skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
> How long can the fed fight a few hundred million (soon to be few billion) people?

The same way sovereigns have since the dawn of time--divide and conquer. In the 20th century they discovered the secret, international socialism.

Give millions of people stimmys and enhanced unemployment checks. Destroy the savings of responsible, productive people so they can't afford to take risks without the promise of government bailouts. Make the people dependent on the state in every way.

Deficit spending and the money printer is the only way to fund all of these social programs the people are addicted to. Do you really believe that these millions of people hate the central banks who fund the welfare state?

They are winning. Their power increases every day, and it never decreases. They are ruthless, and I think it's reasonable to expect that they will not think twice about nuking bitcoin from orbit with a 51% attack, and print as many billions as they need to succeed.
Wow, this is one of the worst sites I've ever seen.

I was wondering why it was taking several minutes to load on a fast mobile connection: it contacts hundreds of subdomains, sends identifying data and drops marketing cookies everywhere. A single visit dropped over a hundred cookies. It's not even just analytics, it's full blown in your face crap.

It's loading several dozen chains of scripts that load more scripts. The screen is packed full of popups, modals, endless spam. Moving your mouse anywhere causes more modals to appear. Moving your mouse toward the top of the screen pops up fullscreen ads telling you to STOP, COME BACK!!

Half of the bottom is covered in product ads and hover buttons.

https://i.imgur.com/PLVaOLf.png

Holy shit.
>What personal data was shared? Was the sharing of data the problem, or the T&C's weren't clear on it? The article doesn't mention it.

>What are the implications for other companies that share user data to advertising partners?

If they ask the user and the use says it's OK, then I don't think there would be much of an issue.
Yeah, two phone interviews, day of interviews, get job offer and then they rescind your job offer.
The lawsuit awards less than $1 per Zoom user.

Granted it only concerns US users so this figure is not strictly correct, but it shows privacy in a global service is a central problem that cannot be litigated for in a specific jurisdiction.
You may have told your bank at some point, maybe when getting a loan or something, and I doubt they wouldn't share that with a credit agency.
I'm too shy to name and shame, but my former company would ask us to advertise and interview for jobs, but only after countless hours of interviews decide they didn't want to increase headcount. I lost about 1 day week for months doing our best to find great people. We would fly them in from all over the place. This happened multiple times. I think I left to make indie games after the third time.
> fucking nightmare for no reason

Absolutely! To add, the amount of nit-picking that happens is staggering. I was downgraded from strong-hire to lean-hire because:

1. I did not use classes in Python. That problem could easily be solved using simple functions. The feedback I got was "candidate does not know idiomatic use of modules & classes"

2. I did not use one of python's standard lib functions and instead I coded it myself (I could not remember it at that instant)

3. I could not spot a scenario in the first 5-7 min of interview. I eventually spotted it and coded it well within the time limit.

Somehow I felt that I am supposed to feel grateful for lean-hire
This is mostly management speak for: don't blame us, we're just incompetent.

If you run a company and you have a "revolving door of employees" (ie: we can't retain talent), your managers "are new to the process" and don't know what they're looking for (ie: we hire inexperienced managers), and you "can't get enough skilled interviewers on a panel" (ie: "we don't hire enough engineers and we're too cheap and shortsighted to put them on tasks like hiring")... then yeah, you should expect your hiring costs to go up, have a revolving door of employees (because you don't know how to hire), and your teams to be demoralized.

The consequences of that are your (company's) fault. You should own up to your shortcomings and work on your hiring process... don't just punish the candidates indefinitely so that you can ignore your problems.

(I say this as a serial founder, and hopefully never need to be on the other end of the hiring process.)
> A bit of a tangent but you can scan virtually any film made between 1915 and 2000 or so and get a pristine, super sharp 4K to 6k copy.

Another tangent-- if you watch the original 35mm film on a 35mm projector, you won't get the same "pristine" experience as the 4K or 8K tv which does some uncanny frame-rate upsampling thing which makes the moving images appear as if they're happening in real life.

If you listen to a mono reel-to-reel or record of Helter Skelter on equipment available to the Beatles at the time of the recording, McCartney's voice will sound pretty godammned close to as pristine (if not exactly for most people) as listening to a 24-bit zillion-herz professionally remastered digital recording of the same thing.

We've spend the past fifty years developing so much fidelity in video that we scratch our heads thinking about someone watching Happy Days on an old school tube.

