AskHN Digest

1. Ask HN: How to learn best practices when you have no one to teach you?

Top comment by WestCoastJustin

Conference Youtube videos. They are a goldmine of useful tips and tricks. Go look for videos from the Node [1] and MongoDB [2] conferences and you will find tons of war stories and what is actually working for people. Using this option arguably connects you directly with some of the best people in the world who are actually using this stuff.

ps. using the youtube 2x playback speed option can really help digest lots of video content quickly [3]. I use this almost exclusively on youtube now.

[1] NodeConfEU 2018 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMgMSb7d-Os&list=PL0CdgOSSGl...

[2] MongoDB - https://www.youtube.com/user/MongoDB/videos

[3] https://sysadmincasts.com/episodes/52-video-playback-speed

2. Ask HN: Resources/Steps for Becoming a Consultant?

Top comment by msadowski

I have been working as a consultant/contractor since May last year.

I found my first jobs on UpWork, where Robotics is quite niche field. Being a niche field there are not many jobs available (I'd estimate there are 2-3 a month that fit my skill set) but also there are not so many freelancers doing Robotics.

Starting on any freelancers platform you need to start building reputation, which can mean you will need to sell yourself well or do the first project for peanuts (my first one was converting some Python to C# that took me 8 days and I earned 10$). In the second project I earned about 2k$ and in further ones I was already earning more per hour then in my previous job.

My advice is anecdotal but if someone advertises "a simple project for ..." then they don't treat it very seriously and won't be willing to pay for quality. The clients willing to pay more for your services will also respect your time more and are usually much easier to communicate with.

Avoid fixed price contracts if you can unless you know exactly how to do the project and can predict any pitfalls. Charging by the hour/day/week/month is in my opinion least risky and if you encounter huge issues you are still paid to fix them.

Speaking of issues. Firstly make sure that you know the requirements clearly, before starting development make sure you understand all stakeholders. As you are developing the project communicate frequently with the client about any doubts to the client and make sure you are on the same page. If you see anything off - communicate this! The requirements will never be perfect and if you put yourself in the user's shoes you will be able to identify things your client missed and this way you will be bringing an extra value by solving problems before they even arise.

Sorry for the wall of text, hopefully you will find any of this useful. If you have any questions feel free to ask here or e-mail me (I hope my e-mail is in my profile).

Good luck!

3. Ask HN: What do recruiters look for in a GitHub profile?

Top comment by Edd314159

As a hiring manager, I glance at it and take a brief look at anything interesting. It’s good for talking points at the interview, perhaps to ask the candidate to expand upon and explain the work.

If the profile is empty, I close the tab and find something else to talk about. I will never, ever penalise a candidate for an empty GitHub profile. So many people just do not have time for open source and that’s totally fine.

GitHub activity helps lubricate conversation at interviews, but it should never be taken as anything other than a superficial representation of the candidate’s ability or experience.

4. Ask HN: What is the best “dumb” phone?

Top comment by perlgod

You will be in a tough spot if you're in the USA. All the nice Nokias and decent low-tech phones are rapidly becoming useless as carriers phase out 2g (and even 3g) coverage to free up bands for LTE and now 5g.

If your "dumbphone" doesn't support VoLTE you'll be frustrated with dropped calls and spotty service everywhere. I know this from experience.

I settled on T-Mobile's only "dumbphone" - the Alcatel GoFlip [1]. It supports LTE, the battery lasts for days and it even has a rudimentary IMAP and CalDAV client.

I tried turning my smartphone into a "dumbphone" and using it less, but I honestly lacked the self-control to put the stupid thing down. Having a kid made me realize how many moments I was pissing away just scrolling.

These things are designed to be addictive, and some people (like myself) can't compete with the entire teams of "engagement engineers" many tech companies employ to exploit your dopamine-reward cycles.

