Hacker News: ctrager

New comment by ctrager in "Hertz paid Accenture $32M for a website that never went live (2019)"

ctrager — Sun, 24 Jul 2022 12:42:17 +0000

I dunno. I myself was pretty clueless about PCs at that time. I owned a Kaypro from the early 1980s that ran CP/M, but I never touched a PC running Windows (or even just DOS) until 1994. They weren't part of the centralized IT departments I worked in. They WERE part of a sorta grass roots revolt by the user departments, setting up their own Lotus spreadsheets, whatever, as a way of bypassing the slow bureaucratic centralized IT departments.

New comment by ctrager in "Hertz paid Accenture $32M for a website that never went live (2019)"

ctrager — Sun, 24 Jul 2022 12:29:26 +0000

I don't know. I speculate: So, like, the consulting company has to sell... something. They develop a... what was it called...a system development life cycle methodology? Maybe partly sincere, maybe partly bullshit, I dunno. I remember it visually as a shelf of several manuals. I imagine top AA partners selling to the top execs. Then everybody down the hierarchy doing what they've been told to do, being, not evil, but just respectful of the hierarchy. Also, many of those AA people only knowing the AA way, not having the experience, the confidence to be sure that the AA way was insane. Also, the way AA worked then "Up or Out", you are always competing with your peers. Not good for your career to rock the boat, to attack the methodology that the top partners had sold UAL.

And I don't think there was much that we as UAL employees could do. The fact that upper UAL management brought in AA to lead the project, to me, that means they were already dismissive of their in-house people and seduced by the outside people. Later in my career I experienced both sides of this a few times.

I only worked on the project 14 months. During that time the top AA partner in charge quit AA. Then the replacement quit AA, and maybe another. Maybe even they knew. I think a lot of people knew it was insane, but not able to change things as individuals.

New comment by ctrager in "Hertz paid Accenture $32M for a website that never went live (2019)"

ctrager — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 15:33:01 +0000

If I had just written the program directly, I could have TYPED, and I could have used the backspace and delete keys to erase instead of an ACTUAL eraser, and I could have used cut and paste instead of ACTUAL scissors and paste.

Plus, I could have used the compile, test, debug cycle to verify that what I was writing actually worked.

My specs were the same complexity as the code: Let's pretend, for example, there were no "sort" statement in the computer language. My spec couldn't just say, "sort the names in alphabetical order". My spec had to have the exact logic of a sort algorithm, but drawn as a flowchart (actually, not a flowchart but an AA proprietary format)

I didn't have to do "sort", but I did have to code algorithms that were more complex than that.

BTW, to make it more fun, there were rules about who was allowed to talk to whom. I was not allowed to talk to the programmer who had to retype my spec into actual code. I didn't even know who he/she was. And the programmer wasn't allowed to talk to me directly, but had to go up a chain.

New comment by ctrager in "Hertz paid Accenture $32M for a website that never went live (2019)"

ctrager — Fri, 22 Jul 2022 15:17:39 +0000

Hmmm, what am I trying to say... I guess... as I think about it now, the lines of communication were very hierarchical - up and down the chain. But when it was time for me, a tech guy at the bottom, to talk to a user on the front lines, the disconnect was hilarious to me - but maybe you had to be there... I feel like I'm a boring old man telling this story.

New comment by ctrager in "Hertz paid Accenture $32M for a website that never went live (2019)"

ctrager — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 22:59:40 +0000

Another golden memory of that project was when I was given the assignment to meet with users - accounting people - on screens for approving tax payments. It was kinda a big deal for me at that stage in my career, to even talk to users. So, I meet with these guys and I introduce the topic, and they go, "What are you talking about? What do you mean 'approving'? They are taxes. We HAVE to pay them"

New comment by ctrager in "Hertz paid Accenture $32M for a website that never went live (2019)"

ctrager — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 22:56:08 +0000

LOL and true to my experience. In the 80's was a United Airlines employee on a project where Arthur Anderson (aka Accenture) was the consultant. The project included approximately 75 entry level AA programmers that were brought to the office on two big buses. My job was to write specs for them. The specs had to be 100% detailed, every "if", every "loop", except that I had to follow the AA methodology and write the entire program basically in flowchart form. Pencil and paper. The spec was a looseleaf notebook of diagrams. The spec would then be stored in a box, like, the kind you would use for moving, and the boxes put into a storage room. If I needed to change a spec, an AA employee would have to climb the piles of boxes to find my box, and then I would use actual scissors, actual glue, to make the change.

It. Was. Insane.

New comment by ctrager in "Microsoft buys Xandr, AT&T’s advanced advertising business"

ctrager — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 19:20:26 +0000

I use Linux Mint. I don't think there's much if anything that makes Linux mint harder for a non-tech user. I think it's already the better option.

But for non-tech users, I think buying a device with one OS and then wiping it to install a different OS is scary. Or doing anything that sounds risky to their daily laptop. So, where is the non-scary option for them to start with Linux? The laptops with Linux pre-installed, they aren't well known (or cheap).

Does a Chromebook count as desktop linux?

New comment by ctrager in "Microsoft buys Xandr, AT&T’s advanced advertising business"

ctrager — Wed, 29 Dec 2021 19:08:51 +0000

I'm a retired software developer. I have my computer and my non-techie wife's computer running Linux Mint. For me, doing some hobby coding, yes, I paste some incantations, but for her, I don't have to do anything. A clean install just works fine as is.

