How Future Bitcoin Can Prevent a Future Greece - <AUTHOR> http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-future-bitcoin-can-prevent-a-future-greece-1436744064

<comment><USER2> As if the powers that be don't want such things. LOL.</comment>


Huge GSM flaw allows hackers to listen in on voice calls - <AUTHOR> http://www.neowin.net/news/main/09/08/25/huge-gsm-flaw-allows-hackers-to-listen-in-on-voice-calls

<comment><USER2> Instead of this sensationalized neowin article, link to the actual guts of this [https://har2009.org/program/attachments/119_GSM.A51.Cracking...](https://har2009.org/program/attachments/119_GSM.A51.Cracking.Nohl.pdf)

</comment><comment><USER3> Karsten works with Chris Paget at H4RDW4RE, a consulting firm they started to focus on hardware security. While all the high-end pentest firms will do hardware, only a couple have a practice focus in hardware; they compete with Nate Lawson's Root Labs and after that there's pretty much just Paul Kocher's Cryptography Research. These guys are going to have a blast.

A direct link to the presentation:

[http://www.scribd.com/doc/18668509/HAR2009-Cracking-A5-GSM-E...](http://www.scribd.com/doc/18668509/HAR2009-Cracking-A5-GSM- Encryption)

The long and the short of it, they're going to take the academic result that you can precompute A5 and use a GPU cluster to build a rainbow table cracking implementation.

This result is a couple steps away from apocolyptic, but not all the way there:

* They haven't subverted GSM base stations (this is going to turn out to be doable, though). They can't pick a phone at random.

* They aren't publishing the GNU Radio code to sniff GSM. There are several free GSM projects, but putting the pieces together still requires talent, unlike wifi cracking.

* Regardless of whether these attacks are ever used in the wild, this will probably have a big effect on financial security, where GSM is used as a safe out-of-band authentication mechanism.

<comment><USER4> I have first-hand knowledge that this exploit is currently in use in the Middle East and is purchasable from at least one American corporation. It must be assumed that intelligence agencies have had this capability for the entirety of the GSM deployment.

Base station security is a separate matter. Why do you think A5/1 influences that?

<comment><USER3> I don't. I'm saying, in the universe of things that could go wrong with commercial GSM deployments, this is not the worst likely thing.

If I remember right, even Applied Cryptography managed to call out A5 as bad.

<comment><USER4> Ah, yes. It is my understanding that there were governmental pressures to deploy a known-weak system.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Does anybody know what sort of card they're using for this?

<comment><USER6> I think it's the usrp, which is a USB device and not a card. I know that there have been a lot of people doing gsm hacking with them.

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Something I don't understand is why these sorts of hacks are always "preannounced" in advance of some conference or another. Inevitably, legal action is taken to shut down the presentation and keep the details from becoming public.

If you're going to announce a hack, announce the hack. If you're not, don't. Why go through the same song-and-dance every time?

<comment><USER2> This isn't a bragging announcement, more of a call to action/support by enthusiast community to help the project by providing computational power to build the rainbow tables. (Read the linked slides, that should have been the initial YC submission instead of this sensationalized neowin article [https://har2009.org/program/attachments/119_GSM.A51.Cracking...](https://har2009.org/program/attachments/119_GSM.A51.Cracking.Nohl.pdf) )

My Sideproject++ gotta do something with all these EC2 nodes laying around.</comment></comment>


Philosophy of Software - <AUTHOR> What's the point? And where do we decide the threshold between meaningful and meaningless lies? <comment><USER2> Honestly it's in the eyes of the beholder; there is no meaning to any of it except that which we assign. What I believe strongly in may seem meaningless to you. I realize this is probably an annoying answer so here's a comic that capture's how I feel:

[https://zenpencils.com/comic/148-stanley-kubrick-answers- a-q...](https://zenpencils.com/comic/148-stanley-kubrick-answers-a-question/)

<comment><AUTHOR> Thank you very much for sharing that comic.</comment></comment>


Binding Redirects - <AUTHOR> https://nickcraver.com/blog/2020/02/11/binding-redirects/ <comment><USER2> It really pains me to see the direction software engineering is going with things like this... projects evolving rapidly is nice, but pretty much nothing has any measure of API stability anymore. And whole ecosystems are built around this.

And I'm not even sure there's a better way to go about this... "faster" projects win against more "stable" ones since they're easier to get new features and utility on...</comment>


Incredible SteamPunk Loft Apartment in NYC - <AUTHOR> http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904006104576504800438864370.html

<comment><USER2> "Incredible" isn't the first word to come to mind...</comment>


Evan Doorbell's Telephone Tapes - <AUTHOR> http://www.evan-doorbell.com/production <comment><AUTHOR> This is the personal site of Evan Doorbell, who was one of the big phone phreaks in the 70's along with people like Mark Bernay. He recorded all the old telephone sounds and put them into different series where he explains how the old telephone system worked.

His "How Bell Became a Phreaker" tapes are where I first encountered the genre of "Hacker stories that start at the beginning." and it's still one of my favorites even though it's incomplete.[0]

Some notable tapes in this collection:

How Evan Doorbell became a Phone Phreak, parts 1 through 6 (Incomplete)

Phreaks from Esquire article on "052" conference, parts 1 and 2 (January, 1972) [ _The Secrets of The Little Blue Box_ esquire article[1]]

MF Boogie numbers one and two (Music made from phone tones, actually composed on an electronic organ during a conference call with NPR reporters. [2])

[0]: [https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8452591](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8452591)

[1]: [http://explodingthephone.com/hoppdocs/rosenbaum1971.pdf](http://explodingthephone.com/hoppdocs/rosenbaum1971.pdf)

[2]: Lapsley, Phil. _Exploding the Phone, The Untold Story of The Teenagers and Outlaws Who Hacked Ma Bell_. New York: Grove Press, 2013. 230.

<comment><USER2> Any other recommendations in the genre of "Hacker stories that start at the beginning"?

<comment><USER3> Clifford Stoll's _The Cuckoo 's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage_ [http://www.amazon.com/The-Cuckoos-Egg-Tracking- Espionage/dp/...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Cuckoos-Egg-Tracking- Espionage/dp/1416507787)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> If you're building fault-tolerant systems, understanding how #5 Crossbar worked is still worthwhile. That was the peak of electromechanical telephony, and understanding how it dealt with faults is valuable. There are multiple resources available for almost everything - originating registers (which receive dial pulses), senders (which forward call info to other exchanges), markers (the brains of the system, with two self-checking halves), and specialized resources such as trouble recorders and billing punches. As a call progresses, resources are "seized" for a short period, then released. Resource seizure normally rotates through the resource or is random, for load balancing.

If something goes wrong, there's one retry, with different resources than the first time around. Then the call is abandoned. If the failure rate is 1% per attempt (remember, this is all done with electromechanical relays), the failure rate on two tries is 0.01%. Retry after two failures probably has a cause other than a transient error, and results in seizure of a trouble recorder, which dumps the state of the call into a specialized punched card.

In the entire history of the Bell System, no electromechanical exchange was ever down for more than 30 minutes for any reason other than a natural disaster. This record was not maintained in the computer era.

