news.ycombinator.com
Is software reducing our productivity?https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26586304Every year it seems software becomes more complex and slower. Is over investment in (bloated) software actually reducing productivity and economic growth potential. For example, Slack, a program I have not personally used but have read about on HN. What is the point. It seems like it is a glorified chat client. Shouldn't employees be working instead of chatting? If collaboration is required is a bloated chat client that consumes hundreds of megabytes of ram at idle really necessary? Is it better than video conference? A phone call? An email? How much time is wasted per day checking slack? Is it possible asynchronous Communication is actually better after a certain point? Do we really need to check our Slack or email every 15 minutes? What are the barriers to entry if Slack is actually a valuable technology. Can we design a chat client that uses less than 20 MB of ram? They did it in the 1990s with similar functionality. What is the point in Git and Docker and Kubernetes? Why do we needMar 25, 2021 10:20 PM
spacenews.com
Raymond: Space Force ‘not a political issue’https://spacenews.com/raymond-space-force-not-a-political-issue/The White House unambiguous statement of support for the Space Force makes it “really clear that this is not a political issue, it’s an issue of national security,” Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond.Mar 3, 2021 3:21 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Launch HN: Spruce (YC W21) – OSS for User Owned and Provably Authentic Datahttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26285687Hello HN,My name is Wayne Chang, co-founder of Spruce Systems, Inc. (https://spruceid.com). Spruce builds open source software that allows for the signed issuance of data to users that can then be verified. For example, transaction histories, educational qualifications, and reputation from online platforms.I grew up on the Internet like many of you. I spent a lot of time on IRC where people frequently tried to dox others, and grew a profound respect for privacy as a result. When your online identity is a big part of who you are, it means a lot more when someone violates your privacy. Online identities will become a lot more of who everyone is, as we’ve seen especially over the past 12 hectic months. Today, we don’t have the right tools to assert control over our own identities or data, and we’re trying to change that with Spruce.When you download your data from Google Takeout, you get a big .zip file that can’t really be used for anything but backups. The same is true with Facebook andFeb 27, 2021 4:07 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Remote Work Tips/Toolshttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26154059Recently my work has approved for me to go full-time remote. Prior to this I didn't give the topic of full-time remote working too much consideration because I assumed (we all know what that does...) that covid wasn't going to be as drawn out as it has become. Now that I've shifted to a full-time remote position, I've been giving a lot of thought to what tips or tools can make it easier to work with other remote coworkers or coworkers that are "on site."I recognize that communication is probably the most important factor and is one of the biggest reasons that employers want employees on site. I mainly got permission to go remote because I've worked hard to develop good communication pipelines and habits while we're all working from home. A few ideas I've had with helping communication are:- Using some form of digital whiteboard. I haven't found anything that satisfies me because I'd really like to be able to virtually collaborate with coworkers, just like I would on a physical whiteboaFeb 16, 2021 2:19 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Ask HN: Why did YC stop it's podcast/interviews?https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25717128Hey HN! I used to really enjoy YC's podcast/interviews from 2017-2019 when Craig Cannon used to host them. Some of the interviews were my absolute favorites!There were ton of great interviews with folks like Wojciech Zaremba, Greg Brockman, Daniel Gross, Tim Urban, Diana Hu etc.I wanted to know why YC decided to stop those interviews. They were a wealth of information and Craig was honestly a great interviewer! I realize he has now left to start his own company, but I'm pretty sure someone else can continue the segment.Please reconsider bringing it back!ThanksJan 10, 2021 5:40 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Ask HN: What's an interesting project to get started with Kubernetes?https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25679034I learn best by making something, and it's generally not hard to come up with a learning project for, say, a new programming language. But I'd like to learn what it takes to configure and use Kubernetes from scratch, and given that a) it's mainly for scaling/managing something, not building something exactly, and b) you don't typically need to scale/manage something the size of a one-off personal project, I'm not really sure what would make for a satisfying and completable goal.Any ideas, or suggestions that have worked for you?Jan 7, 2021 11:18 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Who is doing the best job at route optimization (traveling salesman)?https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25562255I work for a small regional logistics company, and our CEO remarked the other day that he would be willing to spend thousands