Hacker News: DATACOMMANDER

Ask HN: How do I parlay a significant project into interviews?

DATACOMMANDER — Wed, 10 Jun 2020 22:00:51 +0000

I recently created a web application that wasn't quite good enough to turn into a product, but was interesting enough to garner attention from the CEO of a major site in the space. I was close to being offered a contract position with that site, but the offer was ultimately rescinded. The CEO and the dev who spoke with me about my project seemed apologetic, but from the start of the interaction the vibe was that they hire people who are experienced and can jump right into their frameworks and go. Although I learned a lot from the project, I'm not an experienced dev and I'm not an expert in any frameworks.

Should I put the backend code for the project on GitHub? Should I link to the app in my LinkedIn profile? I'm partly just depressed that the contract position didn't work out, and I'm even a bit reluctant to create a portfolio website because I can only show off this and one other project (which I did earlier and is much less impressive). I know that I could apply to open junior dev positions and link to my projects, but to be honest I just don't believe that I'll get a response.

I suppose that I'll do all of those things, and I'm not sure what sort of response I'm expecting here; maybe I just needed to vent. Thanks for listening.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23482651

Points: 1

# Comments: 0

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "Ask HN: It's impossible to stop someone from downloading a stream, correct?"

DATACOMMANDER — Thu, 05 Mar 2020 19:08:15 +0000

>Much of the streaming work is "security by obscurity" -- the systems only provide security because the end user either: 1) lacks the technical knowledge to save the data or 2) lacks the desire to do so (presuming they do possess the technical knowledge)

That's what I thought. I do think that a streaming video provider can provide added value, especially for live streams--e.g., by providing adaptive bit rates--but the terminology itself has a strong "wishful thinking from the business side" smell to it.

Ask HN: It's impossible to stop someone from downloading a stream, correct?

DATACOMMANDER — Thu, 05 Mar 2020 18:54:58 +0000

I just want to make sure I'm not missing something. By "[download] a stream" I obviously mean "save video that you're streaming to permanent storage". I'm doing an interview project that involves working with a "streaming as a service" (terminology?) provider, so I thought I'd go to PBS's website and download some video to use in the project. I found that all of the video there is only available to "stream", and in fact uses a video player and "streaming as a service" provider that's in the same space as the company I'm interviewing for. Five seconds on google revealed a "PBS video downloader", which I assume just locates the video segments in the browser's temp folder, stitches them back together, and saves them to a location that won't be cleared on reboot.

My question is basically, "That basic procedure can always be performed and there's nothing that can be done to prevent it, right?" Isn't the distinction between "streaming" and "downloading" ultimately just about how the video data is delivered? The server is incapable of ensuring that the client doesn't save it to permanent storage, and a "cooperative" client can always be modified by the person who controls it to save the data, assuming it's physically connected to a storage medium.

Am I missing something fundamental that allows there to be a hard distinction between streaming and downloading?

NB: I don't have any moral qualms with providing streaming video, I just think that the business folks wish that there were a technical distinction that, AFAICT, does not exist.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22496751

Points: 6

# Comments: 7

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "The 'Race to 5G' Is Lobbyist Nonsense"

DATACOMMANDER — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 22:44:48 +0000

I only watch TV for sporting events. In my area, there’s currently a legal battle going on between the “regional sports network” that has negotiated broadcasting rights with certain major teams and Comcast, to whom the RSN sells the programming. Comcast declined to renew their contract, so games played by those teams are blacked out for Comcast customers. The RSN is arguing that Comcast has a monopsony on the purchase of programming from RSNs, and that their goal is to replace them with a subsidiary of their own. The original complaint and Comcast’s quick motion to dismiss show, if nothing else, that the RSN is legally out-gunned. It’s possible that 5G could provide an economically viable alternative distribution method—i.e., “over the top”—for the RSN.

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "How Artists on Twitter Tricked T-Shirt Stores to Admit Their Automated Art Theft"

DATACOMMANDER — Tue, 24 Dec 2019 07:11:35 +0000

It isn’t though. If you download someone’s work for your own enjoyment, you can plausibly argue that if you’d had to pay, you wouldn’t have been interested, so there’s no money that you’re taking from them. When you illegally sell someone’s work, there is necessarily money that should go to the artist but doesn’t.

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "How Artists on Twitter Tricked T-Shirt Stores to Admit Their Automated Art Theft"

DATACOMMANDER — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 20:20:43 +0000

No, it’s really not.

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "How Artists on Twitter Tricked T-Shirt Stores to Admit Their Automated Art Theft"

DATACOMMANDER — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 17:37:28 +0000

Selling copies of an artist’s work without their consent is categorically different from making copies for your own personal enjoyment.

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "How Artists on Twitter Tricked T-Shirt Stores to Admit Their Automated Art Theft"

DATACOMMANDER — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 03:20:14 +0000

“ For me, this all raises two questions:

Who’s responsible for this infringement?”

Both the company that wrote the algorithm that submitted the request and the company that responded by creating a listing.

“What responsibility do print-on-demand providers have to prevent infringement on their platforms?”

