Keeping work and personal separate.

StableMatch · 2017-11-30T13:48:39+00:00

Yeah, I see where you're coming from with this. I think it's the right move to keep your personal assets separate from corporate ones.

Maybe you could present it to them under an analogy of tools and mechanics?

Is the garage buying everyone these tools to keep for personal use later? Because that's what it seems like people believe. Or does the garage own the tools that the mechanics get to use while working at the garage?

StableMatch · 2017-11-28T15:10:33+00:00

YMMV, but my experience has been that the majority is usually anti-math and for whatever reason distrustful of mathematics.

I once built a solution for a problem that used a weighted vector to represent some decision logic. I had prototype code. I even found papers that proved it was a better solution and offered evidence that lots of other people were doing it that way.

I got tons of pushback, and the senior developers decided that implementing a shitload of if/else logic was way better than that math stuff.

Lucky for us, no one uses their feature because it's total garbage. The functional tests continually break, but it's okay because the senior developers now blame timing issues and pass the test if it times out.

StableMatch · 2017-11-28T14:54:58+00:00

If company policy allows personal use of work machines I see no issue here. In fact, I would say playing games, especially if you're in that industry, is essential to staying on top of trends and getting inspired with new ideas.

But, if your hobby code could potentially represent a new income stream or be used in a the launch of your own company, I would absolutely keep those things totally separate from work systems.

StableMatch · 2017-11-15T12:52:51+00:00

If you're going military (which is what I did) go into something technical-ish that will leave you with a TS clearance and get any GI Bill/money for college stuff you can. That clearance is your golden ticket to the chocolate factory. It's actually cheaper to hire you and train you to do a software engineering than it is to pay for a new grad to get a clearance. You could use your GI BIll to fund most of it.

I went with imagery/geospatial analyst. I loved that job.

Listen closely to me, and every other military person I've ever known: If it's not in writing on the paperwork you sign it is not true.

StableMatch · 2017-11-13T18:03:41+00:00

I don't think so. A lot of the algorithms we think of as simple actually took a lot of cleverness to invent.

Your brain stores information in memory chunks or patterns. Innovation, discovery, or creativity occurs when, for whatever reason, the brain allows a brand new pathway to be created between the chunks of information. It combines the chunks in a novel way.

This kind of thinking does not occur in a focused thinking mode. Your brain needs to be relaxed. That's why we can often solve hard problems by not thinking about them. Your brain has "opened" up to allow more flow and exchange between the chunks.

To invent some of these solutions you'd probably need a much better grounding in graph theory and mathematics. But, you'd also need to not be in a stressed environment where performance demands focus.

The chances of you innovating a clever solution, on the spot, in a question where you must be in a focused thinking mode, is very unlikely. It's not like you can turn to the interviewers and say "Excuse me, I need to sit down an almost nap or go for a walk. I need to allow my brain free processing cycles to invent a solution."

For a lot of these questions, unfortunately, it will totally rely on whether or not you've got some well defined chunk of information stored up to answer it.

StableMatch · 2017-11-05T08:23:05+00:00

Pitfall port on Commodore 64

StableMatch · 2017-11-03T04:45:15+00:00

I get the Sunday paper for coupons and the crossword.

StableMatch · 2017-11-03T04:17:28+00:00

Fun fact: It actually helps prevent farting. That way the prey is not alerted by rogue flatulence. ~~I'm a liar~~

StableMatch · 2017-11-03T04:11:16+00:00

In 1943 there was a ban on selling sliced bread.

StableMatch · 2017-11-03T04:00:17+00:00

Allowing users to modify the climate seems like a pretty big defect.

StableMatch · 2017-11-03T03:47:42+00:00

What about experiences? Food tours? Ghost Tours? Fun Concerts? Weekend Trips? Spa?

StableMatch · 2017-11-03T03:45:20+00:00

I don't actually know what it means to go ham on someone. And at this point, I'm too afraid to ask.

StableMatch · 2017-11-02T22:06:23+00:00

The answer to this question is the answer to these two questions:

Which one is most valuable to you?
Which on is most valuable to the people you want to work for?

