mironathetin

I think you are right and I voted your contribution up. But you don't really think it will work? Developers were kings once. Big companies turned them into slaves.

Well, yes and no. People who take their backup drives away from the computer tend to have - a completely outdated backup. There is no 100% safety. If power fails while the backup is done, well there is still the original disk. How high is the possibility that it crashes in the same moment?

".. do you actually TEST those backups?"

yes (of course), see my post above.

I have used time machine repeatedly to restore lost or damaged files. I also replaced harddrives several times and played back my carbon copy clone. It boots and I have never missed a file in years.

Mac: Carbon Copy Cloner and Time Machine on separate usb disks. I use the system scheduler to wake the machine at night, mount the disks, start both backups, unmount and sleep the Macbook again. Rock solid, runs every night since years. Even swapping the harddrive is a matter of 30 minutes to play back the latest ccc clone.

I have to find a similar backup solution now also for my Linux based Thinkpad. I am looking into Mondo rescue, because it promises to create a bootable image on an external drive (just like Carbon Copy cloner). For me, it still fails, but this is Linux. Needs more time and research.

This is a personal backup of one computer only. I have bad experiences with centralised backup solutions. In every case you need to reinstall the operating system at least before you can access the backup. I also forgot my password once, because access to the backup is not frequently needed and well meaning admins constructed crazy pw rules. So even though I had a backup, it was not accessible any more.

Well, I do expect the availability of applications has been checked before moving to Linux. If not, ... bad management (not impossible that the move was planned badly though).

But if you know exactly what you need, you can also develop software or extend functionality of available software. That's one of the advantages of the Unix processing philosophy and open source software.

For a local government a preference of local business is not only ok. It should be the first choice, the second choice and also the third one. In this case, as there is totally different tax flow involved as the article nicely explains, local business is the only responsible choice for an elected government, IMHO.

If Munichs public service personal has issues with Linux and Libre Office, they need a proper training, not a switch of platforms.

Without training nobody in this world would be able to properly use Microsofts products as well. And this is true for every new version, as the comments correctly mention.

yes, I wanted to add that remark as well, especially because the topic is about kids. But I didn't.

And of course bicycles are far less dangerous than any car. So there is no reason to complain or criticise this great achievement.

"This is very true in London, unfortunately ..."

I admire the Dutch. They use the bicycle everywhere and in all weather conditions. The result? Their cities even sound so different. It is calm, very little car noise. Amazing.

"... I do have less ability to do brilliant-late-night-ninja-coding stunts,..."

Isn't this an advantage as well? How many ninja stunts have you seen without hundreds of bugs and being easily integrated into existing stuff and not requiring to change many existing things because they don't fit anymore with the genius code (and thus replacing well tested bits with alpha quality code)?

Being older helps to plan well before you code and get a result that does the job. As you said: getting things done.

Franz Werfel: Pale Blue Ink in a Lady's Hand. The story of an Austrian aristocrat and politician, who is - through his marriage - well established in society and on a safe carrier path, who discovers that he might have a child with a jewish woman (in pre-WWII Austria).

Great story and so well written by Werfel.

What do you want to say: it is hopeless to cultivate bicycle usage in the US?

"And then there is the stigma that if your riding a bike, it means you obviously have DUI and/or other issues."

Here in Europe bikes become a lifestyle item. Just get yourself a real cool bike, with a carbon belt drive or one of those Titanium bikes, and dress accordingly.

"Cities make it easier for kids to go outside and be kids."

The other way round. I grew up in the countryside and we could literally play on the streets without risk. Visiting friends was actually easier. We simply took the bike, the rollerskates or - later - a motor scooter. No need for any parent to drive anybody anywhere. No need to use public transportation. All my schoolmates lived in bike distance (that is 25 km in my definition).

Of course it counts how safe your country or city is. It is our business to make them safe, not to hide in cars, because otherwise we may be harmed.

"For example, if I use the same word ten times in the same paragraph, this tool would replace it by synonyms;"

Very funny. This would make terrible prose, I guess. It is part of the art to say things only once and thus make repetitions unnecessary.

Yes, I agree with that too. I prefer a well done computer, that is stable and low maintenance compare to a super high end one. But I wouldn't mind, if Apple could offer both: close to cutting edge hardware plus a stable OS.

I also used Thinkpads as long as I was on linux. But I dropped linux because it took so much more time to administrate compared to OS X.

"You're solving problems. If you do work to solve those problems, fine, but having more "output" doesn't make you go from a 1x to a 30x engineer."

