HBO Decides It Still Isn't Difficult Enough To Watch HBO Shows - <AUTHOR> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120418/08405618545/hbo-decides-it-still-isnt-difficult-enough-to-watch-hbo-shows.shtml <comment><USER2> The thing that bothers me most about this is I credit HBO for leading the charge with innovative content that as a whole brought TV to a much higher level. They took big chances even when it wasn't profitable to do so.

I've had a serious love affair with the network beginning with Dream On, The Larry Sanders Show, then moving on to Oz (yeah it was a 'male' soap opera I guess :), Sopranos, 6 Feet Under, Deadwood - which I didn't particularly _love_, but highly respected, and most of all The Wire (best thing to ever grace the screen IMO - they lost $$ on it throughout its run)... and then I killed my cable sub and haven't seen anything of their's since.

Now Mad Men and Breaking Bad are my two favorite shows, they're both on AMC, and I can easily purchase each season on iTunes HD for just north of $30. Every episode is available hours after they originally air. I'd pay twice that much.

Of course, the problem is HBO is just too tightly coupled to big cable. They're one of the main attractions, and as such the kickbacks they get are tied to contracts that prevent them from wresting their content to any great degree. Until this model changes, their A content won't see the light of day, and more draconian measures are likely to be put in place to thwart piracy. It's not HBO itself per-see, but HBO as a proxy for big cable; as a defense mechanism to prop up a flailing business model.

<comment><USER3> Our experiences are nearly mirror images. I cancelled cable TV years ago. When Game of Thrones came out last year, I naively thought "No big deal. I'll just pay HBO for streaming." I was shocked to discover that there's no way for me to upend my wallet into HBO's coffers without funneling it through Comcast and buying multiple tiers of garbage that I care nothing about.

I waited a year and bought the blu ray version, but I still can't understand why HBO wouldn't prefer to get their money earlier rather than later.

<comment><USER4> It's not that they wouldn't prefer to get their money earlier. It's that they are in bed with the cable companies, who have significant power because they provide a huge chunk of HBO's revenue. HBO don't want to risk losing that revenue by disturbing the cosy relationship.

Cable companies are fiercely protective of their status as content providers. As they see it, the biggest threat to cable is that it gets turned into a commoditized dumb pipe. Any move by partners like HBO in the direction of supplying content over IP is seen as a move towards marginalizing their business.

<comment><USER5> And that's just it: cable has _already_ turned into a commoditized dumb pipe for a large segment of the population. Instead of recognizing this new reality and adjusting to it, the cable industry seems intent on sticking its collective head in the sand and pretending as if the world hasn't changed.

<comment><USER6> The industry isn't sticking its head in the sand, they are out there aggressively purchasing content creation to ensure that the most interesting content is only delivered through their pipes. They're going out with all guns blazing in order to protect past rates of profit. Shareholders aren't of a mind to let an industry peacefully adjust to a less profitable state.

Bring back the trust busters.

<comment><USER5> I agree with your overall sentiment. But I still contend that this strategy isn't going to work out for them in the long run. We live in a world where content can be accessed directly, quickly, and on demand. The industry can _try_ to "ensure" that the most interesting content is only delivered through their pipes, but given the ease with which this content can be procured elsewhere, that approach doesn't seem like a sustainable long-term strategy.

<comment><USER7> Yes but the C level executives will be retired or working somewhere else by then

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> HBO aren't idiots. They've done the math and for now they've found it IS more profitable for them to only allow you to get their content with a cable subscription. Why does when it come to big media everyone thinks the companies are run by 12 year old morons when they don't agree with their policies?

Hurting Game of Thrones Through Piracy Won't Change HBO's Business, It Will Just Get the Show Cancelled: [http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/hurting-game-of- th...](http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/hurting-game-of-thrones- through-piracy-wont-change-hbos-business-it-will-just-get-the-show-cancelled- rfure.php)

<comment><USER9> _They've done the math and for now they've found it IS more profitable for them to only allow you to get their content with a cable subscription._

I doubt that. Rather, I bet they've made a conscious choice to only be a content _provider_ , not a content _distributor_. That's a fundamental business change. I say this because if HBO decided to make the change, and enabled, say, a $10 online, streaming subscription, I think they'd make more money than they do now. But that would likely upset their current deals with the cable companies, and it would be a fundamental business model change.

<comment><USER4> Certainly possible that they would make more money, but I doubt it. Doing some (very) rough math, HBO has about 28M subscribers. Cable customers pay $18 bucks a month for HBO, of which HBO usually gets 50%. So an overnight change in the business model would require 28M subscribers at about $9 / month.

Just as a point of comparison, Netflix, with a much larger catalog of shows and movies, has something of the order of 25M subscribers

Obviously an overnight change would not happen, there would be a transition over several years and the streaming subscribers may well be supplementary to existing subscribers. But during the transition, cable company partnerships would be strained and existing revenue would be at risk. Not to mention the capital investment required to provide the content reliably, dealing with the multitude of streaming devices, providing customer support, marketing the product directly to consumers and all the other things that cable companies take care of (albeit badly). Netflix is making bold changes in its business model and it's certainly not an easy thing to do.

Ultimately, HBO's core competency is in creating amazing content. It's arguable if they'd make more money by changing their business model, but I'd wager that HBO execs simply do not want to have to deal with all the distractions from their core mission that would occur by doing so.

<comment><USER10> You're assuming that people would drop cable and buy through streaming as opposed to maintaining the same 28M subscribers and ADD additional streaming customers. If they charged $9/mn, I have a hard time seeing how that could be a net loss. Even if some subscribers switch from cable to streaming, they wouldn't lose revenue.

The only way they could lose revenue is if current subscribers dropped cable and didn't go with streaming, which seems unlikely to me.

<comment><USER11> You're not thinking of this from the perspective of a cable company.

Cable companies are already losing subscribers. They will do everything they can to discourage people from defecting to broadband downloads. One of the most obvious things they can do is to have exclusive content. Which means they would be smart to put immense pressure on HBO to stay out of the distribution business.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> Oatmeal about difficult of watching Game of Thrones: <http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones>

and how I feel as a non US resident: <http://theoatmeal.com/pl/game_of_thrones/nz>

<comment><USER13> Andy Ihnatko about Oatmeal about difficulty of watching Game of Thrones: [http://ihnatko.com/2012/02/20/heavy-hangs-the-bandwidth- that...](http://ihnatko.com/2012/02/20/heavy-hangs-the-bandwidth-that- torrents-the-crown/)

<comment><USER14> He's never going to be a paying customer anyways.

before torrents he'd just show up at some friend with hbo. Today people don't mingle irl, so he downloads.

People on 4Chan age group are found of watching streaming with chat on the side. It's pretty much the same shinding concept of yesterday.

<comment><USER15> And how terrible a world it was when people mingled and watched TV at their friends houses -- reducing, NO STEALING, profits from the HBO...

I am a giant theif, I take so much revenue from companies all the time, I need someone to sue the shit out of me for the following (to teach me a lesson and put me in my place):

* I loan out my $1000 worth of rototillers to friends all the time, the manufacturers and rental agencies are losing _piles_ of revenue from me.

* I let people use my truck, and/or help them move things regularly. That is dozens of car purchases or rentals

* I help my family and friends with computer issues and build them free websites occasionally -- dirty dirty hippy crap, poor companies are losing service calls all the time.

* I cook meals from my garden, and invite people over to eat with me, grocers and restauranteurs probably should lynch me for denying their revenue.

Stupid sharing and human kindness. Obviously we are just a bad, evil species.

<comment><USER14> hum. that was pretty much my point. not sure if you are agreeing or not :)

<comment><USER15> Oh, I read your post as opposite of that, so instead of snarky response I'm retconning it to snarky reinforcement :)

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> HBO Go on the iPad doesn't let you stream to your TV via the VGA cable, so they forced me to do this this weekend: <http://i.imgur.com/Og3MH.jpg>

<comment><USER17> What did you do? I can't tell from that photo

<comment><USER18> It looks like two iPads, one playing the movie with the other one above it in video record mode, presumably streaming to the TV.

<comment><USER16> Yep, just kept photobooth open.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> I just pay for HBO. It's one of the few channels on TV I actually appreciate having. That's HBO's business model: they want subscribers. They don't care how difficult it is for you as a non-subscriber.

As a subscriber, HBO has made it incredibly _easy_ for me to watch HBO shows: I have access to virtually all of them online on demand.

<comment><USER20> Their shows are popular outside the US. They don't seem to want any subscribers from there.

<comment><USER21> I have HBO on my cable tv subscription, I think they have GoT on it. Of course it's a few weeks late.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> Contents of the article aside, techdirt regularly writes _fantastic_ headlines. I wonder if it's just the individual authors having a flair for the zinger, or if they have an editor who spruces them up before posting.