All of it. The company that submitted the request also has all of the responsibility. It doesn’t have to be split between them. They are both 100% responsible.

(Disclaimer: IANAL)

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "Real-Life Telepathy is closer than you think"

DATACOMMANDER — Sun, 08 Dec 2019 02:33:34 +0000

This is a repost. They can transmit one bit (rotate or don’t rotate) with about 85% accuracy. That’s not nothing, but it’s not that much either.

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "Billionaires extract wealth rather than create it"

DATACOMMANDER — Sat, 07 Dec 2019 06:50:12 +0000

Also true. See, e.g., Breaking Bad ;)

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "Billionaires extract wealth rather than create it"

DATACOMMANDER — Sat, 07 Dec 2019 06:48:17 +0000

Okay.

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "Billionaires extract wealth rather than create it"

DATACOMMANDER — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 05:42:40 +0000

Actually, most fortunes go to zero within a few generations. The “1% squared”—the top 0.01%—is not a monolithic group of people. I’d wager that 90% of the 0.01% had grandparents who were not even part of the 1%.

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "Billionaires extract wealth rather than create it"

DATACOMMANDER — Fri, 06 Dec 2019 01:37:40 +0000

Real-estate speculation is basically rent-seeking, but inheritance is not. If someone amasses a fortune by creating wealth and leaves his assets to his offspring, they are not parasitic even if they never work. What matters is how the wealth was originally accumulated.

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "[dead]"

DATACOMMANDER — Sun, 01 Dec 2019 01:34:28 +0000

I used to have Georgist/geolibertarian sympathies, but my feelings now are pretty much the opposite (and no, I’m not a homeowner). In general, the rich do not create the poor. Moreover, communities have no obligation to make it easy for newcomers to overrun them.

Edit: Thanks for the downvote! Please remember to leave your shitty, entropic ideology when you flee the city you ruined.

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "Apocalyptic Claims About Climate Change Are Wrong"

DATACOMMANDER — Thu, 28 Nov 2019 08:23:53 +0000

...as opposed to Yuan, which is spent once and then immediately destroyed?

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "Apocalyptic Claims About Climate Change Are Wrong"

DATACOMMANDER — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 16:45:09 +0000

>That's kind of a childish argument to make - "why should we do it when x doesn't anyway? Hmph!"

Whoa there, settle down. That’s not the sentiment behind the argument.

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "Ask HN: Why do most sites still not track state well?"

DATACOMMANDER — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 15:40:37 +0000

Thanks for the great response. If I understand you, the problem is that this sort of state handling works at a low(ish?) level, and the frameworks that most people use nowadays didn’t prioritize it, so in order to do it properly you’d have to write custom code at a lower level of abstraction than most devs are comfortable with? Basically, it was handled poorly in libraries that are now universally used? Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Ask HN: Why do most sites still not track state well?

DATACOMMANDER — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 13:42:17 +0000

I have a bit of frontend experience and a general understanding of how backends work, but I guess the "glue" layer between them must be more difficult than I think. Why is it that when I need to reset a password, or log in or out, the site that I'm interacting with is unable to handle even basic state? I'm not blocking cookies, so it can't be that.

Can't the page/endpoint that I left in order to reset my password be encoded into the password-reset URL, so that after my password has been reset I'm brought back to where I was?

Password resets aren't the only manifestation of this, but they're the most obvious.

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21647712

Points: 1

# Comments: 2

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "1M Women to Tech"

DATACOMMANDER — Mon, 25 Nov 2019 16:55:45 +0000

The lack of women in tech has never been caused by discrimination. Even if there’s been some discrimination, spending time and energy trying to increase the participation of demographic X in field Y is something I have a hard time understanding. It’s already been made abundantly clear in the West for at least a generation that if you want to pursue something constructive, you will receive welcome and support, regardless of your background. In my professional experience, I’ve never encountered even a whiff of anti-woman or anti-minority sentiment. I’ve worked at tech companies of various types and sizes occupying various niches, and the atmosphere has been unfailingly open and tolerant. I’ve spoken with colleagues who had no reason to hide their true feelings, and none of them has ever expressed a sexist or racist opinion.

I’ve read several ridiculous articles lamenting the obstacles that, supposedly, only women and minorities face when trying to get into computer programming. Sorry, but the only things stopping anyone who doesn’t live in abject poverty from becoming a coder are (a) lack of interest, (b) lack of persistence, and/or (c) lack of aptitude, in that order.

New comment by DATACOMMANDER in "Somebody had to do this. Let's actively avoid the delusional masses"

DATACOMMANDER — Fri, 22 Nov 2019 21:40:19 +0000

I didn’t say that I consider you part of the idiotic masses. I said that I hold that opinion if you’re part of the “woke” crowd. I don’t pretend that all idiocy comes from the left, but what does come predominantly from the left is the suggestion that anyone who doesn’t adhere to a rigid (yet tenuous!) ideology-be it feminism or Marxism or intersectionalism-is not only wrong, but hopelessly stupid or malicious or both.