askar_yu's comments

When big companies do, it's understandable - they know they can get away with it and they often do. But what makes these beloved and trusted folks commit such actions? (I've never used TB, but had heard so many good stories about them and had put them in my mind into that category of companies that almost send a handwritten note to their first 100 users, etc.)

Are we (users) perhaps partly to blame? Maybe we do let them get away and they know that? How many people are really going to delete their profile now? (instead of just opting out) Perhaps we should be more principled in our response to such things? Imagine they lose 90% of their user base because of this idiocy. May be that'd serve as a broader lesson of real ethics?

I remember well when Quora forced me to install their app on mobile (not just a reminder pop-up, they blocked the page fully) - I sweared to never use them ever again. I kept my promise for a year or so, and then somehow went back to reading it later; so I am guilty myself of not being principled. But these sort of decisions really really puzzle me.

I am afraid verified purchases are being gamed too. Sometimes I feel like scammers might be going to the extreme of coordinating clustered purchases (I am guessing the merchandise ends up in the owners hand/warehouse anyways somehow?) and posting the reviews.

This is not even mentioning incentivized reviwers who may be posting exaggerated (if not fake) reviews for promos, discounts, etc.

Such a well written article. It was amusing that an article from 1998 ends with a footer with author's (Andrew Leonard) Twitter ref.

One of the most insightful pieces from the article:

""" "I realized at that point that there was a huge ecological niche between the C language and Unix shells," says Wall.

...

"People are always looking for the interstices," says Wall. "They are always looking for the new ecological niches. And the speed with which you can move into those ecological niches is really important, because the first person into a niche is often the winner." """

Constant emphasis on 'people of color' makes it hard to read and dilutes the main point. Such obsession to view everything through the length of race is mind boggling. This is seems to be a US thing.

I mean, you steal a bike, you are responsible. Whether you're mostly brown, mostly white or mostly blue is irrelevant. As simple as that.

I guess the point parent comment making is spying on the world (including allies)

By looking at their clients, if not sponsored, at least clearly affiliated. What junk load of nonsense press release.

My view of what happened is some clowns at the top wanted a proper, full interception of traffic. Besides the attention in international media it received, people had real issues accessing the internet properly (those who installed). So they simply could not execute their MITM properly. Putting aside privacy, etc. I expected simple operational ineptitude, which is what happened (gladly) and they dropped saying "it was a mere test".

PS, in 2011 the government tried something similar with Google's traffic and after Google started redirecting the KZ traffic they backed, saying some similar B.S. like "it was a test".

Exactly. One of my favourite apps, Quora, also did it some time ago (may be they still do) - forcing you to install the app if you're browsing them on mobile. I remember being shocked - shocked because while this (horrible) practice became a common thing, I'd always though of Quora highly, and assumed they'd never do something silly like that, but no, they'd disappointed.

What makes you imply that those who grind on Leetcode then forget?

After one year, moved to a closer place to work (in a walking distance). Most companies in Istanbul have shuttle services, so even when I had to commute it was not that bad.

Istanbul, Turkey.

Warm climate, fantastic food and friendly people. Modern city with developed infrastructure. I lived there between 2011 and 2013 and enjoyed every bit of it. Upon leaving, I knew that I would go back to live there again because I loved it so much. However recent events and overall political direction Turkey is taking is killing that wish within me. I really hope things get better in Turkey.

He is an ex-Yandexer! :)

slightly OT, but I've enjoyed N J Wildberger's lectures on History of Math:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW8Cy6WrO94&list=PL55C7C83781...

It's a good coverage of fundamental theorems in Math with well balanced historical touch.

"All Our Patent Are Belong To You" this sentence sounds grammatically incorrect to my non-native-English ear (O_o)

might also be due to the fact that Turks are simply - really mad about soccer :)! I lived couple years in Istanbul, and was amazed by how Turks are obsessed with soccer overall.

I don't think it's fair of you to imply what he did not imply. Despite all the 'cultural-sensitivity' and what not, there are some lines that have to be drawn and stated bluntly and unapologetically. In that respect, I could not have said it better than the parent comment, and 100% agree with below statement:

" Any 36 year-old man, from any culture that has ever existed, that finds it acceptable to marry a 9-12 year old and then start raping her when she's 13 is a piece of shit. Any culture or individual that condones such behavior shouldn't exist anymore."

I had to re-read the 'King of Prussia' several times (O_o) before Googling it up :)

That moment when you're skimming through an article which is about skimming and scanning. Yet you keep speeding and scrolling through the content which in turn is revealing what you're experiencing as you're just reading about it.

>>> "Public perception and policy-maker overreaction are real concerns, but as a startup, you don’t need to be as concerned"

I don't have any credentials to speak on the subject, but it seems that robotic cars is an area where traditional startup advices along the lines of "move fast" has to be taken very cautiously. I also believe that Google being paranoid about first robotic car killing someone is very much justified. Rightly so.

It's important to note that during the USG vs Huawei discussions there were no actual proofs brought by the USG about the allegations it pressed on Huawei. Huawei even wrote an open letter just two years ago asking for investigation and denying all the allegations http://www.huawei.com/ilink/en/about-huawei/newsroom/press-r...

Later on Huawei testified before the US House http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApQjSCUpt4s

To my knowledge, no response has been made by USG justifying the allegations it was making when it was openly called by Huawei. Given all of this, I find it ironic the comments here such as "backdoors in Huawei's devices" are taken for granted. Now with the latest leaks exposing hacking by the USG itself the tone of the conversation (including the comments in HN) has not changed. What am I missing?

The only noticeable change seems was the decreased tone of the US media (CNN alikes) who used to shout extremely loud that 'Those Chinese are hacking our systems!'. At the very least frequency of such news got decreased ever since the leaks.