</comment><comment><USER5> Wow. I'm completely floored at how deep this person got into the world of phones. I was also obsessed with phones for a while, and consider my ears my favored input channel, but I didn't take 10 steps to this guy's marathon. Memorizing tons of specific rings and dialtones, recognizing weird audio quirks of specific switches, etc. This is amazing. No matter what you study, there always seems to be as much detail as you have the time and energy to appreciate.

</comment><comment><USER6> This guy has a beautiful speaking voice. I'm sure it didn't hurt when it came to social engineering his way around the phone network.

</comment><comment><USER7> Here is an even more extensive set of recordings:

[http://www.wideweb.com/phonetrips/](http://www.wideweb.com/phonetrips/)

</comment><comment><USER8> He's got a great voice, and explains it very well. The large repository of clips, finished or not, is very impressive.

</comment><comment><USER9> I enjoyed the Z ZZ ZZZ dial a joke line one. Thanks for posting.</comment>


California startup lets you finance your rent with high-interest loans - <AUTHOR> https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/01/29/go-into-debt-to-pay-rent-startup-pays-your-rent-with-high-interest-loans/ <comment><USER2> That there is a market for this suggests the value of creating a postal banking system.

</comment><comment><USER3> Isn't this how 2008 happened? Needing to have cash for a security deposit or down payment is a gate designed to reduce risk. Allowing people to take out these loans introduces risks for the landlords. If this catches on landlords are going to start having to do multiple credit checks, once when you apply and another on the day you sign or very close to it, just like they do for mortgages.

</comment><comment><USER4> Every huckster maintains they have their mark's best interests at heart. Some may even believe it. That doesn't make these any less predatory.

<comment><USER5> between payday loans and missing rent i sincerely believe people deserve to miss rent. /s

i don't think there is a way of avoiding this situation short of some kind of wealth transfer program. certainly not within the reach of a for-profit or a self-sustaining zero-profit enterprise.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> If you think this is predatory, what about the even higher late fees imposed by landlords?

27 percent sounds like a lot but it is about 2 percent per month. On a $1000 rent, that's $20. Late fees are much higher than that.</comment>


Ask HN: How do I get my first contracting client? - <AUTHOR> I want to do some contracting the next few months but I'll be honest, I have no idea how to go about starting. How do people find their first client? <comment><USER4> Hmmm - I read in one of your comments that you're just graduating. Does that mean you haven't done any industry coding work? If so, I'm not sure that it's a great idea to jump straight into contracting.

You learn a lot in the first year or two on a job. Looking at it from a hiring position I would never take on an inexperienced dev on a contract (no offence, you may be great). Junior positions are like an apprenticeship; you know you're sinking time into someone but are hoping that over time they'll start providing value. Contractors are generally expected to have experience and, accordingly, they cost more.

If you've spent a bit of time at a job (2 years is a fairly normal time to leave) there are a couple of tricks you could try that worked for me.

A) Tell them you're leaving but you're available for contract work. You're a known quantity, you know their systems/products and can work efficiently when they need the extra resources. They will send you work (and some will just take you back on a contract straight away - that's how I started contracting).

B) If you've worked at an agency, ask to take some of their clients. It might sound insane, but every agency has clients they don't really want. Small clients that have been around for a while that they still need to service. That work is just unprofitable noise as an agency grows bigger. As a one-man- band it's perfect. The client is used to paying agency rates and with you they get personal service from the person who was doing their dev work anyway. I have clients from this arrangement that have been amazing.

Hope that helps in some small way.

<comment><USER5> "... accordingly, they cost more." I disagree with this. Contractors pay a significant price by leaving a full time job. No benefits, no company sponsored talks,training, no paid time off. The extra buck you make contracting is not extra.

<comment><USER6> For people who have problems with innumeracy (and lacking a tax advisor's phone number, I guess) this can be a real problem. For the rest of us, it's not that hard to figure out what those things cost, add it to how much you want to make, and then divide by 2000 to figure out an hourly rate.

The real price of contracting isn't the loss of benefits, but the increased burden of providing those things for yourself (if they were that important to you in the first place). The real reward is: freedom. You can provide any/all/none of those things for yourself as you see fit.

All presuming you have work, of course ;-)

<comment><USER7> I'm not a contractor, but wouldn't dividing by 2000 be a bit excessive? That would be 40 hours x 50 weeks, and everything I've read about contracting implies that you cannot bank on having constant work like that.

<comment><USER8> I've been contracting since 1997 and I haven't had a single day without employment. Except when I've chosen to have a holiday.

My secret has been to do such a good job that the client finds me indispensable and then leave on my terms, always with another gig lined up. Sometimes I've had to stay with clients for many months when I'd rather move on. Once I was working for a client that had a smell like they were going broke so I had to ruthlessly extract myself before my contract was due to expire, but that proved to be a good decision as a few months later nobody was being paid and were suddenly out of work.

I worked in a permanent role for 6 years before contracting, and I doubt it would be a good idea to do it with no experience. My first contract was acquired through an agency, and probably 50% of my work is through an agency, the rest is word of mouth and doing more work for former clients.

<comment><USER9> What's the agency? How does it work?

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> If I had to put it in one phrase: work on making your fame preceed you

Make some of your work public, have your blog

Network between people, assuming you are in the us, make yourself member of the chamber of commerce of your area, participate not only in tech forums, but in business forums too.

Be nice, be competent, be helpful, all this publically.

Clients are a side effect of this

</comment><comment><USER11> You already got the hard part done: Getting on the front page of HN. Now hurry and add more details about yourself in this thread and/or in your profile. There's a good chance someone reading this could use your help; help them get in touch with you.

(One of my first contracts came as a result of an HN thread, and because I have my contact info in my profile.)

<comment><AUTHOR> As much as I think it's a good idea, I try my best to not be that "self advertising guy".

I mean, I would never just post this link to my CV to get everyone to look at it: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byk8zRX0L3yPYzMtQW1oMDBTcms...](https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byk8zRX0L3yPYzMtQW1oMDBTcms/view?usp=sharing)

<comment><USER12> One more note - I'm guessing that 2.1 is 2:1, as in "second-class honours, upper division", right? ([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_undergraduate_degree_cl...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_undergraduate_degree_classification)) But to an American reader, it looks like a GPA (grade point average), which are out of 4 - a 2.1 GPA would not be something you want to advertise. Might want to clarify that, if you're going to be looking for remote work.

<comment><USER13> I agree with this, I initially thought that was his "expected GPA at graduation" which is what many soon-to-be graduates put on their resume. I'd change this if you're trying to contract for anyone in the US.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER14> Build something that looks nice so you can show people. Use a good theme or pay a designer. It's more important that it looks nice than that it works well.

Then start going to networking events for entrepreneurs and meet people - <USER2> will get quite a few offers, mostly crappy, to build the next Facebook. Politely say no to these. Eventually, you'll find someone who needs something simple enough that you can deliver it and make him happy. Take this job even if the pay isn't so hot (but do get paid - a portion up front). Ideally, it would be a 6 week-ish project - enough to be significant, but not enough for you or your your client to get in over your heads.

Keep doing that until the referrals start to come in. Make sure every single client is happy - contracting is a referral business. If I had a dollar for every client who came to me because their developer flaked out, I wouldn't need work.

