tim_h

7 ms·

1.
by tim_h 14y ago
The difference between doctors and programmers is that programmers get to build/leverage tools that are abstractions of other tools, hence you can have orders-of-magnitude differences in productivity between programmers who use the best to
2.
by tim_h 14y ago
Probably the availability of people with 5+ years of programming experience. It was 1959! :)
3.
by tim_h 15y ago
Basically, in a client-server relationship, use persistent buffering on the client-side so that the client can tolerate server downtime. I like the simplicity of this approach. It's best to keep the low-level stuff as simple as possible whe
4.
by tim_h 15y ago
If an ISP starts openly inspecting content like this will it become liable for all content that passes through it's network? Edit: I'm surprised to see this downvoted. Care to comment why?
5.
by tim_h 15y ago
Just curious, what specifically is the indicator that a person doesn't care for the company? I didn't get that impression from reading the GP. Is it not paying attention to the news cycle? Or knowing that the company is on a bad trajectory
6.
by tim_h 15y ago
I wasn't suggesting that that C++ is somehow outdated or inferior. I'm just wondering if the percent usage of C++ is declining with respect to other languages. I'm trying to estimate the chance that me not knowing C++ will pose a problem la
7.
by tim_h 15y ago
Is C++ usage on the decline? I've used a lot of different languages, but I've never had the occasion to learn C++. I work in web search and we tend to use interpreted languages. The argument is that Java or C# is much easier to write/mainta
8.
by tim_h 15y ago
Pangool actually seems like a generalization of Hadoop. This doesn't necessarily make it more complex. If a problem maps exactly to the Hadoop API, then it should also map exactly to the Pangool API by setting m=2 (in the extended map reduc
9.
by tim_h 15y ago
The right balance between technical and pragmatic is project specific. Here are a couple of heuristics I use to find it. 1) Minimize the overall time investment required to have an acceptable solution to the problem. Time investment include
10.
by tim_h 15y ago
In software engineering the "thinking beforehand" approach is probably riskier than the "think as you go" approach. For example, often the requirements aren't well-defined when the project starts. Contrast this with physical-stuff engineeri
11.
by tim_h 15y ago
This resonates: > The most important characteristic of a suffering-oriented programmer is a relentless focus on refactoring. This is critical to prevent accidental complexity from sabotaging the codebase. I can't tell you how many times
12.
by tim_h 15y ago
The article mentions that "Tokyo" DC was taken offline by disconnecting the data center from the "New York" and "Paris" DCs. Then writes were performed, Tokyo was reconnected, and the writes replayed, effectively re-syncing the DCs. My que
13.
by tim_h 15y ago
I don't know how similar/dissimilar Dexadrine and Adderall are, but they have really different effects on me. Adderall made me feel high, and seemed to encourage me to focus like a laser beam on low-level details. Dexadrine, on the other ha
14.
by tim_h 15y ago
Why is it that people will hold against you an immature act that you did years ago, ignoring the fact that people tend to mature as they age? Perhaps the timeline will help overcome this tendency. By making everyone's history more visible,
15.
by tim_h 15y ago
First, even if natrius cannot answer your question, absence of a counter-example does not constitute proof of your argument. Second, I've been taking an ADD medication called Dexadrine for about 10 years now, and in my opinion the effect on
16.
by tim_h 15y ago
The site guidelines ( http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html ) say "On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting." Judging by the comments on this thread, such is the case here.
17.
by tim_h 15y ago
I was diagnosed with ADHD at age 18. At that point in my life I had developed pretty much a hatred for school, and had resolved to never go to college. Spending 8 hours/day at school was akin to torture for me. I found it to be mind-numbing
18.
by tim_h 15y ago
There's a sad real-world example of people who are willing to shorten their lives in order to earn more money: the sulphur miners of East Java ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12301421 ). The motivations are a bit different
19.
by tim_h 15y ago
It sounds like you have to be wearing the device in order to benefit from it. Do you work from home while "plugged in"? Or, can you just use it while thinking about a tough problem or while learning something new and then when it's turned o
20.
by tim_h 15y ago
ChristianMarks said in one of his comments that he believes the device has allowed him to overcome a bias in the valley against hiring older engineers. Why would he want to reveal the details of a device that if widely used could erode his
21.
by tim_h 15y ago
Which companies recognize 10x or 100x developers?
22.
by tim_h 15y ago
What if Curebit had an important demo/presentation that was botched as a result of this? I think the response should be tailored to provide them with a learning opportunity rather than to hurt their startup. A private naming/shaming like be
23.
by tim_h 15y ago
Why the downvotes? The parent poster used $3.8 billion to come up with the $60 billion estimate (3.8 * 16.2 is approx 60). Isn't it true that we don't officially know what Facebook's revenue is? I was merely trying to point out that 3.8 may
24.
by tim_h 15y ago
The reported $3.8 billion in FB revenue is not an official number. It came from a CNBC reporter who cited undisclosed sources. Official revenue would have to be about $6 billion for FB to have the 16x ratio.
25.
by tim_h 15y ago
What does it mean that they "NAT'ed the shares"?