We've spent the past 30+ years trying to convince cranks that CD quality doesn't degrade to triangle waves right below Nyquist. Meanwhile, it seems that vinyl made a comeback and shows no signs of slowing any time soon. Also meanwhile, absolutely nothing has improved audibly in terms of "framerate" because CDs really were able to encode the entire frequency range that is audible to human beings. (Higher sampling rate can be useful for digital filters and other purposes, but that's not what we're discussing here.)
I think the counterpoint is that if in ten years most cars are electric, then that is not really a fair characterization. If electric cars and buses and trucks remain the most prevalent form of transit, then roads will continue to be very important, and that includes highways. There are plenty of safety projects that aren’t really about expansion, but about repairing, maintaining, and making better. (Or in this case, to get cars hidden away so they aren’t noisy and distracting in a historic site.)

(Aside, I also don’t like highways in cities.)
Corporation illegal and unethical actions have no consequences. In his country as long as you have money you are pretty much untouchable.
Class action lawsuits rarely benefit the users financially.

On the other hand the lawyers get a nice $21m payout.

You can read the original complaint here:

https://www.classlawgroup.com/zoom-class-action-lawsuit/
I think one of the reasons is that it is a market-based solution that allows companies to pollute as long as they are willing to pay for it. Many progressives prefer an approach of behaviour and lifestyle modifications.
> Why don't you find people working on a problem you like, then ask them if they have open positions?

That's not always straight forward. Once you get patched over to HR, it's their process.

I am glad to hear that this is still working for you, hopefully a serendipitous moment will occur soon to open a door for me as well.

> Working though engineers is almost always better than filtering though company recruiters.

Doesn't this say something about hiring being broken when you have to dig through profiles on a company website or linkedin and cold contact devs to get your foot in the door?

I am by no means suggesting that what you are saying is a bad idea, just that this reeks of poor and inefficient hiring policies.
I think everyone with aptitude or interest in programming should take a shot at a career in the field. Even outside of this current talent crunch, it's an industry with a lot of opportunity.

Getting your foot in the door is the hardest part (like many other industries). I don't have a lot of recent experience, but a boot camp or something similar might be needed to get past the first line of hr screening.

But doing some leetcode and sending out some applications is a pretty low investment way to start!
Depends on how they ask. If I have to scroll through a list of 400 partners and uncheck ”legitimate interest” for each one, there is definitely an issue.

Looking at you, TechCrunch.
I mean they do dictate by dictats (e.g. youtubes guidelines) and curate by moderation so that does not make them a public forum (which would be only subject to the law, not the mayor's arbitrary demands), nor do they claim to be a public forum. They don't actually produce the content, but in the end they dictate what people see . It's not much different
Announcing the paper with such hyperbole makes me less likely to want to read it. It just makes it very unlikely to live up to the hype.

I wonder if you have read the paper, btw?
Part of the problem is that Manton the interview panel do feel like they're wasting their time. It is valuable to the company but for the engineers, they want to get back to coding or whatever else they are working on.

It isn't fair to the person applying because they didn't pick the people on the panel, but if the one doing the interviewing doesn't hide their feeling it's obviously not great.
And you think it is important that it should have been clicked and read? Why?
Storage shelf life is also an important artificial selection pressure.

The best vegetables are ones that are fresh out of the garden and ripened appropriately.

That scenario really isn't compatible with the types of places tomatoes find themselves to be for sell at. Which is to say probably in a city very far from where they were grown.
Why did you turn it down if I may ask? I’ve made the decision several times to go with lower paying offers because I ended up deciding there was more to life than just a paycheck.
Also I am wondering: if management eventually decides (advised by external consultants of course) to switch to a newer version, then what do they plan to do? Hiring a new team?
I got turned down once by somebody in hr because I didn’t write I had experience with .net but rather wrote c# on the paper.
They usually give you info like size of company, stage of company and general business area the company is in, which is usually enough to know if you want to set up a 15 min call with the recruiter and ask more details like the company name so you can look it up and see for yourself what they do.

I've had calls with recruiters; during the call, I told them "that's not something I'm looking for and thanks for your time" and moved on.

I've also had multiple late-stage interviews that started this way and my current job was found this way.
There is a bank in Russia that had almost the same message -- it's a bubble, we don't want to support it, in 5 years nobody will be able to afford an SWE, we should do whatever we can to avert the tragedy.

Of course when the inside stories came out -- the bank's software department turned out to be a horrible sweatshop drowning in technical debt.
It does not matter for a company that is funded by the CCP.
> But you didn't choose a compelling form of words to advocate your interest to other people. Why not?

I thought it was a good question and the wording was compelling enough.
Would this be a good tool to attempt simple transpiling of typescript code to python?

For my use-cases, not much changes between the two -
1. Replace opening and closing braces with colon.
2. Remove semi colons
3. Replace function with def
4. Remove type definitions
5. Replace array manipulation functions with python equivalents.
6. Remove tokens like const, let and var
Would this be a good tool to attempt simple transpiling of typescript code to python?

