skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
> I am assigned a feature ... that I feel adds unnecessary complexity
> [My] managers ... minds are already made up.

One of the things that I found helped me the most when dealing with features like this is to Let Go of Caring about that particular thing. We fight for what we believe is best, but when a customer, manager, or other higher-ranking stakeholder decides otherwise, it's out of our hands. You did your professional duty by arguing for the Better way (as you see it), but now it's time to make the new direction work.

UX team decides buttons should be the way that pisses you off the most? It's OK, you're not the main user.
Manager decides that a "Calculate" button is better than auto-re-calculating? That's ok: the users are happier using that. (We can transition later.)
They want an e-mail based workflow for approving things, rather than a web-based one? That's OK: these execs spend most of their time with their phones, and don't want to be logging into the website.

Often what we feel is "unnecessary complexity" is a workaround for a key use case that we didn't realize, or yields customer happiness because it's what they asked for. In that case, it's __necessary__ complexity, just like a bit of ugly code that patches a bug. Try looking at it from the perspective of the user or the manager, and really understand why they feel it is important -- quite often, it's addressing a weakness of your software product that you were not aware of, or which you felt was unimportant.
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Obligatory joke about danish summers goes here.
He's such an obvious and terrible shill that I honestly think there's a decent possibility he's actually shilling for the other side. That is to say, he's deliberately attempting to discredit the NSA, GCHQ, and everyone who sides with them by defending them so badly.
> Not that this isn't awesome, but aren't hobbit houses underground?

IIRC, there's considerable difference based around relative wealth, and many less well-off hobbits lived in above ground homes. Most of the principal hobbits in LOTR (except Sam, I think) lived in large underground mansions, but they were rather well-off hobbits.

Even so, the construction approach here (digging a partial hole, building a frame that extends somewhat above the original ground level, and then taking the dirt from the whole and covering the structure) seems a fairly practical method of building what ends up being an underground home, and the result is visually similar to the art that has accompanied various editions of the books (and the look used in the movies) for hobbit homes, so it seems pretty reasonable.
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Loved the story. Reminds me of my own odd immigrant story: In the 1970s, my dad decides he had enough of living off the family, takes off on a 30-day tourist visa to Communist Ethiopia. Grabs a cab to the Ministry of Education, somehow finds convinces that person that he, a non-native speaker of English (Indian origin), is the best person to teach English to rebels in the south of the country. He does that for five years. Gets married, lives there for the next twenty more years. I was born, grew up there. It always amuses me how a random whim 30 years ago has influenced so much of my life. (And also proves to be entertaining to sit in the back of a cab with an Ethiopian cab driver and occasionally startle them by speaking fluent Amharic. ;-)
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Building the first Full Stack Manufacturing Startup out of India
What does "Full Stack" Apparel Manufacturing Actually Mean? And where did this term "Full Stack" come from?
I'm doing exactly like you described for 3 years, and the results are the same.
Good points. A system with universal private health insurance and pharma companies that reinvest all their profits into research seems equivalent to a system with publicly funded research. (Of course, in private systems there are many uninsured people -- doubling the price of cancer treatments means, to some extent, funding future research from poor, sick people.)
I never paid a penny of mortgage insurance. Let's be clear. Mortgage insurance does not protect you. It protects the bank that owns the mortgage.

You ONLY need mortgage insurance if you invest less than 20% down. Even then, you can often take a second, higher interest mortgage loan instead of paying for mortgage insurance.

A second mortgage is better for your tax return and equity and also offers better returns for the bank, which only sees a benefit from mortgage insurance if you default. Do you really want to give your bank any incentive to help you default?

The entire point of mortgage insurance is to protect the bank in the case you foreclose. It ensures the bank receives 20% of your property value so they can afford to take their time fixing and selling your house to its next owner. They don't need this risk mitigation if they have your downpayment.
They don't need to. This isn't about the money, it's about the message they're sending.
Amazon Flexes Its Muscles in Fight Against Publishers
I really like your post, I didn't feel like an upvote was quite enough.

I think far too many managers completely miss the point about the company not valuing a team.
When I worked in Windows Security (BitLocker FWIW), Barb Fox's office was a windowless closet with an antique computer and a bunch of boxes in it that hadn't been touched in years. I've no idea what she was doing at that time, but nobody ever saw her and her stuff was religiously moved to a new closet every time we moved buildings...
Using LVM’s new cache feature
Note that many of the successes were not venture funded. The extreme margins are just not there for these kinds of businesses to generate the returns needed for investors. The only hope is selling into a frothy market which is willing to ignore the financials and pay for the stock at a silly p/e.
In that case, I recommend the Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga (not the Ideapad Yoga). I own one, and I think it's the perfect device for Windows 8.1.
Darkcoin's rise in value
You file an Offer in Compromise. There is a specific form to do this; it is best done with the assistance of a tax accountant or attorney. Even if you leave the United States, the tax bill will keep growing unless you address it. Extradition is not an issue btw, this is a civil matter.
http://xkcd.com/1314/

I think a greta parallel is hunting and fishing. It's all very well to say, just enjoy the lake and buy your fish later. In reality, it's hard to "just enjoy" some things. We need to interact with them somehow or talk to people about them or something.

