skysight-inc/HackerNews huggingface dataset:
I agree with the basic thrust of the argument, but there are a couple of sticking points:

The first thing that caught me reading through the comments section here is that a lot of folks complain about immigrants pushing down wages. While there are certainly places that happens, I don't think that's what Paul's talking about here. However, there is another form of that which does happen -- immigrants do stabilize wages, even at startups, and wage fluctuation dictates some of which businesses are tenable and which aren't (and where they're tenable and where they aren't -- some businesses that would make sense in Dehli wouldn't make sense in San Francisco).

For the CEO mentioned, as salary goes to infinity, so to does his ability to hire as many great developers as he would like. To hire 30 developers the next day, there exists a salary which would make that possible. It's just that his business would probably not be tenable paying that much.

So, I think there's a component missing to the essay: how much wage stabilization is desirable via immigration? There's already a salary gap between working as a developer in the Bay Area vs. working almost anywhere else. How large should the ratio be allowed to grow? How much of being the hub is defined by having wages that are a small multiplier of wages elsewhere in the world for the same positions?

Second, the title seems a bit unfortunate. There's obviously not a uniform distribution of great programmers around the world. There's probably a pretty strong correlation between the distribution of home computers a decade ago and the home countries of great developers. The distribution not being uniform isn't really important to the point being made (it's fair to assume that most great programmers weren't born inside the US), but since it's implied so prominently in the title, it's harder to give it a pass.
Enlightened self-interest. Great people increase opportunity. To the degree that happens, this is a good idea. In the short term there will be supply/demand issues and some folks will get hurt.
Parent poster has a point that the difficulty of actually identifying the exceptional programmers poses a major problem here. P.G. has actually written about this himself, arguing that great programmers are the only ones who can identify other great programmers, and that they can only do this if they have collaborated with them on actual work.

See the 'Recognition' section in "Great Hackers" essay, http://www.paulgraham.com/gh.html:
"So who are the great hackers? How do you know when you meet one? That turns out to be very hard. Even hackers can't tell."
"motivation to stay awake until 2am because you want to chase some random thing down the rabbit hole."

Agree. Obsession and curiousity is important. To me you either have that or you don't have that. (Edit: Of course it depends on the subject for sure. You can be curious about one thing but "phone it in" about something else.)

I'm not a programmer but I can write some things that are helpful to me. The other day I made some tea and I then thought "hmm I will buy a timer on Amazon". Then I though "no let me write something that I can use from the shell to tell me when N time period is up and what it is up for". [1] I then probably spent the next hour or so writing this little routine when all I had done was getup to make tea. Because even though I am not a programmer I decided it was more interesting than what I was working on at the time (which is also pretty interesting).

Back to something that I do know about (negotiation and strategy) I go with your first sentence for sure.

[1] In other words instead of using the iphone timer or any number of other ways to do the same exact thing I just decided it was more fun to write something to do what I wanted. And it was fun. And when I showed it to my wife that evening (as an example of why I think our 10 year old should do programming) she couldn't understand why I thought what I did was fun to do.
And that another country could attract those 95% and do great things with them. Several European countries are keen to do so, and with access to the EU's pool of citizens it would be a great place to try and a new tech hub from.

Sadly anti-immigration and/or anti-capitalism feelings are also strong in many EU countries which hampers this movement. I wish the UK could make more of our draw.
The CapEx costs of a server are a fraction of the OpEx costs of colocation (rack space, power, bandwidth, &c).
Agreed, the goal is to drive down prices of IT salaries. I find it disingenuous of PG to indicate otherwise since he sits on the side of the table that directly benefits from a cheaper IT labor market.

I have worked at numerous places where they have hired on H1Bs. One of those employers did so because they were looking for good talent no matter where they could find it and H1B holders were paid fairly. Every other employer was doing it because they could pay lower wages and force longer hours on H1B holders since they are in a sort of held-hostage situation. In one case developers were frequently working such long hours that they would just sleep at the office and only go home once or twice a week. This same place was paying their entry to mid developers in the 25K to 35K range and their most senior developers were making less than 50K.
You can do weekly reports with StandupMail as well. You're free to schedule reminders/digests however you want under "settings".
Well the 'obvious' thing is what's at issue. Because he (apparently) didn't refute other's claim of his divinity isn't a sure bet that he was devine - that's a very indirect thing and nothing obvious about it.
Why limit this to programmers? It's not as if we're some kind of privileged and special sub-species of humanity. People should be allowed to move around the globe at will without those pesky borders. That would be one way to get us out of the hole we're in. Drawing arbitrary lines for certain professions and not for others only further deepens the gap.

Companies have long ago figured out ways to go trans-national, simply by opening up offices in low wage countries.

