joeldidit's comments

I strongly believe software needs to be tested, and that tests need to be written to avoid repeating yourself (or screwing yourself over) later on, but trying to write such tests using a TDD approach absolutely destroys my ability to think laterally and creatively and come up with new effective approaches to problems.

If I'm working on something that I've already done, then TDD may work alright, but if I'm doing that rather than searching for some library or code I've already written, then I'm failing already. If it's something simple, then TDD is also not a problem, but at that point I'm really wasting my time.

TDD stunts design, thinking, and refinement ability, and only works when there is nothing left but execution. In my mind, as long as the tests get written (and obviously makes sense to write them at around the time the function/method/class is written), then I'm alright. Also, I usually don't know what a class will look like until I've written it, used it for a little bit, tested it manually, etc. If I were to write a test for it prior to this, then I'd be wasting time. I don't know how people are able to write these tests, and separate everything out beforehand. I'm not comfortable or satisfied with what I've written, until I see it, play with it, test it manually, then use that data to go back and smooth out and refine what needs to be.

I'm wondering if this is an MBTI judger/perceiver issue, with judgers being more able to wire their minds into that of a TDD'er, while perceivers see it as fundamentally problematic.

Yea, 3 years can be very little. But 3 years of real experience (plus intelligence) and the ability to actually come up with new and relevant solutions to problems probably trumps 15+ years of doing the same year's worth of work over and over again (not that uncommon), 20+ years working on technology that's no longer relevant, 10+ years of only doing what you're told while not being able to think for yourself, or any other number of things.

Filter out cockiness/arrogance that gets in the way of productivity/progress, etc: yes. Tell someone who's simply confident in their abilities that they don't know what they are doing because they only have 3 years of experience: no.

I understand that the prevalence of the so-called "entitled youth" has everyone ruffled these days, but there's a difference between being arrogant and feeling entitled (I'm sure these people exist, but don't they always), and not accepting the old world BS of bowing your head, taking everyone's shit, doing what you're told, then settling for the scraps that get thrown your way (something you should feel so lucky to have happen). In the case of the latter, that world needs to die, and I'm all about progress and moving past such suffocating, stagnating, backward nonsense.

Also, when it comes to programming, after about 5 years everyone evens out (with regards to gains unique/specific to years of experience) and there isn't really much difference. Everything past that is mostly inside knowledge or factual knowledge that you get from happening to work at one company or another (or with some person that happens to know said things). And since the technological landscape (past whatever the latest buzzwords or fads are) changes at least every 5 years, all that specific knowledge loses relevance with time.

Open floor plans came about originally to fit more people into a space, and to get more work out of them (which it fails at doing, but the idiot management theory is that if an employee is on edge, then they will always be alert and productive due to fear of being seen not doing anything). And beneath it all is the "breaking down of barriers" BS that permeates the business (sales in particular) world. BS that ends up being nothing more than a bunch of needy extroverted people setting things up such that they can constantly yap yap yap all day long to the point that all their needs are met (at the expense of everyone else).

People forget that this "keep it lively" (versus not negative, though they try to claim that's all it is), "smile and say hi when we cross paths," "approach me and kiss my ass to make me feel good," "always be open and approachable and available" (read: always be there when I need something, then when I ask do it blindly and with everything in you so I get what I want, then nod your head acceptingly when I make up some BS excuse when asked to do something as though it was ever about anything other than me ensuring I get everything I want while ensuring you get nothing), and anything else that will avoid insulting me or hurting my feelings nonsense is something out of a Dilbert cartoon and should've been ancient history by now, not promoted as some sort of superior/modern/good approach.

I hate open plan offices. The collaboration argument is BS, because I can collaborate just as well when sitting in a cubicle as I would when in an open plan environment. And, as a matter of fact, the cubicle (or some other) setup would probably be better because we could huddle around someone's desk as necessary to discuss anything that needs to be discussed, then go our separate ways to work on what needs to get done. All without the constant tension, anxiety, and noise of an open office environment that completely stalls out any ability to think clearly. The only things that really affect collaboration are proximity, and how well the group can collaborate (can they work well together, do they like each other, have they minimized the effect of any idiot managers and divisive employees, etc).

