downer90 · HackerTrans

vor 13 Jahrendiscuss

Anything requiring third-party cookies, AND requesting an e-mail address not only stinks of spam-oriented advertising revenue, but also total disregard for user security. Even more telling were the options to sign in with services like Facebook Oauth.

So from the beginning, I think it was always obvious that Disqus had no interest beyond the bare minimum in casually protecting user privacy. This prompted me to avoid ever providing Disqus with any kind of serious e-mail address. Looks like my instincts served me well.

downer90

vor 13 Jahrendiscuss

To sum it up, after 20 paragraphs:

  So: the technical reason we started counting arrays at 
  zero is that in the mid-1960′s, you could shave a few 
  cycles off of a program’s compilation time on an IBM 7094. 
  The social reason is that we had to save every cycle we 
  could, because if the job didn’t finish fast it might not
  finish at all and you never know when you’re getting 
  bumped off the hardware because the President of IBM just 
  called and fuck your thesis, it’s yacht-racing time.

downer90

vor 13 Jahrendiscuss

Well, here on HN, there's a different undercurrent of negativity. Keep that in mind, when you read through this thread, because it's an important distinction.

On YouTube, what you'll see is a swirling vortex of stupidity from which even light itself cannot escape. YouTube comments barely even break a kindergarten reading level and represent some of the most acidic vomit society can produce. It's like a kind of caustic acid bath, which, in the same way bulimia will destory a person's teeth, YouTube comments manifest as an erosion of intellect. This is a curious result, since Google has made great efforts to curtail obnoxious behavior on YouTube, but with little effect. It appears that the lowest common denominator on YouTube has no shame, and that even when a person's legal given name is exposed on YouTube, the quality of a person's comment remain as awful as ever. This is the context of thearn4's comment.

Meanwhile, here on HN, the tone of the arguments is different, and while there will always be an amount of social and political flamebait as ambient background noise, the discussion is not the same sort of bestial braying that you might find on YouTube. The reality, though, is that the best and brightest here at HN are wise to avoid any sort of non-technical discussion, especially when the topic is politically charged and emotional. In most respects, this is due to the phenomenon known as "bikeshedding" where you'll find that the easier it is to have an opinion, the more absurdly conflicting opinions will be found, and the more intractable the topic becomes. In this case, it's easy to have an opinion about Obama, and an opinion about how practical the generalized concept of "programming" is. Thus the thread becomes a dumping ground for everyone willing to share their 2 cents. Still, a dumping ground here on HN will produce higher quality well-sorted recyclable refuse, and not the fuming vat of toxic waste you might find on YouTube.

As for the trends in this particular thread, many seem to touch on some key premises:

1. In order to develop a useful appreciation of modern computing, the learning curve of today's state of technology demands a degree of immersive dedication that will rebuke most ordinary people. In some ways this might seem like a jaded, pessimistic outlook, but many are speaking based on personal experience, and not a desire to exclude.

2. The reality of computing as a career choice is a pockmarked mine field, peppered with unique absurdities not found in other fields. The industry surrounding the production and sale of modern computing devices and related services is an active war zone, with fluid and rapid changing fronts. Conflicting interests consistently hatch plans to sabotage one another, and raise the costs to enter the field. This detail is not lost on the HN audience, and contributes to the tone of pessimism.

3. While teaching and learning are admirable aspirations, and no one will dispute that, one cannot easily dismiss certain realities of modern computing history, most importantly that there are major forces at play in this field, with deliberate designs to disinform and disenfranchise end-users of the basic functionality of the devices they may purchase, with the deliberate goal of enriching corporate profit margins. This behavior is exclusionary, regardless of any claims otherwise, and is a hotly debated and emotionally charged political topic. The very topic this video might (perhaps naively) approach. The topic of free open source software.

4. While educators will champion access to computer science education, large business will assuredly attempt to mutate the nature and success of freely available education materials, wherever any ideas presented by such education might come into conflict with a company's business model.

5. Already aware of these premises, differing factions of the HN audience will present opposing narratives for why computer science education will prove impractical and ultimately fruitless. One side will postulate thatsuch educational initiatives will be watered down in the interest of preserving the status quo, and that large companies have a vested interest in preventing certain patterns of learning (conspiracy theories of corrupted industry leadership). Another side will claim that no one wants this education, no one will be good at it, that the majority of people are not a good fit, and that most people are too stupid to learn anyway so why bother (blaming end-users for their own ignorance when most are deliberately misinformed).

6. Both factions cling tightly to a certain kernel of truth in each argument. On the one hand, manufacturers of modern proprietary computing devices have a long and storied history of denying their paying customers of certain hardware and software privileges, solely for the purposes of producing exorbitant profits. Onthe other hand, the rabid stupidity found in a typical sample of YouTube comments is not to be dismissed. Many, MANY people out there are pants-on-head retarded, and they're giving these people computers. Why, god? Why?

7. A third faction continues to express an incensed vitriolic indignation over the Snowden leak. This carries it's own geopolitical context with unique peculiarties which are off-topic with respect to the premise of education, but will continue to haunt anything involving President Obama, The Internet, and American interests therein. Comments pertaining to government attitudes regarding cryptography are relevant to this branch of conversation, and tangentially relate to what industry insiders might not want people to learn about.

8. Healthcare.gov is a buffoonish albatross, blah blah blah... so what. Less distinguished people claim this as an indicator of the potential for competance in any state-sponsored endeavor, and chase their tails about parading any victory they can find, this is where HN starts to go off the rails, and lower order opinions start to emerge. Best to ignore them.

To properly define the term "bikeshedding", see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkinson%27s_Law_of_Trivialit...

For a distilled digest of some of the types of apolitical technical threads that tend to attract a more distinguished intelligent discussion here on HN, and sidestep emotional exchanges, see: https://lobste.rs

I don't think HN comments are similarly shameful to YouTube. I think there is a night-and-day difference. Hopefully this will lend context to some of the discussion you see here.

downer90

vor 13 Jahrendiscuss

!hbl uB

downer90

vor 13 Jahrendiscuss

Best comment ever.

The exact same words had formed in my mind, and then there they were, already written out for me.

downer90

vor 13 Jahrendiscuss

Ballpark: Small business, less than 20 employees, and less than 5 years old, and started with unconventional debt (not bank loans). Bonus points to "startup" credentials when software development or new, emerging technologies are involved.

20 50K salaries multiplied by 5 years is five million dollars in labor, never mind the overhead. If you've burned through that much cash and you're still in business after five years, congratulations. Unicorns aside, it doesn't matter if you're in the red or in the black. You are an established business, and not some fledgling twinkle in an investor's eyes.

downer90

vor 13 Jahrendiscuss

Seriously. I take major issue with devices that you can't cut the power to.

As far as I'm concerned, that renders it as an eavesdropping apparatus.

If I can't remove the battery, I'll never know when the microphone is truly off. I'll never know whether it's logging GPS geolocation data or not.