shepbook

I've used the same EFF sticker for about 5 years now. They are great and whenever it stops sticking, I just rinse it off under warm water and let it dry. Good as new again.

Is there a way to be able to point JSPM to a different, non-github repo? A remote clone of the repo might work then.

Given you'd like to focus on functional languages and you'd also like to be productive enough to build and monetize apps as an individual, you might like and want to look into Elixir and Elm.

Elm is a nice functional frontend language that compiles to JS, which you'll need for web apps.

Elixir is a very good and solid functional backend language that is good for general purpose programming, as well as web app programming (via Phoenix) and embedded (via Nerves).

Both of those languages are functional and focused on developer productivity and have some very good tooling around them.

I feel much the same way as much of what you've said in this post. I'm curious what you think of things like the #NoEstimates camp that removes the ambiguity and "gut check" nature of things like points or even time estimates?

I think this is a clear win for individual users that have been paying for GitHub. For organizations, I'm curious how many organizations they have just bumped above the $300-500/month mark. A lot of companies allow managers discretionary spending limits that they can spend without requesting approval, and if makes me wonder if they just made a bunch of managers need to start asking for approval for their GitHub bill. Another comment mentioned that having it filter up that the cost of a service just increase several times, will likely result in people being told to investigate alternatives. If that's the case, there are a fair number of alternatives to go to, depending on your specific situation.

No, but it depends. One thing to remember about technical debt is the concept of interest. Each time you have to go into a part of the code with high technical debt, you pay interest.

There is also something to be said for building a v1 MVP to prove product/market fit, and then build an entirely separate v2 that is refined to what you have learned.

Based on it's shape, it seems the business end of the tube is where the majority of the pressure difference would be created. I suspect that the mask is more to prevent air rushing into the nose/mouth than providing the seal for the suction. With the curved tube extending into the back of the throat, and at the size it seems, I suspect that the soft palate and back of the throat would provide a sufficient seal, with enough pressure applied to the mask and a sharp enough pull on the plunger.

Also, many sailors on industrial boats that I've seen have beards, so I'd suspect that it was a consideration in it's design and probably why the tube is there, instead of just a mask, like the yellow plunger thing.

OP Here: My team and I have spent the last several months building a system to convert study abroad offices away from inefficient paper processes and to help them better engage with their travelers. We built an algorithm to help people find a program that matches their interests and subjects that they want to study.

On the back office side, we collect information from the travelers that the advisors can use to help them start discussions and not waste time with multiple exploratory meetings.

I know that pain. Took me and my wife almost 5 years, near $2,000 and three interviews to get her green card. And that was with her already being in the states when we met and got married.

Keep at it. The feeling when it's finally over is great.

Have you ever read the E-Myth books? A fictional character can convey truth just as clearly as any other.

I second Middleman. I've used it for a number of static sites.

For responsive layout, I highly recommend Gridism. It's simple and lightweight.

They use campfire so giving anyone access to the chat logs would be as simple as adding them. They could then look at any logged history (almost all of it, unless the room was locked) and search through it however they liked.

There are two points I don't get with such a system.

1) The logic/functions needed in each "black box" still need to be written. How is that handled? Is that where the line of "programmer vs non-programmer" is crossed?

2) Programming is, more or less, the skill of breaking down a problem into the parts needed for its solution and providing the solution. The value of a programmer isn't the ability to type in code, so much as the ability to logically break down the problem and solve it. How would such a programming paradigm actually solve that problem?

I may be echoing others, but I to say to go for it.

As for the "gap", this is simple. Start a business. If you're going to be making and selling mobile apps, you'll want a basic corporate entity behind you anyways. Now, instead of being "unemployed guy building apps" you're "Founder of Mobile App Development Consultancy" or something along those lines.

Given what you stated about not liking the corporate world, that's completely understandable. I certainly prefer smaller companies, even startup, bootstrapping level ones. J2EE and .NET aren't strongly used outside of the big enterprise-y corporate world. Given your experience with Java, I'd say you might find Clojure to be a great move and still be able to leverage your Java past.

Go for it! Get yourself an LLC or similar and build some apps. If you have 5+ years of financial runway, you should certainly be able to find something self-sustaining in that time. :)

Jump and don't look back!

I had this same kind of experience.

I taught myself Rails in about a month and then joined a Startup Weekend event. It made me realize just how much I _could_ do.

I too went the "freelance" route. I didn't have the experience of taking it on as a "side project". I was fired from my job and, rather than do the job search grind, I found it easier and better to do contract work on a "freelance" basis.

I'm still figuring it all out, but the important part is that I've learned just how valuable and capable I am. All it took was making that leap and pushing myself outside my comfort zone.