Another, easy solution if you want more talent is to pay more.
I'm not sure this is really the case. I know many programmers who say they won't work for finance no matter how much the pay is. And in some cases the pay on offer is literally 6x, and isn't far off a rhetorical 'million dollars'.
Well, will great programmers line up at the "great programmers" H1B line? Probably not. Will the government screen applicants in order to increase the concentration of "great programmers"? Hah. There are no means available to us to increase the concentration of great programmers in a pool of programmers without great cost, and this inevitably means that in order to get more great programmers, one has to go through more programmers.
Unexpected Life Found in the Ocean's Deepest Trench
You mean like, say, clothing or electronics manufacture, in which conditions for workers are a global race to the bottom?
Re this footnote: "An influx of inexpensive but mediocre programmers is the last thing they [Google and Facebook]'d want; it would destroy them"

If this is the case, why aren't Google and Facebook coming out strongly against our current H1B mechanism which is demonstrably little more than a tool for importing cheap labor?
Why do you want to become an exceptional one?

I'm going to give you an alternative answer. There is a hard limit on our personal abilities. There comes a point where a lead developer matures by bringing on people onto their team who are better at X.

I really like this comment from an AskHN from jlcfly several weeks ago. I hope most of us embrace this philosophy as the reality is programming as an art is much more important than programming as a rote skill.

"Teach them to be better than you. That may seem counterproductive. I have a type A personality, and I have decent coding skills. I've been in your situation a number of times. I also know there's these mythical expert developers out there that I can't seem to find (or afford). So, what to do? A few years ago I realized that if I continue down this path, I'll end up with some serious health issues due to the stresses that come along with having a reputation for being a really good developer.

So, I decided that instead of searching for developers better than me, I would teach developers I work with how to BE better. It's taken a lot of patience. And it's taken me quite a bit to LET GO of my way of doing things. I had to take my ego out of the picture. (VERY hard to do.)

Nowadays, I realize that developers don't have to BE better than me. I simply have to ALLOW them to do what they do without being so obsessive about it. Turns out, even junior developers really CAN do good work. They just need a little guidance that only comes with experience, and then they need me to get out of their way."

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8649415
It's been tried in the past, but it hasn't been that successful. Technology has come a long way in decreasing communication boundaries, but it won't replace (at least for the next 5-10 years) the latent need to have employees in office. It's not only about the work produced, but also the interactions between the team. Both Yahoo[1] and Reddit[2] have banned remote working.

[1] http://www.businessinsider.com/why-marissa-mayer-told-remote...

[2] http://venturebeat.com/2014/10/04/why-reddits-new-no-remote-...
There are many problems with PG's arguments.

1. It's painfully obvious that he doesn't talk anybody in the trench.

2. If H1B Visas used the way it was intended, there would be no issue with finding those great talents. Instead, H1B Visas are used my large consultancies and corporations for tapping cheap labors.

3. There are strong programming talents in Western and Eastern Europe, but they are not knocking down embassies to come to the U.S. despite much better job prospects and higher pay. Because quality of life is inferior.

4. You don't need a company full of 'great programmers'.
My point is: is there absolutely no content that can be displayed without JavaScript being enabled? I'm sure there is.

It's a matter of principles (I shouldn't be compelled to enable JS on a website only to view its static content - or any content at all), it's a matter of accessibility (people with impaired vision who use text-to-speech software will have a harder time with this page)and it's a metter of compatibility (not all devices/browsers run JS)
Range is less important to me than ease and availability of recharging or refueling.
Regarding the caveat, computing ϕ^N is really equivalent to computing a matrix power M^N. Recall that ϕ=(1+√5) (I dropped the 1/2 for convenience.) Suppose we represent numbers like x+y√5 as [x y]. Then multiplication by ϕ corresponds to multiplication by the matrix

ϕ_mult = [[1 5] [1 1]]

This is because ϕ(x+y√5)=(x+5y)+(x+y)√5, and

[[1 5] [1 1]] [x y] = [x+5y x+y]

Now, to compute ϕ^N, we just have to compute [x y] = ϕ_mult^N[1 0] (since [1 0] is the representation of 1=1+0√5). Then ϕ^N=x+y√5. This is all exact, no floating point arithmetic!

It's actually just an example of an algebraic number field [1] -- the idea is that "algebraic numbers" (i.e., roots of polynomials) can be equivalently thought of as vectors and matrices. The simplest example, which everyone is familiar with, is the complex numbers, where i=√(-1). In this case, [x y] represents x+y*i, and multiplication by i corresponds to the matrix i_mult=[[0 1] [-1 0]]. Then i_mult^2= -[[1 0] [0 1]], in other words, multiplication by -1!

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algebraic_number_field
You need to put more effort into being lazy. Google, my good man, Google. Those scripts already exist, all you have to do is download and run them.
> isn't the code just a language/stack/programmer(s) specific interpretation of the underlying model?

