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How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | scott_s: "I make computers go fast."(I'm a PhD student in high performance systems.) |
Mac, Windows, Or Linux? | bemmu: Mac Mini for writing code for my rented Linux and Solaris boxes while I'm not playing games on my old PC. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | fallentimes: Just had this happen to me over Thanksgiving and it went something like this...Grandma: What the heck is a TicketStumbler? Are you still just playing at the computer all day?Me: Oh, have you been to our site Grandma?Grandma: No.Me: Well Grandma, have you ever heard of Expedia, Kayak or Orbitz?Grandma: No.Me: What about Bizrate or Pricegrabber?Grandma: No.Me: Hmm...well essentially what we do is take sports & concert tickets from all over the internet and put them on one website. So instead of going to multiple websites you can just go to one. You know how you put all your recipe cards in one place? Well we do that, but with tickets.Grandma: Oh I see. Well, that's nice dear; would you like a beer while you work? Or how about some more candy?Me: I love you Grandma. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | thingsilearned: Move away from home to the bay area. |
Mac, Windows, Or Linux? | catone: If anyone is interested, here are the stats for Rails Forum -- which is predictably pretty Mac heavy given how great Rails development is on a Mac.Windows: 47.84% /
Mac: 32.76% /
Linux: 18.95% /
FreeBSD: 0.07%(iPhone is actually ahead of FreeBSD at 0.11% -- even though the site is not iPhone optimized at all) |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | dustineichler: This is a tough one to be honest, my parents are more impressed by the kid down the street who repairs ipods etc... than me working as an sw engineer. Most if they're anything like my family won't understand what they can't see... that is until it makes the 'print media', where at least it's tangible. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | tdavis: I've basically given up trying to really explain it. I just say I own a business that operates "on the Internet" and hope they stop asking questions after that. My favorite quotes:Dad: When you told me you were quitting school and moving to Boston to start some Internet company I thought it was just a pipe dream. But, you made me really proud.Grandma 2: I heard your business is doing well. Of course I don't understand what it is you do, but I'm proud of you!No good quotes from my other Grandma; she can barely remember who I am anymore :( |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | flashgordon: I tell them I am in "Income Redistribution" - Gambling related software. |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | bayareaguy: I think the real answer depends on the role you play.For work I use character terminals, remote screen sessions and web browsers for everything that matters which leaves me free to use just about any laptop/desktop/os combination I want. Although in theory I'm free to go with whatever I like, I find in practice that using the same working environment as my co-workers helps everyone on the team be more productive because everyone quickly learns how to help each other solve unanticipated problems. As a consequence I did the dual-boot windows/linux thing for several years and later switched to OSX because that's what my fellow developers were doing at the time.At home where my role is different (I'm pretty much the sole source of technical support for my family), we all have Mac laptops running OSX because our time is important to us and I've found keeping several OSX laptops working properly is trivial compared to other operating systems. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | bayareaguy: I tell them what I hope to be the truth - I write software which helps businesses run their business better. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | jmtame: I usually just say I'm a drug dealer. |
Mac, Windows, Or Linux? | jcromartie: For my free time, I want a system that stays out of my way. When I'm done with work for the day, and I want to hack on fun projects in languages from C to Smalltalk to Lua to Scheme, or communicate over various chat protocols and IRC, or do any kind of reading or writing, i do it in OS X. |
What are your best and worst-received comments? | time_management: To start this thing off:My best received, at +23: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=292930This was my worst, at -8, and probably deserving of even more punishment than it got: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=288268 |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | sheriff: don't talk about whats. talk about why's.it's good practice for your marketing. you need to talk to your market in terms of how you're going to help them kick more ass. if you talk to your relatives in terms of whom you help kick more ass, they are more likely to give a shit. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | callmeed: Generally it's just "I write web software for X industry"Funny story: I was on plane and got to talking to the guy next to me. He asked what I did and I told him (the above line basically). He was thoroughly enthusiastic and kept asking all sorts of questions. I finally got around to asking what he did. He said "Oh, I'm a test pilot for Lockheed Martin" ... Never could figure why he thought my job was cool. |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | drawkbox: Unless you need it for gaming (direct x mainly) then yes, go mac.I have gone mac for lots of my development but still roll with vista mainly for games and some development mainly game relates.With the rise of consoles and even Microsoft's own XBOX 360, it is removing the "gaming machine" deciding factor as well with lots of games going online, multiplatform (blizzard), mac ready.I switched for Unity3D as it was only available as a dev platform on macs and it is a good thing that happened. Having *nix as the base of your desktop OS is really nice. Unity3D, XCode, iPhone dev, and all the goodness of language support like python, ruby, c, etc working as it should is just good. |
What are your best and worst-received comments? | yummyfajitas: My highest and lowest comments were purely smartass remarks:http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=318690http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=165130I posted my #2 highest remark earlier today, and that one actually has some information content: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=391396 |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | catone: It's amazing what drawing a paycheck can do. Once I started making a respectable living as a blogger, my family stopped pestering me about getting a real job or going back to school.Of course, next up might be the startup thing... that'll be a whole new battle. |
What are your best and worst-received comments? | cperciva: Highest scoring comment, at +132: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=372606 .