Unlike most people, it seems, I actually do suggest quitting your job. Get a handful of months of savings (if possible) first, and then make the jump. It's hard work, but it's worth it.

Indeed! I couldn't agree more.

I liken a diverse company to what we see in biology. Diverse colonies of organisms tend to be far more resilient to hardship than homogeneous groups and lead to far greater overall success.

Cool, though I think 20 years of time and however much that cost could have been put toward something that actually helps a fellow human. Maybe build a bunch of smaller houses for poor people instead of a giant houseboat for your stuffed animals.

Then again, maybe that's just me...

I second this recommendation. I've used a number of services. AWS is great for testing. Rackspace is fine too. However, for my everyday usage, Linode is wonderful and pleasant to use.

As a Rails n00b, I can't wait to try this.

This is going to be a significant boon for VPN providers. Good job...

Where is this "1 collaborator limit"? GitHub has unlimited collaborators on all repositories, private or public.

I believe Peopleware said it best:

"Allowing the standard of quality to be set by the buyer, rather than the builder, is what we call the flight from excellence. A market-derived quality standard seems to make good sense only as long as you ignore the effect on the builder's attitude and effectiveness.

In the long run, market-based quality costs more. The lesson here is,

Quality, far beyond that required by the end user, is a means to higher productivity."

One thing most people don't mention about bitbucket is the cost of their plans.

Github: $7/mo for 5 repos, unlimited collaborators.

Bitbucket: $0/mo for unlimited repos, 5 collaborators max. Then, it starts at $10/mo for 10 collaborators and continues at a tiered rate of $1/mo per collaborator until you hit $200/month. Only then is it unlimited on collaborators.

Please don't listen to this person's call to use something like the DMCA. You've done the right thing, calling them out. Honestly, Hacker News based magazines (like Hacker Monthly, which I subscribe to and enjoy) cater to a very niche market that, I suspect, will hold far greater respect for pointing out their obvious stealing of your design/layout/whatever than you pursuing a legal recourse of action.

I, for one, applaud Hacker Monthly's response and actions. Had they pointed out their sending a DMCA takedown notice, I would have lost respect for them. You're doing the right thing. Stay the course! We're behind you all the way.

"They've made awesome deals with companies like HTC, even convincing HTC to pay them $15 for every Android phone they sell, etc."

Suing hardware companies like HTC is not "convincing" them of anything. It's strong arming them using "software patents" (aka. patented math) because they realized they were losing. I believe I read somewhere that microsoft makes more money from suing manufacturers over Android than they make on their own mobile platform/software. Seriously... WTF kind of business plan is that?

Can't innovate and make something amazing? Just sue the company that does!

I generally agree with you. As far as toxic, I was talking about the "exist to be acquired". Who knows, I may one day go that route with a company of mine. However, I would much rather have a product that adds value and could be bootstrapped. All the advantages you mention also mean that bootstrapping is also much more possible.

Thanks for this. I'm teaching myself to program and I've been trying to always focus on the long term. Always trying to focus on the thought that, as long as I keep at it, I'll get better, even if I feel useless right now.

Thanks for the encouragement and validation.

I wasn't complaining about the company taking the offer. Bravo to LightBox for whatever they got for their joining Facebook. I don't mind that they got acquired. I just wish is wasn't Facebook. The LightBox Photo app is a direct competitor to Instagram, hence why they had to shut it down when joining Facebook.

I understand that many startups in our industry have their sights set on being acquired. In fact, it's the reason many of them exist. Personally, I think that such objective is myopic and is rather toxic to the technology industry. If a product is so amazing, why won't people pay for it. I understand that something like LightBox or Instagram are so called "social apps" and tend to have a terrible time monetizing. Seems to me that something like these photo apps could make money via storage. "Free" is rather basic, small online storage. Perhaps a number of pictures. Perhaps a number of uploads. Something to that effect. Then offer "Unlimited" plans for a yearly subscription fee (includes all the picture uploads and storage) or you could do some kind of "credits" to extend your app. (Think, "you've run out of slots for your photos. Add 20 more slots for 1 credit") Then people could choose to have unlimited or to have a set of slots where they could remove certain pictures in order to put new ones up. (Just an idea here, IDK if it would be viable.)

As for a company I owned being acqui-hired. Sure, everyone has their price. Were it to be Facebook, it would certainly be a higher price, than just about anywhere else. (This is entirely due to my issues with Facebook. They could buy my company out, but it's going to be expensive.)

Hmmm... I've not read that one. I'll definitely check it out.

Hahaha! I've been there too. :)