</comment><comment><USER23> Let's not forget what they say about how HBO works financially... softcore pornography and boxing pay for all of the "Game of Thrones"-level masterpieces. While they have produced unfailingly inspirational television, it's not a core part of their economic engine.

It's a shame that non-subscribers can't see all the programming, but we wouldn't have it at all if it wasn't for their business model. As good as HBO's programming is, it probably wouldn't be economically feasible if it had to be directly supported. There might be enough income from itunes to (barely) support breakout hits like GoT, but it's unlikely that all of the shows that led up to it would have earned enough money to stay on the air.

Cable companies may be evil, but HBO definitely needed them in order to start. They can't be expected to unwind the relationship on the promise of netflix streaming sales to come.

(Disclaimer: I _love_ HBO and will watch anything they make)

<comment><USER24> > softcore pornography and boxing pay for all of the "Game of Thrones"

Well, softcore pornography and violence is not that much different to Game of Thrones. ^^

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> Actually they make it difficult to watch it _legally_. Lets not pretend that most people don't get it from a much more convenient source:

(example pulled from google):

[http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/7153447/Game_of_Thrones_- _Sea...](http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/7153447/Game_of_Thrones_- _Season_2_Episode_1_)

<comment><USER26> How to legally watch Game of Thrones: 1) Turn on the TV. 2) Change channel to HBO. 3) DONE.

That is infinitely easier for most of the population than downloading a torrent; it takes at most 4 button presses. If your TV is too old to handle the new content protection scheme, _buy a new TV_. If you can afford HBO, you can afford a new TV.

The type of people who would prefer to download the show via torrent are generally the type of people who wouldn't pay for HBO to begin with, so HBO doesn't care about the mythical money to be made off them.

<comment><USER25> Looking at how many people buy music on iTunes because it is convenient and assuming they would buy the video if it was also available, means that you are very, very incorrect.

And the nonsence about if you can afford x, you can afford y. No, that is not a given. I can afford one luxury and just because your priority would be given to luxury A does not mean that I give A the same priority.

Anyway it is a moot point. HBO is not available outside the states.

<comment><USER27> It is ... (see my post up in this thread), but with the same restrictions (well, maybe even worse, because it's available only at one provider).

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER28> Cable provides a lot of entertainment, but it's expensive, especially if you pile on premium channels like HBO. Just as telephone landlines are slowly dying as people decide a cell-phone is enough, cable is dying as people move to strictly on-demand services like Netflix or iTunes. Why pay for 900 channels with nothing to watch when you can get just the shows you want anytime you want them? Even if people spend _more_ on iTunes and netflix per month, the practice still psychologically seems less wasteful.

HBO's latest shows are not available anywhere but over the air on HBO. e.g. Game of Thrones Season 2 cannot be watched on Netflix or purchased on iTunes. Those who run HBO probably think of this as being good, since it forces people to subscribe to HBO. Unfortunately, people who have gotten rid of their cable subscription aren't going to get it back just so they can watch HBO's latest shows as they air. They might intend to wait until those shows become available on iTunes or Bluray, but it's also highly probable that they'll give in to temptation and just download them from pirates.

This is HBO's real problem. There is a _big_ market for their shows that only the pirates are serving.

</comment><comment><USER29> hbogo.com is still the best website I know of for watching any tv channels shows. HBO subscribers get access to every single show the second it comes out, and it remains available forever. I can go back now and watch every episode of every HBO show.

So while I empathize with all of your complaints that HBO makes it too hard for non cable/DirecTV subscribers to subscribe, I think they are due credit for putting all of their content online when most other channels have not.

<comment><USER30> > I can go back now and watch every episode of every HBO show.

Really?! Can you watch ``Tales from the Crypt'' or ``The Kids in the Hall''?

Can you really watch _every_ episode of _every_ HBO show in the following list?

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programs_broadcast_by_H...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programs_broadcast_by_HBO#Past_programming)

</comment></comment><comment><USER31> THIS is exactly why PG made his call to kill old media. HBO could be making bank by allowing either PPV online, subscription online or commercial supported. They have some of the best shows ever. But for whatever reason, out dated contracts or old thinking they are throwing money away.

<comment><USER32> HBO _is_ making bank. Until we as consumers vote with our wallets and change our behavior by canceling subscriptions, nothing will change for HBO or their bottom line.

</comment></comment><comment><USER33> This move fits with HBO's (and really every content provider's) anti-piracy strategy. Namely, content needs to be encrypted from the time it leaves their server's to the time it is decoded by the screen. The reason for this is simple, if they achieve this goal, they can argue that anyone who provides an unencrypted copy of content must have violated the DMCA (which has provision against tampering with encryption). Whether the technologies have cracked (the article points out the HDCP has been) or whether the provider ever prosecutes isn't the point, the content providers feel they need to reserve their rights at any cost.

Many folks (techdirt included) argue that piracy is just marketing. For instance, it allows HBO to reach an audience they wouldn't reach otherwise. They even speculate that the Game of Thrones ratings bump was due to piracy. While that may (or may not) be true, in most industries, companies control when, where and much to spend on marketing.

For HBO (or any content provider) all these decisions come down to economics and how they can maximize their profits. In this new case (adding HDCP to their streams) they probably judged that the number of customer's they'd loose was pretty small and making the change would allow them to further their strategic goals.

<comment><USER34> "if they achieve this goal, they can argue that anyone who provides an unencrypted copy of content must have violated the DMCA (which has provision against tampering with encryption)"

How does that help them, though? Anyone who provides an unencrypted copy has infringed on their copyright, so HBO can go after them on those ground whether or not they also violated the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA. It seems to me this would only be useful if they think they can actually prevent people from circumventing their DRM.

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> "...HDCP encryption, a newer part of the HDMI standard..."

I don't think that's true.

My understanding is that HDCP encryption has been around for as long as HDMI has been around. For example, Blu-ray discs/players use HDCP to encrypt their content.

It seems strange that these DVR boxes don't support HDCP. Maybe some of the heat should be directed towards DirecTV for using such non-compliant hardware.

</comment><comment><USER36> HBO was born with Cable, it was disruptive back then because TV in those days was boring, dull, repetitive and way too family-friendly.

They don't "understand" the internet, just like TV channels of old didn't understand that not everybody was into Dukes of Hazzard and The Andy Griffith Show re-runs.

</comment><comment><USER37> I wonder how much revenue you'd raise on Kickstarter if HBO agreed to release The Wire into the public domain for a certain sum. Enough to make it worth their while? I think so (especially if they released the source material so people could get it in HD, not currently available)..

<comment><USER38> probably very little to release it as public domain, since people could then sell and keep all the profits themselves. It would kill their chance to sell it themselves.

A Creative Commons licence (CC-NC-BY-ND (non-commerical, attribution required, no derivatives)) might be better.

</comment></comment><comment><USER39> I hope Netflix's original content gets good/becomes a large enough library to threaten HBO. They would offer subscriptions over apps, set top boxes, and maybe even browsers shortly after.

Content providers need to be smacked around by someone like Netflix in a big way.

</comment><comment><USER40> There are two perspectives on HBO and piracy. The first is that they are losing money due to piracy.

The second is that they aren't losing money, just not gaining it.

I suspect they are betting on the second perspective. Foolish, but seems to be there business plan.

</comment><comment><USER20> Suppose someone created a landing page where guilt-ridden torrent downloaders can spend a reasonable amount (say $2 per episode) to get rid of their guilt, would HBO accept the money?

<comment><USER41> Is't that option just called buying the shows from iTunes or on DVD?

<comment><USER38> No, because torrents are available to more people than iTunes or DVDs. Try living outside the USA and/or using Linux.

<comment><USER41> Amazon ships worldwide, region free DVD players are pretty much the norm worldwide as well. I really do think you'd have to stretch to find somewhere where a torrent is available but it's impossible to get a DVD.

If you're just trying to contribute back to those who made the content you're enjoying, just get the DVD regardless of if it's the right language or subtitles or region, and then merrily torrent away know that you've at least done the right thing on a moral basis.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER42> Archaic C-level execs are still making the calls. This isn't unexpected.

<comment><USER43> And armchair C-level execs criticize without understanding the reasoning behind the decision.

I don't like that I can't just buy a subscription to HBO Go (I recently dumped cable) or buy HBO shows on iTunes the day after they air, but there are lots of revenue-related reasons why HBO is restricting access to its content.

</comment></comment><comment><USER13> "We've recently discussed the fact that HBO severely limits the availability of its shows to non-subscribers..."

Really?! How _dare_ they!