Probably only rated so highly because lots of people agreed with the position I was arguing for.Lowest scoring comment, at -3: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32150 .
Probably only rated so lowly because of the five words "Yes, I am a genius".Interestingly, both of those were direct responses to comments made by pg. I wonder if this is just coincidental, or if bringing pg into the picture tends to polarize people more. |
What are your best and worst-received comments? | mechanical_fish: Ooh, a greatest hits thread!Best received: +53, http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=240170I've got 8 posts (out of 1248) tied for worst, at zero. I ain't linking to 'em. They are neither a source of pride, nor offensive enough to be of that much interest. ;) |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | ghshephard: It's really difficult to tell in advance whether a Mac or Windows System will serve you better, though your list of software is a good start - no AutoCad, Visio, Outlook or other platforms lockins.There are three software tools that have kept me chained to Windows XP:o Visio (Yes, I know OmniGraffle, but it's a Visio world where I work. I have a reasonably recent MacBook Pro with Maxed out RAM - but it still is a little laggy - and the controls just don't work the way my finger memory expects them to on a Mac) - Which is pretty mandatory if you do a lot of network diagrams.o Outlook Calendar - Entourage / booking resources - just didn't have it nailed last time I checked it out.o Lookout - Spotlight/Mail search isn't horrible - but when I need to search for a keyword or two in 145,000 email and get an answer back in 1/10th of a second - Nothing beats Lookout. I use it 20 times a day. It truly is the google of mail searching (Ironically Google's Outlook index isn't that impressive)With that said, I absolutely love the MacBookPro - best laptop I've ever owned. And, I spend my entire day in a terminal - and, you may mock me for saying this, but I personally have decided the cost of OS X and a good portion of the Macbook is justified by the terminal client alone. It puts Putty/SecureCRT to shame.So - my solution has been to do both - I have the two keyboards (probably ergonomic nightmare) - one in front of the other, and do all my visio/lookout/outlook calendar on my five year old Precision 650 (Rock Solid workstation BTW), while Everything else is done on the MacBook Pro. Two monitors - a cheap 20" LCD for the Precision 650 and a 30" Dell for the MBPro.I have zero issue switching back and forth - when I'm on the mac, Command-Space comes as natural to me as Ctrl-Escape does when I switch back to the windows system. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | icey: I just go with "I work in software". Nobody really cares to ask more than that usually. |
Mac, Windows, Or Linux? | zacharydanger: Linux does a great job of getting out of your way after you've passed the learning curve. And if you do any sort of web development you can clone your production stack on your development box without worry. |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | dilanj: You can also use Crossover to use many windows apps on Mac without a VM. Performance is very good in my experience. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | iamdave: As vaguely as possible."What do you do?"
"I build things"
"Like what?"
"Things that no one really needs but are willing to pay for"
"Oh"Versus"What do you do?"
"I work with computers"
invariably "Oh great, I downloaded a bunch of stuff that I really didn't even need just because the button told me to and now I have a virus, can you fix it?"to which my answer will be"No because I'm out of your pay grade". |
Is there any way to trace a private call? | jderick: You probably do need to get the police involved to some degree. My nephew had a similar problem a while back and the phone company would only release the phone number to the police.Here is a pretty good link:http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs2a-cellcalls.htm |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | iheartrms: "I work with computers." |
Mac, Windows, Or Linux? | drhowarddrfine: After having spent the day trying to explain how the web works to a few Windows developers, I am further entrenched in the thought that Windows is for people who just don't know any better. |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | mickt: Hey PG, on Firefox on Ubuntu Linux all the text on this page scrolls about 2 page to the left. First time I've this on YC. Obligatory screenshot:
http://timony.com/mickzblog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/yc.jp... |
What are your best and worst-received comments? | vtmiller: Best one's are when I get to see there face; i.e. they've used http://www.bubblecomment.com to record their own thoughts using a webcam |
Is there any way to trace a private call? | run4yourlives: Why don't you just block the number? |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | zacharydanger: "I push buttons all day." I break down programming into its most basic physical function. |
Is there any way to trace a private call? | vaksel: why don't you want to involve the cops? the whole harassing thing really isn't that big of a deal, the dude will just get a stern talking to, and at least the cops will have the complaint on file in case you need to get a restraining order etc. |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | natch: In two years of owning a Mac, I have made more progress in improving my personal productivity than I made in the ten years prior to owning a Mac. If that sounds worth it to you, then yes, it's worth it.But then, I got my Mac for the solid "just works" UNIX implementation, not for the nice UI. From that standpoint, Windows pushed me onto the Mac platform, and Mac OS X pulled me. Carrot (Mac UNIX) and stick (Windows, um, Cygwin? Cough). You didn't mention what your impetus for switching would be, so YMMV. |
