Hacker News: facepalm

Data Firm Says ‘Secret Sauce’ Aided Trump; Many Scoff

facepalm — Tue, 07 Mar 2017 14:58:14 +0000

Article URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/us/politics/cambridge-analytica.html?smid=tw-share

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13810752

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

New comment by facepalm in "I've been a software engineer for 10 years and I can't do interview questions"

facepalm — Mon, 06 Mar 2017 18:11:27 +0000

I must admit I can not really relate. What about somebody who can not FizzBuzz, but claims they can code? Most whiteboard interviews I had were not much harder than FizzBuzz. I was asked to implement Quicksort once, but they gave me the specification, some time and a sheet of paper.

Why would somebody for whom it is easy consider to hire somebody who can not do a seemingly simple thing?

I can understand if somebody has anxiety issues. Then maybe you can negotiate something else, homework project or coding on site for 30 minutes. But odds are you'll discuss stuff with your colleagues on a whiteboard, too.

New comment by facepalm in "When Factory Jobs Vanish, Men Become Less Desirable Partners"

facepalm — Sun, 05 Mar 2017 13:27:11 +0000

What are the options for men who want to have a family/live with their children?

I guess men who just want to have sex might benefit, because they can just sleep with women and then leave, and society takes care of the single moms. Likewise, women can have more sex with varying partners.

The downside is not having a family or having a stressful family life (as a single mom).

And for the absent dads, the state will try to get the money back from them, so their outlook isn't pretty. They'll bend up being poor and lonely.

New comment by facepalm in "When Factory Jobs Vanish, Men Become Less Desirable Partners"

facepalm — Sun, 05 Mar 2017 13:24:00 +0000

You think it is men deciding not to marry, as in "no thanks, I'd rather be alone and unemployed than change diapers"?

The article said it is women making the decision.

New comment by facepalm in "Uber’s vice president of product and growth Ed Baker has resigned"

facepalm — Sat, 04 Mar 2017 11:48:01 +0000

People fall in love with colleagues all the time.

New comment by facepalm in "Engineer says Uber hired firm to investigate her"

facepalm — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 11:04:14 +0000

I'm not saying she is wrong, just asking why is it wrong to investigate her claims?

Although the numbers you cite are not really evidence of a problem imo - there could be any number of reasons. Assuming sexism is the only explanation is heavily biased.

New comment by facepalm in "Snap Jumps in Debut After App Maker Raises $3.4B in IPO"

facepalm — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 10:45:44 +0000

Is Snapchat strictly for entertainment, or is it also a way to stay up to date by following Tech influencers (like Twitter)?

New comment by facepalm in "Frustrated Snap Social Influencers Leaving for Rival Platforms"

facepalm — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 10:39:12 +0000

people are scared and want to follow others so they don't have to decide everything for themselves. Humans are pack animals.

New comment by facepalm in "Jennifer Widom Named Dean of Stanford School of Engineering"

facepalm — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 10:34:03 +0000

I really enjoyed the AI class by Thrun and Norvig. Nothing against Databases (I didn't take it), but AI class was fine - great, actually.

New comment by facepalm in "Engineer says Uber hired firm to investigate her"

facepalm — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 10:30:49 +0000

Why is this wrong - or is it? Seems like a pretty normal reaction to being attacked? Is it wrong because a woman's statements always have to be believed?

New comment by facepalm in "YouTube TV"

facepalm — Wed, 01 Mar 2017 09:07:57 +0000

Why would anybody pay 35$ for crappy TV if Netflix is only 10$?

New comment by facepalm in "Trump Concedes Health Law Overhaul Is ‘Unbelievably Complex’"

facepalm — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 21:42:37 +0000

Or maybe it is/was obvious that there are certain flaws in the US health care system and Obamacare that definitely have a better solution. There are other health care systems in the world, so it is obvious that Obamacare is not the only possible way to do it.

New comment by facepalm in "The Privacy Revolution that never came"

facepalm — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 21:39:23 +0000

I thought it was meant in another way, that the article blames lazy developers for not providing good privacy solutions. Of course certain developers implemented Facebook and whatnot, and are therefore to blame. But "developers" in general can not influence how big companies handle people's data. I can not change how Facebook or Google work, at least not without some genius idea (which may not exist).

New comment by facepalm in "Programmers are confessing their sins to protest a broken job interview process"

facepalm — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 21:36:22 +0000

"how would you distill an unwieldy set of options into a concise API?"

I'd rather implement Bubble Sort, tbh...

New comment by facepalm in "Programmers are confessing their sins to protest a broken job interview process"

facepalm — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 21:33:51 +0000

Somehow I still don't buy that dhh would fail to implement Bubble Sort.

New comment by facepalm in "Trump Concedes Health Law Overhaul Is ‘Unbelievably Complex’"

facepalm — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 21:32:33 +0000

I remember the complaints that he wasn't proposing something specific before the election. So actually I don't think most people are aware that it is complicated. Otherwise they wouldn't have expected a simple solution.

New comment by facepalm in "The Privacy Revolution that never came"

facepalm — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 15:53:22 +0000

But how can you change the situation, if consumers don't care enough to educate themselves? A government decree wouldn't help in this case, as governments can't be trusted with protecting privacy.

New comment by facepalm in "The Privacy Revolution that never came"

facepalm — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 15:18:28 +0000

There seem to be many privacy solutions, but little adoption. Sorry, but I have to blame the consumers, not developers. I am actually amazed at how much manpower is being poured into doomed privacy projects. Like how many encrypted messenger apps are there, that never stand a chance against WhatsApp and Facebook?

New comment by facepalm in "Raspberry Pi Zero W, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, priced at $10"

facepalm — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 12:59:58 +0000

Why is it not an issues, the dosage is too low? Afaik lead enters through the skin, too - washing hands after soldering sufficient?

New comment by facepalm in "Raspberry Pi Zero W, with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, priced at $10"

facepalm — Tue, 28 Feb 2017 11:21:32 +0000

How do you avoid it with lead solder? Common soldering tutorials don't mention the issue.