<comment><USER15> Cut the disingenuous crap. The next 3 sentences state that beyond that, they are now, without warning, requiring paying subscribers to upgrade equipment to handle the HDMI encryption. The first sentence was merely contextualization. Further, the context of that sentence (via the link) was how difficult it is to legally pay HBO for the thing they are supposedly selling.

<comment><USER13> I know. I don't make any bones about this HDCP stuff being bullshit. They are screwing their own, paying customers. That's terrible.

It's just that I really have no time for this entitled attitude that content owners are obligated to sell their wares to us when we want, how we want, at the price point we want.

<comment><USER15> It's not entitled bullshit, that is a false dilemma and a strawman. It is pointing out hypocrisy. If they make it very hard to give them money, why the fuck should it be valid when they complain about not getting money?

It's like a bum complaining it isn't enough when you give him your spare change.

edit: accidentally a word</comment></comment></comment></comment>


Ask HN: How to protect from hacking? - <AUTHOR> What are the top things that I should do if I want to reduce my chances of having devices or accounts compromised? <comment><USER2> A few things I can think of: 1\. use a live iso 2\. 2FA and strong passwords 3\. if possible, don't use the internet 4\. sandboxing 5\. use as a single purpose devices. If one is compromised it won't affect the other 6\. don't put your data on servers. The web is very hostile, not safe. 7\. reduce screen time. The most memorable moments of our lives are not at a computer screen

</comment><comment><USER3> A few things I can think of:

1\. don't use the same password on your accounts

2\. avoid public Wifis. If you do use public Wifis, VPN.

3\. use 2FA whenever possible

4\. use strong passwords, nothing identifiable to you (no birthdates, no pet names, etc)

But in the end, if the service you signed up for doesn't employ security best practices or saves your password in plaintext, there's nothing really you can do.

<comment><AUTHOR> Do you have any recommendations on a VPN to use?</comment></comment>


Ask HN: How does Dropbox attract and steal talent from everywhere? - <AUTHOR>

I've been noticing over the past year that Dropbox has this uncanny ability to get the best of the best to come work from them, whether from other companies (Facebook, Google, etc.), schools (friends from Stanford and MIT have picked Dropbox over other big names), or through acquisitions. How do they do this? It doesn't seem like you'd have the same kind of freedom as a developer as you might at a company like Google. <comment><USER2> Just guessing here, but they have a product that promises much more than what it currently delivers.

They are the personification of how the cloud facilitate the life of the final user (not a buzz word that no mainstream media really understand or that is only helpfull for a very restrict niche of developers). And when you know that they are expanding to other services (as acquiring Mailbox) you can easily imagine that the sky is the limit. They might just become the next Google. And entering Google when it still wasn't Google is much better than entering Google right now.

And I think the acid test for them was when Google and Microsoft launched their direct competitors. Passing the "what if Google launch a product to compete with mine" test is like equate with them.

</comment><comment><USER3> Stock options and dreams of millions when they go public.</comment>


Fake Painting: The Art of Forgery - <AUTHOR> http://thenewinquiry.com/features/fake-painting/ <comment> at-fates-hands If you like his book "The Art Thief", I would also recommend "The Art Forger" as well. In the Art Forger, they reference famous forgers and their actual methods. The book goes into pretty deep detail about certain methods that forgers use. If you're an art person, it's pretty geeky. It uses the unsolved heist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum as a backdrop for the main story line.

[http://www.amazon.com/Art-Forger-Novel-B- Shapiro/dp/16162031...](http://www.amazon.com/Art-Forger-Novel-B- Shapiro/dp/1616203161/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1436214513&sr=8-2&keywords=The+Art+Thief)

</comment><comment><USER2> "They can rationalize that they must be as good as the artist they imitate if an experts can't tell the difference."

Like gravity and acceleration, if there's no way to tell the difference, is there any difference?

<comment><USER3> In the article case it's easy, originators > (even so slightly) duplicators.

<comment><USER2> I agree that the originator is more capable because he selected the topic, composition, colors, etc. But as far as the art piece itself, it doesn't matter whether it is an original or a copy if the difference cannot be discerned.

<comment><USER3> Oh right, I agree 99.999%. It's a bit like if a perfect replica of a human being is him or not.</comment></comment></comment></comment>


The Danger of the Dream Job Delusion - <AUTHOR> http://calnewport.com/blog/2010/09/10/the-danger-of-the-dream-job-delusion/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+StudyHacks+%28Study+Hacks%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher <comment><AUTHOR> I like this quote from the article, "In other words, the reason why some people see their work as a calling might have little to do with the work itself, and a lot to do with how the person approaches the work. "

I think that one thing entrepreneurs do is find a calling in what others might dismiss as ordinary.</comment>


All of Our Bets on China Have Been Wrong - <AUTHOR> https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2018/12/marshall-auerback-bets-china-wrong.html <comment><USER2> I was really impressed by an article [0] linked by the original, which details the philosophy of Robert Lighthizer, the current US Trade Representative. I had little to no knowledge of of history or motivation of the current tariffs, and had mostly viewed the US administration's approach to the WTO and multilateralism as foolhardy at best.

I am more and more becoming convinced that West v China is going to be the single most impactful issue of this decade, if not century. One would never be able to glean that based on what the western media reports on, however. I don't know if Lighthizerism is the best approach, but it is at least a _different_ approach. I'm not sure if I agree with the article's apocalyptic ending tone, though.

[0] - [https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/06/you-live-in-robert- ligh...](https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/06/you-live-in-robert-lighthizers- world-now-trump-trade/)

<comment><USER3> > One would never be able to glean that based on what the western media > reports on, however.

yeah. i feel this is an interesting point.

the article says that within China there are mainly _disincentives to argue with or reason against the leader (Xi)_

OTOH, Western media see mainly _incentives_ to argue with and reason against the leader (Trump).

i daresay sometimes the Western media seem like theologians who already have the right answer (Trump and all of his statements and actions are by definition ignorant/wrong/bad) and have tasked themselves with constructing a path, a narrative, which supports only that answer.

and, of course, Trump himself acts a lot like a medieval theologian too, but one who belongs to a different religion than the media. also, he often commits heresy and even changes religion altogether. at unpredictable times.

so we're all rather confused about what's going on now and about what the future holds. interesting times.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I would argue the earlier mindset (i.e. China engagement) was not based solely on pie-in-the-sky optimism, but had a couple of other factors -

1) The belief that China would eventually succeed with or without us, so it is to our benefit for them to succeed with us.

2) The belief that engaging the Soviets hastened the end of the [First?] Cold War, so it might also work on the Chinese.

Because we have no control scenario we can't be sure, but engagement probably worked, if for no other reason than to set up a situation where China appears a bit more transparent today than 30 years ago.

</comment><comment><USER5> The article makes some pretty intense claims but I'm not clear if they are purely hypothetical or closer to real predictions

> This entry was posted in China, Doomsday scenarios,</comment>


Tell HN: I want to teach you web development. In 8 weeks. For free (sort of) - <AUTHOR> Want to become a web developer? Are you based in the Bay Area?
Can you take next February and March off?
I want to teach 6 people Ruby on Rails from scratch. Hands on. In person. 5 days a week, for 8 weeks. No computer science background required.
There is such high demand for good ruby devs right now. I'm willing to invest my time, money and energy upfront to get you in good enough shape to land a job as a Junior Rails Developer.
I will line up several companies that would be very interested in interviewing you. If you get a job with any of them, they'll pay me your tuition, so you get the training for free.
What do you think? <comment><USER3> You should make clearer: if someone doesn't get hired, who ends up holding the bag? And how large a bag?

I'll forward this to someone I know.

<comment><AUTHOR> Agreed. Tuition is $6k, paid over 5 years ($100/month) if you don't get hired, or don't want to get hired.

<comment><USER3> Nice. Even for more risk-averse people, that's a pretty sweet opportunity.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> I discussed this very idea with @bendycode this past summer. Kudos to you kicking it off and best of luck!

Here are some things we discussed are important for RoR devs to know. ymmv.

Effective pairing skills Mastery of the CLI Experience deploying to Heroku & non-heroku hosts Git knowledge Spec tests Feature tests Haml/SASS Ajax UX/Jquery Configuration Management Twitter Oauth Twitter API Facebook Oauth Devise & User login/sessions File uploads and S3 storage DelayedJob Cron tasks Pagination Caching Search Index (eg: Solr, Sphinx, etc) API consumption API creation/support

<comment><USER5> I personally would refrain from getting too far into Haml/SASS without first creating a significant understanding of the underlying HTML and CSS. While these tools are certainly effective, it seems like it would be foolhardy to not start from the ground up as there are more projects built with straight HTML/CSS. Especially given that a junior developer is likely to be maintaining existing projects, not necessarily rolling your own.

