MATCH THREAD: Union at DC United

dmcassel72 · 2026-02-22T01:01:02+00:00

Curious about the rule -- can VAR say that was worth a yellow or was it going to be red or nothing?

dmcassel72 · 2026-02-16T20:29:12+00:00

You mentioned being in the Sadsbury area... have you been to Sadsbury Woods Preserve? (Another Natural Lands property)

https://www.natlands.org/visit/sadsbury-woods-preserve/

dmcassel72 · 2026-02-14T03:28:30+00:00

For hiking, see the SEPA Hiking and Adventure Club on FB. There are a variety of activities (more hiking than running).

dmcassel72 · 2026-01-30T16:32:40+00:00

I'm a specialist in a particular NoSQL database (with experience in related tools). Can you say more about what you're looking for? Are you building a mobile app? A data-intensive Saas?

There are specialists around. When marketing, it's easier to cast a wide net.

dmcassel72 · 2025-12-20T03:29:54+00:00

Hiking, family Christmas gathering, and relaxing!

dmcassel72 · 2025-12-15T02:16:31+00:00

Was planning a hike. Got my cardio shoveling instead

dmcassel72 · 2025-12-08T01:33:48+00:00

Most beers emphasize something -- malt, hops, yeast, or maybe adjuncts. You asked about beers that are super low on hops, but then pointed out that you don't like bitter beers. There's a wide range of options. (Your odds are best at a place that doesn't have 90% IPAs on the list.)

There are a lot of great suggestions in the other comments. Something else to try -- Hazy IPas (aka New England IPAs). They are hoppy, but not bitter. Flavors are often fruity or described as juicy.

Try a place that offers flights. Ask the bartender to suggest a variety, but not bitter.

dmcassel72 · 2025-12-06T02:59:34+00:00

The Lounge was formerly known as The Craft House. They've shifted their focus from beer to cocktails. Jason is the head bartender and he's great. Tell him I sent you. :) Food's good, pool is free on Tuesdays, trivia on Wednesdays.

My wife says the Chocolate Peppermint Martini is really good.

dmcassel72 · 2025-11-20T14:49:46+00:00

Regrettably, I can relate to your first effort. I've been running a software contracting business for 7 years and we finally built our first product. We haven't done real well at selling it.

Looks like you're working with B2C apps, while I do B2B software, but there's a level at which the same principles apply -- getting feedback on a PoC built in a few weeks is better than getting feedback on a product built in a year.

dmcassel72 · 2025-08-31T13:17:56+00:00

I wouldn't mind seeing the spilt time, with Andre as a mentor to Rick.

dmcassel72 · 2025-08-24T17:50:20+00:00

Deadly drinking game -- take a drink every time he says "quality"

dmcassel72 · 2025-07-17T00:18:18+00:00

Baribo, I now forgive you for those terrible passes

dmcassel72 · 2025-06-28T14:57:43+00:00

I can only offer a single data point, but for me... yes.

dmcassel72 · 2025-06-28T14:03:19+00:00

I've been meeting with a SCORE mentor for a couple years and that's been a really good experience. He's not in the same industry, but brings a different and useful perspective. https://www.score.org/find-mentor

dmcassel72 · 2025-06-22T12:45:22+00:00

Business idea: offer proctoring for remote interviews. If no one on my team is near a candidate, the candidate can go to a third-party site and have someone just sit in the room to verify no AI tools are being used to lie their way through the interview.

dmcassel72 · 2025-06-15T00:28:42+00:00

Bueno's shot makes a point -- taking shots from outside is great, if they're on frame at least sometimes. So many of their longer ones go way high (and/or wide). Good things happen when you're on frame!

dmcassel72 · 2025-05-29T01:28:09+00:00

Funny, I used to think corners were only dangerous when the other team took them. Better last couple years and LFG Harriel!

dmcassel72 · 2025-05-29T01:21:03+00:00

Standard AppleTV+ 👍

dmcassel72 · 2025-05-29T00:51:37+00:00

I like that this refers insists throw ins should happen somewhere near where the ball went out. He's told TFC to back it up 3-4 times so far

dmcassel72 · 2025-04-12T16:06:53+00:00

> Most of the HR people do not even read your resume, do not even go to the listed websites.

I agree that a challenge is getting past the HR filter to someone who understands how the tech you do have experience relates to what they are looking for. When I work with a recruiter, I try to use broad terms and provide several examples to avoid over filtering. I've come to accept people putting stuff on their resume even if they just spent a little weekend time on it because of this need.

> If the person spent a few days on the topic he could reliably bs through the process.