Is there any way to trace a private call? | nickb: Mitnick showed a way but it's pretty complex: http://voipsa.org/blog/2008/07/23/asterisk-hack-to-show-bloc... |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | vegai: DOS/Windows for a long time was a gaming platform. By which I mean that the only reason to have it installed around was because some very good games worked only on it.Suddendly, I noticed that I'm keeping an OSX box around the house for the same reason. http://www.bay12games.com/dwarves/Pointless anecdotes aside: map your requirements. If you absolutely need an application or a game that works best on platform X, choose platform X. Otherwise, it's Linux. Then you only have the tiny problem of choosing a distro :P(oh and the emulators on Linux are pretty good these days) |
Is there any way to trace a private call? | andr: Quick, call CSI! |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | markessien: I use a Mac, and it's quite tough to get used to it. Here is the setup I've built, so I can keep my development in windows: http://www.essien.org/blog/2008/12/02/setting-up-your-develo... |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | siculars: I switched a few years back. first with my laptop via a macbook g4 runnin tiger. that whetted my appetite for mac and allowed me to realize the potential of the platform as a development environment. ultimately i moved my entire development operation over to a mac pro tower loaded up with 16gb ram and a few tb of space specifically so i could develop on whatever platform i wanted through the use of virtual machines.for most of us that are doing web oriented software development, the ability to run multiple versions of client side browsers not to mention multiple versions of server installation through a virtualized environment is a major boon to productivity. if as a developer you are researching a platform to use as your main development you should really take that into account. if you are a device driver developer or working closer to the hardware thats another story.also, ask yourself: are there any developers contemplating switching to windows? |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | ashleyw: Made the switch earlier in the year; though I'm a poor student, so ended up downgrading from a decent Windows machine to a 2006 CoreDuo 1.83Ghz Macbook Pro — but even then, its defiantly been worth it!I'd never switch back to Windows, and I prefer to run Adobe products natively, so I don't want to use Linux (however I like the unix enviroment). So really its just a good compromise between both — the commercial side from Windows, and the open source and unix side from Linux. Perfect! :-) |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | boundlessdreamz: For tortoisesvn there is scplugin. Last time I tried it was not as good as tortoisesvn. I just learned the command line commands and now I don't miss tortoisesvn.
http://scplugin.tigris.org/For SQLog you can run it on OS X using Wine. I have a written a guide on how to do that
http://www.manu-j.com/blog/run-sqlyog-mac-os-x-wine/148/ |
Is there any way to trace a private call? | sh1mmer: Talking to the police early is important for a number of reasons, one of the primary ones being you can say that you did if the worst happens and it becomes a full blown stalking. |
Review my Startup, Entitea | bandris: Left after 5 secs because I didn't like the colors. |
Startup/coding podcast recommendations? | bemmu: Answering my own question here, but I found some good pointers in http://www.softwarebyrob.com/2007/07/05/startup-studio-excel... |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | tlb: The reaction you get has nothing to do with what you say, and everything to do with the way you say it. If you act apologetic, they'll be sad for you. If you're enthusiastic they'll be happy for you.A fellow I know is a financial planner. Yawn. But I watched him explain what he did to a woman he was trying to pick up and, damn, it sounded exciting and noble. He helped people achieve their long term dreams and become independent.So be kind to your family. Give them a Christmas present and make them all happy by telling them how you've got the greatest gig in the world writing software to make the world a better place. You might be surprised how much it changes things. |
What are your best and worst-received comments? | bprater: Wow, I started going through my threads (because I didn't take the time to read that there was a sorted karma link!) and I was surprised how damn much I've had to say since I started posting here. It was a bit of a walk back through time. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | jjs: I shuffle bits... the customer shuffles bits... the banks shuffle bits... and everybody's happy, as long as everyone's put the right bits in the right bins. |
What to do about a strike? | brl: Crossing a picket line is not the right way to take a principled stand against unions. If you don't like unions, then don't take a job in a union shop.I'm surprised that nobody else has mentioned the social consequences of the decision you are considering. If you cross the picket line you are a 'scab' and some of your colleagues, especially if they come from a working class background, will consider you to be a traitor.The TA-like employees you work with probably do not resemble the stereotypical angry union truck driver or dock worker but some of them may come from countries where trade union organizers are routinely arrested, kidnapped, tortured, and murdered.Otherwise polite and reasonable people can take a lot of offense to a decision like this. |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | mstevens: I started with Linux and some windows, went to Mac, and have gone back to Linux (with windows for gaming).For you I'd recommend it. Everything is just that little bit easier and more consistent. You do seem to spend more money but I think it's worth it in time saved.My main reason to avoid the mac is wanting to avoid lockin - I've decided to move as much of my computer use as possible over to open software and file formats with the goal of being able to retain my data for longer and use it in more ways. You can go a long way towards this goal on a mac, but it's not quite as natural as doing it on Linux.For me, I got annoyed with Unix software not having quite as nice an experience on OS X as it does on Linux, but it doesn't sound like that'll be a problem for you. |
