emdowling (u/emdowling)

emdowling commented on CrowdStrike Update: Windows Bluescreen and Boot Loops old.reddit.com/r/crowdstr... · Posted by u/BLKNSLVR

monkeydust · a year ago

"All over the place I'm seeing checkbox compliance being prioritised above actual real risks from how the compliance is implemented."

Great statement and one that needs to be seriously considered - would DORA regulation in the EU address this I wonder? Its a monster piece of tech legislation that SHOULD target this but WILL it - someone should use todays disaster and apply it to the regs to see if its fit for purpose.

emdowling · a year ago

EU tech regulation actually addressing an issue effectively? I wouldn't hold my breath, but there is a first time for everything.

emdowling commented on Stripe live dashboard bfcm.stripe.dev/... · Posted by u/georgehill

xyst · 2 years ago

Well there’s the FedNow Service which will introduce instant payments. Should eliminate the need for parasitic credit card processing networks.

A good “FedNow” or instant payment provider can easily disrupt the debit and credit card processing companies. At most, businesses charged 5-10 cents per transaction.

No more dealing with credit card network fees. Chargeback fees. Exchange fees. Issuing bank fees. Premium card fees. Just a simple 5-10 cent per transaction. Only need a US bank account.

emdowling · 2 years ago

I live in the UK, where we've had instant, free, interbank payments for the last few years (we've had free interbank payments for > 10 years, but the instant part came in a few years ago as part of the Faster Payments scheme).

Spoiler alert: it has not eliminated the need for credit cards. The credit card system has a lot of flexibility and integrations to make for a superior user experience in a number of situations. For example, a lot of banks let you create virtual cards for specific purposes (eg: I have one for all my online subscriptions, and another for merchants I've not dealt with before). Not to mention Apple/Google Pay and their integration into basically every single online payments platform.

emdowling commented on The product manager role is a mistake sollecitom.github.io/soft... · Posted by u/mooreds

emdowling · 2 years ago

It sounds like this person has worked with some truly mediocre product managers. I’m a PM, from a self-taught engineering background, and I’ve worked with many mediocre folks too across all disciplines.

I view my job primarily as risk management. A great team of engineers and designers will face a huge number of risks to shipping great products, like not having the right skill set to articulate their vision to get others on board, or having lawyers impose requirements or restrictions on what can and cannot be done. My job is to manage that, to help bring out the best in the team so they can get on with the actually important work of building and shipping great products.

I judge success by how redundant I am. My goal is to not be needed, for the team to have the right context, confidence and support to make good decisions without me.

I love working with engineers to level-up their skills so they can do just this; I work with my EM partners to understand the strengths, weaknesses and goals of each engineer, and try and find ways I can help them progress.

In an ideal, utopian world maybe I’m not needed. I can understand that argument. But in most cases, doing truly great things will run up against challenges and risks, and a good PM works in partnership with their team to overcome them and is a net value add.

emdowling commented on Ask HN: What are the best-designed news websites you’ve come across? · Posted by u/l-andis

emdowling · 2 years ago

The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/). Clean layout, no ads for subscribers, native mobile apps that perform well. Overall, it's my favourite source for general news.

emdowling commented on SwiftUI in 2022 mjtsai.com/blog/2022/05/2... · Posted by u/mpweiher

dagmx · 4 years ago

I'm confused by this post. Is it just a random smattering of Twitter sentiment collected into one place?

emdowling · 4 years ago

You’re not wrong; that is the blog’s style. I enjoy the format for exposing me to a cross-section of opinions from across the internet, on topics I find interesting, with very little work on my part. That’s probably more an indictment on Twitter’s product stagnation than a shower of praise on this blog and it’s author.

emdowling commented on Google gives Europe a ‘reject all’ button for tracking cookies theverge.com/2022/4/21/23... · Posted by u/amirmasoudabdol

tgsovlerkhgsel · 4 years ago

Background (which also explains why it's being rolled out in France first): https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jan/06/france-fi... - on January 6, Google was given 3 months to fix this, with a 100k fine for each additional day.

