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atas

160 karma · joined February 13, 2009

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atas··on Reverse Engineering MacOS High Sierra Supplemental Update
Yes, and that's why you have to be extra-careful with copy-pasting :-)
atas··on Reverse Engineering MacOS High Sierra Supplemental Update
Simple technique for preventing bugs like this: don't copy-paste code. If you find yourself copy-pasting code think twice why you even have to do it (DRY principle) and be aware of the potential consequences. Even if some code has to be duplicate, I am forcing myself to just write it from scratch, exactly for this reason: do you really know that you have updated all your data? And yeah, unit tests would help in spotting this and other things. But aren't unit tests a duplication of your code, already?

UPDATE:

Maybe I should have stated my last question differently. I meant that in the context of checking that the data is correct, it would be the same as writing the duplicate code from scratch.

atas··on Why the Brain Needs More Downtime (2013)
I have the heuristic that I leave decisions for the end of the day, based on what I have done. In fact, this is one of my goals per day, when things are unclear.
atas··on Ask HN: Does anyone use online standup tools?
The habit of skipping them for whatever reason is also problematic. If you so easily skip them (as a team or as individual(s)), why have them in the first place?
atas··on An Intro to Compilers
Greece. I learned a lot in the process having just an undergraduate degree at the time. The students didn't appreciate it much unfortunately (wasn't a university but a vocational school; don't ask why Tanenbaum was on the curriculum). Just one came to me after the exam (I had to pass them all anyway) and congratulated me of making it so hard for them (him).
atas··on An Intro to Compilers
I did the same for Tanenbaum's operating systems book and for a post-secondary education course (around the same time and around the same age).
atas··on Mastering Programming (2016)
I remember writing an essay like this for an assignment. The professor called it 'strange'. Even if I had made some valid points, there was no way to validate them as it lacked real flow. Just bullet points with messages I wanted to communicate but with no real value on their own (and some symbolic paragraphs in between). Good to see a post calling out the naked emperor. The same post had received a better reaction in the comments the last time.
atas··on Resolutions for programmers
#1: I have to make up some time on that

#2: I am working on my diet. Yes, staying healthy is crucial for programmers. Because of the nature of the work you have to be mindful about that.

#3: Good suggestions

#4: I should be doing that. I am trying to "learn" about new languages, but you can't really learn unless you practice and this can only be achieved gradually.

#5: Yes

#6: Working on that. Similar to #4.

#7: I once had a project of reviewing the security of a web application, learned a lot, and appreciated the importance of being security-aware. It was really cool being paid to work full-time on practically gaining new and useful knowledge for a few months.

#8: I am kind of lazy for that. But, currently, I am mostly experimenting.

#9: Yes

#10: Started doing that before programming

#11: Yes

#12: Have been doing that. But what is 'complete'?

atas··on The joys of having a Forever Project
Here's mine: http://www.pubsoccermanager.com/ It has gotten really slow in the last year, but I am planning to do something around it full time. Most obviously it would be a game, but I also have a couple of other ideas of how to monetize.
atas··on The Criminal Charges Against Aaron Swartz – Part 2: Prosecutorial Discretion
This too was my main objection to the article. How could a single hacker pose a threat to democracy? And is it really democracy?
atas··on Anonymous hacks MIT after Aaron Swartz's suicide
In the literal sense of the word, the exact opposite.
atas··on Google Effect
Slightly irrelevant, but how valid would it be to be asked the SVN commands in an interview? Should I go an memorize the SVN manual just to succeed in interviews, although I use a graphical tool?
atas··on Worst time to join a startup is right after it gets initial VC financing (2009)
He forgot: "...all other things being equal", which would make his point practically useless.
atas··on An ABC proof too tough even for mathematicians
"Release early release often" applies to Math as well. Wouldn't it be better for everyone if he hadn't been so secluded and published some of his work in the meantime?
atas··on Woz: Microsoft might be more creative than Apple
Unfortunately, some people believe so...
atas··on OOP Isn't a Fundamental Particle of Computing
> Corporate programmers in OOP-land often never get the architectural experience of writing systems (starting with small ones) from scratch. Instead, they spend their 40 hours maintaining and tweaking large monoliths other people wrote, and this is a big part of why they never improve.

You just described my 'career', sir.

atas··on The Waiting Place
I have the same age as you. One year ago I was thinking of quitting my job to turn my hobby into a business. I thought of staying in my hometown (cheap but not start-up friendly and family and friends would just see me as 'unemployed'), but I took an offer instead for a more business-oriented role to move abroad. Then one day, as a visitor in a nearby country (cheap and start-up friendly, far away from anyone I know) I saw an advertisement on the street of apartments for sale and it struck me. I now have a plan of moving to this country with cheap cost of living after I finish with my current project.

I always thought of leaving my country as a good way to get me started (leaving next to family would just give me a delusion of security, would make me more complacent and/or I had to deal with discouragement), but cost of living would be a factor for staying anyway.

Why I am saying all this? From just visiting a country as a tourist, a plan came up. And if I hadn't taken that offer maybe I would have quit. Or maybe not. And I am still considering of applying for some jobs abroad in the meantime (more waiting). But at least a more solid long-term plan has formed in the background now.

atas··on Outlawed by Amazon DRM
That's why we still need local storage.
atas··on Free Flag Icons
You didn't have to give an email address, btw. So no point in giving a fake one anyway. But I think someone willing to bypass "registration" would not impulsively submit a fake address, but rather would have read the small print.
atas··on Is it OK to hold credit card numbers in cookies, Santander?
A little bit off-topic, but in what way(s) is Natwest a "dismal failure of a bank"? I had a Natwest account a few years ago when I was in the UK, and I was happy with it at least in relation to the other bank I had an account with.
atas··on Surprisingly undervalued books
'The Olduvai imperative'. Especially the introduction and the first couple of chapters.
atas··on EA “Gives Away” 1000s Of Free Games Due To No Server-Side Validation
This is just another sample case demonstrating how otherwise intelligent and competent people really need to be educated about web development security.
atas··on Programming as a cure for A.D.D.?
Is this a real condition or just Americans inventing up diseases?
atas··on Generate a panorama
The 'default' panorama was loaded relatively quickly. My hometown's panorama has been stuck at "21%" for the last 10 minutes...
atas··on Chrome DevTools could do that?
Yes, on mine too.
atas··on Show HN: Storylane - People sharing things that matter
I also don't want to "sign up with Facebook".
atas··on Thanks Mr. Jobs, But it Seems I Can Use a Linux Laptop Now
Three major grammar mistakes. And nothing interesting.
atas··on Xkcd: Click and Drag
Not really. I will continue at home.
atas··on Xkcd: Click and Drag
And I thought it was going to be a short one. Got to get back to work. By the way, I play this game with Google Maps every day.
atas··on Tell HN: Check out HNTrends.com
I think rank is actually more interesting. It shows how much "visible" is an item, i.e. its potential/relative popularity along with its current one.
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