Startup/coding podcast recommendations? | bootload: "... Only podcast I'm regularly listening to is the Stack Overflow podcast ..."SO is pretty good value. Try- itconverstation (the best, varied) ~ http://itc.conversationsnetwork.org/- guardian (light) ~ http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/series/techweekly- dan bricklan (quirky) ~ http://www.softwaregarden.com/podcast/dbsl.html- dave winer (quirky) ~ http://www.morningcoffeenotes.com/- oreilly week in review (light) ~ http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2008/12/the-best-of-oreilly---n...- Microsoft Ch9 (software) ~ http://channel9.msdn.com/Media/Podcasts/ |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | bootload: "... How do you explain what you do to Foo? ..."not something I've really thought of much... but at the supermarket early this morning it went something like this:ME "Everyone is very cheery here?" (referring to singing employee - who sings at 7?)CHECKOUT "Yes, she is quite happy always smiling."ME "So they don't employ grumpy people? or are they just all cheery?"CHECKOUT "No, they are all pretty happy?"ME "Oh, I thought they would be tired (just after 7am and I'm dead tired) and grumpy" (I'm tired, I'd be grumpy)CHECKOUT "So what do you do?"ME "I write ...."CHECKOUT "Ohhh (surprised)"ME "... software."CHECKOUT "Ah you're one of those 'computer nerds'?"ME "Yeah... something like that."CHECKOUT "That's a compliment you know."I should have just left it at writing. |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | Jem: When I first started my job (where I am now) they put on a Mac. My biggest pet peeve as a developer was having to use a keyboard shortcut to get # instead of being able to press 1 key. (There were other keyboard issues too, but these were specific to me as a UK-er; can expand if necessary.)If you're already using the mac os in a VM, I don't see the learning curve/adjustment period as being THAT big. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | psnajder: The things I do to my relatives are so awful, I can't ever explain, no matter how many times you ask. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | Jem: This reminds me of a conversation I had with a lady at the bank once.Lady: "What do you do, then?"Me: "I'm a web developer"Lady: "Oh, so a web designer!"Me: "Er, close, I'm a web developer - I make designs work"Lady: "Oh, I get it! So like in Microsoft Word?"Me: "..."Thankfully, the majority of my family are computer literate and don't require babying over the subject. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | azharcs: I really wish all my relatives read "Founders at Work" and understand the people who start-up better. I get ridiculed for working in the night and sleeping till noon and i get compared with owls and dogs for that but i always think of myself as Batman when i work all night. |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | jwr: I switched to a Mac after spending 15+ years mostly on Linux, and haven't looked back. It really improved my productivity, because most things Just Work. It isn't perfect, but it is significantly less broken and insane than either Windows or Linux. |
Review my Startup, Entitea | prakash: When I looked at your domain name, prior to clicking on the link, I thought, that's a pretty cool domain name -- must be doing something with regard to the semantic web -- silly me! |
Review my web app | ErrantX: I like :)In terms of the web interfact make the "contract" appear at the top of the expanded box.Waiting to see what the mail is like :) should be good because I tend to get linked to a LOT during the day. Any way of setting up 2 or more mails? Getting a 6am shot of overnight stuff and then a 5pm "after work" digest would be v. handy :))thumb up |
How should I go about learning CS? | jsmcgd: What do you want to ultimately achieve? Do you want to become a hacker or do you want to know about computer science for intellectual gratification? While these options certainly aren't mutually exclusive, they can however be very distinct.If you want to be a productive programmer there is no substitution for programming experience. In the same way knowing a lot of music theory won't make you a great concert pianist without years of practice.Computer science theory will allow you to attempt some problems beyond the reach of intuition. However a great deal has been achieved by people just having a go.I don't think there is any one answer. There is no definitive example of a computer scientist or hacker. I'd recommend just getting stuck in. Try many different things. Find out what interests you and then read the relevant books. You'll go farthest if you're doing something you enjoy not by adhering to some consensus from a disparate bunch of usually jaded hackers :) |
How should I go about learning CS? | Rod: IMHO, you don't need to know much theory to do testing. Programming is not a science, it's more of an art. Artisans don't need PhD's in Discrete Math to get their job done. Instead, they need passion, perseverance and tenacity. It's good that you want to learn about theory, but reading books is not enough... you have to code too. |
How should I go about learning CS? | speek: Learn Scheme -> Read/watch SICP. Work your way up to algorithms. Build stuff. |
How should I go about learning CS? | yan: CS is a gigantic field and if you start midnlessly wandering around, you're surely to be overwhelmed with how much stuff exists. I have a MS in CS and I still feel like a majority of topics are way over my head. I find that I have to spend a bulk of my time for some period on very specific things to feel like I got a grasp on them.I think you have to first figure out what you're goals from this are. Do you want to write a web app? Do you want to write an operating system? Some people approach the problem from the latter goal and are very quickly dismayed by its depth. If you want to write something more simple, you can start at tutorials of just languages, and then work up from there. HN is usually a good barometer of interesting CS topics.In terms of just pure CS fundamentals, I think looking at the freshman curriculum of a reputable school should be a good start. The danger with diving into CS from the theoretical side though, is being dismayed at the little perceived relevance of CS theory to actually writing code. A good plan to prevent losing interest is learn with micro-projects that can be completed in a short amount of time. Having small rewards regularly can help you stay on track. |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | neovive: I just wanted to thank everyone for all the great advice. It seems that everyone's experience varies in some way -- both positive and negative. I'm going to test drive a friends MacBook for a few days to give it a true test (keyboard mappings, etc.). I also plan to give Linux a try as well. |