Same with hunting. Lots of people say that what they enjoy is tracking, stalking. Watching animals for hours and getting to understand them. You could theoretically do all those things without a rifle… but you won't. People who are obsessive blob hunters know more about blobs than anyone else. They know the environment better than anyone else and they learn all sorts of interesting skills along the way.

Also, at the risk of sounding troll-ish (I hope I'm not though). Adding IMHO here sounds a bit like 'I'm not racist but.' I think humbleness is overrated, but that isn't a humble opinion.
How and why bicycle deaths happen in the US
I wonder with heavy training whether a parachute-free landing on a moderately forgiving surface (such as a patch of dirt with grass) and perfect execution of technique if a >50% chance of survival would be possible.
A hard thing I find in these situations is when people try to coerce you emotionally. "This a very critical job. Deadline is nearing. You can get anything you need". I find it very tough to refuse in such a scenario.
Is there a statute of limitations on not filing? E.g. if you forgot to file a decade ago, and nobody ever came after you, is it better to come clean or let sleeping dogs lie?
The subject matter was interesting, but because of my squeamishness I couldn't bring myself to read the actual description of the injuries or fatalities. I'm one of those types of people that can't stand seeing broken bones or reading about them, horrifies me
Neat! Adblock blocks ads, Noscript for dodgy scripts, and it looks like this has some overlap with those as well as a cookie handler.

That looks like the unholy trinity of tracking systems dealt with.
Yes, I mean I have to be doing my own projects 'professionally' wherein I decide what is being made and how it is being made. Not working for someone else, because that someone else is not going to have the same kinds of goals that I would have.

There may have been some jobs out there where I could happily and productively work, but I don't know, because I never encountered one.
Photography is a fun hobby for many people. It is an experience itself. And who cares if people are posting on Facebook and Twitter. I enjoy looking at my friends vacations and get ideas for things to do.

But I agree with you on concerts, that is just rude to take photos while ruining the view for people behind you.

And I love this project. It seems a natural project for any photographer parent. I am sure we will this more and more. Not obsessive at all.
They would get a whole lot more productivity out of me. Not being asked to fix users excel errors and being bugged every 5 minutes. (I know this is true, as the organization was a lot smaller 3 years ago when I started, and for the first year I was incredibly productive).
Code for engineers, Comments for mathematicians
I know a multiple property owners. Here's some of the few more common cases as to why people don't strike it rich immediately when renting out properties.

1. abandonment, they just leave without paying
2. they incessantly ask for features
3. they hoard
4. they ruin beyond the security deposit and then dont pay (pets etc)
5. they consistently pay late
6. long time unoccupied eats away at profit due to special assessments, condo fees, hoa fees, whatever costs there are in the community
7. natural disasters (california/florida yikes)
8. simple non-payment. try renting in a renter protected area like dc (here's a hint, dont).

It's not the road to riches that you hear whispered occasionally. The people who actually seem to make a profit from it are tied to housing in some way - either realtors or contractors/property managers and this is because they get the non-public deals and fix houses themselves. But even they dont make that much income from until much later and you can be sure they had to work long for it.
The Sedona TripAdvisor Forum - Talks about fake reviews in the links on unpermitted Tour Guides...
I didn't say that your father lived in the US. I was pointing out that "pays for the treatment" does not exclude the US, as Florin_Andrei seems to think.

I understand you're having a visceral reaction to the out-of-pocket maximum. But for the patient who has to take Gleevec for the rest of his life, it does not matter if he pays $1 for the premium and $10,000 for the medication, or $10,000 for the premium and $1 for the medication. It's the same $10,001 either way. It's just a matter of what you call it.

I think it's great that Poland reduced the premium to $0 for your father. But patients in many other countries still have to pay the premium even after they get sick. And nobody would say that their insurance refused to "pay for the treatment" just because it did not waive the premium. It becomes a matter of degree, not of principles.

The US still has the most expensive healthcare even after Obamacare. But at least it is now on the extreme end of the spectrum of universal health insurance. It is no longer off the charts.
When done right they are terrific for both the consumer and advertiser.
Nice! The editor playground great too: http://glsl.io/transition/new (WebGL preview updates on-the-fly while changing the shader code)
I wouldn't call the iOS keyboard "hunt and peck". You only need the visual for alignment. Otherwise your touch-typing skills seem to transfer pretty well. I mean, I don't have to wonder where the T key is before my thumb is moving towards it.