</comment></comment><comment><USER6> Sorry, I'm sure you have the best intentions but it's not possible to go in 8 weeks from "no computer science background required" to a rails junior.

<comment><USER7> Not true at all. I went from "no computer science background" to a Django junior hire in ~10 weeks of (admittedly quite intense) self-study. I'm now employed as a mid-level programmer making very good money.

My anecdote is about as valid a characterization of whether it's possible in general as your sweeping, baseless generalization.

<comment><USER7> I got a relative lot of email on this (given that I normally get zero mail it was a landslide) so I blogged responses to the questions I got.

<http://mattdeboard.net/2011/11/23/how-i-became-a-programmer/>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER8> Are the companies you working with going to actively short the comp of a junior rails dev hired through this program (treating the 6K as a training incentive) or will graduates theoretically get market rates (treating the 6K as a hiring/headhunting bonus)?

<comment><AUTHOR> Great question. I would sincerely hope it's the latter.

Companies pay up to 25% of first year salary to head hunters (or as a referral bonus), that's the budget we are after.

But you raise a very good point. We need to spell that out. Not sure how to enforce it though. Any ideas?

<comment><USER9> Self-enforcing, assuming you have assembled a decent list of companies you are recruiting for. You have created Joe, a new valuable job candidate, and if there was just one company looking for a guy like Joe, then they would make him eat the cost of tuition (reduce his comp), but since he is a great guy that five or six companies are competing for, the offers they each give him have to be competitive.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER10> This is awesome. Too bad I am on the east coast. Can you maybe video tape the whole thing and make each day available online?

<comment><USER11> I would be willing to pay for something like this.

<comment><USER12> Mee too, I'm from Europe though.

Maybe the OP or somebody in the class could share what they do with as much details as possible on a blog as they go?

Would be interesting.

<comment><USER13> Me too and Im from the east coast...of Canada

<comment><USER14> Me too, but Im based in Shanghai, China

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER15> A lot of ambitious and hungry people ready to take Kabuks up on his deal. And a lot of hackers skeptical of the results. Will he pull it off? Will those code hungry bootstrappers make the commute, make the grade and get paid? Kabuks, please keep HN in the loop on how this unfolds.

<comment><AUTHOR> I definitely will. Thanks for framing it as a challenge :) Keeps me motivated.

In truth though, I feel like the response here has been super helpful and encouraging. And the skepticism healthy and respectful. I really appreciate it.

<comment><USER15> Your Ted talk was a lot of fun. You seem like a great teacher. I envy those who can learn programming from you. Wishing you success!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER16> Is there really that much demand for Rails devs, compared to iphone/android etc? (genuine question, not trolling or anything)

<comment><USER17> Honestly, it's also slightly easier to train a good junior Rails dev than a good junior iPhone dev, given things like tracking allocated memory.

Not sure about Android.

<comment><USER18> Maybe not anymore with storyboarding and ARC in iOS5 ;)

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER19> So, you're a rails guy that decided to become a recruiter?

<comment><AUTHOR> Sort of.

I'm a rails guy, who really enjoys being around people. And I'm asking companies to pay me to train devs, instead of find devs.

<comment><USER19> So a recruiter/trainer. I don't mean that to sound derisive - lord knows we need lots more of both competent developers and recruiters.

Good luck to you!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER20> I have some modest experience. None the less, I'm interested. How much do you hope to teach in eight weeks? What should a Junior Rails Developer be able to do?

<comment><AUTHOR> Great questions.

A junior rails developer should have \- A good grasp of Ruby \- A good grasp of the rails framework \- Experience pair programming \- An understanding of the Agile Software Development, and Test Driven Development \- Basic HTML, CSS, and Javascript skills \- Basic git (source control)

More importantly, they need to know how to reach out to the ruby community, and have developed the skill of getting stuck and learning their way through the stuckness.

<comment><USER21> I am Mike McGee, the other co-founder of Code Academy (<http://codeacademy.org>), and this description is pretty much exactly what our students are learning now.

Our program is project-based and centered around pair programming with Ruby on Rails as our web framework. It has been amazing to see the progress of our students in the first 8 weeks of the 12-week program.

While we may have a different focus and a different business model, if you want to talk to us about our experience it could be helpful in what you are trying to do. You can contact me at mike at codeacademy dot org

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER22> I am UC Berkeley student studying mathematics. I would do, anything, to be part of this six week session. I have been painstakingly trying to each myself programming spending more than 3 hours every single day outside of my normal schedule just trying to learn more programming. I learn quickly. I am highly focused. I've started a profitable, successful company before. I have a burning desire to learn this.

<comment><USER3> Have you considered just applying to places? His setup works because people are really, truly desperate for programmers. If you're a Cal math student who's really into programming (even if you just started learning), you have the intellectual chops to do it. You would get training just the same, except you'd be getting paid for it at the same time.

I got my first job/internship involving programming with zero (literally 0.00 hours) programming experience. It's quite possible.

Of course, there's a lot to recommend learning from a good, dedicated teacher instead of a couple stolen minutes everyday from another developer in a production environment.

<comment><USER23> Would you mind sharing some more about how you got your first programming job?

Did friends help you land the job, or did you just wow them in an interview? Did you have an impressive portfolio or degree?

<comment><USER3> Sure.

A friend helped land me the job in a corporate IT department (an advertised but effectively fake-competitive position, bypassed HR), plus I have a strong technical degree from a brand-name university. No portfolio or design experience. I'd like to say I wowed them in an interview, but it was really just sitting down in a bar on a Friday night, shooting the shit, and then getting a programming book to study over the weekend so I could start on Tuesday.

I was very lucky, of course, so it should be said that one size never fits all. I also think it was totally inappropriate for me to get hired. But when you're unemployed with dwindling savings and have been homeless for 2 months straight, a $45k/year internship is something you jump for, no matter how unqualified you are for it or how unfair it is that you're getting that opportunity.

I sincerely apologize for anyone who's had to read the code I wrote back then. Though, all things considered, it's probably not as bad as many of the monstrosities I see regularly in my current position.

<comment><USER23> Thanks for sharing.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER24> Sounds like an interesting approach. I like how you're thinking and I'd make my way there for 8 weeks in a hot second. Would love to hear more.

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks. Shoot me an email email@example.com

</comment></comment><comment><USER25> Sorry, just out of curiosity how much (in average) a Junior Rail Developer can make in San Francisco or in New York. Thanks

<comment><AUTHOR> Depends on many factors. US-wide it's 75k on average. In SF and NY quite a bit higher.

[http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-junior+ruby+on+...](http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-junior+ruby+on+rails+developer/l-San+Francisco%2C+CA)

[http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-Ruby-On-Rails-Web- Developer-l...](http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-Ruby-On-Rails-Web-Developer-l- San-Francisco-Bay-Area,-CA.html)

[http://www.quora.com/Ruby-on-Rails/What-is-the-salary- range-...](http://www.quora.com/Ruby-on-Rails/What-is-the-salary-range-for-a- junior-Rails-developer-not-located-in-NYC-or-SF)

</comment></comment><comment><USER26> Teaching somebody how to set up a rails app with some basic routes and implementing some ajax calls and stuff, sure.

Will they know what's going on under the hood though?

Taking somebody from ground zero and teaching them enough to be able to debug problems that the hires would need to know in order to be proficient, self starting engineers.. I'm really skeptical about that being done in 8 weeks.

Most of the little tricks and crap I've learned over the years have been through trial and error, and working on many different projects.

More specific examples: for loops not creating scope in javascript and asynchronous calls introducing race conditions due to not understanding them. Those aren't things that are in curriculums, though when trying to build some features most people will encounter them.

<comment><USER27> I have had the chance to visit the classes at Code Academy in Chicago, I can say that these students are learning way more than I ever expected.

No they will not be software craftsman in 12 weeks, but they will know how to take their own idea and make it into a Rails app. Pretty powerful stuff for not knowing how code on Day 1.

"Most of the little tricks and crap I've learned over the years have been through trial and error, and working on many different projects."

This quote represents what the students are learning at Code Academy - (<http://codeacademy.org>)

</comment></comment><comment><USER28> Is it really possible to pick up RoR in 8 weeks to be useful to a company?

How is what you're offering any different than this site: <http://teamtreehouse.com/>

Super honest question, I'm fairly new to the web dev world.

<comment><USER29> With hands-on, 5 days a week, many hours a day, intense one-on-one mentoring, I'm still skeptical.

<comment><USER28> The main reason I asked, and why I'm a little skeptical, is I see a lot of places (in the Los Angeles area) that require additional knowledge in a myriad of other technologies; MySql, JavaScript, Html etc. along with Ruby/Rails or Python/Django.