You can also do this at local small business groups (not the tech entrepreneurs, but the the plumbers, accountants, and store owners) - just go and start introducing yourself. You won't get any cool work like this - <USER3> just Wordpress sites - but it's easier work to come by, and can pay just as well if you're smart about it. This might even be a better way to start because you get more, smaller, clients who can start your referral network. More clients = more referrals.

</comment><comment><USER15> There are 2 ways to do it: 1) Cold call on the phone or in-person. I did this for 9 month back in the day before I got my first client. It was uncomfortable for me as a young man but necessary. 2) Steal them. You probably hear this in lore of people leaving a company and then working for that company as a consultant. Not exactly. What I did was tell those clients while I was working for the man that I could do the work as "extra" work. It worked also.

I know, I know, it's not ethical but there is a saying in China "the first pan of gold is dirty".

So end-the-end both methods worked for me. My clients came, some much later that I wanted but came. It took months and some worked in 2-year cycles and and would not use me again for 2 years but they'd come back.

Good luck to you.

It gets easier after the first few. They wind up referring you to new clients. That part is great.

</comment><comment><USER16> Suppose you wanted to moonlight as a chimney sweep, what steps might you take? Well there are two contexts.

1\. Any chimney might or might not need sweeping. Any random person might or might not have a chimney. This means that just telling the people you meet that you are available as a chimney sweep might result in work.

2\. There aren't chimneys in hobo camps. Wealthy people tend to hire trades workers. This means that efforts marketing should be targeted at people who hire chimney sweeps.

That's consulting. It's preparing the ground to increase the odds of being lucky enough to find a job and then being saavy enough to land it and capable enough to complete it. Then you're back at square one.

Developing a backlog of consulting work takes a really long time, a track record, and more luck. The image of "picking up" consulting gigs is not helpful. It's picks and hammers and salt mines and most of the veins you hit when you are lucky enough to hit one, run dry quickly. Any consultant who hits the mother load was lucky and probably built the mother load theirself.

The easiest way to get started in consulting is to work for another consultant. The industry is famous for hiring free-lance talent to balance work load. Which hits the final point: There is no planning to do consulting. Until the contract is signed there is no consulting to be done. Even after the contract is signed, there often is no consulting to be done, or less consulting than the contract might suggest or less payment than one might be entitled to.

There aren't people just standing around waiting to hire consultants. It's sales with the leads and prospects and closings and collections that come with that process.

Good luck.

</comment><comment><USER17> 0\. Spread time in coffee shops in tech areas, go to conferences snd events

1\. Talk to people, be nice, sincere, helpful and polite. Give and get contact info (cards or details). (But don't let them milk you for too many freebies, at some point you need to charge for your time. Be clear and upfront about what you're willing and not willing to give away. Beware the "friend" psuedoclient that wants to pick your brain at all hours, at random without golden-rule consideration.)

2\. Follow up and don't forget to follow up

</comment><comment><USER18> 1) Create 1 page CV, add extra pages for detailed work history.

2) Submit to jobsites knowing rates you should get.

3) Wait about 2 hours. Pick up phone.

\-- Agent will identify you are 'new' and will try and offer lower rates.

\-- Ensure Agent only submits CV to companies you agree.

4) Go to interviews

5) Accept job. Register company and bank account.

6) Accept agent is making money off you but pays you almost immediately.

7) Profit

If you are looking for more freelance work, then I suggest you attend various meetups and tech events and get your name out there. I would also strongly suggest you consider using elance to 'farm out' work that you could do yourself at a cheaper rate and then you can 'audit' the work. Never farm out work you could not have completed yourself. You will get let down. You will have to get your hands dirty.

<comment><USER19> It might work like that in the bay area, but in most cities and countries across the world it definitely does not.

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> Freelancing is a numbers game. If you're in a city with a good startup ecosystem go to all tech events you can find for two weeks and hand out business cards letting people know what you do. After that you'll have your first client. :)

Face to face connections are very strong and it worked really well for me.

</comment><comment><USER21> Back in the early 2000s I would just sit down in a coffee shop with a small laptop (about the size of a modern Air). Every other person would ask about it, so I'd mention how it well it ran visual studio (true); the conversation often turned to work.

These days I'd probably post on the freelancer HN page and look around on Craigslist... I actually ended up as a subcontractor to NASA writing code to contribute to an Eclipse project via Craigslist last year (YMMV).

</comment><comment><USER22> I'm guessing you mean freelancing; why don't you give a little more detail on exactly what you can do? I suspect generalized advice will be less useful to you than specific advice.

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm graduating in CS so I've had a bit of experience across the board. I particularly want to do web development with Angular and Node. I've done internships and projects but I'd still need to do a fair bit of learning on the job.

<comment><USER23> I wouldn't suggest diving into contracting straight away then, if you can find a good perm job with a great team to learn from and mentor you would reap dividends in your future career. Then with a couple of years under your belt you'll be able to pick and work with much better clients and command better rates.

It's tempting to see the contracting rates and just think of the $$ but a lot of the time it'll be cleaning up awful codebases.

<comment><AUTHOR> I'm starting a job in September (in SF!), this is just so that I have a bit of money to do a cool tech project with my mini-moto. Thanks though!

Any idea what rate I can charge as a masters graduate?

<comment><USER24> Rates will vary depending on the technical abilities needed for the project, the client's budget as well as the contractor's experience, location, etc. In SF, going rates will be higher than the rates of someone in Iowa, however, I certainly wouldn't set a rate lower than $75 anywhere in the US, no matter how trivial the job is.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER25> Don't get stuck in a rut of trying to find work in the same ways all the time. Internet job boards are enticing because they are easy, but they are really low-value; it typically takes a lot of repeated effort to even get contacts out of them.

Networking in person--by attending meetups and conferences _in your potential customers ' market_ (don't waste your time on tech meetups if you're just looking for work)--is slower and emotionally harder, but has a much, much higher yield.

It takes effort either way. I personally like the in person approach. I feel I do better in person than on paper. People get to see my enthusiasm, whereas trying to write enthusiasm into things often comes off as just fake.

Go to where your customers are. My wife has given up advertising her sci-fi novel online. We now go to book fairs. Bam--pre-filtered group of customers looking to buy _now_. I don't advertise my services online anymore, I now stick to meeting people at conferences. Best set of contacts I got from a conference was one at which I had spoke on a discussion panel.

Spend the small amount of money on a booth. Setup a few demos of your work. It's a lot easier than you think, and it doesn't have to be perfect; some people like the "I'm just starting out and don't know much about these booth things yet" story.

I've never gotten anything but run-around and bad deals out of recruiters.

</comment><comment><USER26> Take a job, get some experience and perspective. While at that job, network with others, compare experiences and think about how you would do things and why that matters and what it's worth. As this happens, you will gain the insight you need to sell your contract services.

Then, job scenario permitting, take a contract. Complete it, and take another one, ideally at a better rate, or that is more challenging, or both!

 _Continue to network. If it were me, I would make sure sales people and that process is part of your network. Tech people often don 't enjoy sales, and that's perfectly understandable. Do it anyway. Do it because contractors / consultants do much better when they've got a good understanding of the sales process and the "science" behind it. When you approach sales in a technical way, identifying value, helping others to understand it and being able to ask them for the business means more frequent and better gigs. All of that reduces your risk and improves your income.

At some point, you will understand how you can make it on your own and then you can leave the job and go do that.

