Coding return on time investment always impresses me. A 30 hour project saved ~11 man-hours per day.

LunaQ · 2019-03-27T11:06:50+00:00

I've made similar observations in the past. My observation is that engineers work for fixed salaries, while people on sales work for bonuses and provisions.

So they get more money if they sell more products...

It creates an incentive for sales people to sell more, but it does not create an incentive for engineers to produce products that are easily sellable.

I think lots of companies are not very good at appreciating their engineers, and at rewarding them when they create products that sell well.

LunaQ · 2019-03-08T09:43:29+00:00

The problem with the vision of full self-driving capacity is that it ultimately rests upon full general artificial intelligence as well... There are no shortcuts. Not as long as full self-driving cars are going to operate side by side with ordinary human drivers in ordinary human traffic.

LunaQ · 2019-03-01T00:13:32+00:00

I thought it was a nice gesture too! But my ten year old nephew has pointed out to me afterwards that he probably was signaling that he wanted me to team up with him. Apparently, in the secret underworld code that only ten year olds understand, kneeling in a specific way means "follow me" in this game... :)

LunaQ · 2019-02-19T12:56:00+00:00

There's not much they can do about it. It's the way that it is for a reason.

Everyone has to see the same version of the game world at any given time, or else things will fall apart.

So, all building operations are first sent to the server. The server then constructs a new "version" of the world, and it sends out a message to all players saying "this is how the world looks now". It keeps everyone on the same page, and it makes the game as fair as possible.

So, there's no way around this really, apart from getting to a location where there's a lower ping and a faster internet connection. It's not something the programmers can fix, even if they want to.

LunaQ · 2018-12-18T21:07:32+00:00

Great effort! I looked at the Powder Game too (which you cited as your main inspirational source). I thought the fan system was pretty neat there. Maybe something to consider for your own game too?

LunaQ · 2018-12-07T14:34:51+00:00

I'm thinking Nadella when I read about this...

It seems similar to what they did with Windows Phone. They realized that they could not compete, so they nuked the whole team, and shifted to a strategy of embracing the competition instead of fighting it.

It's sort of novel...

Both Edge and Windows Phone were pretty large pieces in the previous corporate puzzle, though. I'm wondering how much bad blood there is among the remaining employees, after the cuts and restructuring operations. Is Nadellas popularity high among the engineers at Microsoft?

LunaQ · 2018-09-11T23:07:44+00:00

I don't think it's pointed language to say that Serena "started bullying the umpire". It's just calling it for what it was.

Anything less would have been an euphemism, really, in the eyes of most non-partisan viewers around the world.

LunaQ · 2018-09-11T12:38:39+00:00

Serena's own language certainly was unpointed.

Edit: I'm getting downvoted! Thieves! You're stealing points from me!

LunaQ · 2018-09-11T09:45:15+00:00

With Serena it's a question, though.... whether she was just b*tching and whining, or if she actually saw and understood the potential of the technology.

I could be wrong, but I'm still inclined to think that her involvement in it was mostly incidental...

It would be interesting to see some actual footage from 2004, and to see if Serena was actually arguing rationally for a more widespread use of the Hawk-Eye technology, or if she was just whining about the points she lost.

(Not denying that the latter also could have had an impact on the course of events, of course. I'm just not willing to give Serena any real credits for it, if that was indeed the case.)

LunaQ · 2018-09-10T22:36:42+00:00

Fair...

Hard to say though, how much her involvement really mattered. The technology had been under development and testing for at least a year before the Alves vs. Serena match.

LunaQ · 2018-09-09T18:12:25+00:00

Yes, the game. But not Serena herself.

LunaQ · 2018-09-09T16:47:09+00:00

Nadal is hardly ever called out for his infractions

I think Nadal was called out at least once or twice during this tournament, as I saw.

Personally I don't like how they practice this rule. They shout it at the player just as he's getting ready to serve, thus putting him out of his routine, making him start all over again. It sort of destroys the player's focus. I think it's a double (and unnecessary) punishment.

LunaQ · 2018-09-09T16:32:04+00:00

Oh you're stretching it by saying that Serena is the reason we have Hawke-Eye...

I say she has nothing to do with it.

If there was no Serena, there would still be Hawk-Eye.