I apologize for sounding brash, but this sounds a little too good to be true, almost DeVry ITtech ish...

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER30> I'm in India. And very interested. (Of-course I can't get a visa just for this). Are you making any kind of off-line arrangement for those who can't physically attend but still want in on a self-paced learning program? Count me in if you do. I think you can have even greater success from this if you carve out/expand this out of the usual valley-startup circles. There is a lot of pent-up demand for great developers and robust continuous demand good teaching programs out here. I might be even interested in collaborating/partnering if you wish.(gratis/paid depending on level of involvement). Have you thought on these lines?

</comment><comment><USER31> I'm not in the Bay Area, but would be interested if this if it were online based!

</comment><comment><USER32> I graduate from Texas this semester, but I'm not interested in the large Gantt chart consultancy firms and generic "business analyst" positions that roll through the business school recruiting system.

I've been teaching myself Linux/Ruby/Rails for a while, but I've had to scavenge time between school and work. I can make a basic forum in Rails, I know basic Git (have a Github), I've become comfortable in Linux, and I can deploy in Heroku/Linode box.

But I never had a mentor. After I graduate this month, I'd easily move to the Bay Area for this (or a job). But I suppose I might be too "advanced" for the offer.

<comment><USER5> It does not seem to me that way at all. In fact, I think that you are exactly the type of person that this program is perfect for. Honing your skills from where you are is going to be loads easier than starting from scratch. Having a rudimentary understanding of programming in this environment can only help you.

</comment></comment><comment><AUTHOR> Folks, thanks for the great response. I just put up a site explaining the process and containing the details of the training, and an application form

<http://devbootcamp.com>

</comment><comment><USER33> It seems that there is significant interest in what you are offering. How do you plan on selecting the six students (apprentices)?

I think the real value in what you are proposing is in the pathway to a job. In fact, I would like to possibly take you up on this offer. I've done some Ruby, Python, and server admin stuff, but not enough to make me "employable" by my standards.

I'm currently in grad school, and I would be taking a semester off (which I am fine with) if I took your offer. When more details become available please contact me. My information is in my profile.

<comment><USER34> Would love to hear about selection criteria - it does seem that you have generated quite a bit of interest.

</comment></comment><comment><USER35> If there was a way to do this from Minnesota, I might be interested.

<comment><USER36> There's One more here, again from Minnesota interested in this course.

<comment><USER37> I've been doing rails work in the Twin Cities for 5 years. If either of you are interested in something locally let me know.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER38> Sounds like an amazing opportunity! If you were in Portland, I'd seriously consider quitting my job to dive in.

I'm a non-programmer slowly trying to teach myself in my off time, but it's slow, lonely, hard-to-stay-motivated going. I've contacted a few local web dev companies to try to come in as an unpaid intern to at least try to get into a more conducive environment, but haven't had much luck.

Please keep us updated on how this goes! And if anyone knows of a similar opportunity in Portland, I'd love to hear about it.

<comment><USER39> Regarding learning Ruby in Portland, make it out to a PDX Ruby Brigade meeting if you haven't already. They have meetings focused on learning Ruby: <http://calagator.org/events/1250461371>

<comment><USER38> I have no preference for Ruby in particular (I've been learning Python), but that definitely looks like it's worth checking out. Thanks!

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER40> I'm 35 years old, married with 4 kids, in the middle of a career change, and teaching myself programming. If this, or anything like Code Academy, were available in the Indianapolis area, I'd be ALL over it. I have a Master's degree in another discipline, I learn fast, and am very motivated, looking to put my creativity and drive towards doing good in the world through programming. If there was an option for doing something online, I'd consider that as well.

</comment><comment><USER41> Is demand for Rails developers this high?

There's this much of a shortage that there's no available talent to employ?

This much of a shortage to add a $6,0000 premium on top of a brand new developer?

</comment><comment><USER42> I'm another interested participant however I'm not in the US.

If anyone would consider a similar arrangement suitable for remote participants I'd take them up on the offer. I think this would have huge demand.

Personally I don't mind if it was RoR or Python - whatever. Having someone experienced to answer my questions would make for greatly accelerated learning.

If anyone has an interest in putting something similar together please mail me. I'm my username on gmail.com

</comment><comment><USER43> Even though I know I know a bit of Ruby and Rails, I'd love to take your course. Unfortunately, I live in Philadelphia, and I've been looking for Junior Rails Developer job for the past 5 months and haven't even got offered an interview. I'm considering putting on my resume willing to work for peanuts, because I'm passionate about working in a startup environment.

</comment><comment><USER44> Just wondering, what's your experience besides Classparrot? It's great but I'd like to see more before getting in a bigger commitment.

<comment><AUTHOR> Ofcourse. I built <http://bettermeans.com> Worked for MS for 4 years as lead dev. Taught workshops in high schools around the country for 4 years. I also really enjoy public speaking: [http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxSF-Shereef- Bishay-Open-En...](http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxSF-Shereef-Bishay-Open- Ente)

</comment></comment><comment><USER45> I'm very interested. One question: Do you have some place to put people up in, or would we be responsible for lodging, food, etc?

</comment><comment><USER34> This sounds great, and exactly what I'm looking for. I'm currently in the Bay Area doing analytics at a services company and want to transition more into tech. I started teaching myself Python a few weeks ago, but would love a crash course in Ruby.

If there's still room, I'd love to be in this. I'll email you my contact info.

</comment><comment><USER46> What are all these green accounts that seem to be so excited about the "Code Academy"? This is getting suspicious

<comment><USER47> I think they are students of the program who just got on Hacker News. They are baby programmers trying to get into the community, let them grow! They can also be a little feisty and protective.

</comment></comment><comment><USER48> This is awesome. I'd take you up on this. I've worked at a YC startup as a first non-tech employee and have self taught myself a good amount of Python/Django/HTML/CSS. If there's any add'tl info you need to make your decision, feel free to contact. Email is email@example.com

</comment><comment><USER49> Sounds interesting. How much is tuition? What are the companies that will reimburse tuition?

<comment><AUTHOR> Tuition will be 6k paid over 5 years ($100/month)

I haven't asked the companies' permission to publicize yet. Sending them emails now, and will get right back to you once I get their ok.

</comment></comment><comment><USER50> Great idea. We need a lot more people like you. I am assuming (and hoping) this is just a trial run for bigger and better things you have planned. There's definitely a need for this.

You're the solution to our unemployment problem. Best of luck.

</comment><comment><USER51> Great initiative! I reckon the demand will boost shortly...

Where do you want to get to after 8 weeks? Would the "students" be ready to take junior RoR jobs straight after 8 weeks in your vision OR do you expect it will take longer?

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks.

The goal is to have people job-ready after 8 weeks. A big part of the program will be focussed on learning how to learn. And students will be learning and building software in an environment very similar to a work environment.

</comment></comment><comment><USER52> This sounds awesome.

I'm interested, in the Bay Area, and ready to quit my job, if necessary, to make it happen. I shot you an email this afternoon. Any idea when you'll decide if you're going to move forward?

</comment><comment><USER53> This is a legitimate niche just begging to be filled.

Consider me very interested - based in NY but certainly willing and able to go out the Bay Area. My contact info is in my profile, and I'll email you.

</comment><comment><USER54> I'm VERY interested in this. Please email me when you have everything set up. Either at my email here or admin at 1every dot com. Thanks. I look forward to seeing you in February.

<comment><USER55> This. I too am VERY interested. My email is andre at garrigo dot net. Please send me any info that I may need to proceed with this. I already live in SF and work for a tech startup, but I am always interested in learning.

I look forward to hearing from you.

</comment></comment><comment><USER56> Being a web developer takes more than simply 'knowing RoR'. Developing is less about the code and more about the solutions you express through your code, as I am sure you know.

</comment><comment><USER57> Well, I am not so sure about a formal course like this. I am on the peninsula learning Ruby and Rails. If anyone would like to meet some time casually send me a message.

</comment><comment><USER58> I would jump at the chance if it was available in Austin.

How many hours a day?

<comment><AUTHOR> The program is 5 days a week, 8 hours a day. Why not come the bay for a couple of months?

</comment></comment><comment><USER59> This sounds pretty awesome! I'm already a junior .Net mvc developer, but I'm learning Rails to build my new startup. I would be interested in attending/helping.

</comment><comment><USER60> Is this a test to see if it's possible to make the programmers companies are looking for instead of just hiring programmers, or a test for your teaching skills?

<comment><AUTHOR> It's an attempt to find 6 people who would take 2 months of their lives to learn Ruby on Rails. If anything is being tested, it's interest in the program.