New comment by ctrager in "Why copper-bearing rocks here, but not there?"

ctrager — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 19:41:52 +0000

I recently did a backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon that included Horseshoe Mesa. There are old copper mines there, and beautiful green and blue copper-bearing rocks visible. I asked (in a facebook forum), why just in that one place and not other places in the Grand Canyon, given how the rock layers in the Grand Canyon tend to repeat themselves for miles and miles. The url is what somebody posted as the answer. It was so satifying to have a question and have it be so thoroughly answered.

Why copper-bearing rocks here, but not there?

ctrager — Thu, 25 Nov 2021 19:41:52 +0000

Article URL: https://www.nps.gov/para/learn/nature/breccia-pipe-mining-on-the-arizona-strip-and-in-the-grand-canyon.htm

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29344307

Points: 30

# Comments: 3

New comment by ctrager in "Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?"

ctrager — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 23:52:11 +0000

My most typical weight on the Sierra portion of the PCT, with a typical amount of water, food, was about 30 lbs. That includes warm clothes, tent, bear canister, microspikes (but no ice axe). And my luxuries: Crocs, Kindle, inflatable pillow. No stove.

But where I started (mile 652, Walker Pass) was hot with no sure water until 30 miles in, so for that stretch I started with 13 liters of water, my total weight about 45 pounds.

On a 5-day, 4-night trip I'll bring 4-5 pounds of food. I'm getting better at not carrying more water than I need. If I have to go 10 miles to the next water, I'll drink up and carry 3 liters.

New comment by ctrager in "Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?"

ctrager — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 20:19:16 +0000

I do get that when there are too many people the experience is different. I do get that being in the wilderness with, like, earbuds in your ears is different than listening to the sounds of nature. I do get that being off trail can be different than on a trail. I do get that navigating with a map and compass can be different and fun versus using a GPS app on your phone.

But I wouldn't say, "to really experience the wilderness you have to....".

Instead I would repeat the maxim, "Hike Your Own Hike".

New comment by ctrager in "Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?"

ctrager — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 16:25:27 +0000

My hiking boots were good for about 400 miles. Now I use trail runners and I don't trust them after 200 miles - the souls get too smooth. Their combined 14,000 miles divided by 26 means they were getting 540 miles out of each pair.

New comment by ctrager in "Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?"

ctrager — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 16:18:22 +0000

Maybe, but I think the game ender for older hikers is knee or back trouble. Is that from too little or too much activity? Or just the genetic lottery?

New comment by ctrager in "Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?"

ctrager — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 16:16:25 +0000

I'm 65, retired. I'm more physically prepared now than when I was younger and busy with work and kids. I have time and money now. I see plenty of other backpackers in their mid 60s, but hardly any backpackers in their 70s. I've been doing a lot of backpacking in recent years because I know my time is running out.

I just got back from 11 days hiking in the Grand Canyon. My left knee hurts, so maybe time is running out...

New comment by ctrager in "Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?"

ctrager — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 14:44:59 +0000

"but that's understandable" - Except it's the opposite of the USA. No right to camp on private land, but usually allowed on public land. There are a lot of different types of public land in the USA. Not just National Parks, but also National Forest ("forest", a misnomer, because that can include treeless mountain areas, deserts), BLM land. For most National Forst and BLM land, camp anywhere. For National Parks, some places you have to camp in designated campgrounds, but many huge areas where the rule is camp anywhere.

I'm saying, the management of public land in the USA is DIFFERENT. Even different than Canada.

New comment by ctrager in "Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?"

ctrager — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 14:32:42 +0000

There's where you can WALK and where you can CAMP. I'm talking about where you can CAMP. The only countries in Western Europe where there's a lot of freedom to camp are Scotland, Norway, and Sweden.

In the Alps, where there is the most dramatic scenario, in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, there aren't a lot of areas where you can just pick a spot and camp there.

You don't need a permit to stay in a hut/refuge, but you usually need a reservation, which is sorta the same thing, a limit to the number of overnight visitors. Effectively a permit.

There are very very very few places in the USA where you need a permit to just hike for the day. Places where they are required are either very vulnerable like "The Wave" in Utah or dangerous when overcrowded like Angels Landing in Zion.

New comment by ctrager in "Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?"

ctrager — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 14:02:55 +0000

I did a section of the PCT. Too early in the year? Too much snow. But if you go later in the year the melting snow makes the streams too high and fast and dangerous - people drown. But if you go later in the year the mosquitoes will drive you insane. But if you go later in the year, that's when things dry out the fires will drive you off the trail...

Pick your poison.

New comment by ctrager in "Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?"

ctrager — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 13:58:58 +0000

Yes, I should make it clear that the freedom on the PCT, in the Sierra, is limited to people who have a permit. You can't just show up and camp overnight; you need to get a permit in advance and the quantity of permits is limited to protect the area and the experience.

I don't know the White Mountains but here's a place that I've been that is going to start requiring permits: https://aspenjournalism.org/maroon-bells-snowmass-wilderness.... I was there in 2018. I remember hiking out on a Friday, about a two hour hike, and passing maybe 150 backpackers hiking in to camp overnight during those two hours.

New comment by ctrager in "Hiking America’s three longest trails in less than a year. What could go wrong?"

ctrager — Sat, 20 Nov 2021 13:50:15 +0000

There's some irony here, no, that a trail RUNNER is saying that the OTHER guy is going to fast to smell the roses. That's what I - I'm a trail lumberer - think when the trail runners zip by.