simoneau
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3 years ago
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on: I hope distributed is not the new default
It makes me sad if future generations of programmers never have the experience of working with a team in-person. I know it doesn't suit everyone's work style or life style. I'm not even arguing it's more productive. But it can be a lot more fun!
simoneau
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3 years ago
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on: The next Google
I want to pay for researched, impartial answers to my questions. Would someone build that, please?
simoneau
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3 years ago
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on: Are you a baby? A litmus test
Barry Sobel made hay of this aspect of LA culture back in 1992:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLf3EaDEf68
I'm amazed this has been bouncing around in my head for 30 years, and equally amazed I could instantly pull this up with a Google search.
simoneau
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3 years ago
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on: I'm a scam prevention expert and I got scammed
I'm surprised at the level of scamming we tolerate as a society. As technologists, we have a good chance of not falling for it, but my parents are sitting ducks.
Some combination of new consumer protection laws, infrastructure improvements, and law enforcement attention is desperately needed. I don't know why this doesn't get more attention. Is it just the historical attitude that each of us are responsible for protecting ourselves? Is the line too blurry between a legit business and an outright scam?
simoneau
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4 years ago
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on: Unmasking the most viral page on Facebook
And I think that's why these are so viral. When you see a question and your friend's answer, it makes you feel like you're responding as well.
simoneau
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4 years ago
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on: Pfizer's oral Covid-19 antiviral cuts hospitalization, death by 85%
I though most of the point of vaxing children and other low-risk groups is to stop the spread, not for their own individual safety. Reducing the chance they'll infect grandma. And reducing the circulating pool of infections to prevent more virulent strains from developing. Have I got this wrong?
simoneau
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4 years ago
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on: Disintermediating friends: Online dating displaces other ways of meeting (2019) [pdf]
This surprised me as well. In fact, this line is misleading. From the article.
"Figure 1’s apparent post‐2010 rise in meeting through bars and restaurants for heterosexual
couples is due entirely to couples who met online and subsequently had a first in‐person meeting at a
bar or restaurant or other establishment where people gather and socialize. If we exclude the couples
who first met online from the bar/restaurant category, the bar/restaurant category was significantly
declining after 1995 as a venue for heterosexual couples to meet."
simoneau
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5 years ago
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on: Supreme Court sides with Facebook in narrowing the federal robocall ban
I have this situation right now with the bank in Singapore. The only way I can stop the email is to visit one of their branches. On the other side of the world.
simoneau
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5 years ago
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on: Voltswagen of America
"expresso"
simoneau
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5 years ago
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on: Boston public schools suspend advanced learning classes
My oldest child is about to enter the Boston Public school system. Many of my peers think I’m crazy to want to send my kids to public school, but we really value community and equity. I don’t yet know what level of academic achievement my kids will achieve. But my choice what will I have, if the public schools cannot serve their needs. I’ll be forced to join growing trend of abandoning public schools for private and charter schools.
simoneau
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5 years ago
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on: Fake Amazon reviews 'being sold in bulk' online
I don't understand why counterfeiting isn't just an immediate ban for the vendor. Isn't this a huge liability risk? Or do the get some protection because they're just the "marketplace", like a common carrier?
simoneau
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5 years ago
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on: Fake Amazon reviews 'being sold in bulk' online
Buying on Amazon is becoming a real roll-of-the-dice. Last week I wanted to buy refill cord for my string trimmer (weed whacker, in local parlance). Listed among the third-party options was this apparently OEM part:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015T96KLO/
Many reviews say they received a knock off. I ordered from Home Depot instead. I don’t intend to use this right away and don’t want to be bitten later.
I reported this listing to Amazon, but it is still up. I assume this just isn’t a priority for them.
simoneau
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5 years ago
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on: California Is Making Liberals Squirm
> Writing this piece, I found myself thinking about Ibram X. Kendi’s book “How to Be an Antiracist.” Kendi’s central argument is that it is policy outcomes, not personal intent, that matter. “Racist policies are defined as any policy that leads to racial inequity,” he told me when I interviewed him in 2019. “And so, for me, racial language in the policy doesn’t matter, intent of the policymaker doesn’t matter, even the consciousness of the policymaker, that it’s going lead to inequity, doesn’t matter. It’s all about the fundamental outcome.”
I’m pulling this out next time my neighbors cite “traffic” when opposing any development.
simoneau
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5 years ago
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on: The Dunant subsea cable
And they are heated along the way!
simoneau
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5 years ago
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on: Dropbox to cut 11% of its global workforce
I don't understand why this doesn't get more discussion. It's a much more conservative step than "medicare for all" and would do a lot of good.
simoneau
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5 years ago
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on: The Cole-Bar Hammer, a 7-year old Kickstarter that is still going
I’ve always looked at crowdfunding as a bet. That is, here’s something I wish existed and maybe these people can do it. If you think of it as a way to preorder, you’re bound to be disappointed.
simoneau
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5 years ago
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on: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
It does allow someone who is filtering Y/N for this to check Y. Maybe that's enough to open some doors.
simoneau
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5 years ago
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on: I prepared for a decade to graduate in CS in three months
Good point. Existing institutions which are starting online programs have a huge advantage here.
simoneau
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5 years ago
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on: Starting a blog has never been this difficult
The WordPress criticisms are weak. It's still a good recommendation.
simoneau
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5 years ago
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on: Jetbrains founders turn billionaires without VC help
Still better than Jira!