</comment></comment><comment><USER61> I'm interested! How many/what hours/day would this be, and when would it start? -Shannon shannon at starrynightcoaching dot com.

</comment><comment><USER62> Maybe HR departments should become 'teach to code' classrooms. The head-hunter fee would be a comparable sum for an 8 week class.

</comment><comment><USER63> This sounds like an amazing opportunity. If it were even remotely feasible, I'd consider relocating from DC just for this class.

</comment><comment><USER64> If only i'd be in US :|

Do you think you could find a way for people outside Bay Area too?

Sincerely i would pay (not really 6k though) for something similar.

</comment><comment><USER65> This may be something you could perhaps use a video broadcasting service and see how much reach you can get.

</comment><comment><USER66> Sounds great. I have a previous background in programming, so is there some "accelerated" route I can take?

<comment><AUTHOR> A lot of the learning will be self-paced. So not everybody needs to be going at the same speed, and on the same page. I'm designing the program to make sure that if you have programming background, you won't be bored.

</comment></comment><comment><USER67> I shall join you and learn what you have to teach me!

Give me the dates, times, and place you will be teaching immediately!

</comment><comment><USER68> I'll take you up on this offer; I'll do it. My contact info is in my profile, if this goes forward.

<comment><AUTHOR> jumar, you're contact info is not in your profile. My email is email@example.com

<comment><USER68> I apologize, I hadn't updated my profile at that time; I've since updated it and emailed you.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER69> I'm definitely interested in this opportunity - my e-mail address in my profile.

</comment><comment><USER70> Great offer. I can't take you up on it, unfortunately, but that is a great idea!

<comment><AUTHOR> Thanks. Can you give me some insight into what stands in your way? The time commitment? The tuition? Lack of interest? Just looking for as much feedback as I can get.

<comment><USER16> I'd love to do it too, but can't, for two reasons - first, I am in NY, and second, it would not be possible to take that much time off of my day job.

If it is web based, or weekends, then I'd be very interested.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER71> I speak fluent PHP but would love to learn RoR. I'm not in the US either though.

</comment><comment><USER72> Sounds awesome. I wish you luck, please keep me in the loop! (email in profile)

</comment><comment><USER73> Anyway you can do it online? I'm here in north Texas and very interested.

</comment><comment><USER74> Very interesting approach, hope you post a follow-up to this experiment.

</comment><comment><USER75> very cool idea. anyone considered doing this on the east coast?

</comment><comment><USER76> I'm not in the US, is there any way to take the deal?

</comment><comment><USER77> I think I wish I lived in the Bay Area.

</comment><comment><USER78> I'd probably do this if it were in NY.

</comment><comment><USER79> Can I pay you to attend?

<comment><AUTHOR> Sure. email@example.com

</comment></comment><comment><USER80> Sounds exciting.

<comment><USER81> If you don't have enough peeps yet. I'd be available! Ping me: email@example.com.

</comment></comment><comment><USER82> this is a brilliant idea, kudos to you

</comment><comment><USER83> Do it in LA

</comment><comment><USER84> sounds great!

</comment><comment><USER85> This is an interesting business model. I like it, but am interested to see how you will commit people to paying you $100/month for the next 5 years unless structuring it as a loan (which has it's own headaches)

For those interested in something similar, my understanding is that Code Academy (Different than YC startup codecademy) <http://codeacademy.org> in Chicago is phenomenal. I met a bunch of their students at the HN meetup in Chicago last week and they were raving about it. From what I understand, the 35 folks in their current batch are going to have multiple job offers, and DHH is a huge supporter, so much so that he's taught a class.

<comment><USER29> With the rise and popularity of 'teach to code' services, it remains to be seen which model works best. Taking a person from 0 (or very, very little) knowledge and experience to the point where they can be at all effective as a software developer is difficult. Expecting a matter of weeks to turn someone such as this into hireable material is a dangerous attitude to have. I'm very curious to see the graduates of these courses and even more curious to see how their skills are represented to possible hiring companies.

<comment><USER86> It's all about what the needs and expectations of the individual is - <USER2> properly setting them. As one of the founders of <http://codeacademy.org> I can say first-hand that it is possible to get people to a point where they are happy with their progress. But rather than asserting - our students' own perspectives is the actual evidence: <http://codeacademy.org/culture>

If anyone would like to know more about our experience starting and running this program - I'd love to help you however I can. It's great that there are so many people getting passionate about the issue of educating more people on how to solve problems through software.

Drop me a line at neal at codeacademy dot org.

<comment><USER87> Love codecademy Neal. Just finished the initial rollout of the tool and can't wait for the next programs.

<comment><USER27> You have to be kidding me. How hard is it to distinguish Code Academy from codecademy in Neal's comment? Neal just referenced Code Academy multiple times in this comment, but you put codecademy?

Not only that, but the two companies couldn't be anymore different. If you truly love what Neal is doing, you would know that you have not completed the program, because that would mean that you are a student in Chicago who is currently 8 weeks through the Code Academy program.

We can disagree about what approach is the best to take when teaching people how to code, but we can at get the names of companies and what they do right.

</comment></comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER88> nice busuness</comment>


Universities in Europe and the Bologna process - <AUTHOR> http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displayStory.cfm?story_id=13527558&source=hptextfeature

<comment><USER2> Well, it's complicated.

The restructuring caused some chaos, quite a few problems and for many Professors to be unhappy. Universities are still reluctant to give one credit for things done somewhere else. Many universities offer increasingly specialized study courses. So what became supposedly easily possible for the first time due to the Bologna process (I'm talking about Germany here) – switching universities after the Bachelor (didn't exist before in any way, shape or form in Germany) – became at the same time very difficult because nobody offers (exactly) the same.

Much of this is Professors fretting about additional work – they have to talk to all those strange Bachelor people and actually negotiate about what they are going to give them credit for ("Oh come on, your seminar on medieval literature doesn't count as fulfilling your modern literature requirement!").

I'm quite happy until now (first generation "Bologna", now in the fourth semester), but the Bachelor's degree seems pretty useless here in Germany. I'm not sure if anyone would hire someone with a Bachelor's degree in Germany at the moment – we didn't have anything like that before, companies are not exactly sure what having a Bachelor's degree means. And my university seems even to think that it is necessary to write "Equivalent of the (old) diploma" on their Master's degree.

Was the Bologna process useful? – Hm, I'm really not sure right now. Ask me in five years.

<comment><USER3> Well, I'm not really sure the effect of the Bologna process in Portugal, because I finished my degree still in the "old" model. But I do know that it is a source of confusion.

In the old model there were four degrees: Bachelor (3 years), Licenciado (5 years), Master (6+ years) and Doctorate. Now we have Licenciado (3 years), Master (5 years) and Doctorate (6+ years). This means "Licenciados" and "Masters" from the old model must disambiguate by adding "(n years)" as not to be confused with the new (shorter) versions. Madness.

<comment><USER4> A small price to pay for allowing cross-border competition, I think.It would be great if this were to allow universities to focus more on their strengths, instead of having to offer every degree under the sun. It would allow European universities to improve their worldwide rankings while still remaining free/affordable.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER5> Back in 2005, the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System) and Erasmus program already worked perfectly - I have spent one year away in Spain without any problems (except too much partying which bombed my grades). And many of my colleagues did the same.

</comment><comment><USER6> I am surprised how many Europeans there are here. There just has to be done something in Europe so that we do not turn to US for developing ideas... Greetings to all European hackers! :)</comment>


Apps for Linux - <AUTHOR> http://www.linux.com/news/software/applications/293259-eight-must-have-apps-for-linux-

<comment><USER2> Wow.

Of all these "must-have" apps for Linux, four are proprietary, almost all are specialized, and only one (Thunderbird) is something I actually use on a daily basis (even that one isn't a "must have", as plenty of people have had great success using claws-mail, kmail, mutt, pine, gmail, or other equally good mail readers).

Two of the proprietary ones even have worthwhile open-source alternatives! xpdf and Okular are both quite suitable as Adobe Reader replacements, and Marble, while lacking many of the cool features of Google Earth, is just as much fun for pretending to be learning geography while relaxing.

This list adds little if any value to the community and fails to perform its stated purpose.

<comment><USER3> Anyone recommending Adobe Reader instantly loses all credibility.

<comment><USER4> Also - no screenshots for most apps, an OS X screenshot used for one, and learning commands to install software (fairly sure at least suse has URLs to click for apps these days).</comment></comment></comment>


Supporting Your Family: So Easy a Caveman Could Do it - <AUTHOR> http://tracksuitceo.wordpress.com/2007/07/23/supporting-your-family-so-easy-a-caveman-could-do-it/ You've heard the expression "bringing home the bacon", usually used when referring to a man making money for his family. This phrase goes back to the Hunter/Gatherers (or as I'll show you it should be phrased, the Gatherer/Hunters). Women would gather the food and materials that everyone needed and the men would go and hunt Woolly Mammoth and everyone worked an average of 2 hours each day.  Now we can have an even better existence and we can do this by supporting our wives.