I'm wondering why it took slightly but not significantly more than the 3 months. On one hand, adding a button doesn't have to take 3 months despite all the necessary reviews etc., not if it's actually considered a priority. On the other hand, if the benefits were considered worth the fine/fee, you'd expect a bigger delay.

emdowling · 4 years ago

I can guarantee that the vast majority of implementation time was more likely due to verification and auditing of the solution, rather than the solution itself.

emdowling commented on Orchestral musicians have unusually challenging jobs van-magazine.com/mag/orch... · Posted by u/barrabas

emdowling · 4 years ago

In a former life, I worked as a stage and orchestra manager, including a few contracts with some of Australia's most well-known professional orchestras and opera companies. tl;dr: They work harder, for longer hours, than the vast majority of people in tech.

They will spend a full working day in rehearsal, then go home and spend a few hours doing solo practice. They will spend hours of time (often uncompensated) notating scores ahead of the first rehearsal of new work or production.

As others have pointed out, the economic model for orchestras and just about any live performance cannot support high salaries. Many musicians will have instruments worth thousands of dollars, so they will have loans against them. Then there is the venue and equipment hire, the transportation costs and the wages for the crew behind the scenes - people to set up the stage and run the show (like me), lighting and sound designers and operators, etc (14+ hour days are not uncommon).

It is a very hard way to earn a living, and on top of it all most jobs are contracts measured in weeks or months, not full-time positions. Not only do you have to be unbelievably talented and passionate about it, you also have to possess superhuman resilience to handle the lifestyle. I have nothing but respect to people who do this job for a living.

emdowling commented on Steam Deck reports are here protondb.com/news/steam-d... · Posted by u/bdefore

buzzwords · 4 years ago

I am a big Linux fan but not a gamer. Let me ask all the gamers here, what is currently making Linux not suitable for your gaming?

emdowling · 4 years ago

Amongst other reasons, lack of support for anti-cheat systems (like EAC and BattleEye) have stopped big-name games like Destiny 2, Fortnite and others from easily porting to Linux. The Steam Deck has started to change that, prompting the ecosystem to slowly come around.

emdowling commented on Australian state sets minimum pay for Amazon contractors reuters.com/business/reta... · Posted by u/clouddrover

AussieWog93 · 4 years ago

More in-depth article on The Guardian here:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/feb/18/amazo...

Most importantly, they only need to pay ~$27/hr immediately.

This seems OK at first, as it is above the ~$25/hr minimum wage for casuals (note to non-Aussies: this figure includes a 25% "casual loading" to account for the fact that there is no sick leave, annual leave or guaranteed minimum hours).

However, this doesn't consider the fact that the drivers supply their own vehicle as well as out-of-pocket expenses for fuel, maintenance and general depreciation on the vehicle itself. When you take these additional costs into consideration, that initial ~$27 looks closer to an illegally low ~$20/hr.

The fact that they were both unpunished for finding loopholes in employment law as well as given a free pass to continue for another 3 years (despite literally being Amazon and therefore having the working capital to pay their drivers properly immediately) looks like it's a win for them.

emdowling · 4 years ago

> The fact that they were both unpunished for finding loopholes in employment law

Why should companies or people be punished for finding and using loopholes? By definition, loopholes are perfectly legal. They may be against the spirit of the law, but they are still legal.

emdowling commented on Watchtower – Blender Studio studio.blender.org/blog/i... · Posted by u/Ivoah

doctoboggan · 4 years ago

Blender is such an amazing open source tool. It used to have a reputation (along with GIMP) of having a steep learning curve, but that is definitely no longer true. They recently (v2.8) did a major UI/UX overhaul and its now very easy to use.

Its also completely scriptable in python. I used blender on google cloud platform for my startup (https://lulimjewelry.com) where I digitally engrave my customers fingerprints on a piece of jewelry and then 3d print it for them. I build the pipeline in blender on the backend using NYT's blender docker containers. Everything can run headless (although headless rendering with Eevee was a pain to set up).

I have an un-related hobby where I often have to edit video. In the past I've used iMovie just because it comes on my machine, but I've been meaning to try out Blender. I've heard some good things about its editing capabilities.

emdowling · 4 years ago

I’d go so far as to say it is one of the most successful open-source projects of all time, and a poster child for how OSS should be run. From the beginning, it has cultivated a welcoming community that produced a range of tutorials and learning materials for all skill levels. It’s evolution has been steady, and it has seemingly found a way to be successful and impactful in a space where closed-sourced competitors are vastly more well-funded.

I distinctly remember how incredible it was when Big Buck Bunny was released with all assets and project files freely available. I learnt so much from that, and wouldn’t be surprised if it was a catalyst that led to many, many people gaining the skills and drive to produce new creative works. I hope Blender continues to inspire and enable many future generations of creators.