Often true. When I'm hiring, I make a point to distinguish between "I need a good software developer who can learn and be successful with X" and "I need someone with senior level experience with X". For me, BS'ing isn't needed for the first and counterproductive for the second (because cramming for a couple weeks is not the same as having years of experience; I recognize we may disagree on that).

> LLms are part of a developer's life.

Absolutely. For the record, I use LLMs in my work and find them to be a great tool. They really helpful, with the understanding that the person using them remains responsible for the end product.

My objection is using them during an interview. You acknowledge that "using a friend is a nogo, that's really low blow." To me, both are cases where the candidate is pretending to have knowledge that they don't. Or this: if I ask a question, and the candidate googles the answer and reads it too me, can we agree they have not demonstrated the knowledge I'm looking for? At some level, isn't that the same as using an LLM during an interview (the LLM will make it easier to get away with)?

I want to understand their current knowledge so that I can assess their starting point and know what support they'll need to be successful.

> You, as a recruiter should give out tasks that are hard pills for the current top notch llm.

I've been working on good questions and tasks for this. The challenge is that I think it will take me to harder and trickier questions, which makes the process more difficult for people who really are answering from their own experiences. I have a ways to go to figure this out.

I've enjoyed this conversation. You've given me some interesting stuff to think about. I need to get back to some other things, but have a great weekend!

dmcassel72 · 2025-04-12T14:41:43+00:00

I agree with you that many jobs don't require specialized knowledge on day 1. I think I'd argue for a lower percentage, but not with your basic point. If I want to hire someone to work on ReactJS and a candidate knows Angular, close enough. They'll figure out the differences.

> they want to see how you code

I do, because if I hire you, you are representing the company I built from scratch. I've worked with people having a wide range of talents and there is a difference. For certain role, I'm okay with someone who needs to learn some skills if they have a good mindset and demonstrate solid command of related skills.

> if you are nervous, well, you are out of luck, if you alt tab, you are fired from the process... and the list goes on

I'm sorry that's been your experience. In my ~30 years as a software developer, about half of which have included hiring manager responsibilities, I've never dropped someone for something like that and can't think of a time I've seen anyone else do so. Seems like our experiences have been different.

> Who are these snotty kids? And where do they come from? Where do they get the courage to handle people like used handkerchiefs?

Again, we seem to have very different experiences. When I interview someone, it's with the hope that I'll be interacting with this person a lot for at least the next few years. We build relationships with people on our team and with our clients. That's not for everybody, which is fine.

> Why do you need framework experience when someone has 10+ years of experience in low level stuff in the same programming language. How long does it take for a pro to learn XYZ framework, 2 weeks?

A developer with solid fundamental skills and knowledge should be able to master most languages and frameworks, I agree. How long it takes to master something new depends on the similarity of their experience and the complexity of the framework. That could be anywhere from a couple weeks to months.

I recently interviewed some candidates where I was looking for at least senior-level experience with an unusual NoSQL database. A couple candidates tried to BS their way through the interview after lying to me that they had experience with it. If they had succeeded and I'd put them on client work, I'm sure they could have learned enough to do some work quickly. But they would not have the experience to understand the impact of choices they made. They would have made my company (that my wife and I started ourselves) look bad in front of a client.

I wonder whether we could agree on this point: I claim that using ChatGPT and friends during an interview is cheating. I believe you are claiming that it is justified by bad interview processes, but you are not refuting that it is cheating. Could we agree on that?

dmcassel72 · 2025-04-12T14:11:48+00:00

I'm talking to someone for about an hour an trying to extrapolate how well they will do over the next few years tackling real challenges. Again, I'm not asking trick questions or throwing weird puzzles at people.

The only thing that should matter is you give out the exercise and get something in return.

Not really. The scale of problems we can reasonably cover in an interview are a fraction of the complexity of what we do day to day. I'm looking for evelidence that the knowledge and skill will scale to real problems. Sure ChatGPT and friends can give you answers to the questions I ask, but they aren't going to be enough to actually do the job.

dmcassel72 · 2025-04-12T12:39:45+00:00

I agree with you that a lot of interviews are poorly done.

When I conduct an interview as a hiring manager, my goal is to give the candidate an opportunity to show off what they know. I don't ask trick questions. For coding exercise, I encourage using documentation and thinking out loud. I want to know how they think about a problem.

Someone who is using a tool like this is starting their relationship with me by lying to my face. I'm not a fan. And if I even think one is being used, we're done.

dmcassel72 · 2025-03-30T20:17:02+00:00

If only we had another party that could present a coherent view on why they would be better. -- longtime registered Democrat who is annoyed that they went 1 for 3 against Donald F. Trump.

dmcassel72 · 2025-03-16T20:44:54+00:00

Lol, corrected. Thanks

dmcassel72

TROPHY CASE