techpeace

Yeah, calling Rundberg "right around the corner" from Mueller is a bit of a stretch. Most of central Austin would fall under that generous definition.

Haphazard mashups are not how we're going to fix the many problems that face a rapidly expanding city like Austin.

Actually, the area hired a number of leading architects to design the homes. Different subdivisions have similar feels, but I find the houses themselves to have a quite a bit of variety. I dig 'em.

Of course, you could also just be complaining about the idea of new development, generally, but all the new folks we keep producing are going to have to live someplace. I'm a fan of the choices they've made in Mueller so far.

I've been a JIRA user for years, and I love it. Rather than turning down jobs over their choice of ticket tracker, consider it an opportunity - take the job and convince them to switch to what you want to use. I made the case for JIRA at several employers because I got tired of less feature-rich alternatives, and the productivity gains were always substantial.

Selections from this speech were used to create the "This is Water" video (which I love) that made the rounds in 2013: http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/story-behind-water-inspiring-v...

What, exactly, is the segment misrepresenting? It was mostly video clips of Ayn Rand expressing her thoughts directly, with a voice-over (rightly) mocking conservatives for supporting her given the fact that she was both militantly atheist and militantly pro-choice.

Don't forget to downvote both comments, Randians!

Or, if you prefer: http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/xjpl01/the-word---rand...

Looks like this one isn't totally finished, at the moment. You're probably better off starting with Land of Lisp.

I believe they're referring to the private prison industry, which makes a pretty penny off locking up non-violent drug offenders. Their trade organization listed liberalizing drug laws as a potential threat to their bottom line in their last annual report, so we can expect that they will fiercely lobby against anything happening at a federal level.

Well said! Congrats indeed to Mozilla for making this happen.

Does anybody know of a good resource for asking folks that work in/with developing countries what apps would make the most difference in the lives of the folks living there? Is there a StackExchange site that might fit the bill?

No, I wasn't making that mistake at all. I was talking about racial diversity because YOU were talking about racial diversity, pointing to the Swedes as an example of an ethnically homogenous culture that is able to Get Things Done due presumably to the fact that most folks there are blonde. (Side note: if you'd like a meatier comment to respond to, there's always the parent's that you're ignoring: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8368839)

I pointed out that you were talking like a Nazi because, in this instance, you were talking like a Nazi. Do I think you secretly harbor a desire to wipe out an ethnicity via genocide? Nope. Do I think that criticizing ethnic diversity as standing in the way of progress sounds suspiciously fascist? Why yes, yes I do!

Identity politics has no doubt hamstrung the American left, but that has had little to do with your cited example of the failure to implement a nationalized healthcare system. Diversity increases viewpoints, more viewpoints invite stronger debate. Does less debate lead to better outcomes, or faster outcomes? Which is preferable?

Yes, exactly! These guys didn't start out by talking about genocide, either! They just wanted people to know that there are some instances where diversity can be a hindrance. Just like you want people to know!

Once again, those Wikipedia articles are highly recommended reading.

Really happy to see y'all doing this! Great work.

To my fellow straight, white males who have rushed here to complain, I find the following particularly relevant:

"I think it’s delightful that these straight white males are now engaged on issues of racism and sexism. It would be additionally delightful if they were engaged on issues of racism and sexism even when they did not feel it was being applied to them — say, for example,when it’s regarding people who historically have most often had to deal with racism and sexism (i.e., not white males). Keep at it, straight white males! You’re on the path now!"

from http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/17/lowest-difficulty-sett...

Great point! There was this group in Germany after the Great War that had a similar notions about how great it might be to eliminate a tad bit of the diversity in their country. You know, to help make things happen! I suggest you consult Wikipedia for the result of their efforts.

There's plenty of research pointing to the fact that some racial bias is actually unconscious. Conscious or not, this seem like a perfectly reasonable way to avoid it.

Your second conjecture is a bit tin-foil-hat to even address, but here goes: why does it seem strange to you that a prominent organization in the technology community would focus on diversity? Diversity breeds innovation - the more diverse the tech industry, the better it is for all of us (and by all of us, I'm referring to the entirety of the species). Diversity is a worthy goal in and of itself. There doesn't need to be an ulterior motive.

"The word meritocracy comes from a political satire. It was never meant to be something we should aspire to. It was the opposite, actually, a warning about how we rationalize what we believe we’ve 'earned'. If that sentence doesn’t seem to you applicable to the tech industry and our cyclical discussions about sexism, racism, and even occasionally classism, go get yourself another cup of coffee."

from http://www.garann.com/dev/2012/you-keep-using-that-word/

> "Divide by race and you get what? Racism."

