the 2/3 that has been kept proprietary?
Hah, this is a trick question; the nucleus doesn't have electrons.

Well, technically, in an s-orbital there is a substantial, non-zero chance of the electron being inside the nucleus.
I have to echo the sentiments of everyone else: as long as you'll be (reasonably) safe, do it.

Having lived abroad myself (China), I can tell you that the experience will broaden your mind. Keep an open outlook and heed albertsun's advice to learn some Arabic and you'll have an amazing time.
I think it would still be worthwhile to add a note in the game and on the game's website saying that it was made with Gambit Scheme. Somewhere in the credits, or copyright info, or a similar place.
'Must' be? The captioning said it can be bought by the thousands.
This move may well be more relevant to non-US-centric development, especially markets like Finland.
I actually like the command-line interface and prefer it over the GUI interfaces. However, I do prefer the command line for almost everything from managing databases to editing source files in VIM. Git's command-line is a natural fit for that kind of workflow.
If there's a 3% chance of a mortar landing near you, is that worth it? Honest question. A lot of folks would risk their life for a 3% chance at any significant amount of money. Personally, I wouldn't- I would rather keep my 'risks of dying' to things like mugging (.05%/day), bus crashes (.005%/day), and dying in a nuclear holocaust (.00005%/day).

Just a matter of how much risk you're cool with.
I'm pretty sure these gigs are tax free for the first $80k.