per month for a reliable route optimization service.I felt this pain myself the other day. Our network was overloaded due to normal Christmas peak coupled with quarantine purchases and UPS/FedEx turning away excess volume. I’m not an ops guy but I volunteered to go out and make deliveries in my wife’s SUV. I wrote the React Native app our drivers use to make deliveries, and I thought it would be a good chance to see how my app performed in a real world scenario. Well, the app did a great job but the backend process that optimizes drivers’ routes left me thinking we can do better. More than once the route order would have taken me right by addresses that were down the road from each other.I’m not sure exactly what the problem is really, and will be digging into that with our existing service. Maybe the larger number of residential addresses we deliver to these daDec 28, 2020 7:19 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Is Netflix recommendation engine the best there is?https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25494800So, I just started using Netflix after a 2 years break (it did not have a good library available in my country). And I see that the recommendation engine is still a joke for anyone with sort of advanced taste of movies / tv series. Even the Spotify recommendations are light years better (yeah, it's not 100% the same for music and movies, but pretty similar). Here are some major problems that I've encountered:1. It shows movies that I already saw as recommendations. I personally rarely rewatch movies, and definitely do not want them to be top recommendations. Pretty sure, that many people are the same. Why it does that, I don't know. Also, there is no way to indicate to the system that you watched the movie but did not particularly liked it or hated it.2. One of the top movies that I should like, according to Netflix is Uncut Gems, which I really hated, because it has an extremely unpleasant protagonist and a boring, uneventful story. There were only three original things in the film: cDec 21, 2020 1:39 PM
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Ask HN: How can I charge more and find more interesting work as an IC?https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25400439I've been doing web development (JS) for nearly seven years. I've raised my rate quite a bit but at this point I think I'm getting close to hitting a ceiling / local maximum for "generic React developer". I do put a lot of emphasis on solving challenging problems (so not just generic CRUD apps) and delivering real business value, and I'm not afraid to raise my rate, but I work through recruiters because I haven't done a lot of highly visible work or blogging, and as such I don't have a reputation of any kind to leverage.I'm happy to blog and, following Patrick McKenzie's and Thomas Ptacek's advice, I don't have a problem raising my rates. I think what's holding me back is being unable to decide on a field / niche to really own. My current specialty is design systems, and I'm getting to know then pretty well, but I'm not sure how translate that skillset into charging more than a React developer without a specialty might.I'm considering changing niches and going back-end, or maybe full-sDec 12, 2020 6:45 PM
bing.com
Zena Foster Beauty Is My New Go-To For Achieving A Natural Glow!http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=6a8d3aa21675472b8e922a8832402982&url=https%3A%2F%2Fhellobeautiful.com%2F3248107%2Ftried-it-zena-foster-beauty-review%2F&c=11773142464185186995&mkt=en-usThis is the year that I officially decided to upgrade my skin care and beauty routine. Due to quarantine, I took a break from daily makeup use and spent the extra time at home to really focus on ...Dec 9, 2020 2:19 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Ask HN: Effective Teaching Environmenthttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25168980I’m hoping for some advice from anyone with experience of teaching and learning CS in high school.On the theory side: I feel I have a lecturing setup that works really well for me and my classes. Seminars, discussions, textbooks and exercises accompanied by a giant screen with code and a whiteboard.What’s harder is the practical aspect; getting down to 1:1 coding effectively.Classroom layouts, screen sizes, OSs, peripherals: anything can be changed in my budget but I just don’t know what makes for an optimized classroom coding environment.Do they want privacy? Headphones? Or do pupils crave collaboration and discussion?(Aside: Thank goodness for repl.it multiplayer!)Nov 21, 2020 10:55 AM
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Ask HN: Where can I find voluntary work for Biometrics Data Engineeringhttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25103937Hi friends,I'm wondering where can I find work (unpaid) for Biometrics data engineering that involves PB data and cloud environment. My personal purpose is for learning so I'm also willing to pay a fee, say a thousand USD.The only requirement is that I'm able to do real life PB level DE work, preferably with someone guiding (but I'm fine if none). My own experience with "big" data is limited to Vertica/SparkSQL(on Databrick) and some Python + Airflow pipelines that consume data from advertising platforms (think Appflyer). Our main pipeline that really deals with big data (tens of thousands of events per second) is coded by HQ so we don't actually get any chance to do real big data work.Thanks for any help!Nov 15, 2020 7:25 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Sports Math at U.S. Collegeshttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25095980College