Review my web app | josefresco: "We treat your password with the utmost care and security and the second after you entered it it gets encrypted"This is cool, but the login page isn't https (which will confuse the noobs) and I don't think a paragraph on security is needed. Maybe just some sort of 'lock' graphic and 1 sentence explaining your privacy measures with a link to an expanded description for the paranoid/curious. |
Review my web app | hellyeahdude: Wow this is a really useful tool. Especially for the power-users. A lot of development that I am having my team do is based on and for those power-users. I think that's the best way to start getting a lot of use. Since basically, we are all becoming power users, and setting ourselves up with that goal initially, will hopefully cover the chances of success. Overall, this is great! Nice job! |
How should I go about learning CS? | gcv: I'm impressed that you chose to approach learning from a theoretical point of view. It will serve you well; you will understand algorithmic approaches which stump a lot of people who lack a theoretical background. (Please, no "I never got a CS degree, but I know what I'm doing" replies --- the HN audience is more competent than the average in the working world. I'm sick and tired of working with people with trade-school degrees in programming or "computer engineering" who do not understand binary search.)To start, you should read SICP (http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/) and watch the lectures (http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/classes/6.001/abelson-sussma...). You should probably do this before diving deeper into discrete math, algorithms, or theory of computation. SICP is almost completely unique in that it touches on all these topics, and puts them in the context of actual programming. It also happens to include solving fun problems along the way.After that, you'll be well-prepared to have a ball in all aspects of CS. You can get more into pure hacking by learning languages (after Scheme, I recommend C, Python, Common Lisp, Haskell, and Prolog before jumping into more unexplored directions like Scala and Clojure), and following up by studying compilers and operating systems. You can get into a more job-oriented path by learning Java and C#. You can get into more algorithms by reading Cormen et al. and, of course, Knuth. You can get into pure theory by reading Sipser (wonderful, wonderful book). |
Startup/coding podcast recommendations? | tstegart: There's one called Venture Voice. They interview start-up founders. |
How to Building a first look website for stake holders? | tstegart: Just use a blogging service. Usually free or cheap, and allows uploading of text, pictures or video. Very simple to organize your ideas and very little time involved in setting it up. |
How should I go about learning CS? | sireat: www.catonmat.com is a CS themed blog that gets posted here from time to time and is quite educational. The writer is a physics BS who self taught enough CS to get through all the interviews at Google(but was not hired at the end). |
How should I go about learning CS? | markessien: I'm a hardware guy, so I've got a different approach. I'd say, drop the algorithms book. Start with a book called "Structured Computer Organization" by Andrew Tanenbaum. After you read that book, you'll feel like you actually KNOW a lot more.And after you read that book, you'll probably know a lot more than half the people here about how computers really work.To compare the approaches:- After you read Cormens book, you may be able to prove that quicksort is faster than bubblesort.- After you read Tanenbaums book, you will know where the arguments are stored in memory when you call a function with multiple arguments.Everybody has to decide which is more important for him to know, I know which was more interesting for me. |
How should I go about learning CS? | nihilocrat: Write some code. It sounds like you are reading a little too much about math. Not all CS is math, otherwise we would all just be math majors.People keep mentioning the Wizard book (SICP). It sounds like it would be perfect for you. I think it veers too much on the side of theory for most people, but it sounds like you have no trouble with that. |
Review my Startup, Entitea | rkowalick: The website is gorgeous and the interface is fantastic.Honestly, the main problem with this website is that gourmet tea lovers don't use recipes. They buy rare and expensive teas and use time-tested ancient brewing methods to get the most out of their treasures.If you want to cash in on a niche connoseuir [sp?] market, you need to cater to the people who are willing to spend the big bucks to get quality teas. People looking for cranberry chai tea will produce a lot less revenue than those looking for a rare cake of pu-erh tea that is over 80 dollars.I would say to angle it more towards quality tea and reviews of such tea, not a search engine for recipes.Check out teaforum.com to learn more, and if you have any questions, ask. |
How should I go about learning CS? | ig1: New Turing Omnibus - it's pretty much the best overview of CS theory for non-CS people. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | safetytrick: I lay the bodies of my relatives in shallow graves.I laid my relatives to rest years ago.I don't have relatives.My story changes from year to year.I enjoy telling my story and explaining my business model to my family, whatever I am excited about at the time is normally easy enough to relate to something they do or understand. |
Will it be a good time to launch a webapp in next 2 weeks here at HN? | dawie: I think that hackers often work through the "normal" holiday time. I know that I use time to get some stuff done for sure. Some people might have a bit more time and therefore spend some more time reviewing your app. |
Will it be a good time to launch a webapp in next 2 weeks here at HN? | pg: You should always just launch whenever you're ready.