There's the catch -- it should be, but there's no way to verify it's correct without comparing the source code against the model. (Well, I suppose if you had access to the raw data and the time to rewrite the software yourself from scratch, you could do that and see if you got the same results. But who has time for that?)
By all means, write to your elected representatives to cut down on importation of cut-rate programmers. But know that this doesn't disprove Paul Graham's point. He is against the importation of cut-rate programmers too (see his footnote [2]). He is only for the importation of top-notch programmers.
Finasteride, from what I've read, can have side effects that are worse than the hairloss. I'll take a receding hairline over ED.

OP: Cut it short, shave it all if it's thin, get a thicker neck (serious. It's the biggest improvement you can make to your dressed appearance, in terms of muscles, and often overlooked), and you're better off than most guys with Fabio-hair.
I have a ton of issues with this post.

For starters, the idea that some people are just inherently exceptional programmers and others can only be competent is elitist. Is it any wonder that every programmer in Silicon Valley thinks they're God's gift to the programming world? We've been taught that to be hirable we have to be "10x" engineers who spend all of our free time hacking.

But ok, maybe you don't agree with me on this point. You feel as though there truly is some kind of "master race" of programmers who are inherently gifted in ways that nobody else can learn to be gifted. That still doesn't mean that you should agree with PG.

Why do we need to import all of these engineers into Silicon Valley? One of the great benefits of Software Engineering is that it can be done from anywhere in the world. Why can't people choose to stay where they live? My suspicion is that it has more to do with entrepreneurial arrogance than anything else. Company executives simply want to build big empires with lots of programmers all under their thumb under one roof.

So what happens? If you want to be an engineer, you have to come to Silicon Valley and displace someone who already lives in the Bay Area. It's displacement that breeds displacement.

Ok, maybe you still don't believe me. You think that we need exceptional engineers and they have to be in the Bay Area. The immigration policies that tech companies are pushing for aren't based on merit. The STEM visas only apply to people who are schooled in the US. In other words, the people who will be coming to the US on these new visas aren't coming here because they are one of the exceptional engineers tech companies fawn after. They're here because they have parents who can afford to send them of to the US to fancy schools. We're not getting the "poor and huddled masses" that made this nation great anymore.

Is it any wonder people in the Bay Area hate us? We're elitist, we displace people, and we're importing people from affluent backgrounds.
This may be the least inspiring, least visionary solutions for one of the tech industry's challenges I've ever read from PG. That's unfortunate.

The tech industry's hostility to the basic concepts of training and employee development, which have long since been implemented in every other long-lasting trade and industry, need to change. That change needs to start with the industry's most prominent leaders and foremost thinkers.
“Family flight” – Five A350 XWBs together in flight
"It was merely pointed out that the commenter finds papers with a sole author to be questionable."

That's an argument from authority and/or consensus.

At the end of the day, only reproducibility matters in science. The problem with using unreliable heuristics like "single author papers" is that it means the findings of such papers are less likely to be tested or further investigated by others. It introduces a strong herd effect bias into science, which history has shown is not a good idea.
Actually identified on the first page as the "Ferranti Mark I" manual -- also known as the Manchester Mark II, because it was the commercialized version of the original experimental computer built at Manchester.
What I take away from the HN/Startup/Recruiting drama:

* Companies don't know how find good people (they think they know how to attract them, but honestly, how can they tell? They don't notice the ones they fail to attract, which I'd argue is most people)

* Companies are unable to produce (e.g. educate) good people

* They want to solve their failures by increasing the search space of people

I have no sympathy at all here. If you want good people you have to pick them up early and educate them. A startup however wants great people now, and they are supposed to be a great match by pure chance. This is classic irrational dream-thinking. You have to be pretty proud of yourself to expect all the good things will come to you just like that.

I suggest an alternative (my) approach, I call it the "secret elite ninja clan" approach:

1. Find out what skills are required in your industry.

2. Become a good at teaching these skills.

3. Find a pupil (as motivated as possible, no skills required)

4. Educate that pupil until a) they are as good as you are or better / b) they loose interest and leave you

5. Make money by utilizing the resulting skills. Also test your pupil's new talents.

6. Make pupil a partner if possible, return to step 1.

Also important: If you meet someone, figure out how that person can generate value, don't get cornered by your expectations. Improvise, diversify.

I am currently with my third pupil (first two were not motivated enough) and she seems to have it in her blood. I think if we keep up we can "grow" a pretty good company of really good people in a decade or so. Of course, there won't be a CEO, or a product, just really good hourly rates.
Apart from risk to individual customers, it means a competitor ISP could keep a running track of how many customers they have and how fast they are growing/shrinking.

Also how many customers on which products - some graphs will top out at 4Mb and some at 25Mb, etc.

