Software engineers that whinge about perpetually moving targets are babies. Targets are based on information. Well-run organizations gather and evaluate information constantly. As a result, targets change. Would you rather keep polishing a useless and static piece of software? Requirements are NEVER set in stone. Pretending requirements should or could be unchanging is setting yourself up for a life of bitter disappointment.

Corollary: Software engineers that let managers change their targets without changing reevaluating delivery dates are wimps. Grow a pair and stop being manipulated by the pointy-haired ones.

P.S. Apple should abandon Safari.

If your employer does NOT allow you to work in a manner you find satisfying, now is a very good time to find another employer.

This is not a new idea. Kernighan's law: “Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place. Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it.”

>> In plenty of European states, e.g. France, being self employed is close to impossible: unless you are the owner of the company.

Not trying to be pedantic (it just comes naturally), but isn't being the owner of the company for which one works the very definition of self-employment? What other kind of self employment do you have in Europe?

It's not a 1st Amendment issue. It's 14th Amendment. In 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that segregated seating on public transit violated the 14th Amendment. That was the basis for declaring businesses that offer services to the general public like a lunch counter or gas station cannot discriminate on basis of race.

I'm surprised most by the notion that USPTO employees can read.

You want force? Make health insurance illegal and watch the market force people to eat healthy or die broke in a gutter.

Bitcoin will solve this problem in no time. /s

Pumped hydro at scale (outside) in Minnesota in January? Unless global warming goes > +10c, that's not going to work.

Why do you have to pump hydro? Why not just lift stones and let gravity bring them down to spin a generator? Is water magical?

It's not fair to the health care workers who are going to get hit by waves of very sick idiots.

And somehow, I'm sure I'll end up paying indirectly for a chunk of these idiots health care.

I was smoking now and then from age 12 until the habit kicked in at age 14. I started a pack-a-day Marlboro red habit at age 14. I wanted to smoke for about 5 of the 15 years I smoked. For about 10 years, I tried to quit a more than 10 times, using a variety of tactics. I managed to quit for more than 3 months when I was 29. I haven't smoked a cigarette for 30 years now, but I fear that if I smoked one, I'd backslide almost instantly to a pack-a-day.

Here's what I experienced: The nicotine addiction was trivial compared to the habit/psychological addiction. Nicotine effects were gone in roughly 3 days each time. But the habit-related cravings (a smoke after a meal, during a break, after sex, etc...) were much harder to deal beat and took much more effort/management. From my POV, vaping to avoid the nicotine withdrawal makes little to no sense. The real value of vaping for me would have come from habit substitution, not chemicals. After day 3, I could have vaped a non-nicotine product. Or I could learn to change my habits. Since vaping wasn't a thing back when I quit smoking, I had to learn to change habits. Altering habits is a skill I've been able to deploy into other aspects of my life.

Microsoft's secrets to success:

1. Focus on a simple mission: A computer on every desk, Microsoft software on that computer.
2. Don't fuck the customer: Never break backwards compatibility (RIP Wordperfect), No copy protection schemes (RIP Lotus 123).
3. Try to make the best tools for programmers. Visual Studio/C#/SQL Server/Azure Devops build pipes are easy to use from a programmer's perspective.

It's bad enough being run down by an out-of-control autonomous car. Now we're going to let the "try it again and see if it breaks this time" crowd have access to fissile materials? This won't end well.

I switched jobs in January 2021. Pre-vaccination. My new company of about 5,000 is classifying us into Office, Flex and Remote. Office class workers are required in the office for some or all of the work week. Flex can come in if they want to if a flex-cube is available in the on-line booking or if there's a group meeting that would be beneficial to attend in person. Remote are expected to work from home 100%.

I'm classified Flex and that suits me fine. If they re-classify me Office, I'll call my recruiters immediately.

I have tasted hydroponic herbs and vegetables and from an eating perspective, they sucked every time. Maybe it wasn't the fact they were hydroponically grown. I dunno, but I'd like to see farmers start making premium money for growing things optimized for flavor instead of shelf-life or ship-ability.