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How To Become A Hacker
As editor of the Jargon File and author of a few other well-known documents of similar nature, I often get email requests from enthusiastic network newbies asking (in effect) "how can I learn to be a wizardly hacker?". Back in 1996 I noticed that there didn't seem to be any other FAQs or web documents that addressed…
Criminal Overengineering
A vast proportion of software at work today is horribly over-engineered for its task. And I’m not talking about the interfaces, about having too many controls or options for the users. These …
Why I Quit A Six Figure Job
I had the best job in the world. My immediate team of ten people were all world class, and everyday I was able to work on hard and interesting challenges with them. Hours were flexible—many of us worked seven to four (by choice!)—and there was virtually never any overtime. It wasn’t unheard of to have our end of week…
Questions to Ask When Interviewing at a Startup
A biweekly newsletter on navigating the chaos of building & investing in startups. Topics include venture studios, entrepreneurship, product management, analytics and more, leveraging a combination of best practices & instincts. Click to read Focused Chaos, by Ben Yoskovitz, a Substack publication with tens of…
How To Be Your Own Boss
The folks at Behance and Cool Hunting asked me to talk at their 99% Conference a couple months ago. The 99% conference is aimed at creative professionals and is focused on Edison’s “99% perspiration.” And in the spirit of how to get your ideas to happen, they asked me to talk about entrepreneurship and the myriad […]
How I Almost Got Acquired By Apple And Then Snubbed
This is a report of my interaction with Apple Inc. I have been watching Apple’s iPhone related news lately and i remember one of the iPhone OS related event where Apple executives took questi…
I have to think (and experiment) every single time
I have to think (and experiment) every single time I want to decipher one of these keyboard “shortcuts”. Why is it that only the command key (⌘) actually has the symbol printed on the key itself? And what’s up with the symbol for the option key (⌥)?
Your company culture is a meaningless platitude
In this envelope, I have your Company Culture. We work hard, but value work/life balance. We’re a team culture and we believe in individual empowerment. We give back to the community, and have strong ethics. We hire only the best people, support diversity, and promote growth and leadership in our employee ranks. And…
You couldn't pay me to work for Ballmer
I’m not going to lie. I was never a Microsoft fan. Not even when I was using Windows (that I begrudgingly moved to after the Amiga). But at least you used to have some awe and respect for the gorilla that was Microsoft. Bill Gates might have been an evil genius, but at least he was a genius. …
Interviewing programmers: coding test example explained
In Part 2 article I'll describe how I personally would write the code specified in Part 1. I'm not claiming this is in any sense objectively the best, and I'm certainly not suggesting it's the only.
Engineer #2 at Mint.com on when to join a startup
Having been an engineer at a startup I empathize with people who are being recruited into startups especially if it's their first startup. The key
Programming: Attitude Trumps Intelligence
Reflecting upon my previous post, I am wondering why LISP triumphalists like Paul Graham annoy me so much? Perhaps it is because I used to be one myself, in spirit if not in syntax. And also becaus…
Lessons learned from 13 failed software products
“No physician is really good before he has killed one or two patients.” – Proverb Software entrepreneur culture is full of stories of the products that succeeded. But what about t…
Interviewing programmers: coding test results.
I've now stopped accepting new versions, so please don't send me any more. However, there has been such a strong reaction to this that I intend to offer another opportunity for people to write simple code and have it analysed and compared with others.