For my use-cases, not much changes between the two -

1. Replace opening and closing braces with colon.

2. Remove semi colons

3. Replace function with def

4. Remove type definitions

5. Replace array manipulation functions with python equivalents.

6. Remove tokens like const, let and var
I think most engineers overestimate their irreplaceability. If a company actually wants you to stay, they'll fight for you. They just choose not to for >90% of engineers leaving.

Chances are, the new hire replacements will be in the same 90%, so it is a wash (minus ramp-up time), but maybe the company gets lucky and finds someone in the other 10%.
That belief isn't unfortunate - technological optimism or what Wired once called "extropianism" is just the same as every other kind of utopian fantasy. And when you're young, and kind, and full of love, and think the world can be fixed if only everyone had the tools and the motivation to express their best selves, it's seductive. And it should be. Because if teenagers and twentysomethings were as cynical and resigned as the rest of us, we'd be doomed. Every generation architects some new utopian paradigm, and has to go through its own process of disillusionment as they watch the mob tear it limb from limb. Ultimately, the best you can hope for is that people learn from history and don't repeat the same mistakes.
Yeah, it's probably been 3-4 years since I've heard anyone use the word "Xoogler" in a positive or unironic way.

Darn the wheel of the world! Why must it continually turn over?
It seems like you feel that you being open and friendly has hurt your chances at promotions/raises and then when you try to correct for that it also hurts your chances.

Instead of guessing if acting a certain way will get you a promotion, what you need to do is work with your manager to come up with a concrete plan with concrete steps to get promoted. Figure out exactly what criteria your manager is looking for and make sure you are learning how to do that, and whenever you make progress make sure your manager agrees with your own assessment of your progress. And if they don't agree, learn exactly why. Get it so clear that there is no hand waving or hiding behind excuses.

I am extremely open and friendly and I have had no problems getting promoted. On the other hand, at the beginning of my career I never got promoted despite being the best performer on every team I was on. Then one manager who noticed me started talking to me about what I needed to do to get promoted. Spoiler: It's not just technical skill. All of a sudden, my career took off like a rocket ship. Ever since then I've been the one who started the career conversations with my manager because I realized that I am the one in charge of my career and I don't want to rely on the competence of whomever I work for. I definitely wish I learned this lesson earlier, but I'm also happy that I learned it at all.
I'm 37, it really wasn't ever any better. I just don't get the sense of nostalgia people have for the "old web." When I think about it, I remember all the ugly toxicity it all was absolutely plagued with. Software bugs were just as bad if not worse, and platforms were just absolutely silly with nonsense you had to put up with. Just to talk shit to someone who probably didn't deserve it because they did to you all because there wasn't much better to do.

There's very little about my past I would go back to.
They do, although it's not a common feature for a basic credit card - for example, the BNZ Platinum Visa card comes with travel insurance, and you can either earn points or get a 1% cashback, depending on which reward scheme you choose.
> What would be the subset of a neuron that we could simulate which would represent that distillation of the information processing part?

You only need to accurately simulate the input and the output.

Frankly, if that can’t be done with a Markov process I’d be very surprised, and we already know that Markov chains can be simulated with ANNs
And yet if they ask you for an answer to a quirky question like "why are manhole covers round?", they expect a clever answer like "they can't fall in", rather than a pedestrian answer like "well, probably they just started making them that shape for some simple production reason, and then everyone else just kinda of did the same thing because it worked."
> Accepting that it wasn't working for me was one of the best things I've done for my career.

How did you pivot after this?
> Conditional compilation is an optimization, not a semantic intent.

Why can't it have semantic intent? I frequently use it for cross-platform adjustments, and those don't usually compile on the defined-away platform.
No, headlines like that is how "believers" argue. Just cut out the hyperbole and present reasonable, verifiable arguments, not appeals to authority.
I've repeated told my current employer there is no way I'm waking up for 6, 7 and 8am meetings. After two months the compromise is I stay up all night Sunday night and make the one 8:30am meeting on Mondays.
I wasn't criticising your choice of words – just that people are over estimating the amount of new crime. This article talks about that phenonium: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/there-no-n...
If that's true, then the interview process would focus more on skills. From what I hear, faang companies are all about the leetcode on the Whiteboard oh, and they don't seem to ask specific questions about domain knowledge. In fact, you often don't know which department or project you're going to be put on when you get hired by one of those companies. And apparently the interviewers don't know either.

At least a few years ago, Google made it a point that the interview process was generic, not specific to any position or team. More like an undergraduate admissions process.
I wrote a library that takes a language specification (BNF, ABNF, etc) into a custom AST in Python. Then you can define a set of visitors for the custom AST to transform the tree into whatever you want. I implemented some checks integrated into the Python type system to type-check the visitors and I've used the library to do some non-trivial manipulations before.