_...by "network", I mean meeting people and talking about stuff as well as using the Internet, blog, social media, etc... to establish your personal brand and value.

</comment><comment><USER27> If you don't mind being relatively poor you can go on upwork (odesk), find a few projects with some kind of spec or a particular technology they want, build 1-5 demos, and you will probably get a gig. Works for me. I am poor but I don't have to go put of the house ever if I don't want to, and there is always plenty of interesting work.

</comment><comment><USER28> We came to this point with different backgrounds (you, a recent graduate; me, 13 years of industry experience with a specific knowledge area that was in some demand), so take this with a grain of salt or two.

1\. Hustle. Network. Cold call. However you want to describe it. Reach out to your friends and acquaintances, tell them quickly and succinctly what you want to do.

2 (this should perhaps be 0). Pick something. You are young and can afford to pick the _wrong_ or _less optimal_ thing, but pick something you must: If you don't, no one will know what you do, no one will want you.

3\. When you talk to people, always get something. Best case, a job offer. Worst case, the phone number for someone they know who might have a job offer.

4\. Call, introduce yourself briefly, explain how you got their number, ask if you can meet face to face. If they say no, ask for someone else's phone number ("I understand, thanks for your time. Do you know of anyone else who might need this kind of work?" or words to that effect).

5\. Meet. Let people get to know you. Force nothing. Get comfortable with this stage, _it is key, vital, fundamental_ to freelancing, contracting.

6\. Always get something, a name, a number, another meeting. Bears repeating.

7\. As you do this, you will notice trends and patterns, subjects areas or people who come up again and again. Pay attention to this.

8\. Based on #7, your best informed guesses, and your gut, narrow that list of people or subjects down to 1 or 2.

9\. Roll the dice on those. Pursue them with your every waking moment.

A. When you have a job, spend part of looking for the next one - but temper your forwardness, your obviousness about this to the culture in which you work. Some will think nothing of this, find it perfectly normal; others will want discretion. Pay attention to this.

Alternatively, look at job ads, find one that interests you, start the interview process, and "hedge" as you get closer: "It's an interesting position, but I don't think it is what I am looking for long term. Would you consider hiring on a contract basis?"

ADDED: You are under no obligation to reveal everything. Be friendly, be collegial, but be professional. Get good at answering with non-specific sentences: "What are your career goals?" "Long term, my interests are in X, Y, and Z. Short term, I want to work independently to gain first hand business experience." Say it with conviction, that will close avenues of questioning. I write this because some will attempt to derail you, try to slot you into their boxes. You have to be firm but polite about staying on your own path.

<comment><USER29> Part II: do a very good job, which means taking the problem off their hands and solving it completely. Folks contract out work because its a thorn in their side; eliminate the thorn, without becoming one yourself.

Then, when they have another thorn, they'll think "That contractor worked great before; lets use them again". Raise your rate 10%. Repeat.

</comment></comment><comment><USER30> In the Netherlands there's a company that calls itself a "Maatschap" (The Future Group). It's a company that helps freelancers find work. Perhaps such companies exist in your country as well.

The "Maatschap" has several sales people that try to find jobs. Jobs are then proposed to "Maten" (freelancers working for the "Maatschap") and the can choose to take the job or not. Of course, the freelancer will pay a certain percentage of his wage to "The Maatschap".

Then there are companies like ComputerFutures and Qualogy that provide more or less the same options and I think both companies operate internationally. I've been placed at my current job through ComputerFutures, while still being a freelancer.

</comment><comment><USER31> Put yourself out there, I got my first contract by mentioning my line of study to clients from my ski instructor job. Then, after befriending the school counsellor, i got the contract I'm on now because he reffered me to a friend of his in a local startup.

</comment><comment><USER32> Which country you in? If it's in the UK, you can pretty much just apply for jobs online. That said, the clients generally want short notice periods.

<comment><USER33> Where online? Do you use any particular freelance marketplaces, or cold contact companies from their websites, or something else entirely?

<comment> UK-AL Normal job sites advertise for Contractors. Many job adverts will explicitly state Contracter.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER34> I can't believe no one has mentioned LinkedIn yet. I have received virtually all my inbound contacts through my LinkedIn profile. Explicitely mention your new status ("consultant"/"freelancer" \+ your specialty) as your main activity and I can assure you you will get contract offers. They will not be the best in the world, but that will improve with time (and new connections).

</comment><comment><USER35> Hang out on the freenode freelancing channels.

I work in Magento. I hung out in #magento, and #magento-jobs, and a few other more general PHP/HTML freelance channels (#startups can help you find channel names for freelancing). I answered questions in #magento for a month or so, got a little bit of rep, then started responding to requests for work. Eventually I got work. Some of it turned into reoccurring work.

</comment><comment><USER36> What city are you in? It really depends on your location. For example, I'm in London and when I started contracting I simply uploaded my CV to a job site and my phone exploded with calls from recruiters because the demand for contractors here is so high.

<comment><USER33> Which site lead to most high-quality leads? The most common freelancing sites just seem like a race to the bottom, competing only on price with developers in developing countries (heh)

<comment><USER36> For me it's [http://www.jobsite.co.uk](http://www.jobsite.co.uk). The contracts are onsite, normally 3-6 months, sometimes rolling. Devs are popular with digital media agencies because the projects are short term. However, I don't know how in-demand devs are. Sysadmins/devops with automation and cloud experience are though.

If you use a recruiter then under UK law you have to sign up with an umbrella agency or run your own limited company as they aren't allowed to work with sole proprietors.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER37> Like other commenters have said, I would recommend waiting for a bit and working in industry to get a feel for how large projects work, and fail.

You'll know you're ready when they start coming to you ;)

</comment><comment><USER38> For those in the UK do the "attend meets" and "network" advices still apply? Or is it still normal to get a good gig from job descriptions posted online?

</comment><comment><USER39> With apologies to Glengarry Glen Ross (a must see movie, BTW)...

Always Be Networking

Good luck!

</comment><comment> UK-AL In the UK most contracting jobs are advertised along with normal jobs.

</comment><comment><USER40> jobserve.com or eLance-oDesk

<comment><USER41> First one is good, I'd avoid the second suggestion.

<comment><USER42> Have you had a poor experience with Elance or something? Just curious, since I've used it twice before and plan on using again shortly.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER43> Hit the virtual pavement.

When I decided to take on a new consulting client I researched the local businesses and created a list of around 10 that could potentially need programming work and matched my area of programming background. I then did email contacts to arrange an in-person meeting. (face-to-face is very important)

I was lucky and found a small company (just two guys) right away that were changing their focus from print/radio/tv healthcare messaging to internet and mobile. It started out as a normal hourly rate, but I eventually negotiated to a revenue sharing model and then later I negotiated to own 13% of the company + revenue sharing. This happened over the course of about 10 years and it's still going strong. (I started with my high normal consulting rate and then later cut that in half as part of the revenue sharing agreement, then much later when I took ownership of the company I now no longer charge hourly and am paid entirely through the revenue sharing)

I've also used other people I've worked with in the past to help me in my consulting projects. So if you have friends or professional contacts that you've worked well with in the past it works to contact them. Word of mouth goes a long way in this business. And I've also met potential clients at local meet ups, but those have yet to pan out but I think if I really pushed it I could get some work out of them.