And it implies there wasn't a thorough security review on that server-which-has-access-to-customer-data, so any malicious attacker might turn more attention to it for a way into more access.

Cperciva says the access required a valid login, it's plausible that login could be customer number + password, which would make brute forcing easier with a list of current customer numbers.

Hmm

If they're big enough to have customers across Canada, usage patterns could reveal timezones. And whether the residence is unoccupied during work hours / what typical work hours are.

Longer term usage patterns could reveal if they tend to go out at nights, on weekends, over holiday seasons.

What else... maybe usage drops correlate with major sports events for some profiling? Maybe
The most honest and fair thing would be to grant the visa for a time period, and let the visa holder negotiate with companies like any other citizen.

But thats not what this recent 'reform immigration' movement is about. When you get down to it, the tech immigration movement, FWD.US, is basically asking for more H1B visas to be allocated, which will give the biggest companies even more of an advantage against both competing small companies (that don't have a legal team dedicated to immigration) and employees (who can't negotiate against captive labor).

Thats why it's basically composed of huge companies, and you don't see much buy in from smaller ones.
Every night is certainly excessive, but I don't have brilliant unplanned conversations with my teammates every day either.
Not if recharging takes hours.

If you combine a decent range (400+ miles) with a fast recharge time, say, an hour or less, then you've got a real winner.
Apart from risk to individual customers, it means a competitor ISP could keep a running track of how many customers they have and how fast they are growing/shrinking.

Also how many customers on which products - some graphs will top out at 4Mb and some at 25Mb, etc.

And it implies there wasn't a thorough security review on that server-which-has-access-to-customer-data, so any malicious attacker might turn more attention to it for a way into more access.

Cperciva says the access required a valid login, it's plausible that login could be customer number + password, which would make brute forcing easier with a list of current customer numbers.

Hmm

If they're big enough to have customers across Canada, usage patterns could reveal timezones. And whether the residence is unoccupied during work hours / what typical work hours are.

Longer term usage patterns could reveal if they tend to go out at nights, on weekends, over holiday seasons.

What else... maybe usage drops correlate with major sports events for some profiling?
Have tachyons actually been shown to exist? I was under the impression that they are theoretical, a prediction of some theories but not verified.
You're refuting an argument the essay not only doesn't make, but explicitly disowns.
Problem to solve: keeping a team of people working on the same project up-to-date in a simple way - overcoming barriers like availability and distribution of team members.

You might be right with your arguments if you see StandupMail as a tool replacing your Scrum standup. However, it's intended to be a tool for every team out there working on the same topic - most teams don't even know what a "SCRUM Standup" is (ask your sales team for example).
Seem fine. Both are running Go. Should be able to handle the load.
Computional methods have improved that much in ten years?? Why aren't all cars doin this?
> we are talking just about work visas and not about immigration.

Moving to a different country under work visa is also immigration.
With parrell analysis comparisons are log N operations. P1 compares N bits, P2 compares N bits, if use P1 unless it's equal then use P2.

Short circuting cuts that to log(log(N)) on average and log(N) worst case.

It's actually generally faster to compare X bytes of Vary large numbers than X Bytes of long int's. Degenerate case being 2 numbers of x/2 bytes.

Anyway, the point is treating log(log(N)) as constant is generally reasonable especially when N is small.
> /* Heap objects destroyed with "delete" */

> delete(items);

This part is funny: "Higher Level" but still no garbage collection.
Yes, the truth is it doesn't matter how many women, ethnic minorities etc you hire, if they are all 20-something graduates of the same 10 CS programmes.
Robinhood stock broker money in account is missing
I have been using Robinhood for about a week now and its been a great experience, I loved it, however all of a sudden today everything went wrong. I noticed that there was money missing from my account. I looked at my total transfer history and the amount of stocks i own, I bought one share of a single company earlier in the week, proving that some of my money had disappeared. I have emailed Robinhood and they have not yet responded to me. Also before I found out about the money missing i had been trying to acquire more stock. Every time i made an attempt to buy it would give me an error that my account can only close positions. This doesn't make any sense, I have more than enough money to buy the stock I attempted to buy with excess funds left over. I don't know nor understand what Robinhood is doing. There was no notice or reason why any of this happened I just didn't know what to do.
> The result relies on tachyons having an imaginary mass, or a negative mass squared.

Perhaps these two were mixed up?
I think a lot of those talking about cheap labour really don't understand how the current US immigration system works. Maybe large companies have other options but as a startup founder I've been through the H1-B process and it is anything but cheap and easy. Legal costs are in excess of $5k and the you must pay the employee a prevailing wage. For my cofounder this was in excess of $180k and thus as a series seed startup we simply can't afford to exercise the visa.

I absolutely understand the need to protect US jobs but the situation isn't very good when two cofounders can't stay in the country after raising almost $1m in seed capital and employing US citizens.