The paper wasn't that hard to find: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstr...

I too grew up in Australia and had never heard of this! Maybe generational or regional, or both?

This is not entirely true I am afraid. There are refillable glass and plastic bottles here, but there are also plenty that are just "normal" one-time-use bottles. Not sure where you got your pizza delivered in a box, never seen that and I've been here for 11 years now.

Straw man. No one said all managers are bad. The question was why do programmers make so many mistakes, the number one answer is bad policies and/or bad incentives by management.

Ok, so *you* didn't say this, so I'll pay that. You'd have to agree with me though, that it is often as I described it, especially here.

Unless you are self employed you probably have management. If you do really stupid careless stuff on you own that is your manager's responsibility too. Its the managers job to prevent you from going down that self destructive path. To get you trained and/or educated to do the right thing, and of course to make sure the corporate incentives encourage doing the right thing.

It is interesting how you mentioned "sprint", which implies some "agile" development but still think that the manager is responsible for all this stuff. To be honest I agree with most of what you have written but my main point was that this is a cliche that I hear all too often from people in IT, especially on /., and in my experience it only tells a narrow part of the story.

This "all management are bad, m'kay" trope is really boring. Sure there's shitty management (plenty of it in fact) but using it as the go-to excuse for all software development problems is just a cheap excuse.

What's more interesting is that whilst there are a few, the deluge of "install linux, grow a beard" hasn't started yet. Maybe all the linux nerds are still in bed sleeping.

Having just spent the last year in the USA/Canada I really have to address point 3 above, as it's incorrect.

If you are stopping in the USA for transit purposes only, or for less than three (3) months, as an Australian you are eligible for the VWP (Visa Waiver Program) which gives you up to 90 days in the USA, without needing to go through the visa application process.

I'm not sure of this guy's special circumstances, or whether he wanted to go in and out of the USA on a regular basis, in which case you would need a visa (talk to the Consulate about it).

A word of advice, make sure you have your paperwork with you (you can find the list of what you might/will need at the US Consulate site) as the CBP officers L O V E to grill your ass if you don't have it. I mean everyone wants to get into the USA and not leave, right?

If you have your stuff in order, it'll be a simple case of some suspicious looks (after all you ARE a terrorist) and some stamping and you'll be on your way.

Oh, one other thing, if you're planning on doing a transit through LAX - allowed 3-4 hours between flights, just in case. Trust me on that one.