Also, if you have a tech incubator in your area try to meet up with the startups in the incubator. I've done that in two cities (one in CA, one in Europe) and it's worked well.

Also, be aware of scummy people and any decisions that you make that can affect your future career. I lived near the 'other' valley where most porn is produced and received unsolicited contacts from small porn companies. I didn't take on any of those projects which is good because later I did consulting in Defense and NSA projects and also worked for a major San Jose based tech company for a couple of years.

<comment><USER44> >which is good because later I did consulting in Defense and NSA projects

If you work in the adult film industry, you can't work for the government/get security clearances?

<comment><USER45> I'd like to say that means performers but I'm sure it's intentionally vague in the document -- security clearance applications are big on screening for potential things that you could be blackmailed or bribed for. Extensive debt, gambling, and drug use are all on the form. [http://www.military.com/veteran- jobs/security-clearance-jobs...](http://www.military.com/veteran- jobs/security-clearance-jobs/security-clearance-eligibility.html)

<comment><USER46> I went thru the process (a long time ago) and if you worked in pr0n (although I did not) an excellent way to fail a security check would be trying something like hiding your past employment from a hard core evang fundamentalist C.O. or something similar to that. Theoretically leading to an enemy agent blackmailing you to keep your past quiet if only you'll give him a photocopy of some document or a password or whatever. But if you already told security you were a sysadmin at nude-hackernews-posters.com or whatever then it would be REALLY hard to blackmail you about something that's already public knowledge...

If this line applies to the issue, you're OK: "The behavior no longer serves as a basis for coercion, exploitation, or duress."</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Apple Just Permanently Banned Infowars' App from the App Store - <AUTHOR> https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/johnpaczkowski/apple-banned-alex-jones-infowars-app-store <comment><USER2> Good. Nobody owes Alex Jones his own free publishing platform. Nothing is stopping him from using money to hire "professionals" to set up a colo/hosting environment and do everything on httpd he fully controls. There already is an Infowars website, and as far as I know, its upstream ISP are still happy to take his money. It will have a lot less visitors, though.

<comment><USER3> This is a joke. They will go after his payment processors, then his DDOS protection, then his domain name, then his infrastructure, and everything else they have been using. Before you know it, you will be telling us to build our own fiber optic networks.

<comment><USER4> Who are "they"? The "chicom globalists"?

<comment><USER2> Probably the same people who fluoridate our water to make the frogs gay. /s

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> I'm not a fan of Alex Jones, I barely know who he is, but all this banning seems a bit risky to me. Hosting companies have generally had "Safe Harbor" protection against liability for content that third parties post on their platforms. However if they actively start policing and censoring content, they're more involved, and might now be more liable in other claims of offensive or defamatory content.

<comment><USER6> This isn't about legal liability (which is what safe harbor refers to) it's about Apple's ToS.

TFA says app store guidelines say apps that are "defamatory, discriminatory, or mean-spirited content, including references or commentary about religion, race, sexual orientation, gender, national/ethnic origin, or other targeted groups, particularly if the app is likely to humiliate, intimidate, or place a targeted individual or group in harm's way" are rejected.

"Holding contributors to a standard" is not legally risky just like HN removing comments that are against the rules is not legally risky.

Apple seems to have made it clear they don't want to be a dumpster.

<comment><USER7> I imagine that Apple is ultimately doing this for the same reason all businesses do it. There's no reason for a business to unnecessarily restrict its customer base. Apple would like to sell its iPhone to people whether or not they support abortion.

Unfortunately I feel that big corp understands the value of secularism better than the rest of America, perhaps because they are constrained by the imperative to be more effective than their competitors, including with their workforce and customers.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Makes sense, but I wonder why now. Twitter's ban?

It was VERY odd that they removed his podcasts but left the apps up. The App Store has much stricter rules than the podcast directory.

<comment><USER8> I feel like we could just be overthinking it. They probably waited to capture enough evidence to come back with if this blows back on them.

<comment><AUTHOR> My understanding was the same content that got him removed from the podcast directory what's available in the app, so I wouldn't think it would be a hard case to make.

<comment><USER8> Different teams, different requirements perhaps.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> You can't call this website "hacker" news anymore. Hacker culture is supposed to be about openness and anti-censorship no matter who the individual. In celebrating or justifying the censorship of infowars this community has shown it's true colors.

I'm quite frankly ashamed to see what HN has become.

<comment><USER9> And for those saying it's not censorship it's a private platform. At what stage does it become censorship? * When they ban his web hosting account * When his DNS registrar bans him? * When his payment processor drops him? * When his broadband providers bans him?</comment></comment>


The best and worst times to have your case reviewed by a judge - <AUTHOR> http://www.randalolson.com/2014/08/24/the-best-and-worst-times-to-have-your-case-reviewed-by-a-judge/

<comment><USER2> I read this several years ago and it left a lasting impression on me. If I need agreement from someone, I try to get it shortly after lunch.

Job searchers and freelance workers looking to land work, take heed.</comment>


Show HN: Encrypted Chat Rooms. - <AUTHOR> https://www.tesla.im/#encrypted_rooms

<comment> wc- So unlike cryptocat this is still going client <\--> server <\--> other clients right?

Therefore am I correct in thinking Tesla is still open to the same lavabit issue where the gov't sends a national security letter and Tesla has to build in a backdoor to capture the RSK?

<comment><AUTHOR> We're not based in the USofA and don't plan to be there.

<comment> wc- That's good to hear. It seems like the www.tesla.im server is hosted by amazon in virginia. I am not familiar with tesla's architecture, are the servers actually powering the chat rooms etc located outside the usa?

I have been having a lot of issues with cryptocat and am evaluating other options.

<comment><AUTHOR> Our servers are in the US. It should not matter. You can read about a similar case here: [http://blog.fastmail.fm/2013/10/07/fastmails-servers-are- in-...](http://blog.fastmail.fm/2013/10/07/fastmails-servers-are-in-the-us- what-this-means-for-you/)</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Show HN: I made a tool to protect your email inbox - <AUTHOR> https://simplelogin.io <comment><AUTHOR> Maker here. Having worked in an online advertising company before, I know that a common denominator to match users between different datasets is user email. So to protect our privacy, it's better to have different email addresses for every website.

Yet tricks like adding "+" to your Gmail address is now a well-known fact. Anonymous emails created on temp-mail or 10minutemail are temporary and using them is just unfair for good websites. So I decided to build a service to help to create emails as easy as possible.

I learned a lot about emails while coding SimpleLogin. They are not difficult per se but the documentation is pretty minimal compared to newer technologies. By the end, I also wrote my own transactional email service as Sendgrid library turns out to be a mess [1]. I still don't fully understand how spam engine works in Gmail or Outlook though, they seem to be hit-and-miss.

Email alias is the first step and next is the "Sign in with SimpleLogin". This would be for another post.

SimpleLogin will be open-source and I'm transparent about the technology I'm using. Please let me know if you have any questions.

[1] [https://github.com/sendgrid/sendgrid- python/issues/735](https://github.com/sendgrid/sendgrid-python/issues/735)

<comment><USER2> I do the similar thing, although on my own computer instead. (Some users will prefer to do it on their own computer instead, although not all, so SimpleLogin is useful if you prefer to do it remotely.)

</comment></comment><comment><USER3> This could be a great way to discover which of your accounts is causing you spam.</comment>


Live editing WebGL shaders with Firefox Developer Tools - <AUTHOR> https://hacks.mozilla.org/2013/11/live-editing-webgl-shaders-with-firefox-developer-tools/ <comment><USER2> This looks fantastic. If I had this tool in 1995, my career trajectory might have been quite different. I loved graphics but it was so time consuming to make one change, recompile, re-run the program, and then start again to tweak 0.1 to 0.2.

With this editor, after you make the changes, do you have to copy-paste that back into your source to save it?

Slightly unrelated but seeing as how neat Firefox has become, I really feel like I need to switch back to it from Chrome. I went Netscape > IE > Maxthon > Firefox > Chrome. Chrome dev tools are good but Firefox seems even better. Anyone revert back to FF lately?

<comment><USER3> I reverted back to Firefox, but that was only because Google was gettting pretty creepy, and their stance on web-standards seems to have gone pretty downhill since they gained a majority market-share.

To me it just makes sense to support the guys who are working for the internet and world-wide web at large, as opposed to the advertising-company just trying to get more input-data into their big-data profile-crunchers.

<comment><USER4> This is a completely unfair characterization of the people on the chrome team who deeply believe in the web. It's also a non-sequitur for a thread that should be about discussing Mozilla's announcement and not sullied by this.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> For people doing native development, RenderMonkey is an invaluable tool:

[http://developer.amd.com/resources/archive/archived- tools/gp...](http://developer.amd.com/resources/archive/archived-tools/gpu- tools-archive/rendermonkey-toolsuite/)

Really great way of prototyping shaders, though I don't think it supports geometry shaders right now, and it seems to be only Windows.

For debugging, gDebugger is amaaaazing (and has Windows and Linux support):

[http://www.gremedy.com/](http://www.gremedy.com/)

It lets you inspect textures, buffer objects, and suchlike, and can help you profile graphics calls.

<comment><USER6> It's a shame there's not much out there for OSX. :(

</comment></comment><comment><USER7> Amazing. I love WebGL. I could never have predicted that Firefox was going to become a better game development platform than the current proprietary solutions. At least for certain trade offs. But how long will that remain true?

</comment><comment><USER8> Very cool. Another option for working with shaders directly in the browser is Shadertoy, a kind of jsfiddle for shaders: [https://www.shadertoy.com/](https://www.shadertoy.com/)

</comment><comment><USER9> Amazing work. Go Firefox Developer Tools team!

<comment><USER10> I can't wait to see the rest of their other updates that were preview at Paul Rouget's site.

</comment></comment><comment><USER11> Reminds me of shadertoy ([http://www.shadertoy.com/);](http://www.shadertoy.com/\);) although this should perform better.

</comment><comment><USER12> Totally unexpected, looks freaky amazing.

</comment><comment><USER13> Couldnt have come at a better time for me. I am Java dev and started on Opengl Mobile Development. I have been scratching my head on the GLSL. But this i feel like i can actually learn GLSL and build something useful

</comment><comment><USER14> Now if someone would write something similar for desktop OpenGL that supported multiple platforms, I'd go back to doing this :-)

<comment><USER15> Something like GLSL Hacker you mean?

[http://www.geeks3d.com/20131031/glsl- hacker-0-6-0-0-physx-3-...](http://www.geeks3d.com/20131031/glsl- hacker-0-6-0-0-physx-3-mac-os-x-10-9-autdesk-fbx-raspberry-pi-programming/)</comment></comment>


Unikernel Power Comes to Java, Node.js, Go, and Python Apps - <AUTHOR> http://www.infoworld.com/article/3082051/open-source-tools/unikernel-power-comes-to-java-nodejs-go-and-python-apps.html <comment><USER2> I wonder what is the minimal size of UniK and if it runs on Raspberry Pi...</comment>


Iso8601.date - <AUTHOR> http://iso8601.date <comment><USER2> Oddly specific, but refreshing to see something like this without any third party code and ads. In fact, the source is delightfully minimal, clean, and human readable.

</comment><comment><AUTHOR> Only drawback is, that it's not possible to copy it.</comment>


Ask HN: Should I go to Startup School? - <AUTHOR>

I'm a cofounder of a bootstrapped startup with an unreleased product (although we are testing with a few users). So I have no issues about whether to start a startup.
I'm undecided because of cost issues. I live abroad so a plane ticket will run ~$1K. I would need to spend on food, transport, etc. If I stay a week, costs will total ~$1.5K to 2K.
Although I will meet many people and perhaps have meetings with 5 to 10 potential customers, will it be worth the expense? I'm not as concerned about time because I will make use of it by meeting fellow techies and potential customers.
EDIT: I will also be meeting bloggers from GigaOm, VentureBeat, etc. <comment><USER2> I can't tell you whether you should go or not, but I can say what I got out of the last startup school.

I met a number of great people at the last startup school, several of whom I interact with regularly one and a half years later. One person I met almost became my cofounder this fall, and still might later on.

I got to meet a number of users from Hacker News, and put names to faces. That was awesome.

I got to meet PG, and I talked with Trevor for a while about his robot. That was very cool.

I started the Hackers and Founders meetup ( www.hackersandfounders.com ) at last years startup school for people like yourself to get together and hang out and talk before the conference. Since then, it's taken on a life of it's own, and it's grown to a membership of 400+ people, and we routinely have 20-25 people getting together at a bar to talk our startups and shiny new technologies every other week. It's a good time, and there's some good connections to be made.

Would I do it again even if I had to pay $2k for airfare, room and board? Yes. but, YMMV. A large part of the benefit that I derived from starting hackers and founders is because I had recently relocated to Silicon Valley. It may not be as beneficial for you.

</comment><comment><USER3> I think after you look at your budget and you can actually afford to spend $2k, go for it. There are alot of cheap eats in the Bay and you can always take public transpo, or check out the deals at fox rent a car: <https://www.foxrentacar.com/Default.aspx> .

If you can't make it, I would love to take your place, and I'm sure there are many others who would too.

</comment><comment><USER4> You could reduce the costs by probably getting some cheap acco via AirBnb.com or hooking up with other attendees.

On the flip side, think of the potential of some awesome networking that you could do. ultimately, i think no one else can make that call for you, but I'd definitely spend way less on food / transport / acco.

</comment><comment><USER5> Not worth it!

Learn on the job and network for free (or very little money). Such 'orchestrated' startup events tend to be populated with consultants, accountants and lawyers who want your business.

Good luck.

<comment><USER2> _Such 'orchestrated' startup events tend to be populated with consultants, accountants and lawyers who want your business_

Ummm... Startup school is a bit different. It's pretty much all geeks who are neck deep in their own startups, or soon will be.</comment></comment>


Sketching on the iPhone - <AUTHOR> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ogvN3nNBa8 <comment><USER2> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRbnn7D3qbI>

imho n900 still gets less love than it deserves

</comment><comment><USER3> Has anyone used the Pogo Stylus? Anyone have any thoughts on the best stylus to use for the iPhone?

