dc-programmer

Maybe it works if folks make a clear eyed appraisal of what the salient issues are. But once the biggest issues facing humanity were identified as AI or the sun exploding and not climate change and wealth inequality, it was game over

I was about to mention the reserve ratio but apparently it’s 0% right now in the US…

Economic freedom follows rule of law. And enforcing rule of law is not a passive activity. Free markets are only possible when governments take an active and benevolent role in society

Distributed Systems by Tanenbaum is a great complement to DDIA. It requires a more significant time and energy investment however

The barrier to sharing your running experiences on LetsRun.com are quite low and very few folks on the boards are hustling for money.

On the other hand, it’s an godless cesspool that transforms it’s denizens into the worst versions of themselves. So there’s some give and take

I do feel like the necessary complexity of SQL maintenance and dependency patching was thrown under the rug here. But then again maybe the client completely firewalled development and operations

I have two theories

1. Economic uncertainty causes stress. The economic system is complex beyond comprehension so folks reify their anxiety onto the physical manifestation of the economy - money. Thus the money supply, and by extension the Fed, become a synecdoche of a much larger system.

2. The Fed is a scapegoat for fiscal policy. Politicians and special interests peddle Fed conspiracies because it distracts from Congress’ dereliction of duty to make fiscal policy. Taxing and spending are powerful levers that many politicians are loathe to use. This is why the Fed Chair doesn’t even have to be an economist anymore. They are just a whipping boy for the public

Serious question - why wouldn’t you search for the algorithm you need (or the problem statement) on Google scholar these days? I have the books but if I ever found myself reaching for them at work, I would consult most recent literature

“Software developers, quality assurance analysts, and testers typically need a bachelor’s degree in computer and information technology or a related field. Some employers prefer to hire developers who have a master’s degree.“

Interesting that the government continues to peddle credentialism for software developers. I personally think a CS degree is still a strong positive signal but it’s hardly a requirement anymore

The standards for ECON101 at Davidson are relatively high. It covers intro micro and macro in the same semester unlike most schools and just finishing the tests in time requires algebraic fluency (same for calculus skills in intermediate micro/macro classes).

It’s always been a weed out class (lots of future investment bankers would switch to an easier major). If he has kept the sane bar as previous years, and college kids are struggling as much as it seems, I’m not surprised with the poor results.

As an alum, I think Davidson is in a tough spot. It made a name for itself in the past for the rigor and volume of its coursework. Grade deflation was a common topic when I attended. While it is not a household name, it’s built a very solid reputation with graduate schools and key employers for producing graduates with the requisite skills to excel. Obviously it does not hurt a large part of student body comes from upper-middle-class to upper class backgrounds which I argue provides the real value proposition (networking and exposure to upper class ideas and culture) but I digress

However, being really really hard with a low name profile is a tough appeal in the current zeitgeist. Schools have become businesses where parents and students want guarantees, especially if they are paying private school tuition. But if Davidson lowers it standards to meet customer demands, then how does it differentiate itself? Especially in the humanities. If you are an English major at Princeton then you are set because of your schools brand. But an English major at Davidson needs that reputation of rigor for their personal brand (and to hone skills of course).

The grading system is fairly meritocratic - essays are graded off syllabi and fixed points are deducted for wrong math answers. The girls and boys in a school are coming from the same cross-sections of society, so if the girls get better grades maybe they are just winning at the meritocracy? I have a hard time believing there is an actual inequality of opportunities across genders past maybe a superficial level.

I am skeptical interventions actually help - the students who do the right things in their own time will get better grades.

It was refreshing that the researchers interviewed did not speculate reasons for the phenomenon.

As a laymen though, I’m free to guess. I do think boys propensity to binge video games is a explanatory factor. Based off my experience, playing progress- oriented games tricks your brain into thinking you are accomplishing something tangible. I think the only thing that steered me away from heading down a dark path was athletics, which grounded me in the real world growing up

The PhD to community leader pipeline nowadays is a lot smaller. Most of them now end up being adjunct professors or something.

I’m not sure how much Latin and Church play into things (I did both growing up and it’s not much to write home about) but I think the decreasing opportunities for a rich life have more to do with the systematic de-skilling of the professional and academic middle class. Society can not countenance regular individuals with that much leverage and influence so it does everything in its power to reduce engineers, teachers, etc to cogs in a machine

Stages of grief. First he blamed employees, now the economy..

How does one market themself as a high end pentester? Are companies looking for a certain pedigree?

Anything that can be construed as a challenge to traditional conceptions of the American patriarch will come under attack by the right moving forward

Wow I didn’t realize that. I only got the sanitized version of the story from Ira Glass

I like drinking but most of the time the two day anxiety rebound is not worth it. So I only drink at special events where I know it’ll be worth it

Are there any studies on the phenomenon? I like reading peoples stories but at the same time I’d be interested in seeing the data

I’ve read a few and there were some bangers for sure. His style seems to be to put forward these grand theories, which has its appeal, but I’m more interested in the empirical style these days

That is pretty decadent actually. Financials aside, I do believe frivolous activity like that creates a culture of unseriousness

If I were one of these managers I would be reluctant to take on the person because they’ve been designated as low performing already. Wouldn’t you just hold out for a stronger external candidate? Or is that the point?

I think he talks about Lisp too or something

Reading NextDoor completely disabused me of any notion that smaller government is better. It seems like everyone involved in local politics is an absolute crank. You can see this clearly in New Hampshire were the goofy libertarians who moved from other states gang up to defund public schools.

At least with the Feds they are under a constant microscope. The most heinous corrupt shit in America almost always happens at the local level because they can get away with it

I think the problem is the exact opposite. We would would much better off if we treated teachers as the community leaders they are

“Students are customers” - Hard disagree here. I had a great time in college but the effects of the neoliberalization of the university definitely diminished the experience. Schools are one of the only pre-capitalistic institutions left in society that situate folks in time and tradition. Now they are becoming another money grab.

Am I paranoid to to think Iran has the CA signing key for any TLD you can register with there?

Know Your Your Enemy is fantastic. It feels like the only serious cultural analysis today is coming from thinkers pretty far to the left. Which is sad because that has not always been the case

Sorry somehow missed that.

The explanation I heard for the traditionally higher brackets is that it facilitates quicker turning. Is there truth to this or is this more of a marketing thing?

Cyclocross bikes also have higher bottom brackets

Countries rise and fall by systems. If the US adopts an unschooling strategy that minimizes math learning, then it will certainly take the country in a direction. It’s a topic that powerful people are clearly taking sides on. I think it’s valid to discuss what the implications would be.

In general, I don’t really understand the dismissal of the use of systems language for social topics. Other domains on this site are debated in very analytical terms looking at historical factors and second order effects.

What makes social issues different where it’s uncouth to perform the same type of analyses?