I believe you're confusing the mere recognition of races and the fact that they exist with racism. They aren't the same thing.

Not to go all dictionary on you, but here's what American Heritage has to say: "the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, esp. so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races."

Nothing in the post falls under the strict dictionary definition of racism. I would also argue that nothing in the post at all falls under any definition of racism.

I'd be happy to! The original post says nothing about Hacker School's desire to "solve racism." Their goal is to increase the diversity of their applicant pool. Having previously instructed at a coding school which had a similar policy, I've fielded similar criticisms. In our case, we offered a 25% (if memory serves me) discount to female applicants. The goal was to spur more gender diversity in our applicant pool, and it worked swimmingly - our first class was a 50/50 gender split.

Despite our own perception of the success of the policy, we received plenty of complaints from both men and women. Ashe Dryden helpfully pointed out to me, when I had the opportunity to ask her opinion, that women on average earn 25% less than men, so really we had just made the program cost the same for women as it did for men.

If women or minorities are discouraged from applying to Hacker School because they would have a hard time paying their living expenses, these grants will help to eliminate that hurdle, thus achieving the goal of more applicant diversity. Needs-based grants wouldn't necessarily achieve that goal. Needs-based grants would also be more difficult from an administrative standpoint as applicants would have to prove their income, which would also invite a regulatory burden.

How would you like a potential applicant to quantify and prove how much disadvantage they have suffered? Do you believe that race and gender might be good indicators of the level of prejudice one has experienced in life?

Outstanding work!

In this case, there's no "sharing" of code. They're selling 0-day exploits, which is considered bad form by many in the security industry. If Kevin were sharing the exploit code publicly, so that the associated vulnerabilities could be properly fixed and defended against, there wouldn't be such backlash.

I fail to see where I made the assumption that you were a white man. I merely assumed that you share the privilege of having time to devote to Open Source projects, based on the words that you used, and your casual dismissal of the idea that everyone might not share that privilege.

But congrats on your win, all the same. The judges were really impressed. Welcome to HN.

I was actually referring to the multiple listed references at the bottom of the article you "read." There are several other ways to see someone's code than expecting them to do work that they aren't getting paid for. Being "nervous" about people that don't do work for free perpetuates inequality. Try to see past your privilege and perhaps you won't hire "THAT guy."

Well, I would have to disagree with your assertion that the women were not subject to any disadvantages, even the ones I mentioned. To know that outright would require something bordering on omnipotence. But feel free to believe that it must have been "some other reason," rather than the myriad entrenched disadvantages that exist in both our society at large and this industry in particular.

I assume this was meant to be a response to me, even though it's not in the correct thread. I'd suggest you read the article I linked to, since it addresses each of the points you made fairly directly - with data and references, rather than empty assertions. It was also written by a woman, who would likely take issue to the claim that it's doing a disservice to women by pointing out discriminatory hiring practices.

Am I correct in assuming that your assertion here is that women don't contribute to Open Source in as high a number as men because they're "unwilling to do the extra work?" This is based on your one experience in college, and its extrapolated gross generalizations. Did you happen to survey 11% of your classmates to determine their specific circumstances? Were there, perhaps, any other offerings of those same classes which you did not attend that might have had female students?

Basing hiring decisions on open source contribution rates contributes to the homogeneity (read: white maleness) of the industry at large. Women especially may not have as much time to contribute, since they are likely getting paid 30% less than their male counterparts and are more likely to be single parents than men. Ashe Dryden has a great breakdown of the issue, as well as some suggested alternative hiring techniques: http://www.ashedryden.com/blog/the-ethics-of-unpaid-labor-an...

This isn't a criticism of your comment, just something to keep in mind when making hiring choices. :)

A minor amount of Snow Crash (the book in which the term is coined) is dedicated to descriptions of the team that built the Metaverse "protocol." It actually was software purpose-built to drive this kind of distributed VR experience, rather than a simple visualization of the Internet as it existed.

William Gibson's "Matrix" from Neuromancer was more of a visualization of data as it flew about a virtual world, doing whatever it is data does when you watch it. Certain servers are protected by layers of "ice," which you have to "drill" through in order to gain access, etc.

There are a few working groups that appear to also still be working on standards for the Metaverse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaverse