FurrBall's comments

FurrBall | 12 years ago | on: Here's how you know wages in the US are too low

Wages cannot be too low. It's simple supply and demand. Too many workers, with little demand for their work. Evidenced by the fact people are willing to work at wal-mart wages.

I would love for everyone to be successful but it's not the kind of thing you can wave a magic wand with a fantasy solution, dump blame on wal-mart, then call it a day.

FurrBall | 12 years ago | on: Ask HN: What are you doing for Halloween?

I was part of a haunted house. Kids went through the backyard and garage. With really good candy at the end (snickers bars, kit kat, etc)

My girlfriend's brother was a clown with a real chainsaw (chain removed). It is amusing how much clowns scare people.

FurrBall | 12 years ago | on: Ask HN: what open source project do you want on your tombstone?

I don't have a tombstone worthy project.

But my favorite personal project is a database comparison tool. It is basically a "diff" on databases. Everything from the schema, to stored procs, indexes, etc. It also works cross database. You can compare Oracle to SQLServer to [insert DB here].

There are lots of database "diff" tools. But I believe mine is the only one that works well cross-database. And it's easy to add support for a new database (day's work at most).

FurrBall | 12 years ago | on: Ask HN: what open source project do you want on your tombstone?

  "the tools I use recognize that structure"
Yes. I would describe it as parsing the content into a tree. Interaction's with content can then be legal operations on the tree, instead of random acts on plain text.

Thank you for putting in the labor to create tree-based interaction.

FurrBall | 12 years ago | on: Ask HN: Do you see the future in Go?

Absolutely. Generics are too powerful an abstraction to do without in 2013. I can't imagine coding without them. Go is a no-go for me.

Everyone talks down on C++ but it's one of the few languages that gets generics right. The only language with implicit RAII (not explicit like C#/Java). The only language to put into practice 0 cost abstractions.

FurrBall | 12 years ago | on: Ask HN: What are HNs views on Marijuana/ Medical Marijuana?

Sure there are health issues from inhaling smoke. But a strategy of suppression and control rarely creates a better world. Instead it empowers criminal organizations who use violence to make a foothold in the black market. Like the mafia during prohibition. Or the Mexican drug cartels in present day.

Marijuana is safer than alcohol. Too much alcohol will cause death. You cannot OD on marijuana.

Marijuana is safer than Tylenol which a kid can buy over the counter in a store. Too much Tylenol will shut down your liver. You cannot OD on marijuana.

Repeatedly punching yourself in the face causes brain damage. It's a dangerous power every kid in the world has. But putting them in straight jackets is not a good solution.

Recreational use of Marijuana is bad. However I do not believe the answer is suppression and control.

FurrBall | 12 years ago | on: Ask HN: How do you find "coders with families" in the Bay Area?

  "Us founders are blitzing 80+ hours a week."
This is where most people with a family would stop reading.

  "If you're young and energetic, come join us."
That is border-line ageist. The rest is a half-hearted apology that won't entice a normal person to want to work in the advertised conditions.

FurrBall | 12 years ago | on: Ask HN: what would you do with $750k that you just inherited?

I'd buy a house for myself.

I'd buy 1 low-end rental property (dip my toes in with 1 before finding out I don't like land-lording).

With that much cash, inflation becomes a big issue. You don't want to let the money sit in a regular checking or savings account. I'd hire an adviser on where to park the rest of the money to protect against inflation with minimal risk.

I wouldn't try to convert all of the money to real assets. The liquidity of paper is nice.

I would continue to work. It's a lot of money but I wouldn't call it set for life.

I would avoid high risk investments. ie no start ups.

Disclaimer: I am risk averse.

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