Basics of the Unix Philosophy
The ‘Unix philosophy’ originated with Ken Thompson's early meditations on how to design a small but capable operating system with a clean service interface. It grew as the Unix culture learned things about how to get maximum leverage out of Thompson's design. It absorbed lessons from many sources al…
Hasnain says:
http://www.catb.org/esr/writings/taoup/html/ch01s06.html
Posted on 2015-06-26T16:47:30+0000
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head: A Mosquito’s Lament
This, in case you were wondering, is a mosquito. This is a raindrop. And here’s a puzzle. Raindrops aren’t mosquito friendly. If you’re a mosquito darting about on a rainy day, those ...
Click to view the original at phenomena.nationalgeographic.com
Class, capitalism and the tech industry
The tech industry has constructed a series of myths that obscure the realities of class power, exploitation and oppression.
Hasnain says:
I don't know why this hasn't been shared around more.
"But no matter who we are in the industry--cleaner, coder, designer or picker/packer--if we don't go to work, our bosses can't make a profit from our labor. In the end, to keep delivering things of value to people, we don't need them: They need us."
Posted on 2015-06-26T16:45:49+0000
What's Really Warming the World?
Climate deniers blame natural factors; NASA data proves otherwise
Hasnain says:
This is a great way to explain the climate change phenomenon (although it glosses over some things)
Posted on 2015-06-26T16:43:59+0000
We need to rethink employee compensation
I think that the way that employees are getting compensated at startups is starting to break. The old model of relatively low salary and "high" equity only works when there's a healthy public...
Supreme Court rules gay couples nationwide have a right to marry
In a landmark victory for gay rights, a divided Supreme Court ruled that state prohibitions on same-sex marriage violate the Constitution.
The $80 Million Fake Bomb-Detector Scam—and the People Behind It
When Baghdad bought tens of millions of dollars’ worth of British-made A.D.E. 651s, advertised as a foolproof bomb detector, the Iraqi government thought it would be saving countless lives. But the devices were laughable—based on a toy—and in the end have led to many deaths. Iraq is not the only cou…
Hasnain says:
This is an old story but a great new article on it. Also the first time I see a reference to Pakistanis also using it
Posted on 2015-06-25T12:54:29+0000
Start-Ups Finding the Best Employees Are Actually Employed
Some on-demand companies are rejecting the practice of using independent contractors, like Uber drivers, and are hiring people they can train and hold accountable.
Hasnain has not yet written a summary for this.
Posted on 2015-06-25T12:49:09+0000
Lush cosmetics in YouTube address dispute - BBC News
A popular video blogger hits out at cosmetics brand Lush after he loses control of a YouTube address he has been using since 2005.
A World Without Work
For centuries, experts have predicted that machines would make workers obsolete. That moment may finally be arriving. Could that be a good thing?
Hasnain says:
"Decades from now, perhaps the 20th century will strike future historians as an aberration, with its religious devotion to overwork in a time of prosperity, its attenuations of family in service to job opportunity, its conflation of income with self-worth."
Posted on 2015-06-24T05:20:39+0000