It's a mistake to try to launch at specific times when
you think people are paying attention, because everyone
else does too. |
Finding a job for the rest of my life | ram1024: nice block of text for someone purporting to "hate writing" :Din any case, i don't think there's a job that distinctively encompasses "learner/problemsolver" sans the execution of the actual fix itself :(you need to be independently wealthy and be a designer/projectmanager and commission your own ideas into reality to fill the niche role that you've defined |
Mac, Windows, Or Linux? | morlockhq: Linux, preferably of the Ubuntu/Debian persuasionI have a Windows partition on my laptop for some work stuff and to help with Windows support, but I almost never boot it. I generally just work from memory on that stuff. |
Finding a job for the rest of my life | tstegart: Interesting thing on Google's hiring practices:"I like to hire people who have two traits. They’re smart, and they get things done.""Smart people who aren’t closers tend to flail. Small startups get rid of these people fast because they stand out. But sometimes they can find a place to hide in larger organizations where they fester like a cancer."I freely admit thats me. And that the problem. I don't want to be a cancer. I know I don't execute, and I don't expect to get paid for failing at it. Which is probably why I'm working drudge work. I know I won't let anyone down. It allows me peace of mind with what I do. |
Is it worth switching to a Mac? | mdoar: I use similar apps, plus emacs. I switched about a year ago and have been happy with VMWare, though you do need to max out your RAM. Swapping can take a few seconds sometimes.
I use a Mac Mini plus double-angle keyboard and external monitors bigger than any laptop screen. I wouldn't go back. |
How should I go about learning CS? | gills: My opinion might stray a little bit from some of the answers here. I don't think a CS education is complete without an understanding of how the whole stack works.So work through the Scheme lessons in SICP or HTDP, it's a fun and playful language! You can easily build interesting algorithms and watch them in action to get a better feel for how computation behaves. You will also be introduced to FP which will help you in the long run as a dev.From there I like to think of two directions you could explore.Down => compilers, OS design, processor/memory/machine architecture, networks, circuits, physics.Up => automatons, language theory, complexity, ways to mitigate complexity (approximation, optimization, AI).Sideways => the wide world of application programming.It depends on what tickles you...but in my opinion a basic understanding across the spectrum will provide you with the framework to explore more specific areas without feeling lost. |
Is a survey a good way to get user feedback? | answerly: Check out usertesting.com. I have had a lot of success using their service. For about $19 you get a screencast and talk track of a user trying to complete certain goals (that you pre-determine) on your site. Its not perfect, but it is a great way to get insights from 3-5 users that you can then use to create a larger survey for the rest of your user base.My experience with surveys is that the more open ended you make them, the less valuable the feedback is. I would try to come up with 4-5 questions tops. Its a good idea to try and figure out what the theme of the survey is upfront (i.e. on core thing you want to be able to figure out from the survey data). Some businesses try to cram too much into a single survey- I have had more luck with shorter surveys more frequently than less frequent long surveys. Also, multiple choice and "rate on a scale of 1-10" questions have worked better for me than open ended text boxes.As far as the audience for your survey, unless you have a very large user base you should send it to everyone. Responses rates on surveys tend to be pretty low and you want to make sure you have enough data to draw conclusions from. |
How should I go about learning CS? | silentbicycle: Speaking as another history undergrad, here's what I've found helpful:Read HTDP (http://htdp.org/), SICP (http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/), and/or CTM (http://www.info.ucl.ac.be/~pvr/book.html), and do most of the exercises. They're all huge books, but getting even halfway into any of them will cover a tremendous amount of material. Also, they focus on largely complementary material, and each may help clarify concepts you find puzzling in the others. Also, HTDP is probably the most approachable of the three. (The first two are available online, the third has a draft PDF floating around. There's something to be said for a hardcover on your desk, though.)Also, find something you're seriously interested in and program for it. With an undergrad in history, you have quite a few niches to draw upon that most CS grads don't. (Python is one reasonable language for this. People will debate this endlessly, though; picking something and actually doing it is more important than getting bogged down in worrying about language differences, for your purposes. Having libraries relevant to your niche is also important.)You will almost certainly need to learn C somewhere along the line; it's a good candidate for the lingua franca of algorithms. _The C Programming Language, 2nd ed._ by Kernighan & Ritchie is the book, and for good reason. Learning C will also get you intimately acquainted with many mistakes people frequently make, which will help hone your testing / debugging. (This is the upside of C making it easy to shoot yourself in the foot, I suppose.)For math and algorithms, take your language(s) and dive in at Project Euler ( http://projecteuler.net/ ), a series of math puzzles. Have fun with it, and dig deeper into any questions you don't understand or can't code a reasonably efficient solution for. The algorithmic insights will come when you read other peoples' solutions that solve the problem 1000x faster. :) Also, comparing both idiomatically similar and fundamentally different solutions to the same problem across several languages can teach you quite a bit.For data structures (which you didn't explicitly mention, but will need along with algorithms), I found learning OCaml (via http://caml.inria.fr/pub/docs/oreilly-book/ ) most helpful. ML is an excellent language family for expressing complex data structures, and a little experience with it will probably make thinking about them clearer, regardless of what language you're working in. (Other people will probably have better book recommendations, though.) |
How should I go about learning CS? | axod: Pick a goal first:"I want to write an operating system""I want to write a video game""I want to write a raytracer""I want to write new firmware for my TV"Then do it, learning what you need along the way. Forget "CS", just do it. |
How should I go about learning CS? | jwesley: Keep posting threads here asking for tips. |
Finding a job for the rest of my life | gaius: How do I find a job I could love for the rest of my life?You can't. You in 10 years may - probably will - be a different person. You have to make choices now that keep your options open, yet at the same time don't get paralyzed by indecision. Good luck! |
Will it be a good time to launch a webapp in next 2 weeks here at HN? | jjs: Go for it!I tend to spend huge amounts of time online during the holiday season. (This time, I'll be building the project I should've built the same time last year)... |
Finding a job for the rest of my life | nostrademons: The job description you want is basically "tenured professor". Unfortunately, getting there is tough, and requires that you "close" at least one major project (your Ph.D).I was like this all through school and college. I hated writing. I loved learning. I absorbed all these textbooks, aced the tests, rarely finished a project (or my homework), and hated writing.But sometime in college, I'd made a commitment to redo the backend of a volunteer website I cared about very much. And I felt like I'd be letting all my friends down if I just gave up on it.That first completed project was torture. I never wanted to see the code I'd written again, and wanted nothing to do with the website after I'd worked out some of the worst bugs. But the second completed project (a Netbeans plugin for my job) was easier, and third (Write Yourself a Scheme in 48 Hours) was easier still. The 4th got harder again, and I needed help to finish it, but then I did a bunch of other websites that were fairly easy.The part of the brain that "gets things done" seems to be different from the part that's "smart". (I've heard the former called "executive function", and it often doesn't develop until your 20s.) And it's like a muscle - it gets stronger by exercising it. I've found it also gets tired like a muscle - I usually work in bursts of 1-2 weeks, and then I need a week or two where I have a light workload and am basically just learning new things. But a whole bunch of these cycles, over several years, can add up to a decent number of accomplishments.The real hump is that first completed project. And I don't really know a way around that other than to keep coming back to it and refuse to give up. |
Will it be a good time to launch a webapp in next 2 weeks here at HN? | donw: No, there will never be a good time to launch an application. Ever. We're all doomed. The future is in startups that target the cockroach market. Suggest you form a company based on random cheese, or find a way to turn stupidity into lollipops. |
How should I go about learning CS? | nostrademons: I'm going to repost my e-mail response to you here, in case others are interested: As a first step, I've bought Discrete Mathematics book and reading it for last two months.
Good. What should I move on to once I understand Discrete Maths? Straight to algorithms? How do I approach algorithms?
I'd actually start with data structures, but this can be tricky as I don't know of a really good standard datastructure textbook. We learned mostly from professor's handouts. We did have a textbook - Data Structures and Algorithms in Java by Goodrich and Tamassia (http://ww0.java4.datastructures.net/) - but its quality was spotty.I also learned some from "C++ Components and Algorithms" by Scott Robert Ladd (http://www.amazon.com/Components-Algorithms-Scott-Robert-Lad...). This is old - it's what I first picked up when I was 15 and playing with MUDs - and a little basic, but it got me started.Cormen also has a lot on data structures, but the level of presentation is pretty high. It may be easier to combine it with another source.Also, the C2 Wiki has some great pages on data structures and algorithms: http://c2.com/cgi/wiki?DataStructures I mean should I understand every proof written in Cormen's book? I'm confused as to how should I approach this.