No, you're not only solving problems. Especially with a complex stack of software, you also try to stay in control. This could mean, a library or a third party software adds a clean, encapsulated and controllable part to your software.

This can also mean, you add a library, it works, first, but then you discover bugs and missing functionality. What then? Raise tickets on the third party software and wait and swear? Write code around the bugs, until they are solved (a 100% loss of developer time). Add required functionality to the library, which makes you depend on the installed VERSION and each update requires more time invested.

It is a decision, how important the job is. Developing key functionality in house, not to re-invent the wheel, but to stay in complete control, can be a time saving option, even if it takes weeks of initial investment that could be saved with a third party solution.

The discussion, who is more productive, becomes then really a side problem.

This is a funny reply, if you remember yesterdays discussion about Apples missing computer innovation: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10980023 enjoy

So true.

But apple even drops people who just want a cool new toy. I have my Macbook Air for 3 years now and, although I am fine with its performance, I would buy a new one. But the specs have not changed at all. So I keep my old machine. Looks like Apple does not need the money.

I think that will be wrong too. A good team lives from a variety of experiences and abilities. The trick is to find the right team member for the job.

yeah, that's taking away a pragmatic developer from what she does best.

"If you let someone merge, make their exit, pass you, you're enabling flow."

yes and no.

If you let someone merge in heavy traffic, and (s)he has to break hard right after merging, the flow stops. This is what happens - indeed - in competitive driving. In my city people seem to be so full of adrenaline, more before than after work, that it happens all the time and already in the morning at 6:30.

"...and brake as hard as possible " I think braking hard is the beginning of all evil. Others behind will also have to brake hard and a whole bunch of cars comes to a standstill. Keep moving is key, which means: anticipate what will happen in front and react accordingly. This would also fit to the gas theory: as long as there is no shockwave (braking), things still flow. If things get denser in front of the car, move slower, as in a gas, but try not to stop.

As long as you are alone and in control, I agree. But in a project with a large java inheritance hierarchy, polymorphism maxed out by some remote developers, it is easy to really get lost.

"The trick to sane OOP is doing as little of it as possible. When you maximize the number of pure methods, minimize mutable state, minimize inheritance and so on, you are doing OOP well."

Maybe...

The attempt to forbid (global) state, as written in the op, is honourable, but I think, if a developer wants state, (s)he'll find a way. There is no good code without good developers. So lets go on educating ourselves.

We shouldn't forget that life is a marathon not a sprint. I personally make sure I am not tired while I work. If tired I found out that I make mistakes that I have to repair the next day. This cannibalizes my concentrated time on this next day, so I try to avoid this. Of course, if tired stupid work can still be done unless it eats into the recreation (which is: make sure you are not tired the next day).

I hardly know anyone who is effective beyond the usual 40 hours week. I attended meetings with totally overworked colleagues which did not come to a goal after hours of blabla. I also attended meeting with clear thinking colleagues which ended with a week of work for everybody after 30 minutes of discussion. Everybody awake, well prepared and belonging in that meeting. But here everybody has to find its own best performance limits.

I also agree with other comments that we should not work more, but better. We automatize work to win time and enhance quality of life, not to get into competition about less and less work. If the wall street banker don't get that - fine with me. <arrogance>This is certainly not the only thing they don't get. </arrogance> But I also wouldn't count bankers as academics.

"it would seem that VWAG was unfairly singled out"

If you look at the true numbers, yes. But VW has been targeted for intentionally cheating. And don't forget, some Audi engines are also inherited from VW.

I was about to write: "there is something like printed journals" (I read it at the physiotherapist while waiting for my treatment). But it is online: http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/testbericht/real-abgastes... Test your german.

I just saw, that the Fiat 500 is even worse that all the others. Shocking results.

By the way, as a reaction to this issue, a german motor magazine has measured real life compliance to the Euro-6 norm for a couple of popular cars: VW Golf, Opel, Audi, Mercedes c-class, Fiat 500 etc. All, and I mean ALL of them emit 2-8 times as much as allowed by Euro 6. The heavier the car, the worse the result. All SUVs like the Audi Q3 or BMW Xx have terrible measurements. The best - was the VW Golf with the 2 litre engine. The worst was the Audi Q3, which emits 5 times as much as the Euro-5 norm (which it was adapted to) and thus 10 times as much as Euro-6. Shame.

oh yes! This I also do not understand at all. They replace the software and all of a sudden the emissions are ok and the unsolvable problem has been solved.