rmk · HackerTrans

3 tahun yang laludiscuss

About reading statements maligning oneself, you are right that a presumed innocent person doesn’t have to do this. But SBF waived that right when he agreed to testify. This is why it’s considered a bad idea to take the witness stand when you are the accused…

rmk

3 tahun yang laludiscuss

That’s reflected in sentencing guidelines. The more serious the crime the higher the sentence. Expecting to walk away from a crime of such magnitude is just not realistic.

Sometimes, it’s important to make an example out of criminals, so that future criminals are deterred. Thus, strict punishments are a social necessity.

EDIT: A lot of folks think financial crimes are pretty much victimless crimes, and thus financial criminals deserve leniency. However, just because we can’t see the harm doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. SBF has probably reduced hundreds of not thousands to penury. Those people will pay the price for his wrongdoing, possibly for the rest of their lives.

rmk

3 tahun yang laludiscuss

My point stands, particularly w.r.t. individual software engineers. Do you think any of the companies you mentioned had one, or even two/three engineers build the complicated marvels you are talking about? Do you think they would incur the risk of that as public companies? I am willing to bet the answer is 'no', particularly in this day and age.

The point of the original question isn't whether products as a whole are complex and hard, it's whether an individual engineer will get to do fairly large, complex systems.

rmk

3 tahun yang laludiscuss

There aren't too many hardcore engineering jobs. They are being done in startups where hard problems are being solved, and even there the average startup is just a website which is acting as a broker in a two-sided marketplace, or some variant thereof.

If you step back and think about it, it makes sense. The majority of companies are one-trick ponies, maybe following up with a few additional products. Incremental development is the path of least risk once product-to-market fit in a large market with high growth is achieved. As public companies (and late-stage startups or private companies) are incentivized to reduce risk, the majority of the people will be doing incremental work. The growth of the pseudo-technical managerial class in the form of Product Managers, Project Managers, and umpteen levels of mid-level managers further encourages the relative lack of 'hardcore engineering'.

rmk

6 tahun yang laludiscuss

There is some nuance to this. CA deliberately defines anybody who is in CA "other than for a transitory purpose" as a CA resident (for tax purposes). So if you happen to reside in TX but come to Redwood City for a couple weeks and work there, for example, CA can come after you. I am fairly certain this will happen more often once increasing numbers of people vote with their feet.

rmk

11 tahun yang laludiscuss

This. You realise the value of the time you pissed away only when it's too late. Unfortunately, college coincides with the most callow years of your life, when you scarcely know the value of time, or the opportunity you are about to squander. Sigh...

rmk

16 tahun yang laludiscuss

State College, PA.

rmk

16 tahun yang laludiscuss

I recently visited the college town where I studied with my wife, and I am considering moving there, because the bay area has become practically unaffordable. I know that the weather is really something to die for, but the financial situation of the state is dire -- that makes for a very bad long-term outlook.

Portland appears to be a very nice place, strikes the right balance between sprawl and compactness. If only it had better weather....

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