"professional engineer" is more than just being paid. It is a regulated term that connotes an ethical code, qualification, and acceptance of responsibility. It can be loosely compared to the bar association in the USA, or many guilds.
There are very few "professional software engineers" in the USA. Only a few schools, such as UIUC, have such a program.
Software engineer and software architect are meaningless terms. They are self applied yet imply some sort of parity with engineering or architecture. Insert your favorite "if x were built in the same way as software" joke here.
This comment is a fine example of jl's points. While the tone was not rude or aggressive, commenting merely to contradict and to attempt to invalidate specific points, out of context, is unhelpful to someone who is self aware enough to admit they are pretty, thin, and skinny. (We know our own and can read through the code.)
Jl is probably aware that this sensitivity can be overcome, and how to do so. Sometimes it's ok to pass over a thing in silence instead of telling a stranger to smile.
>Sometimes it's ok to pass over a thing in silence instead of telling a stranger to smile.
That's not how I interpreted Pacabel's response. I interpreted it more like him/her telling jl that his expectations of Daniel 'fixing' HN to ban critiques are unrealistic.
When someone comments with "I don't contribute to many public discussions because I'm too afraid of the hostility that can come along with my participation (I'm pretty thin skinned)", it's probably fair to say anyone responding and trying to be helpful should take that into account...
(I felt slightly bad about my response, in retrospect; I meant "YC partners seem to be subject to particularly harsh criticism, which is unfair. Perhaps if you were anonymous it would be less aggressive trolling directed at you." I'm sure jl has thought of that of course.)
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The USPTO has a patent search for the US Patent and Trademark Office at http://patft.uspto.gov/.
As for MSFT not having any patents in 1983, this is largely the result of the policy of not patenting "abstract ideas" that was argued in the courts at the time. The United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the PTO were in opposing positions regarding the patentability of inventions that were essentially algorithmic.
The key log that stopped discouraging patent applications for software was Diamond v. Diehr in 1981, which involved applying a mathematical formula to a database of information for operating rubber curing machines under computer control.[1]
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has largely followed this method since this decision. Between the early 70s[2] and Diehr, SCOTUS settled disputes when Customs and Patent Appeals attempted to overrule the PTO and its Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences/Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
The "luck" over the long term is, as you say, more than just the equivalent of finding a quarter on the street.
Nearly everyone I've observed with long-term "luck" has been mostly successful at recognizing and acting on opportunities.
The a-hole contingent merely has another tool to widen the funnel of opportunities. By eliminating compromise and being willing to divest others of their benefits, one can increase the likelihood of eventual success.
It just takes timing to stumble on one gold-making opportunity. It takes an approach to repeat it with consistency.
I had a conversation with a drill instructor who encapsulated (hah) the role by asking if I thought he really had that level of anger over untied bootlaces.
Many a-holes use every opportunity to send the message that not following their way will lead to dire consequences. It doesn't have to appear rational in the moment, but it is generally intended to achieve end results that the a-hole is unwilling to communicate.
With the availability of browser plugins and user scripts, I anticipate an "off-HN" application popping. Interested people can shadow the "canonical" HN discussion and continue a discussion that has legs, possibly grafting it onto HN itself.
Of course, it may be simpler to bot up a subreddit and do the same thing via convention. That may be the best result, redirecting the reddit-like dross back to reddit, where it belongs. Throwaway accounts will be mechanically discouraged along with the me-too, ya rite, and other useless posts.
Hopefully this will prove overly pessimistic. The way I see it, either we'll be proven wrong or pg will revert to the system we know and love until he comes up with a better method for improving the quality of comments.
I actually found it optimistic, in the "destroy a village to save it"[1] sense. HN, as it currently stands, will cease to exist. I suspect the volume of submissions pointing directly to old wikipedia articles will dry up. I consider this a good thing.
I suspect the volume of submissions that are reposts piling onto something already on the front page (Erlang, Erlang, Erlang, Erlang, Haskell, Haskell, Haskell, Go, Go, Go, Snowden, Snowden, NSA, Erlang, Lisp, Lisp, Lisp, Lisp-flavored Erlang, NSA, Erlang, Erlang, Bacon and Spam, Javascript, Framework, Framework, NSA, Erlang, Haskell, Haskell, Erlang, Lisp, 2048, will dry up. I consider this a good thing.
I suspect I will spend less time on the site, either because conversations will become static expressions of views or because I won't have to filter through as much content, even though much of which marginalia I find quite engrossing. I consider this a good thing.
What comes next is open to conjecture. It could be a more mature salon full of reasoned discussions or it could become a ghost town with lots of great, old, discussions.
Your CI server should be running a stack very similar to production, but there are excellent reasons to use SQLite/H2/etc. in dev.
Being able to do a "git clone foo; cd foo; do my job" is a great way to start working, especially if you have struggled with front-end stylists using real data and back-end services, or any other specialised, possibly short-term, experts who are working on your project and don't have a need to learn basic db admin skills.
Never mind if you use RAC in production - you're going to make some concessions in your dev environment.
There are very few "professional software engineers" in the USA. Only a few schools, such as UIUC, have such a program.
Software engineer and software architect are meaningless terms. They are self applied yet imply some sort of parity with engineering or architecture. Insert your favorite "if x were built in the same way as software" joke here.