<comment><USER2> In "why is sex fun" I read that gathering is actually much more efficient than hunting (and people worked an average of 6 hours/day - for the society in that study anyway). One theory then stated that the point of hunting was to be a bigshot now and then, which would enable you to seduce more women. It still seems to be the major motivator for making a career today...</comment>


How do you encourage an employee to not go all the way down the rabbit hole? - <AUTHOR> I have an employee who is prone to perseveration. He will focus on a task, and then start to evaluate every possible path until he has proven there is no more optimal way to accomplish a task. This can turn a 30 minute task into a 3 hour task, a 1 week task can turn into a 3 month task.
For example, we needed him to put an avatar in Jira (if you have ever used Jira, you'll know the avatars are actually pretty useful). We're at the end of a 3 week sprint and we finally got him to upload a "placeholder", but it turns out he's been working nights at home to develop the optimal avatar.
Attention to detail: 11. Time management: 3. <comment><USER2> Timeboxing. When you delegate something, provide a time box. People either lean expeditious (ie. make sure you include logging, tests, robust error handling, take your time with it) or perfectionistic (ie. I trust you to write great code, try to timebox it to under a day, send up a PR at the end of the day with your WIP, you don't need test coverage for this, etc.). It's one or the other. More or less bucket people and then coach them on it. Also, try to put them on projects that benefit from their approach.

<comment><USER3> Or simpler if done anyways: make estimates on how long things should take and if estimates are not met by a large margin discuss why.

The first step would be for him to see that this is not ideal.

</comment></comment><comment><USER4> I'm curious, have you actually spoken with this person? Why does he do this?

Some engineers do this because they lack confidence. They'll optimize the shit out of a solution because code reviews are a form of work inflicted torture. If this is the case, you need to think about your culture and whether this person has a reason to dread code reviews. This is not meant to insult you, but as someone who worked through his own self esteem issues decades ago, I've got to tell you, I didn't appreciate the way you've disparaged him in this question. For example, 'it turns out he's been working nights at home...' is not appropriate if you want to help someone through self esteem issues. The appropriate way to bridge that is to start with a compliment - the cat is working on his own time to help you...

Other engineers do it because they're obsessed with learning and understanding. I see this a lot with young engineers - they have this idea that they can't just use a library, they have to be able to build it from scratch if you give them a pile of sand.

In this case, we've all been there. For the love of all that's holy, if you're on Hacker News, you've gone down rabbit holes like this. Those rabbit holes make us hackers...

If this is the issue, it's time for real talk. I wish that I understood everything but I don't have enough time to understand everything and keep a roof over my head. At some point, you've got to trust in your team, your tests and your instincts. Fuck, I just resisted the urge to learn about trinary because there's no way trinary will pay my bills this lifetime. But 21 year old Greg would have spent three years in that rabbit hole.

</comment><comment> J-dawg It's interesting that this person is basically an extreme version of something that happens all the time in this industry.

I've seen so much premature optimisation / abstraction on virtually every project I've worked on.

The people that do this stuff are often very persuasive, and it can be hard to be the person who suggests the "dumb" alternative.

Often their arguments are actually correct, e.g. "we need to do this thing to make it more maintainable / scalable", it's just that in so many cases, the project is never going to be maintained or scaled.

</comment><comment><USER5> "but it turns out he's been working nights at home to develop the optimal avatar" is this a joke?

</comment><comment><USER6> Seems extreme. You could always use it to advantage though - have you got some bigger projects upcoming which need thorough research?

<comment><USER7> This is not a great solution. Very few problems need unlimited, unbounded research. An effective employee limits him/herself to only the biggest problem and risk areas, rapidly focusing on the biggest unknowns and ignoring the little stuff.

If the project is very complex, you _MIGHT_ need to understand the whole thing in excruciating detail... but then you still must take that huge corpus of knowledge and distill it down to software (or a verbal summary for the team!) focused on the highest-risk areas.

In this particular case, I think it may help to focus on the business value and timeline. "Your goal is not to do the best X, your goal is to deliver Value Y in Timeline Z. Give me the best one of those you can, but if I don't end up with Y by Z then you're doing it wrong." Help him understand that perfection is not the goal, and that failure to deliver _is imperfection_.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> He doesn't understand what the business values. Show him that.

Nights? Or just I worked on it last night while also learning inkscape or something? Maybe he's trying to master a technique that he'll use in other places. The way you said it makes him sound bad.

</comment><comment><USER9> > turn a 30 minute task into a 3 hour task

Not a bad thing at all. If he is an engineer, it is due diligence, which is in fact his job.

> a 1 week task can turn into a 3 month task

This is more of a management problem than a personal issue. If you are letting him drag out a 1-week task over 3 months then either he has way too much leeway in delivery scheduling, or it wasn't worth his time in the first place and it should never have been assigned to him.

Also, who is estimating these tasks?

</comment><comment><USER10> Hard to change someone's nature. I agree with @viraptor put them on something requiring indepth research. :)

</comment><comment><USER11> It sounds like a mental issue, and not simply a habit. You might want to ask a professional.</comment>


Does VirtualBox VM Have Much a Future Left? - <AUTHOR> http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=VirtualBox-VM-Features-2015

<comment><USER2> With Oracle at the helm, what right-minded developer would be interested in it?

</comment><comment><USER3> They should probably just add support for the extension pack on FreeBSD.</comment>


FUV – Fun Utility Vehicle - <AUTHOR> https://www.arcimoto.com/fuv/ <comment><USER2> I don't think they understand what utility means...</comment>


How Facebook uses GitHub - <AUTHOR> https://github.com/customer-stories/facebook <comment><USER2> "Facebook was founded on open source," said Michael Cheng, Associate General Counsel

On first look, I didn't expect a lawyer to be the one quoted.

On second look, yea makes sense!</comment>


Boomerang mines user data - <AUTHOR> I've been interested in using Boomerang, but after seeing this article [1] stating that they "mine user data for information" I'm put off entirely. To what extent do they mine user information? How is this not a direct contradiction of their privacy policy? [2]<p>[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2016/02/16/want-to-get-more-responses-for-your-emails-write-like-a-third-grader<p>[2] http://www.boomeranggmail.com/privacy.html <comment><USER2> The privacy policy lists "Aggregate information is also collected for statistical purposes." and I would see storing the readability score of a message as non-user-identifyable aggregated information.

</comment><comment><USER3> Everybody mines user data.</comment>


How the FATF brought down modern civilisation - <AUTHOR> https://financialcryptography.com/mt/archives/001191.html <comment><USER2> An interesting article (and blog) but I'm amused by the fact that their https certificate is invalid :)

<comment><USER3> Why does this site require https?

<comment><AUTHOR> Ian has done this specifically to highlight the problem in the current SSL cert model. Here is his post on why he does that:

<http://financialcryptography.com/mt/archives/001067.html>

His site actually has a valid CACert certificate who do certification via web of trust. The only problem is that mainstream browsers have refused to support CACert.

<http://www.cacert.org/>

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER4> Heh, My first thought when reading the link title was, "Financial Alochol, Tobacco, and Firearms?" Really its the "Financial Action Task Force"</comment>


Demand Al Jazeera in the US - <AUTHOR> http://english.aljazeera.net/demandaljazeera/

<comment><USER3> There's no need to demand AJE in the US, because AJE is handling new media intelligently and is widely available. I can watch AJE on my PS3, computer, or even my iPhone. They're one of the few networks in the world that supports free and unlimited streaming options to all.

<comment><USER4> You bring up good points but there still is a need. There are plenty of people who wont even consider news that isn't on TV. Having a mainstream channel that disagrees with Fox _and_ CNN would be a great thing IMO.

<comment><USER5> It wouldn't be considered mainstream by the people that would benefit most from an expanded world view, it would just be considered terrorist.

<comment><USER4> I'm not so sure. Of course some people are completely closed minded, but I think there is still a lot of ignorance out there that can be cured. You wouldn't know it staying on sites like this one but there are a lot of people who's primary source of information is the TV and they'll probably give most things they see on there a chance.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER6> I don't know about this, Al Jazeera still does competent boots on the ground reporting. I'm pretty sure I want my newsmen to read me other people's twitter posts and narrate YouTube videos.

Their business model of "investigating" and "journalistic integrity" has no place in the American market.

<comment><USER7> The BBC, CNN, the NYT, and many others do the same thing. AJE is about on par with them.

