Best of 2021

The blog posts Hacker News loved most in 2021. 421 posts.

Society, Policy & Culture
127

Is 40 the New 60?

Here's a funny story: I've been using and teaching Python for over 20 years, and designed its built-in set module, but nobody would hire me as a Python programmer when I was laid off by RStudio in February. I was "too senior" for every developer role I applied for, even when the first paragraph of my cover letter said…

146

Update on Omicron

On 26 November 2021, WHO designated the variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron, on the advice of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE). This decision was based on the evidence presented to the TAG-VE that Omicron has several mutations that may have an impact on how it behaves, for…