I had forgotten what it was like to be alone with my thoughts. I feel as though I am rediscovering a part of my brain that was suppressed by having a boredom-prevention device at my fingertips all these years. Also other humans now look like phone-zombies everywhere I look. It's kind of dystopian honestly.

[1] https://us.alcatelmobile.com/alcatel-go-flip/

5. Tell HN: Google removing Gmail access from IFTTT

Top comment by joefkelley

Context:

In ~July 2018 there was some outcry because Google was "letting third parties read your emails" (e.g. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/google-reportedly-allows-third-...). Of course, these were all explicitly installed by users who gave these apps access. But somehow people were mad anyway - maybe users shouldn't be given the option to make choices they don't understand?

Anyway, as the message mentions, Google announced new requirements for these apps on October 8: https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/g-suite/elevating-use...

Apparently, IFTTT (which does personal automation, integrating with many third parties), does not comply with the new policy.

6. Ask HN: As a freelancer, what's the best app to track finances?

Top comment by thibaut_barrere

I'm a freelance myself (since 2005). I ultimately scratched my own itch and created an app specifically for this:

https://www.wisecashhq.com

I built it pretty much for what you describe: to plan my future (it computes your runway & "time wealth"), adjust working hours as needed, "make time" for other topics, negotiate based on data etc.

The goal is not to "track all expenses", but rather to make a reasonable forecast of your situation.

You will likely find those articles useful:

- https://www.wisecashhq.com/blog/knowing-your-cash-runway-a-k...

- https://www.wisecashhq.com/blog/case-study-how-to-increase-f...

- https://www.wisecashhq.com/blog/recurring-revenue-matters-vi...

Hope this helps & let me know if you have further questions!

7. Ask HN: Is Someone Hijacking Google Images?

Top comment by dTal

Isn't this basically what Pinterest is doing? All their images are stolen from elsewhere on the web (and the website behaves extremely obnoxiously when you try to actually view an image without an account), and yet Pinterest results consistently rank higher than the actual primary sources of the stolen images.

8. Ask HN: What happened to server-side rendering?

Top comment by lelf

Phoenix.LiveView — you can't ignore it, the coolest thing happening right now about server-side rendering.

Demo: https://youtu.be/Z2DU0qLfPIY?t=2628

Links: https://leveljournal.com/why-phoenix-liveview-is-a-big-deal https://elixirforum.com/t/phoenix-liveview-info/16569

PS please stop calling it isomorphic — this is disgrace for the mathematics.

9. Ask HN: Company is firing all employees – should I still exercise my options?

Top comment by chadash

I don't know your financial situation. Maybe $13K isn't much to you. However, I probably wouldn't buy these shares for the following reasons:

1) The company just fired all of its employees

2) The company just fired all of its employees

3) The company just fired all of its employees

That's a really bad sign. Even if they raise additional money, it likely won't be on good terms. With the price of bitcoin way down from it's peak, and much of the "fools" money in this space dried up, I can't imagine that a company who is so close to the edge that they have to fire all of their employees is going to get great fundraising terms.

But take my advice with a grain of salt, as you obviously know and understand the company better than I do.

As an aside, the fact that you are asking here likely means that you have an emotional investment in the company. I get it. If you really have FOMO, you can always split the difference and maybe exercise half the options, or whatever amount you wouldn't mind losing. I once exercised a few thousand dollars of options knowing that it was a bad investment, but also knowing that if I was wrong and the company did well, I'd have a terrible regret. And it's purely because I worked there for a few years... it's not like I obsess over the fact that I didn't make an early investment in Amazon (where I never worked), even though logically that's the same thing.

10. Ask HN: What do you think of the Google Stadia?

Top comment by dyeje

I don't think it will work for multiple reasons.

1. Google doesn't have gaming in their corporate DNA. They will commit a bunch of faux pas that will alienate the gaming community.

2. Streaming games adds latency. Latency problems ruin the experience.

3. Gamers are a very fickle community and if they don't feel your company 'gets' them, they will not engage with you.