</comment><comment><USER4> Heh, this will be possible on the iPad too. Wacom must be shaking in their boots.</comment>


Computer science is the key to America's skills crisis - <AUTHOR> http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/04/computer-science-is-the-key-to-americas-skills-crisis/ <comment><USER3> And the article talks about teaching coding. I'm tired of seeing that. We need to teach kids to _think_ , to _question_ , to be _creative problem solvers_. If we do, some of those kids will end up in CS eventually, but all will do well.

I'm tired of reading "we need more coders" articles that read just about the same as "We need more kids to study diesel mechanics at community college so that we can keep the trucks rolling to WalMart."

Standardized testing is killing our kids brains. Instead, they should be required to _ask_ questions, not give stock answers.

<comment><USER4> "Standardized testing is killing our kids brains".

Some think otherwise : "Standardized admissions tests are valid predictors of many aspects of student success across academic and applied fields." \- [http://science.sciencemag.org/content/315/5815/1080](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/315/5815/1080) _Standardized Tests Predict Graduate Students ' Success_.

Is there any evidence that it is "killing kids' brains" ?

With all the variability in education quality, we need a measure of potential and smarts.

<comment><USER5> Observing high school kids that take part in project based learning (outside of the classroom) and noting how fast they develop deeper skills, critical thinking and problem solving. Small sample size but before and after observations are mostly very positive. (FIRST robotics)

So maybe not killing kids brains but maybe not developing them to the peak potential.

You might like to look at Olin College. They are trying to reinvent Engineering education. Yes they are only selecting the very best for their project based learning program. But they are working with other schools to see if their methods translate into benefits for non-Engr STEM and college students of average abilities.

<comment><USER4> [http://www.olin.edu/news-events/2014/olin-college- number-8-f...](http://www.olin.edu/news-events/2014/olin-college- number-8-forbescom-list-top-25-colleges-ranked-sat-scores/)

"Olin College Number 8 on Forbes.com List of Top 25 Colleges Ranked by SAT Scores"

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> Heard this one before.

Studying comp sci in the mid to late 90s, my classes were full of people who didn't have a passion for programming but knew the jobs paid well, presumably because demand outstripped supply.

What followed was a seeming glut of applicants for unexciting "low-end" jobs - writing Java at insurance companies, for example - then they all disappeared. And here we are today.

Am I remembering this wrong? This was my anecdotal experience from far outside of SV.

<comment><USER7> Current senior in Comp Sci here - I'd say a good portion of my classmates just want a cozy job doing programming for some enterprise company. They know CS degree pays well, like an engineering degree. For myself, I also just want a cool, less stressful corporate/enterprise job. Maybe in 5 years I can see myself doing some startup or SaaS business or something.

Then again, I go to a state school and a lot of my classmates (if not all) are not super into programming scene(like maintaining a GitHub, doing side projects out of school, etc)

edits: clarity

<comment><USER8> I would not describe corporate/enterprise jobs as less stressful, based on my experiences the opposite is true. I've found the best niche is mid-sized companies where you have a better chance of finding someplace where you can actually contribute in a meaningful way, get paid decently and not have to spend more time ass kissing than working.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER9> "The United States faces a global competitiveness crisis that, if not addressed, will put our nation at a strategic disadvantage for decades to come. In just a few years, there will be 1.8 million jobs unfilled in our nation"

would love to see the data behind this as it seems unlikely to me. what i see is many american companies offshoring large swaths of their software development efforts to foreign satellite offices, or outright replacing in- house IT development with SaaS solutions. from my perspective, i have a hard time imagining some confluence of events resulting in "1.8 million jobs unfilled" here in the US any time soon.

<comment><USER10> Well, a defense contractor at the location I work is complaining that they can't fill jobs and can't keep them filled.

The problem is that they won't pay more than 55k for programmers or engineers, but the popular _business_ explanation is that it's a skills shortage - <USER2> just aren't enough skilled applicants!

No, there's just not enough skilled applicants willing to work for bottom- barrel wages. To be fair, this is mostly being driven by the government in the defense contracting world.

<comment><USER11> What location is this? So this pool of skilled applicants who won't work for 55K, what jobs are they doing instead? Since most explanations of your sort claim that a large pool of skilled IT workers will materialize if the pay is increased, let's say the pay is increased to 75K which job sectors will people leave and join IT?

<comment><USER12> > Since most explanations of your sort claim that a large pool of skilled IT > workers will materialize if the pay is increased, let's say the pay is > increased to 75K which job sectors will people leave and join IT?

We have no trouble filling positions at $70k. Like, literally, we have never had an open position for longer than 60 days.

The problem is people keep complaining they can't fill positions and pay $15-20k below market rate. Why, yes, people are not going to take a 20% paycut to work for you.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER13> I see it as a chicken vs egg problem. The reason only 1 in 10 schools offer programming classes is probably the same reason CS jobs go unfulfilled. There are not enough people with the required expertise. I'm not studying Computer Science so I can get a job teaching programming classes at a high school.

<comment><USER14> CS is a discipline best self-taught. I'm not sure better education will solve anything. It'll just produce more mediocre engineers.

<comment><USER15> If this were the case companies like google Facebook etc. would be full of self taught programmer. In reality most of people there go to stanford, Harvard etc. aka the top schools. Just look at their executive bios or look through linkedin.

<comment><USER14> You're assuming that going to Stanford or Harvard is mutually exclusive with being a self-taught programmer. I'd guess that the most successful Stanford or Harvard CS grads are self-taught coders (and also have great soft skills).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> > Third, we must ensure innovation in the classroom through the use of digital > content and tools to provide individualized, data-based learning and improve > educational outcomes.

Wow, that really doesn't sound like something that will help kids learn to code. How about instead of trying to get millions of dollars of multimedia content and one off coaching apps built, we just have kids build a web page for themselves in 1st grade?

People learn to code by coding things and researching what they need to build the thing they're working on.

I also don't think there's any kind of programmer shortage. There's just a misallocation of capital into the executive ranks. Start paying 1M a year for engineers and you'll have excellent people lined up for your roles.

</comment><comment><USER17> Companies complain that there are not enough people, and use the 'shortage' as a reason to go H1b a la Disney, but they won't lift a finger to TRAIN people for what is needed because they say the employees will bolt - well STOP treating employees like crap and they'll stick around... The H1b fiasco just reduces wages and standard of living. sometimes there ARE legitimate reasons for unions...

</comment><comment><USER18> "In just a few years, there will be 1.8 million jobs unfilled in our nation because we don't have enough individuals trained with the necessary technical skills to fill them." Source?

"we must ensure innovation in the classroom through the use of digital content and tools to provide individualized, data-based learning and improve educational outcomes"

The author is asserting computer science is the solution, but gives ZERO evidence for if it's a workable or good solution.

<comment><USER19> There may be a problem. Computer science may be a solution.

The author establishes neither.

My opinion, is that it would be good if we could find a way to reduce the requirement for unskilled manual labor through computer science. Without more research, I wouldn't make it a call for action.

Does anyone have a better article on this issue?

</comment></comment><comment><USER20> Hahahaha. No. Currently, approximately ten in ten schools offer math education, and there isn't a glut of mathematicians. On the contrary, the majority of adults now _hate_ math.

If you want to have more skilled American programmers, the solution is probably more along the lines of lead paint remediation, childhood nutrition, and anti-poverty measures. Create an environment where children can succeed at playing around with computers, math, and logic, and you'll go much further. "Programming class" at a typical school is not this environment.