It's mostly a pet project and I just wanted to share since it could maybe at least inspire something.

https://github.com/chrisphilip322/prosodia
>If I have to scroll through a list of 400 partners and uncheck ”legitimate interest” for each one, there is definitely an issue.

Certainly. And they know it's an issue. And they know next to no body will sit there an un-check those options. Such dark patterns are replete in this industry. They know, if given the choice, very few people would opt-in. They know this and it continues every day.
+1 to everything you said.

I’d like to add time aspect as well. If selected, candidate will spend next 12-18 months with the team, 5 days a week. I look at those 5-6 hrs as worth an upfront investment from both the sides just ensure those days months aren’t miserable and you don’t end up parting ways on bad terms.

I’m saying this as an interviewee as well as hiring manager who has conducted more than a thousand interviews.

Nothing frustrates a team and hiring manager more than a mishire. It’s the same for candidate, they have to go through the charade of interviewing at tens of places again.
Current employer just gave me 5%. I'm interviewing for ~30%. /shrug
tl;dr People on ‘ludes should not drive.
There is a huge difference between "humans affect the climate" and "we are all going to die within a couple of years because of human's effects on the climate".
> The idea that most of our industry benefits from climate change being considered an "externality" is true. Anyone who benefits from this unpriced "externality" has full interest in keeping it that way. And that's probably 90% of economic activity.

I do think there are benefits to change that include many things that are already in development, or working now, such as better use of CO2, rather than merely emitting.

Given how much of green energy is completely dependent on fossil fuels for initial bootstrapping, I don't see the status quo changing for many years. However, once an alternative energy source whether biofuel algae, or others, or a combination start to grow their benefits over present day pricing, I am certain we will transition. Not from pricing in externalities, but because of obsoleting and profits. Who'd care to dig up oil for 30% profits when you can generate an efficient biofuel for 75% profits? Not saying it will be anything of the sort, just providing an example.

> Either way, there is 0 ways for the market to solve climate change when it is obvious that climate change is not priced into economic activity at all.

Given the rise of ESG investing, and how it is now dominating portfolios as many funds altogether refuse to touch dirty energy/ Big Energy, there is already pricing power built in. Because Wall Street values ESG, therefore there is a "valuation tax" being applied to Big Energy. This outside of pure ESG funds too.

Even Exxon just got a more activist board thanks to a tiny fund.

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/little-engine-no.-1-beat-exx...
> stand in the way of any progress.

What does this mean? If they have to build the road and/or tunnel farther away from the henge, is that not progress?

Or should they just demolish the damn thing, because that's progress?

The UK spends significant funds to preserve historical sites; this is a historical site. And preserving them is progress.
> You made the mistake to assume that we are idiotic enough to be emotional for job interviews.

And that's a risk that could potentially be spotted by a competent HR.

> It's harder to deal with people who think they are competent and know it all than emotional kids.

Maybe, but juniors are (unfortunately) seen as a commodity by the market. Commodities are about uniformity and adherence to some standard, rather than uniqueness.
To be fair, there's some nuance to be had here. OTA updates for cell phone firmware probably make a fair amount of sense. A mobile game shipping quickly and fixing things up later is likely financially favorable and it's not as though I can't find something else to do with my time if the devs inadvertently break it.

OTA updates for brake control firmware, however, is an absolutely terrifying reality that should probably be made outright illegal in the first place. It creates a centralized attack vector of alarming scope that would never have existed otherwise.

I get it, there's a CAN bus and diagnostics and now it's all hooked up to the mobile network for data collection and analysis purposes. That doesn't justify any of the essential systems attached to the bus being able to receive data though. Outside of direct physical access (ie plugging in a cable), safety critical systems should be broadcast only unless an incredibly compelling reason exists to do otherwise.
These seeds are amazing. The Beit Alpha cucumbers are fantastic and the Purple Bumble Bee cherry tomatoes are some of the greatest I’ve ever eaten.
You’re right. You can’t take advantage of it. But not for any of the reasons you listed.

You’ve already decided you would fail, and that’s all it takes to seal the deal.

Dare a little. You’ve already made a list of your weaknesses. Now make a list of your strengths. Then sell yourself on how each weakness can be explained as a strength. If there’s nothing there at the end of the exercise, you haven’t lost anything. But you may just end up with some useful clarity on your worth in the marketplace.
> 1. I did not use classes in Python. That problem could easily be solved using simple functions. The feedback I got was "candidate does not know idiomatic use of modules & classes"

Apparently they missed this classic HN discussion:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3717715
It is correct for the feelings of blind users to be prioritized over those of the developers. Blind and other disabled people have to deal with ableism in society every single day.
And if you got a $3,300 fine for murdering someone you'd be pretty happy about it.