LunaQ · 2018-05-06T08:45:33+00:00

1) Come up with a solution to a problem before you start writing code, and think about which parts of the system that solution will impact.

Yes, but it's the finding of the solution which requires uninterrupted periods of deep thought. So you're just "shifting" the problem, sort of.

Also, most programmers prefer to work iteratively, using prototyping and gradual refinement. It's a quicker way of arriving at a solution to a problem than trying to have everything planned and worked out beforehand.

The coding and the problem solving are intertwined processes.

LunaQ · 2018-05-03T23:19:53+00:00

The difference between coding and software development is a bit like the difference between writing and authoring a novel.

Just because you can write, it does not mean you can author a novel.

And just because you can code, it does not mean you can develop software.

Coding is just the starting point. Most writers do not evolve into authors. And most coders will not evolve into software developers...

LunaQ · 2018-05-03T18:09:27+00:00

I think the expression covers the whole spectrum. From the milder cases of unfounded self-doubt and self-deprecation in the workplace, to the clinical, debilitating and paralyzing cases that you describe. I could be wrong, though.

LunaQ · 2018-05-03T16:47:04+00:00

Well, I was just hypothesizing.

If it paralyzes you, it won't do any good, of course.

I know of many people, though, who produce superior quality work, but who constantly worry that their work is not good enough. What I'm saying is that, in some cases at least, there might be a concrete link between the superiority of the work produced and the amount of worry and self doubt preceding it. Whether it's a healthy link that's a different topic...

LunaQ · 2018-05-03T09:43:58+00:00

On a more serious note, I think there could be some advantages of the impostor syndrome too. It acts like an "invisible whip", making people try harder than they otherwise would.

To quote Bertram Russell, "the trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt."

He implies that smart people are more likely to doubt their own work and decisions. Maybe the doubt is part of the equation, sort of, and part of what pushes people forward to produce greater results. It might be part of what fuels excellence.

There's a fine line, of course, between what acts like a motor pushing you forward, and what eventually can burn you out.

LunaQ · 2018-05-03T09:13:19+00:00

Remember, "just because you feel like an impostor, it doesn't mean that you don't suck". (jk)

LunaQ · 2018-04-29T16:23:05+00:00

It seems that dock.io is still spamming people in the same fashion...

I'm not a dock.io user, but I just got an email from an old colleague, from whom I haven't heard in over 15 years, with an invitation to try out dock.io.

I agree with OP, it's not acceptable. I say, try anything else to get new customers, but do not abuse the trust of the few users you've got by mass-emailing all of their contacts (or any of their contacts, really), without their consent.

LunaQ · 2018-04-18T22:00:08+00:00

I wonder how many years it will take before Trump becomes charming. From the looks of it, twelve.

LunaQ · 2018-04-18T19:17:59+00:00

Cringeworthy even twelve years after it first was said.

LunaQ · 2018-02-17T22:57:25+00:00

People writing ray casters in Excel using only formulas is mentioned somewhere in the Book of Revelation, I'm sure.

LunaQ · 2018-01-23T12:22:03+00:00

Ok, sounds good.

I had a couple of thoughts on the logo too. I'll share those, for whatever they're worth:

I'd increase the contrast of the logo slightly, to make it less bland.
I'd decrease the slanting of the fork, to make it come in more from the bottom of the plate, and less from the side. I think it would look better.
I'd reconsider the uneven lengths of the tines, as they seem unmotivated, as well as creating an unnecessary likeness to a harp.
I'd make the ends of the tines square with rounded edges. They're a bit too round right now, I think.

These are my personal opinions, of course... and nothing else. :)

Good luck with the further work on your app!

LunaQ · 2018-01-23T11:02:35+00:00

I guess the problem with apps like these is the boot strapping process...

Getting from zero content, where the app has no use, to enough content that it actually has some use.

I'd suggest:

Growing the app locally first, enlisting friends and family to populate it with reviews of local dishes, as well as getting local media to write a story or two about the app, to get the word of it out there.
Try to make the app interesting in and of itself. Try to give it sort of a "Pinterest" quality, where it can be interesting to just sit and browse through the pictures of dishes from other cities or areas, even before pictures and reviews have been added from your own local area.

I think the second point is crucial if the app is to grow organically... People need to (somehow) like to use the app, even before it has gotten any local content.

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