infraruby's comments

Ah! Wouldn't that be "attackers can replace an original ciphertext with two chosen blocks"?

> I'm surprised this is the thing you want the link for, and not "1 biased bit destroys the security of a 256 bit nonce where the other 255 bits come from secure random".

IIRC the link for that is in your hiring post!

Do you have a link explaining this?

  def f(n = 16)
    n
  end

  p f # => 16
  p f(nil) # => nil

  require "securerandom"

  module SecureRandom
    F = File.open("/dev/urandom")

    def self.random_bytes(n = nil)
      F.read(n || 16)
    end
  end

Yes, combining methods works even better! It's far from saying that the best way is "to just talk to them".

Would you prefer Google's take on it? http://www.wired.com/2015/04/hire-like-google/

> So most "sample work" for an interview will actually be nothing like that but a short rushed version that is supposed to emulate it in some way.

Yes, that's the idea! And it works.

You're wrong: http://www.ioatwork.com/selection-methods-almost-a-century-o...

Then ask for that, and assess the plan, otherwise you're expecting Carnac the Magnificent: http://raganwald.com/2015/05/08/carnac-the-magnificent.html

Job performance does improve with experience up to a point (evidently six months), so this factor will have some predictive validity just for that, but this does not support comparing five years vs ten years.

> Can a hiring manager improve their hiring decision by excluding a factor known to have positive predictive validity?

Yes, if the manager had given undue weight to that factor (say, by rejecting applicants with little experience, regardless of performance on job knowledge tests), which is precisely what happens whenever managers consider employment history.

> This roughly matches how a lot of hiring is done in practice

No, what happens in practice is that managers say "no unemployed need apply" or ask for the applicant's "most recent résumé" (with dates, of course) and then exercise the sort of prejudice against the unemployed that you displayed earlier.

> What concrete change should a manager of a small business make tomorrow to improve their hiring?

The manager should filter applicants using GMA tests, job knowledge tests and integrity tests, which are inexpensive and have high validity, and then pay the candidates to take work-sample tests. The manager may consider experience (up to six months), but as no more than 5% of each candidate's grade, and this should be monitored by the business owner.

Fortunately, there is a better way: http://www.ioatwork.com/selection-methods-almost-a-century-o...

EDIT: but to answer your question:

> How about heart surgery?

I'd prefer the provider that hires doctors based on work-sample tests and not years of employment.

Because empiricism: https://signalvnoise.com/posts/833-years-of-irrelevance

> Which group will have better average job performance?

The two groups are statistically indiscernible.

... and so they do have to.

It's regrettable, because employment history (gaps or no gaps) does not predict job performance.

But why should people have to do that?

That's been how it works in practice ever since Marbury v. Madison.