I hate cubicles as well, but I love silence, privacy, and the ability to uninterruptedly do my work. And the cubicle set up allows that more than open plan environments. Also, most open plan environments are setup such that everyone can see what you are doing (as in they can stand over your shoulder and blatantly watch for no reason, or can end up doing so unintentionally), and in a way that would leave everyone in a state of paranoia thinking you're watching them. Anytime I see something encouraged that heightens fear/anxiety levels like this I start to smell BS. I start thinking that maybe this is exactly what they are up to.

Open plan environments are good for those that like annoying or squeezing others, who constantly need attention, who like sitting close to others, and anyone else that needs to discuss every single thing with someone else before they do it (but it's really that they have an aversion to thinking, don't know what they are doing, and would rather get someone else to do the work (while BSing that they are just being more open and communicative) then take credit anyway). These environments are also great for management, an entity in most companies that's always looking for a way to underhandedly (something they can laugh about like they're so clever for doing it) squeeze more out of people while making it look like they are giving them what they want, and are so nice for doing it. That is, it amplifies so many negative aspects that any good that it brings is overshadowed, and it seems like nothing more than gimmicky, self-serving, overly hyped, faddish nonsense.

Perhaps. But there is also knowledge from experience, which may not always be written down. But having knowledge from experience is not limited to Google Engineers.

Brainwave entrainment while you are working. Piracetam. Acetyl L-Carnitine.

Nothing, unless the autonomy extends to busses/trains/etc (busses seem like a bad idea), then public transport could get even better.

Multivitamins of the right formulation (like Ortho-Core) are great, but I do agree, most multivitamin formulations are inferior or just plain shit. Eat right.

I ignore them.

I think someone did this to me (probably to get revenge). There is no history of mental illness in my family, and I showed no signs at all, then I randomly start getting harassed with the same thoughts and the same bad memories over and over again, and I randomly lose all higher cognitive functions stopping my career and my life dead in their tracks. And this all happened right around when I quit a job due to harassment of much the same form. And to top it off, I, at the same time, also lose my ability to get and maintain an erection, and my ability to ejaculate (now nothing comes out). Who are you kidding? And then I realize that supplements, medication, etc (especially ones that previously worked) now have no effect on me whatsoever.

I, against my will, and then out of desperation have tried many many anti-psychotics, and nothing makes this torture go away. And yet all I hear from these people is that I should stay on the medication, that it takes time to find the right combo that works, that this is all in my head, and that I should accept that the shit happening is just a part of who I am.

Everyday more excuses, more runaround, and more bullshit. And now I just sit around watching my life rot away due to all this torture/harassment, and the only thing medication seems to bring are more side-effects (some of these drugs cause depression, suicidal thoughts, etc (the very fucking problems that are to be avoided and the very reason people get put on medication) in addition to the "usual" weight gain, diabetes, tremors, twitches, sleepiness, zombification, restlessness, loss of higher cognitive function, etc). This is the biggest bag of bullshit I have ever seen. And then they try to use the medication working for one or a few people to justify forcing everyone else to go through this hell.

The hell only begins with the torture. The medication steps in and makes it worse, then the idiots forcing the medication onto me and everyone around me step in to drive the final nail into the coffin. I'm surrounded by a group of people who fully intend on seeing me driven mad and who seem willing to die trying to make me just another run-of-the-mill human being. But it's not that, it's that "they are here for me, and want to see me do my best." Oh please. Any talent or potential of mine must be destroyed, and everyday there's another excuse.

Take the medication, take the medication, take the medication, take the medication, take the medication, take the medication. All I hear chanted, all day long.

They don't care that the medication doesn't work, they don't care that it doesn't help me, they don't care that there are side-effects, they just care that I keep taking it, and that I sit and waste my life away, and that I blindly and continuously do as I'm told. That is their obsession, getting me to do as I'm told. And they care about nothing else. And sometimes it's almost like they get off on saying that what's happening to me is who I am, and that no one is doing this to me but me. I'm am absolutely shocked that psychiatrists say this garbage to their patients. Why would you want the patient to accept this torturous existence, then just sit there in it? Why waste their time, and waste/end their life with medication that is as ineffective as it is side-effect ridden? I'm always left speechless.

By the way, people always approach the side-effects of these medications as though they present themselves while the medication works to relieve symptoms of the illness, but this is stupid. In most cases, the medication prescribed does nothing to help with the symptoms, and instead just brings side-effects which makes life even more unbearable. And then there is the stupidity, depression, and suicidal thoughts that come as a result of some medications, but "it's not the medication, it's the illness."

