First of all, these organizations don't pop up or maintain themselves magically, it takes a leader to get this started and a smart team to keep it going. They deserve to be recognized for truly great work.
Second, I think having open government data in a truly ACCESSIBLE format is extremely important. If you've ever tried to look up data on the FEC site, you'll know what I mean. Not to take away from the FEC data site -- it's an incredible data resource, but tech companies certainly do a better job productizing these large amounts of data from the government.
Without whatsapp being open source, how do we know for sure that Facebook is not somehow storing or reading our messages?
As good as this sounds on paper, I hesitate to trust Facebook to transmit my data without wanting to peek a bit. I currently use both Whatsapp and Signal and will probably continue to do the same unless there is a way for users to verify Facebook doesn't keep a copy.
After leaving the YC startup I co-founded, then doing consulting in SF for about 6 months after, I decided to leave the valley at the end of 2015.
Where did I move to? Medellin, Colombia. While I'm not sure I'll stay here forever and may move back to SF at some point, I'm definitely enjoying living down here for the moment. I'm doing remote software consulting, so I am geographically agnostic.
I definitely miss friends, the hustle, and being surrounded by smart people in SF. However, there are a lot of things I do not miss about SF. For example:
Prices: SF <> Medellin
Rent: $2000 (mediocre) <> $300 (nice, best part of town)
Interesting take on consulting. I agree, the traditional consulting model is fundamentally flawed, but after reading some of his other blog posts, I'm not as sold on his approach to hiring and "orchestrating." For example:
"In our projects we discourage any horizontal communications between programmers, and you won't be able to get any help from anyone. You will be on your own and you will fail, because you are used to patronizing someone senior, in your office."
This is so ludicrous that it almost sounds sarcastic. While I agree there is value in searching out your own solution, talking through problems and asking advice from team members is very valuable. It doesn't have to be a junior asking a senior. There's clear value in talking problems out with an equal and even a senior talking through a problem with a junior.
As a former student of CS5 (the class), I must say it was spectacularly well-run, fun, and educational. Zach Dodds, one of the authors of this book, was a particularly brilliant and inspiring professor.
While I'm an advocate for practical eduction, I'm equally an advocate for understanding the principles of your field. This book will much less vocational than your typical code-school/academy/etc and instead focus on building a foundation with which you can build upon.
I highly recommend this as a great primer to computer science.
Hey, I worked as a consultant for a while and would be happy to share my contract with you. I had it drafted by a good lawyer that I trust. Contact me through my site mailer: http://nealke.mp I am very glad to see you are being proactive about getting a good contract form to start. I did not do the same and was burnt.
I also highly recommend getting a lawyer you trust so you can go to him/her with questions. I also have some more advice contained in a conf talk I did back in January https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUCl0PPAT9U
Hope that helps, consulting is a fantastic job when done properly! Feel free to reach out with more questions
I've worked with over 25 clients in 4 countries and am on the look out for interesting new projects. I won't belabor an explanation of my philosophy and experience on this thread, but please visit http://nealke.mp or email me if you are interested in learning more. You can contact me at me( at )nealke( . )mp
I can also do: Backbone.js, PSD to HTML, Bootstrap, PHP, MySQL
I've worked with over 25 clients in 4 countries and am on the look out for interesting new projects. I won't belabor an explanation of my philosophy and experience on this thread, but please visit http://nealke.mp or email me if you are interested in learning more. You can contact me at me( at )nealke( . )mp
I can also do: Backbone.js, PSD to HTML, Bootstrap, PHP, MySQL
I've worked with over 25 clients in 4 countries and am on the look out for interesting new projects. I won't belabor an explanation of my philosophy and experience on this thread, but please visit http://nealke.mp or email me if you are interested in learning more. You can contact me at me( at )nealke( . )mp
Where I've worked/studied: thoughtbot, ZURB, Coveo, Atlassian, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont McKenna College
Things I do: Back end dev, front end dev, full stack dev, design (I have a partner who designs), Packaged rails security audits, long term or short term projects
I can also do: Backbone.js, PSD to HTML, Bootstrap, PHP, MySQL
I've worked with over 25 clients in 4 countries and am on the look out for interesting new projects. I won't belabor an explanation of my philosophy and experience on this thread, but please visit http://nealke.mp or email me if you are interested in learning more. You can contact me at me( at )nealke( . )mp
Aside from development, I also offer packaged Rails security audits.
Where I've worked/studied: thoughtbot, ZURB, Coveo, Atlassian, Harvey Mudd College, Claremont McKenna College
Things I do: Back end dev, front end dev, full stack dev, design (I have a partner who designs), Packaged rails security audits, long term or short term projects
I can also do: Backbone.js, PSD to HTML, Bootstrap, PHP, MySQL
I've worked with over 25 clients in 4 countries and am on the look out for interesting new projects. I won't belabor an explanation of my philosophy and experience on this thread, but please visit http://nealke.mp or email me if you are interested in learning more. You can contact me at me( at )nealke( . )mp
Aside from development, I also offer packaged Rails security audits.
I can also do: Backbone.js, PSD to HTML, Bootstrap, PHP, MySQL
I've worked with over 25 clients in 4 countries and am on the look out for interesting new projects. I won't belabor an explanation of my philosophy and experience on this thread, but please visit http://nealke.mp or email me if you are interested in learning more. You can contact me at me( at )nealke( . )mp
Aside from development, I also offer packaged Rails app/gem security audits.