This will take you a long time - I don't understand every proof in Cormen's book, I just go back to them as necessary. I'd start by understanding what's going on under-the-hood when you use standard library datastructures - linked lists, vectors, heaps, trees, hashtables. Once you've got that, go on to understand the variations of these, eg. the half a dozen or so different collision-resolution strategies used in hashing.When you've got that, take a look at some of the more advanced data structures in there, like binomial and fibonacci heaps, skip-lists, B-trees, etc. And somehow make time for graph algorithms, they come in handy. What other math books should I be reading?
You should make time for Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (http://mitpress.mit.edu/sicp/). Other good theory books: Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming by Peter van Roy, and Types and Programming Languages by Benjamin Pierce. As for math - it's good to know some set theory and mathematical logic, but I wasn't a math major so I don't have good recs in that area. |
Will it be a good time to launch a webapp in next 2 weeks here at HN? | vaksel: Its actually better to release during slow news days, because you'll get more exposure since you don't have to compete for attention |
Review my web app | jtuyen: Very nice.. I've been looking for something like this. Keep up the good work ;) |
Monetizing a Twitter bot? | utnick: maybe you could sell/license your feature to another package tracker that does make money? |
Finding a job for the rest of my life | hs: You can know the name of a bird in all the languages of the world, but when you're finished, you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird... So let's look at the bird and see what it's doing -- that's what counts. I learned very early the difference between knowing the name of something and knowing something.
Richard Feynman---
in my case, it's fish & plant (started an aquarium ~ 3 years ago)it reinvigorated my interests in chemistry (made my own PMDD fertilizer) ... soon i found myself browing wikipedias for KNO3, pH, nitrification, etcit's about harmonius ecosystem ... focus on plant -> it improves water quality for fish which in turn feed the plant with wastesimplicity too (i abandon pump+filter+lighting+fert to soil+plant+sun+mulm) ... yes at the end i abandon my chemistry and my knowledge (nature always amazes me ... how little i know)watching the fish and plant grow is like letting nature writing history for you ... unparallel to any books written by humanso i dunno about u ... maybe pick a hobby (preferrably ones that actionable, no theory -> see Feynman) and if u can make a business / startup out of it, even better |
How should I go about learning CS? | bprater: Who do companies want to hire?They want to hire someone that is amazingly good at something.Someone that is truly passionate.Someone that really gets what they are doing.Many of us are generalists, because we've been doing this gig so long. We've soaked up a myriad of technologies.But it takes a lifetime of experience, something you don't have time for.Learning about lots of algorithms may be fun (heck, it is to me!), but it may not be the best use of your time.Right now, you need maximum leverage, especially in a waning economy.If you pick a technology that you are having a blast with, you are going to push yourself and your skillset.Does John Carmack do OS-hacking or web-app-hacking? Nope, he builds great game engines. (Well, that, and something about rockets.) And he's compensated accordingly.It might seem silly to ditch the books in favor of building your own ray-casting engine (or whatever makes your bells jingle), but1) you're going to find out if you are truly passionate about going in deep, and2) you're going to have real-world experience and will be able to have a serious conversation with other engine designers. Quite important in job interviews.You don't need 100,000 jobs. You only need 1. Decide now what you job you want and start your course in that direction.Good luck -- exciting times for you friend!BTW: Math isn't necessary for great hacking. In my line of work, I rarely need that skillset. And when I do, there are libraries. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | toddcw: Someone once gave me this bit of advice that usually seems to work for me:"Sometimes a little inaccuracy can save a whole lot of explanation." |
What's New in SEO? | bergin: cant think of anything but SEO is pretty unimportant compared to customer focused copy and the sites connectedness |
Monetizing a Twitter bot? | emmett: How many unique users per day do you have? The size of your service really determines the correct course. |
Monetizing a Twitter bot? | pstinnett: You have a lot of followers / are following a lot of users, so you could look into using Magpie (be-a-magpie.com) to do some ads. I think you would need to post more often to twitter.com/trackthis to really start making money from it though. It also raises the issue of advertising to your users / spamming them by requiring them to follow trackthis. Just an idea. |
How do you explain what you do to your relatives? | khafra: What I do to my relatives is difficult to explain.My explanations of my work, though, vary with the comprehension I expect from the listener. For my uncle, an engineer with more patents than I've had drunken inspirations, I go in-depth into whatever has me most excited at the moment. For my cousin, the horse trader and Counterstrike fan, I give a general description of CND, bowdlerizing it of anything glamorous so I don't get asked to teach him how to hack.The more difficult query comes when I don't know the questor quite as well. Unless the truth matters, and it usually doesn't, I'll take a peripheral aspect of my work and practice my story-telling abilities. |
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