Calling the lack of Swype a deal-break seems perfectly reasonable to me though. To each their own. I saw my typing speed go through the floor on the MotoX, but that was due to two issues mostly:

1. Different key spacing. Which is entirely justified. I'm just not used to what I'm not used to. I imagine I'd have a similar frustrating re-training curve on the iPhone 6.

2. The lack of an easy apostrophe. You can tweak the stock keyboard a little bit, but mostly this one was nearly unforgivable to me. I try to get punctuation right and it drives me crazy that the stock Android keyboard seemed to be working against me there. Some alternative keyboards looked a little better, but they were almost universally tacky IMO and could've seriously used a few hours from an actual designer.

As a developer whose experience with designers is generally pretty frustrating (XHTML or Go Home! ... a few years later ... CSS for mobile first, and Desktop with media-queries, who cares if it breaks IE8 for no reason and has 0 advantages? It's Mobile-First to an extreme and you're a joke if you don't put the latest fad ahead of maintenance/functionality!) that almost hurts to say. ;-)

I haven't been able to make "Swyping" a habit. I've got no muscle memory for it. But almost everyone else I've met that's tried it loves it so I'm sure that's just me.

I'd be curious what parts of Android's UX you consider superior though. I could understand not wanting to make the 4S your daily phone just because of the screen size if nothing else. Plus iOS7 is pretty (IMO), but generally a step back in actual UX IMO with all the lagging issues (which seem to have improved a lot, but still occasionally annoying).

On the other hand the 4S's battery will be going well into the next day while the Nexus 4 would be on at least it's second charging cycle IME. The line where hardware issues qualify as UX is a bit fuzzy though I suppose.

I don't know what GetPocket is. But generally you can just hit the share/arrow button and copy if you're just interested in an address. I've found that to be a really comfortable workflow personally. I'm always pasting URLs, Images, etc into Hipchat.

Anyways, thanks for the respectful disagreement/comments. Certainly refreshing. Hopefully my end of the conversation holds up as well.
> The installment plan monthly amount due to my high cost location ends up being total after tax dollars minus rent and very frugal and basic living expenses

So what's the problem? You are highly in debt, and you worked out a payment plan that will have you pay off your debt in five years.
In the U.S., you can't choose to quit and then go on unemployment.

Also, a (relatively) healthy, single person with no children isn't going to qualify for many other programs.
This is easily a business. Easily.

Also, how about hooking up a dynamo and trickle charging devices?
Nice. Some feedback: The "first run" page doesn't tell me clearly that anything has been installed or has started working. This kind of information should be really clear and prominent, the largest thing on the page. Instead it's not even there at all, as far as I can see.

Edit: Please don't reply and say "you can check if it's working by blah blah blah." That is missing the point. My point is that EFF should fix the extension to make this communication clear for ALL users.
Good luck! I think the best thing is to work with a law firm to file an Offer in Compromise on your behalf. Google and check ratings. I believe there are some good, legit services.
I can think of a few scenarios where you could end up with a tax liability with no actual associated "income" in the normal sense - indeed I almost encountered one myself a few years back but dodged it by being suitably stroppy and threatening to pull completely out of the relevant transaction (an IPO on the LSE).

Mind you my experiences are with the UK tax system where you are guilty until proven innocent.
Well, if you quit, you're generally not eligible for unemployment benefits. Make sure you check your state rules.
Citroen the company was always underfunded and they could never invest in quality control.

I wonder how a hydraulic suspension would fare if produced by today's technology and quality standards. DS has a flying carpet ride feel to it and even the most upmarket cars of today can't reach that.
I moved to America six years ago. I have lived in California, Texas and now live in New York.

> My wife keeps saying we should move to US, perhaps California. She thinks we'll finally have some sunshine, lots of affordable fresh food, perhaps live in a house with garden, beautiful nature close enough to actually go camping for the weekends, and friendly and approachable people

Sure, if you lived in Nor Cal, somewhere close to Marin or in the East Bay, you could probably get that. It is kind of puzzling to me that you would go all the way to America for this though. Wouldn't you prefer to live in the EU closer to a community ?

> 40h workweek 5 weeks of holiday a year free/cheap health insurance free/cheap education up to university level for our daughter.

You are not going to get a 40 hour work week in America. It might be close to 60 hours. At least 50. Again, depends on the place. If you work for a big company like Google, things will be reasonably. Early stage startup. Miserable. Vacation is 2 weeks - 4 weeks. Health insurance has always been paid for me by my employer. Schools, I can't comment. I don't have offspring.

Someone mentioned other regions. Let me give you a quick run through considering that long term, America is my home but I don't know whether I want to live in a city.

Austin, Texas. Too small, too hot. Still too Texan.