</comment></comment><comment><USER8> If you really "demand" it, it's widely available...just not through your typical cable company.

I get AJE plus a bevy of other Arabic channels with Dish Network's Arabic Package[1], as well as via a settop box from Islambox[2] (not the best quality streaming imo, but ymmv).

There's pretty clear instructions on how to get a crystal-sharp image for really cheap via satellite[3] from AJE themselves.

If you do go the roll-your-own satellite route, you'll probably be surprised to find _tons_ of other awesome news and entertainment channels floating out there in the ether for free, all at virtually no cost other than initial setup, and at hi-def quality.

[1]: [http://www.dishnetwork.com/international/Arabic/default.aspx...](http://www.dishnetwork.com/international/Arabic/default.aspx?Region=middleeast&lang=Arabic)

[2]: <http://www.islambox.tv/tv-channels>

[3]: [http://english.aljazeera.net/aboutus/2006/11/200852518552950...](http://english.aljazeera.net/aboutus/2006/11/200852518552950317.html)

</comment><comment><USER9> I didn't get the sense that Al Jazeera was an unbiased news source after reading David Marash's interview in the Columbia Journalism Review [1]. All news sources have bias, but the way that Al Jazeera is being upheld as a beacon of truth and light is a little disingenuous. I admit my own bias against them for acting as the mouthpiece of bin Laden by airing his tapes. I know there are those that feel this is a journalistic responsibility, but, then again, I don't think the New York Times should have published the Unabomber's letter either.

[1][http://www.cjr.org/the_water_cooler/dave_marash_why_i_quit.p...](http://www.cjr.org/the_water_cooler/dave_marash_why_i_quit.php?page=all)

<comment><USER10> > acting as the mouthpiece of bin Laden by airing his tapes

Why is airing his tapes acting as his mouthpiece? Every others station on planet earth aired them to. It's the sodding news, and given that Bin Laden is world enemy number 1 why on earth wouldn't they air his tapes?

<comment><USER11> The common argument is that by airing the viewpoints of terrorists after successful attacks, you give extremists an incentive to perform terrorist attacks. I.e., if you pay for something (with money or airtime), you get more of it. Thus, journalists have a responsibility not to do so.

I haven't thought this through enough to form an opinion, just thought the argument is worth stating.

</comment></comment></comment><comment><USER12> I learned more about the relevant participants in Egypt from watching Al Jazeera on the net for 15 minutes than from weeks of US coverage.

How is the coverage of Japan though? The BBC is still my favorite for international events.

</comment><comment><USER13> I'm not sure there's any hope of that happening. If a company tried to offer it even at a premium I'm sure it would turn into an issue of "Comcast/DirecTV is siding with the terrorists!"

<comment><USER14> Such an argument could only come up on some simplistic and dramatically uninformed media channel. One that no one would be using anyway. Oh wait... forget what I just said.

</comment></comment><comment><USER15> I moved to asian from canada last summer, and the presence of Al Jazeera was a little weird at first. It'll be up on TV, or people will be reading it on their computers, you get over seeing it about the 3rd time.

My limited experience is that its pretty average news. I find the BBC (or the CBC in Canada) to be considerably better with respect to seeming unbiased.. Al Jazeera kinda feels CNN-ish. I'm curious if anyone with more exposure feels the same? Also, CNN is still king for truly up to the minute breaking news.

I certainly think having a counter balance to Fox and CNN's right of center, wouldn't hurt, and I think people should be allowed to watch what they want. However, I'd be more inclined to petition to US government to mandate the BBC be broadcast for free.

<comment><USER16> CNN is right of center?

<comment><USER17> Only Americans think that CNN isn't right of center. Many think the BBC is fairly unbiased, and CNN is definitely well to the right of the BBC.

Another data point: the Democratic party would be considered a centre-right party in most countries.

<comment><USER11> CNN international is also very different from CNN USA.

CNN international seems to be reading AP press releases. CNN USA is mostly just anchors reading twitter, with the occasional story about how racist and violent the tea party is.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER18> Rather than demand this network, we should all demand the fixing of the dozen news networks here in the US.

</comment><comment><USER19> I demand à la carte cable/satellite pricing!

</comment><comment><USER20> We can't have diversity in our media options, that would be too informative!

</comment><comment><USER21> Demand is too strong of a word here. America is the land of free thinking and tolerance. People here, for the most part, appreciate and respect the differences in opinions. If Al Jazeera wants to establish presence here, no one would tell them to get out. In reality, this would be the best place for any news organization.

<comment><USER22> They already have a presence in Washington, DC, and have invested heavily in their newsdesk there. The problem is that no cable network will carry them, even though plenty of people would want them carried.

From my time, I would say that America is _a_ land of free thinking and tolerant people, but not _the_ land, and sadly not the land I had wanted it to be. (Am an Arab who had long admired the USA.)

<comment><USER21> ok good to hear they already have presence. As for no cable network would carry them is different thing. Sounds more like a business process, decision or selling strategy that is probably not as stellar as we would like to see from Al Jazira. If they have a good market, good news (which I am not disagreeing) and good strategy and sales folks, I don't see any reason why they won't be able to go thru any network. Do they give any reason or claim or blame why they are not being carried by any cable/dish network? America is free market economy. It is foolish to blame anyone or anything for someone's failure. Maybe their strategy is wrong. Maybe their market research is wrong. Maybe they are assuming a lot or maybe their assumption is wrong.

I wouldn't get into the technicality of "a land" or "the land". We all get emotional and stuff and there is nothing wrong with that but behind all that if you think quietly you will know it is "the land" of free thinking and tolerant people. I am a Muslim and I can say it from my heart that I am a better Muslim (compared to where and how I was 20 or so years ago) because I live in this country. I can practice my religion the way I want. There is no freakN social pressure. Yes I am sure there are people who don't like me because of my religion or other things. That's not the mainstream America. Those type of people exist anywhere on earth. Can you or I control that? No. So I don't worry about it. My job is to "try" to do the best in life. Seriously, I have been to many different countries and lived and grew with so many different nationals. I still say there is no place on earth I would raise my kids and call it home beside this country, the US.

My friend, you have to read the history of the world and then when you learn the American history you would be wowed by the creation of this country and it's systems. You would appreciate it more. Even an average American, in my opinion, don't fully appreciate meaning of freedom and how this country was formed. Founding of this country was a huge huge turning point for human civilization. That's a fact. Don't try to portray America with what you see on Fox or what Fox or other news org try to tell you. America is lot bigger and richer than that.

<comment><USER22> I live in the UK (parents were exiled as pro-democracy activists) and appreciate the same freedom of religion that you describe and I experienced in the USA. No social pressure, some people don't like me, but none can stop me and nor can I stop anyone else. This is wonderful.

I spent 5 years in the USA and what I loved the most was to read US history. Living in DC, I joined a bunch of think-tanks and saw how vibrant the political life is. And I was an admirer of the USA because of its amazing history, just as you say.

I just think the USA can do better than it currently is, and closer to what it is capable of being. I think it lost its ideals and drifted from the honour of a republic to the tragedy of an empire. The UK of course has the legacy of a more cruel empire, and no country in the world is free of blemishes. (And the Arab world is a basket case making its own recovery.)

But I just felt so sad when comparing what I saw Americans do - <USER2> people, such a pleasure to be around - and what their government did in their name - locally and internationally.

</comment></comment></comment></comment><comment><USER23> I have no idea how but I am somehow catching them with my puny little 10$ indoor antenna. I think some station in Fairfax, VA is broadcasting them along with NHK (Japanese), Russia Today, DW, and may be a Chinese language channel.

</comment><comment><USER16> I have absolutely no interest in seeing Al Jazeera in the US. We're already got the New York Times, MSNBC and CNN handling the Hamas/Hezbollah perspective on foreign affairs.

</comment><comment><USER24> Why? We don't need news on TV anymore. Let it die.

</comment><comment><USER25> I see no reason to demand another 24hour news channel when the 30min nightly national news broadcasts do just fine, along with the internet and npr to spice things up.

</comment><comment><USER26> When I want to know what's _really_ going on in the world, I don't watch the government-influenced, corporate-financed mainstream western media. I tune into the Emir of Qatar's station, where centuries old traditions of democracy and independent journalism reporting produce quality, objective reporting.

Incredible how gullible most people are. You just need to up the sophistication by a notch to have them eating out of your hand.

<comment><USER27> If I were smarter, I'd call out the type of rhetorical attack you just made, but since I'm not, I'll just point out that you provided no evidence of bias and simply played off of stereotypes.

Al Jazeera is widely respected in the journalism world.

<comment><USER19> Parent alluded ALL corporate news organizations have bias.

<comment><USER26> Exactly.</comment></comment></comment></comment>