</comment><comment><USER21> There is no skills gap. That is just propaganda put out by tech companies so they can lobby for more H-1Bs. A great article on this: [http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/education/the-stem- crisis-i...](http://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/education/the-stem-crisis-is-a- myth)

</comment><comment><USER22> Programming != Computer Science

It is actually very hard to find a job in Computer Science, as in any other research discipline.

<comment><USER23> Twenty years ago that was the subject you studied to get a job programming. Its probably still the name in many universities.

</comment></comment><comment><USER24> We need to resist the urge to turn education into job training. Computer science done wrong could do more harm than good.

</comment><comment><USER25> And what happens when all these newly minted coders look for jobs at roughly the same time?

I disagree with the common belief that somehow coding is the path to a stable economic future.

History has shown time and time again that if a profession has no regulatory barriers to entry then corporations will eventually bid labor to the lowest value.

And that seems to be exactly what's going on here. Corporations are pressuring the state to basically pay for their human capital development.

Job trends follow capital market trends and capital markets are wildly irrational. For the last five years there's been an ideology among top management that suggests just hiring a bunch of developers is somehow going to create great products.

There has been little to no serious cost controls.

Right now management has overhired, there's simply not enough economically viable projects to keep all the massive development staffs busy. So there's a lot of work on projects that don't have a realistic shot at a financial return.

Eventually those projects are going to get cut.

Around the same time this is happening there will be a glut of newly minted junior developers jostling desperately for work to pay off their student loans.

I know this is highly contrarian, but it's just realistically how capitalism works. The good times always come to an end.

</comment><comment><USER26> My own take is that this suffers the same problem as all the other "Teach everyone to code" initiatives.

Learning to be even a moderately good programmer requires the willingness to keep screwing around with an annoyingly stupid, complex machine for however long it takes to adjust your thought processes to match the challenges of computer programming. It's not enough to think logically. You have to be able to think logically where applicable while at the same time understanding that some stuff makes no sense -- either it's so complex that it feels nondeterministic, or you're faced with the social complexity of a ridiculous software stack, or even though you're working on a "simple" high-level problem you have to cut through nearly all the layers of abstraction to get a clear understanding of what the real problem is. And many real problems end up being twice as hard as you'd ever have imagined.

And I don't think our culture is doing a good job of raising people with the values to be willing to do that. If anything, childhood education teaches to spit out the "correct" answers and to follow the rules. This does not help develop the mental strength to be a good programmer.

</comment><comment><USER27> I just wonder if they'll ever stop confusing CS with a software engineering?

</comment><comment><USER28> I went back to school for my MS and saw many people who were there simply because this could get them a stable job. Their interest was virtually zero and they hated coding or understanding algorithms. They are all in software jobs now but in roles that support programmers and the tech industry

<comment><USER29> Why were you there? Going for a MS seems like a poor way to fulfill the desires of learning more about algorithms or being able to code more, for me I'd only consider it if it was a stepping stone to a better place in the corporate ladder or a stepping stone that's part of being paid to work on intensely interesting PhD material for a few years.

<comment><USER30> Not OP but I did my MS so I could teach at the college level.

Along the way, I did learn a lot that continues to benefit me now, 10 years later. I'd recommend an MS to anyone in the field who wants to learn more about the underpinnings of computer hardware or software (I did my MS with a Programming Languages emphasis) but who isn't necessarily sufficently self- motivated to just do the reading/open courseware without a supportive community of peers.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER31> ...what skill crisis? There isn't a skill crisis. There is a wage crisis.

</comment><comment><USER32> I agree CS is essential, but as a 'key'? Maybe not. Let's go back to fundamentals - which means math & science.

</comment><comment><USER33> Isn't a shortage of computer programmers really a symptom of some type of market signaling failure? Or at least the slowness of supply responding to demand?</comment>


Ask HN: Small business data science tools? - <AUTHOR> I am looking for some suggestions for small businesses analytics. Any services that would help a small business owner gain insight into the data they have. An important piece of a potential service I'm looking for is that the tool would help the business owner use and combine data from different spreadsheets (and possibly other data sources that small businesses generate).<p>Thanks! <comment><USER2> I think generally the question for most small businesses should actually be "How do we get them to be able to do more stuff in Excel."

[https://www.blockspring.com/](https://www.blockspring.com/) or airtable would be pretty close to the top of my list.

If I had 3 hours with a small business to teach them as many data science skills as possible, I'd teach them how to use goal solver, how to run a markov simulation so you can model things approximately, and maybe, maybe, how to do some basic statistics.

<comment><AUTHOR> Nice, thanks!</comment></comment>


Offer HN: ruby programming - <AUTHOR>

Hello all, I'm building a portfolio to try and get some freelance ruby work. I have no commercial development experience however. If you have a small-ish project you need help with (20 hours or so) and you'd be willing to provide a reference please get in touch.<p>Alternatively, if you have an idea for an open source gem you'd like developed, post it here. <comment><USER2> Just Ruby, or RoR considered also?</comment>


Daily Routines of Famous Writers - <AUTHOR> http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/11/20/daily-routines-writers?

<comment><USER2> The book _Daily Rituals_ , from which most of these seem to be excerpted, is a great read into the daily routines of lots of "creative" people of all stripes -- writers, artists, scientists, etc.

[http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Rituals-How-Artists- Work/dp/0307...](http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Rituals-How-Artists- Work/dp/0307273601/)

</comment><comment><USER3> Having posted on leadership and personal development without missing a day for three years, I've lived and thought a lot about daily activities.

I haven't researched it, but this article supports what I suspect, that there is a high correlation between successful people and people with daily activities who stick with them -- but not just any routines. They have to challenge you, you have to do them out of personal motivation, and they have to improve you. Personally, I do burpees twice daily, post daily (though I often write many posts per day), and I got this idea while doing cold showers daily for thirty days.

Lately I crystallized a lot of daily habits into one overarching concept that I think has a fundamental role in creating success for many types of people in many fields: the Self-Imposed Daily Challenging Healthy Activity, or SIDCHA, which I wrote more about here -- [http://joshuaspodek.com/number-one-best- tool-improve-life-se...](http://joshuaspodek.com/number-one-best-tool-improve- life-self-imposed-daily-challenging-healthy-activity-sidcha) \-- and will continue to explore. I wonder if SIDCHAs might be a personal development counterpart to the Minimum Viable Product, speaking very vaguely.

<comment><USER4> Without wanting to appear "middlebrow dismissive", you can't really reach the correlation conclusion, since we have no data on the daily activities of unsuccessful people.

On the other hand, successful people will have daily activities pretty much by definition, since you very probably will have to be an expert on some thing if you are successful at it (successful amateurs are very rare), and virtually the only way to be an expert at something is to do it every day.

</comment></comment><comment><USER5> Similarly, Offscreen Magazine[0] has a section in each issue called Logbook. It gives an hourly-ish breakdown of a given day for various digital creators, from waking up to falling asleep.

[0] [http://www.offscreenmag.com/](http://www.offscreenmag.com/)

</comment><comment><USER6> > _Daily Routines of Famous Writers_

Funny, I don't see "check the daily routines of famous writers and copy them" in there.</comment>