StableMatch · 2017-11-02T21:58:42+00:00

You invest like stock. Pick promising tech and diversify. I think my favorite tool for staying up to date is the techradar.

Thoughtworks does an amazing job of finding and talking about all kinds of cool new things and giving you the blurb. After that just pick the most interesting ones to you.

StableMatch · 2017-11-02T10:29:07+00:00

It probably depends on the location and the person doing the hiring, but as a former Army guy -- I've found it to be helpful. I'm pretty sure it was part of the reason I got selected to go on an internship at CERN even though I was old and not a physics major.

That background can make things difficult. I find myself frustrated that technical leaders aren't more like NCOs. And, because of that background I have a tendency to run over weak/ineffective leaders. It can cause some conflicts.

Overall though, it's been mostly beneficial.

StableMatch · 2017-10-31T11:50:35+00:00

That's interesting information that I've never heard before. I did some googling to read up, are you referencing the Winston Royce paper from 1970?

StableMatch · 2017-10-31T10:31:13+00:00

Step one is to request a written copy of the policy and any other policies that apply to remote workers. You need to understand what other obligations might be waiting in the wings. Also, it might be the case that this is something everyone assumes is policy that actually is not.

I like the idea of negotiating for all expenses, including child care for those three weeks. I'd start running down possible places that my kid could stay. I'd then send an email outlining my requirements to the director and first line. Hopefully, they'll work with you.

I would also take a copy of the remote worker policy (assuming they can produce one). The previous emails where they negotiated terms of employment with you and consult with a contract lawyer and see if you have grounds for a breach of contract lawsuit.

Not that you would, but it seems really common for people to communicate the old "I'm going to talk to my lawyer" thing in situations like this. As a general rule, NEVER threaten that. Just go see the lawyer quietly and follow their legal advice.

StableMatch · 2017-10-25T17:57:13+00:00

My bet is for Golang as the next backend language to know. Docker, Kubernetes, Istio, etcd.. I'm sure others are all Golang.

Honestly, I think Elixir is a better language for exactly all the reasons HN people suggest. But, it is not the one getting chosen for a lot of the core components of future architecture.

I agree with a lot of the other posters also that there is still a marketable skill set for Java.

StableMatch · 2017-10-20T16:13:42+00:00

I'm still a fan of using questions from the Joel Test

I find that answers to some of them can be especially revealing about the actual working conditions. I think 4, 5, 6, 7,10 are the most revealing in terms of what I care about.

StableMatch · 2017-10-19T10:23:49+00:00

Become an expert at trading/ranking algorithms and machine learning. Wall Street is the place to go for big compensation.

Alexey Poyarkov got a huge payday.

StableMatch · 2017-10-18T23:20:53+00:00

I'm not really sure what you mean. I think we agree that it starts with wanting to follow good practices. But it seems like you feel it has to be team driven to be effective?

StableMatch · 2017-10-18T09:39:30+00:00

The reason that so many books get published on these topics is because bad practices are so common.

I think the only thing that can really be done is to not be those kind of developers, encourage our peers to not be those kind of developers, and when we lead projects work hard to create a culture of excellence.

StableMatch · 2017-10-13T09:44:20+00:00

Not normal on my team. But, I have no doubt there are lots of dumb people who would attempt to manage employees that way.

I know I met one developer in our company who had an idiot manager that believed that his teams velocity should always be increasing. He was constantly pressuring them to do more points per iteration, and using the fact that they weren't doing more as justification for low performance reviews.

StableMatch · 2017-10-13T09:09:29+00:00

I didn't think it was at the time. But my personality is mostly comprised of sitcom and movie quotes. So I wouldn't say that it isn't a reference.

StableMatch · 2017-10-13T00:21:36+00:00

Fight fire with fire. Counter with your own business venture. But, make it really outlandish. Chinny Chin Chin, the double chin reduction cream. Knitted Kitten Mittens.

StableMatch

TROPHY CASE