coaches are supposedly big on math. Each week, college football coaches vote for the best teams in the country. It is fairly common to see some teams get ranked below other teams with more losses. This is often explained by strength of schedule. There are complicated algorithms attempting to calculate a team's strength of schedule.But do any of the coaches (or their proxies) who vote understand those algorithms? Can any of them explain why 3-0 Ohio State is ranked #3? OSU has beaten 0-3 Penn State, 1-2 Nebraska (whos only win was against Penn State) and 1-2 Rutgers. Is that really a stronger schedule than 7-1 Clemson (only loss to #2 Notre Dame), or 6-0 Cincinnati's? Or 5-1 Texas A&M's (loss to #1 Alabama, win against #4 Florida) or 8-0 BYU with a win against #21 Boise State?How is beating Penn State and Nebraska mathematically more impressive than beating Florida or Boise State?Can HN explain the math?Nov 14, 2020 9:53 PM
bing.com
Meal Replacement Bars: Which Are Best?http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=6a8da30779d94362be8aead69d34dafe&url=https%3A%2F%2Fhealth.usnews.com%2Fwellness%2Ffood%2Farticles%2Fmeal-replacement-bars-which-are-best&c=8267457993494922474&mkt=en-usWe’ve all been there – you’ve been trying really hard to eat healthfully, manage your weight and meet your nutritional needs, but life gets in the way. If you find yourself in need of quick nutrition ...Nov 13, 2020 2:46 AM
news.ycombinator.com
Ask HN: How do you manage your photo/video collections?https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24863863The question is mainly about photos/videos from friends and family. In the recent years I always dumped the photos from my mobile phone onto some external hd every few months.But I notice that things get complicated because they are not really accessible anymore.Further more, if you have a family, how do you join the photos taken from different smart phones of your family members?Do you burry them in WhatsApp?Do you choose a cloud solution, dropbox or google photos?Do you care about privacy and self host something, or do you not care at all and just print them into photo albums on paper?Oct 22, 2020 10:15 PM
news.ycombinator.com
Ask HN: How to use my tech/software skills to make this world a better place?https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24826228Hello everyone,Since a few days I am thinking about what I am personally doing for this world and what I can do to improve our life. As a techie guy the obvious choice would be to develop something for/with a charity but I am having a hard time to find charities that could use this skill. Developing the next big app that will 'improve' the world is something I do not believe in either. At this point the best (and most obvious) way to improve the world is to start with something small and hands-on like a homeless shelter, do grocery shopping for vulnerable people or like that. But, as a tech guy that is in high demand it feels like those aren't my true places to shine.Last year I decided to ditch working for an employer and started freelancing, despite the Covid crisis I am earning twice what I earned before and this is one of the reasons I think I should be improving the world. Many people won't be in my extremely luxury position. I don't really care if I'm helping by cutting down on mOct 19, 2020 1:37 PM
bing.com
Are You Analyst Material?http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=6a8bdc9876b241ffb2772a654b639186&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.forbes.com%2Fsites%2Frichardstiennon%2F2020%2F07%2F28%2Fare-you-analyst-material%2F&c=14288485322234092239&mkt=en-usHave you ever considered becoming an industry analyst? What follows is an excerpt from the just released Curmudgeon: How to Succeed as an Industry Analyst. Do you really want to be an industry analyst ...Jul 28, 2020 6:33 PM
bing.com
Spin class at home: How to get the best results without going to a gymhttp://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=6a8d545516064462b74fa3c5334c900d&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnet.com%2Fhealth%2Ffitness%2Fhow-to-do-spin-class-at-home%2F&c=16414555474522697414&mkt=en-usAs a former spin-class enthusiast, I know there’s nothing like the rush you get after a really great class. The combination of endorphins and adrenaline from a challenging workout paired with great ...Jul 23, 2020 10:00 AM
bing.com
Meet The Vixen, the fearless drag queen whose activism is revolutionizing draghttp://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=6a8d23cb9588428b822be9037caf673d&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.yahoo.com%2Flifestyle%2Farticle%2Fmeet-the-vixen-the-fearless-drag-queen-whose-activism-is-revolutionizing-drag-151807077.html&c=12102745951340118488&mkt=en-us"It's very important to speak your mind and to exercise your right to put yourself out there. Because if you live your life [internally], when you die, no one will really know who you are or what ...Jun 25, 2020 8:19 AM
bing.com
Meal replacement shakes: Can they help you lose weight, and who should use them?http://www.bing.com/news/apiclick.aspx?ref=FexRss&aid=&tid=6a8da30779d94362be8aead69d34dafe&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnet.com%2Fhealth%2Fnutrition%2Fmeal-replacement-shakes-lose-weight-and-who-should-use-them%2F&c=16950844028202303090&mkt=en-usMeal replacement shakes, bars and powders claim to give you all the nutrition you need — but is this really true? Meal replacement products have been around for the past 50 years, and they’re defined ...Jun 9, 2020 7:11 PM
