The Dangers of Train Yards, Through the Eyes of Railroad Employees
A collection of photos from the 1960s tried to show why locomotives need two people in the cab.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2018-07-04T01:35:06+0000
Short Story - Superiority - by Arthur C. Clarke
Robert Lee Mayo Books Short Stories
Hasnain says:
This was an amazing short story about how blind scientific progress for just the sake of progress can cause problems.
Should be mandatory reading for software folks before they commit to a rewrite of a big system.
"The ultimate cause of our failure was a simple one: despite all statements to the contrary, it was not due to lack of bravery on the part of our men, or to any fault of the Fleet's. We were defeated by one thing only - by the inferior science of our enemies. I repeat - by the inferior science of our enemies."
Posted on 2018-07-03T20:50:04+0000
Surviving as an Old in the Tech World | Backchannel
Companies can thrive without shunning employees of a certain age. Here’s how.
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Posted on 2018-07-03T05:24:04+0000
The inside story of the soccer ball that survived the Challenger explosion
In 1986, the space shuttle Challenger stunned the nation when it broke apart 73 seconds into flight. This is the story of the soccer ball that survived -- and the family that sent it into space, twice.
Hasnain says:
This was a sad but interesting human interest story
Posted on 2018-07-03T01:41:38+0000
In Denmark, Harsh New Laws for Immigrant ‘Ghettos’
The Danes, who have struggled to integrate non-Western families, are getting tough: From age 1, immigrant children will receive mandatory instruction in “Danish culture.”
Hasnain says:
This was so depressing I couldn’t pick out the most horrible quote to post - there were too many. So I’m going with the first one.
“Starting at the age of 1, “ghetto children” must be separated from their families for at least 25 hours a week, not including nap time, for mandatory instruction in “Danish values,” including the traditions of Christmas and Easter, and Danish language. Noncompliance could result in a stoppage of welfare payments. Other Danish citizens are free to choose whether to enroll children in preschool up to the age of six.”
Posted on 2018-07-02T16:28:06+0000
How a Diablo expansion led to behind the scenes trouble
Dig into the story behind Diablo: Hellfire
Hasnain says:
“Synergistic finished Hellfire ahead of schedule and submitted their content for approval. For security reasons, Blizzard preferred to send and receive code submissions on CD-ROM over FedEx, stating that email and FTP servers could be compromised. Both Blizzard studios weighed in on submissions. According to Synergistic’s developers, North was easier to please than Entertainment, whose artists took umbrage with what Hellfire’s team perceived as quibbling issues such as an off-color pixel in one corner of the screen that needed to be changed to match the others.”
Posted on 2018-07-02T03:46:52+0000
How we discovered three poisonous books in our university library
Interdisciplinary research led to the discovery that three historic books were covered in a layer of arsenic.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2018-07-02T00:49:33+0000
Taiwan’s Technology Secrets Come Under Assault From China
Trying to break into semiconductor markets, mainland companies are accused of poaching employees and stealing data. China watchers say the threat is growing and is also part of an effort to undermine a political rival.
Hasnain says:
"While China manufactures most of the world’s smartphones and computers, it imports almost all the semiconductors needed to provide the logic and memory that run the gadgets. Last year, China paid $260 billion importing chips—60% more than it spent on oil. Chinese leaders want homemade chips to account for 40% of locally produced smartphones by 2025, more than quadruple current levels."
Posted on 2018-07-02T00:47:32+0000
Homes 'Earn' Minimum Wage or More in Almost Half the Nation’s Largest Cities - Zillow Research
The rapid pace of home value appreciation over the past year may present homeowners in several large U.S. markets with an interesting dilemma: Why work a 9-5 slog, when you can sit back and collect substantial hourly home equity “earnings” instead?
Hasnain says:
This is nuts.
"The typical U.S. homeowner is gaining $7.09 of equity in their home every working hour, $0.16 less than federal minimum wage."
Posted on 2018-07-02T00:44:36+0000
Silicon Valley’s Exclusive Salary Database
Unlike popular self-reported salary sites like Glassdoor or Stack Overflow, Option Impact is reserved for elite users—VCs and the executives at the startups they back.
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Posted on 2018-07-01T17:45:13+0000