stackcollision

Adding 'technicians' is not a bad thing, because like you said it lets us focus on the real problems. The 14 year olds can configure their blogs and fix peoples' computers while we write the software to send spaceships to Mars.

But let's face it: the more extroverted among us are jealous of the "social media gurus" who are waving their hands on the television stations and spewing garbage opinions. They didn't work for engineering degrees like we did, but their words are still heeded more than ours, even though it's just hot air.

Imagine what the world would have been like if the internet had existed when the automobile was introduced. I'm sure that the automotive engineers would be bemoaning the fake experts just are we are now. But the automotible did not make everyone's voices heard.

The very nature of our field means that we create technology that makes it possible for the loudest voices to carry the most weight, even if they don't know what they're talking about. It's the bitter pill we have to swallow.

Did we learn nothing from LOTR?

Is Flappy Bird just a clone of that rediculously fun helicopter tunnel game that everyone used to play on AddictingGames, the name of which escapes me right now? It's funny how many of these record-shattering Android and iOS games are just polished versions of ancient Flash games.

There's no such thing as 'civil' when it comes to business, especially not when you're dealing with millions of dollars. When most business people (SV companies included) shake your hand they're holding a knife behind their back in the other.

Interesting fact: they wanted to go for this effect in Firefly, but the camera guy they had was so good that his freehanded shots looked like steadycam shots anyway.

We had an electric typewriter in my house for years even after we got our first computer, and only got rid of it recently. So sad :[

Fact! Tackling is my favorite part of fleet combat. I've pulled out battleships when necessary, but buzzing between the huge ships in a Vigil at 4.5km/s and fucking their warp drives is so much fun.

This is quite possibly the most hilarious bug I've ever seen.

What I really want to know is who the hell actually googles "gmail"? There's a link at the top of the homepage!

This case is really interesting.

Here's a guy who had committed numerous murders, and gotten away with it to boot. But he had to have the recognition. Criminal psychology is fascinating stuff.

I think this is a pretty good assessment. I learned C first, so a lot of this stuff comes naturally to me. On the other hand, a friend of mine learned Java first. Now he's in a Master's program and doing C, and he's constantly asking me about low level stuff like byte alignment.

Little late there, eh?

Not everyone can get a full time job in this economy. A friend of mine is struggling to pay rent with her part time job at minimum wage. She can't afford to eat every day. Sure, you could tell her "go get a full time job", but no one is hiring. Believe me, she's tried.

Good call spotting the sock puppet.

Someone who likes to figure out how things work. This usually involves breaking things and using them for purposes other than what they were intended for, which is why they get such a bad rap.

Travel. That's what I wish I had done. I'm going back to school for my masters soon, and when I get done I'll be traveling for a while. Don't waste your youth sitting around, there's a lot of world out there.

"Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes. Keep this in mind; it may offer a way to make him your friend. If not, you can kill him without hate — and quickly." -Heinlein

Can we talk about the real issue in this article? Forty-five MILLION people are functionally illiterate. How was I not aware of this? Why aren't people more concerned about this?

This made me smile. Google News is so full of drivel and shock-value titles from all the major sources. It's good to see some news on the other side.

I thought Hitler was Time's POTY when he was still propelling Germany out of abject poverty, and before he, you know, started a war. Is my timing off here?

I think putting Snowden on here is cheating, especially among this crowd. Yes, what he did was extremely important. Yes what he did had a tech impact, but the majority of the impact was societal, IMHO. I voted for him on Time, but here I have to vote for Musk.

I don't think it does. Just remember that an artist came up with this. The rotary engine was great in theory, too.

Despite the evil connotations associated with this phrase post-WW2, I have to say that I agree with it.

I've also just started learning hardware development in my spare time. It's a very different challenge than software, and I'm already having a ton of fun with it. To get started, I'd recommend taking a look at this tutorial: http://www.newbiehack.com/MicrocontrollerTutorial.aspx

I also work with a guy who has been hacking hardware since the vacuum tube days, and has built his own computer literally from the ground up. He's an amazing resource, so I got really lucky.

As for barriers, I got started for less than $60. I bought an MCU, breadboard, programmer, iron, some LEDs and other components and started messing around. I haven't put together a PCB yet, because I want to make sure I've got everything right. Like the article says, the real world is unforgiving. I don't want to dump $50 on having a board etched and then find out I messed up the design.

Reporting in from the "I hate Unity" department. If I wanted to use something that looks like a mac, I would just get a mac.

This seems like a very childish response to me. Perhaps it would have been better to simply decline the offer and list your reasons, rather than berating the recruiter.

As it currently appears, the argument is not even very clearly thought out. You just kind of yell at them about slavery and feudalism, which imho doesn't have any relation to the puzzle you were asked to solve.

I agree that I wouldn't have done it, but then again, I don't want to work for Facebook.

For a second I thought I had stumbled onto tumblr.

You were one of the lucky ones, then. They didn't even teach us to make omlettes.

I don't know why everyone glorifies silicon valley so much. I could never work in a place where people would stab their own grandmother in the back just to get up one rung.

I don't see it taking too long for someone to make an open source DRM-free browser that just ignores the HTML 5 DRM functionality.

Hah! Nokia phones break?