What a joke.

Larry Page is an INFJ. Definitely a feeler. Sergey is either an INFP or an ISFP. If he ended up an INTP, then I suppose I could believe it. Steve Jobs is probably an ENTP (and a clear narcissist).

Any plan on making a latex bed? Those are the best.

Forex. Stock market. Niche web/mobile app.

135, Stanford Binet, USA, 12 years old.

Take bioforte resveratrol. That's what worked for me. I'd wake up at the time I wanted to wake up and would take it. After a few days I would always wake up at that time. Also, the thing about resveratrol is that it will give you (clean) energy during the day that will be capped off by feeling tired at night when it's time to go to bed. It has a great normalizing/regulatory effect. You can use Melatonin at night in the beginning, but you probably won't need it permanently.

That said, I went right back to being a night owl. There is something about working late at night into the early morning. Something peaceful, something serene, something that causes me to be more productive than ever. Being a morning person didn't even come close.

I agree that you need to be aligned with the companies vision, but I think conforming as others have mentioned would kill the very fire that would make you a great entrepreneur. You should come up with ideas and start testing them on the side ASAP. If you find a winner, then start working on it. When it takes off quit. If you have to work solo and find an idea that allows you to do that, then fine. You can't wait for an exit from a startup, and that seems to be one of the things you are doing that's unwise.

"Code-cowboying" is just fine if you do it on your own time. If you were doing it on your own time and they had a problem with it, then they clearly have a problem. Otherwise, it's not as clear. Politics are a real part of life, and that's why many people flock to startups (in addition to hoping for a payday) and to doing their own thing. If they aren't actively doing it, then they are dreaming of it. While I don't side with those that say that you should become political, I think it's worthing knowing how to do so just to buffer yourself against those situations where you must.

The responses to this question were strange. Everything about them is promoting conformity to the very thing that puts out the fire in most young engineers in favor of conformity to "The man." I can't agree with that. There has to be another way.

The problem with this is that most users don't want their YouTube account linked with everything else. They aren't a minority.

I'm glad the backlash is too much to ignore. They are getting way too annoying and invasive. I don't want my real name linked to my YouTube activity, I don't want to be forced onto the still sub-par Google+ service (so they can inflate their user count), I don't want to be forced to sign into Google Chrome to have all my private data pushed to the cloud, and I don't want to be in any other way tricked or robbed of choice. It's not like I would've made the choice anyway, and this is just them saying get over it, I (and most it would seem) would literally not want to do these things.

Google+'s strategy is starting to look as seedy as Zynga's, and perhaps even more annoying. It seems like they are using confusion to get everyone to unknowingly and unwilling sign up for Google+ for YouTube (etc), and this is unacceptable. Their practices were questionable before, but this is outright wrong.

On a slightly related note, I'm annoyed to see that Google+ hasn't really gone anywhere. Some may argue otherwise, but I still sign onto the service, then wonder what to do next. There's nothing to do, and there's no point to it. They need to add more features that people want to use and that people have a use for (like Hangouts, I guess). What's the point of forcing 1 billion users onto a service on which they can do nothing but sit? To claim that you have as many users as Facebook? For shame Google.

They should turn down the $3 billion, yes. Unless what they've built is only worth 1/10th to 1/100th of that. If they reject such lofty valuations, rather than a small 10-20% bump, then they've been made into fools. There's a difference between selling out and making out.

Employee here. <10 members at the time.

Daily standup meetings in the morning are great. No more than 15 minutes, then done. Sets the course for the day. If there is nothing to discuss, then have the meeting to say that, then get on with the day.

There is no way Snapchat is worth $3 billion. I don't think the idea is even worth $100 million. The funding round alone was insane. I don't know what is going on in the valley and San Francisco these days, but I guess these startups have to be funded somehow and these VCs want their return so everyone will be rooting for transactions like these to happen.

If I had stumbled onto Snapchat and Facebook offered me $3 billion, I would've grabbed the money before I could blink. I'd probably even throw them a party to thank them for being so nice.

There will be too many imitators, and this privacy problem will be solved in other ways. It will all cause Snapchat to die off. It will never realize these lofty valuations.