Author Archives: patrick

Autonomous vehicles are solving a hard non-existent problem

Posted on December 11, 2018 by patrick

Humans are actually pretty good drivers because they instinctively understand other humans. Computers instinctively understand nothing about humans so the computer’s ability to predict what happens next is nil. Examples: A human is driving down a street and a bouncing … Continue reading →

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Interviewers: GDPR has taken away the “liability” excuse for not providing feedback

Posted on October 30, 2018 by patrick

I find it puzzling that companies are not open to sharing what went into the “no hire” decision. The usual excuse is “liability”: Since many companies don’t share any kind of detailed post-interview feedback (beyond a yes/no) with candidates for … Continue reading →

Posted in interviewing, management | Leave a comment

What is old is new again

Posted on October 28, 2017 by patrick

What is old is new again This post about “front-end microservices” appeared on hacker news. This is the original “portal” idea that was used back in the 1996-2000 days of Yahoo. I have used this technique at companies that need … Continue reading →

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What can we do as men to stop sexual harassment?

Posted on February 20, 2017 by patrick

So Uber is the latest tech company to get called out about its poor handling of sexual harassment, Other companies have a sexual harassment problem. What can be done? For starters, it is a wonderful thing that these stories are … Continue reading →

Posted in management | 1 Comment

Spotting a “crappy” boss in the interview

Posted on April 7, 2016 by patrick

“My boss is an asshole” “My boss is the worst ever!” “If I had know he was this bad I would never have taken this position!” How many times have you felt this way? or have you heard your coworkers … Continue reading →

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LinkedIn has lost its Vision

Posted on March 26, 2016 by patrick

The Promise A few years ago, I worked at LinkedIn. At that time, Reid Hoffman had a very clear vision for LinkedIn. LinkedIn was “Resume 2.0” for the middle managers and the professional individual contributors who really make businesses function. … Continue reading →

Posted in great ideas, management, social commentary | 19 Comments

Will cosmic radiation impose a maximum on computer functionality?

Posted on February 24, 2016 by patrick

This IEEE article: How To Kill A Supercomputer: Dirty Power, Cosmic Rays, and Bad Solder — Will future exascale supercomputers be able to withstand the steady onslaught of routine faults? Cosmic rays are a fact of life, and as transistors … Continue reading →

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Google and Mountain View – the background to the dance

Posted on March 2, 2015 by patrick

Most commentators on Hacker News had incomplete / wrong information. Here is some basic background to help set the context. Google until recently basically ignored Mountain View south of 101. Until recently Google didn’t own anything south of 101. Google … Continue reading →

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XML is not bad, just misused

Posted on December 6, 2014 by patrick

There is the usual grumbling on Hacker News about XML The problem isn’t with XML the problem is with the way it is used (or rather misused). What are XMLs strengths: Valid files are definable. i.e. this element has a … Continue reading →

Posted in rants, technical | 1 Comment

California is awesome for business ( The myth of the importance of low taxes)

Posted on October 23, 2014 by patrick

Really how important is business taxes? I talk about the myth of low tax utopia in this post. The myth of the importance of low taxes I decided to write this because of yet another debate on Hacker News about … Continue reading →

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