New York. I love NYC. But it is not what your wife would want. It is a Megapolis.

Colorado. I fucking love Colorado. Boulder is amazing, it is a great college town with all those beautiful girls. Great opportunities for hiking. It has a great and upcoming tech scene. Honestly, if I were ever to buy a summer home or move elsewhere in the U.S., it would be Colorado.
If you actually cannot afford to pay the amount and don't mind the IRS digging through your financial records you can file an Offer in Compromise. Might be worth looking into.
Elitist democracy
Experimenting with creatine
Another variable that would be useful is property-tax growth rate. Because sadly that seems to increase pretty constantly.
How common is scientific fraud?
Get someone else to do it.
The Indie Bubble Is Popping.
From a similar personal experience, definitely contact a tax lawyer or "Enrolled Agent". They know the system. An Enrolled Agent helped me get my situation resolved relatively quickly, which let me move on with my life.
A. I don't think so, and if there were it would be a very long time.

B. I don't think this is the thing the IRS forgets about anyway.
Call JG Wentworth.
Jacques is correct here, if the ads on the landing page are substantially similar to the ad word buy then Google will penalize you. So if you buy and Ad for 'hair dryer' and you have a page which says "a hair dryer drys your hair." and a bunch more AdSense ads around it for buying a hair dryer from different vendors, that will eventually get you in trouble.

It is however "ok" to buy an adword to a page about, say a '65 mustang restoration article you did. Have it be mostly an article about restoring a mustang and a "few" (for some opaque definition of a few) AdSense ads on the page which may or may not be related to the AdWords buy.

But what is really the bottom line is that the variations are endless :-)
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Glad it all worked out so well, what a nice story. It's crazy how much of our lives can be decided by such a small moment - like helping a couple of hitchhikers on an otherwise boring, routine day!
On a sidenote, did anyone else notice the popup that only appears once you're going to close the page? I've tried to re-create it, but it actually appears to be pretty intelligent. I was initially annoyed, since that's the standard reaction, but then I realized it didn't block my reading of the article at all, since I was attempting to leave anyway. Kind of cool.
Yeah, I think so too. At least a Kickstarter project. You could sell an integrated wheel with this tweeting device.

I'm already a startup founder at http://satelinx.com and http://beetrack.in , apart from teaching Computer Architecture. I do have experience making and selling hardware, what I don't have is free time :)

I'm preparing a more technical description about the system (I designed and built the hardware myself), I should post it on the feed over the weekend.

As for the dynamo, definitely! But I'd rather let the hedgehog run as smoothly as possible.
Although I'm opposed to transitions in general, the editor/platform is really awesome.
Follow up comment:

I have responded to two people from this thread and I thought I should make it publicly available to help others who might be out there.

At some point you owe money to the IRS. You've filed the tax returns, you've wrestled with the IRS about waiving penalties, and there is a number. You're looking at it, and it's big.

This is what tax lawyers call "collections work." You owe money, and the IRS is trying to collect. As I noted in my previous comment, the Internal Revenue Manual is the operating procedure manual for Revenue Agents in handling collection of taxes owed. Plus of course there are shards of wisdom here and there that are important to know. Some are published by the IRS (they have an assortment of published documents, like things called 'Revenue Procedures') but some of this wisdom is informal, learned through experience with the system.

The work is time and paper intensive. Going to a tax lawyer is probably not cost-effective, because the hourly rates are too high, and you don't have money. So you need help. Where do you go?

Well, call tax lawyers, accountants, and (most importantly) Enrolled Agents. Enrolled Agents are regular people who pass an exam administered by the IRS that enables them to represent taxpayers in tax controversies.

The particular type of human I would look for is an ex-IRS employee who has left government work and set up shop as an Enrolled Agent. You now have the best of both worlds: someone who knows the inside baseball game, and is out here in the real world, working for you. Also, the costs are likely to be more reasonable that an attorney or CPA.

Look particularly for an Enrolled Agent who specializes in collections work. Buzzwords include "offer in compromise", "Lien", etc.

In the case of the two people who contacted me directly, I pointed them to John Knight in Southern California. His website is www.knight-ea.com (don't judge him by his website) [EDIT: thanks 'dewey for pointing out that it is really www.johnknight-ea.com] and he fits the criteria I mentioned. He gets frequent referrals from the top tax lawyers here in Los Angeles. (I know, because I talk to my colleagues.) I send him 100% of my collections problems.

I am not competent to give advice on exactly what to do in this area -- if you owe a ton and need to figure out what to do. I would recommend that you stay away from any tax law firm that advertises heavily on the traditional media. There are no miracles, but the "One Day at a Time" mantra will carry you through. You will, eventually, be (tax) debt free.

Again, anyone else out there -- if you're in this boat shoot me an email. But now you know what you'll get when you email me. :-)

/Phil.