Monthly Archives: April 2014

Reader Mail – 04/20/2014 To 04/26/2014

SP commented on Only Idiots Use Java For High Frequency Trading.
Someone has never heard of the Zing VM... Seriously, these companies use Java (actually, a restricted subset of Java, but since you're clueless, I won't bother with details) for a reason, and they keep using it because it delivers the results they need. In HFT you make money or fold: Java would have been abandoned if there were better alternatives. Despite all the challenges of making it work, Java is the best combination of agility and performance available for the job, and that's why HFT shops keep using it. (I'm not saying that HFT shops using Java use it exclusively, because they don't, but I don't feel the need to get overly nuanced in a simple comment.)

SP commented on FSK Benchmark Test - C/C++ vs. Javascript vs. PHP.
That you honestly expected PHP to be faster than JavaScript is... hilarious. At least you didn't write that atrocious Java code yourself. On my machine, the C++ code completes in around 2300ms, and the raw Java code about 3260 (~42% slower). However, after correcting the Java code based on your comments, it runs in 1585ms (on a Java 8 VM), meaning the C++ code is suddenly 45% slower than Java. Two minutes later, I'm still laughing.

Publish your code for a comparison like the others did. Otherwise, I donn't believe you.

Also, did you remember to compile the C++ with full optimization settings?

I meant to try the Java version on my PC as well, but I didn't really want to pollute my PC with the Java SDK.


Robert commented on New Job!.
Congratulations! Now get a new phone and start blogging again! Yours is a significant voice that needs to be heard in the freedom movement against State tyranny. You know a lot about finance as well so you are good at breaking down economic policy.

olde reb commented on New Job!.

is the following of interest ??

Reb

*********************

GOVERNMENT CAUSES INFLATION ??? NOT !!!

Mr. Hornberger recently chided the citizens of Argentina for succumbing to the government propaganda of businesses that are responsible for inflation because businesses raise the price of goods and services. He then decries their government controlled schools for not educating the people that their government causes inflation. Ref. http://fff.org/2014/03/18/the-governments-inflation-scam/ .

Perhaps Mr. Hornberger should review the economic chaos of the United States and Europe and question whether it is the government or financial institutes that cause---and profit from---inflation. “Bought off” and corrupted are terms that come to mind to distinguish the causation from the implementation. President Clinton was astonished to be informed that bankers would determine how much deficit spending would be allowed. QE loans---to select financiers to avoid their bankruptcy which, if defaulted---are expansions of money in circulation (inflation) that are not controlled by Congress. The benefit of QE loans is only to financiers.

All Ponzi schemes that inherently rely upon creating additional debt to pay current interest, such as the system imposed by the Federal Reserve, ultimately have the same catastrophic collapse. There is no other mathematical conclusion possible.

The Federal Reserve was established by and is owned (secretly thru the BOG) by the same Wall Street financiers who are devastating Europe with debt and who have already used the WB and IMF to exploit the third world. (Ownership of the BOG has never been publicly identified nor adjudicated or addressed by a court. The 12 Federal Reserve Banks are each privately owned stock held franchisees controlled by the BOG.) To believe the Wall Street owners are not going to do the same to the U.S. with the $17 trillion (fraudulent) debt would be naive.

The methodology by which the Federal Reserve Board of Governors conceals $4 billion daily from the auction accounts of Treasury securities that are exclusively handled by the FRBNY has been documented. Ref. FEDERAL RESERVE HEIST. Those accounts have never been audited or reported to Congress as required by law. All profit of the Fed legally belongs to the government. The lengthy mathematical analysis of the Fed's Ponzi scheme that dates from Rothschild's “loaning” non-existing money to rulers of centuries past to reveal the inherent national bankruptcy of their scheme is available. Ref. RIP OFF BY THE FEDERAL RESERVE.

The use of that money to fund the New World Order using the World Bank and International Monetary Fund has been theorized. Ref. FUNDING THE NEW WORLD ORDER. The embezzlement of the Treasury auction funds by the FRBNY and FRBOG has been brought to the attention of the United States government. Ref. AMENDED COMPLAINT—WHISTLEBLOWER SUIT. All articles available at www.scribd.com/oldereb.

The “end goal” of the cabal has been stated in internal memos to be the collection of the $17 trillion National Debt of the United States. Greece and Cyprus are but two available examples of financier's multitude of collection methods.

And still Mr. Hornberger appears unaware of the future tragedy and demise of the U.S. while he belittles the economic knowledge of the Argentina people. Academic centers in the U.S. almost universally assert government is responsible for inflation while concealing the bankers in the shadows. Academic centers must groom economists for future employment for the largest employer of economists--the Fed and c.,the banks---and academia also receive largess from banks, government, and inflation. They have done a great job in hiding the perfidy of the FeAd.

************** Footnote *************

Only two possible scenarios appear viable:

1. The status quo continues. The Wall Street financiers are able to collect on the U.S. national debt in the same manner as debts of Greece, Cyprus, Haiti, etc. The debts are being collected by troika, ECB, IMF, WB, etc. Austerity and martial law will be imposed. Confiscation of assets of U.S. citizens, including but not limited to banking accounts, pensions, savings, CD's, life insurance, stocks, etc., seizing of assets as IRS or SS obligations for make-believe debts, the selling of national assets to financiers at fire-sale prices, arbitrary seizures and control of real estate under pretended offenses, all to benefit the financiers will become standard practice.

2. The National Debt is evidenced as an act of fraud and theft by an audit of the Treasury security auction accounts maintained by the FRBNY. The implied contract with the owners of the BOG---based upon paying a debt that can never be culminated---is declared null and void from its inception as are all fraudulent contracts. The extension of legal tender status to debts of the (unknown) owners of the FRBOG is therefore nullified and the debts of the Fed belong only to the perpetrators of the fraud. (those green things in your billfold are Federal Reserve Notes with legal tender status. They are debts of the Fed.) Only Congress can do this.

Yeah, I should get more back into blogging.

The biggest factor is THE LOSS OF THE LOCAL TRAIN, due to Hurricane Sandy recovery. The express is only 5 minutes faster, but I don't get a seat. I used to work on my blog on the subway.

Also, my new phone doesn't have a physical keyboard, which makes it harder to type. I've been looking for a clip-on bluetooth keyboard, but found nothing good.

New Job!

I found a new job. It’s full-time instead of part-time, and more than a 30% hourly rate increase.

It’s an Internet multi-level marketing business. I know that’s kind of shady, but it is profitable unlike the doomed startup I was working at.

Reader Mail – 04/13/2014 To 04/19/2014

observer commented on node.js Is VB6 - Does node.js Suck?.
If you don't like the words evil/scum/psychopath, then how about parasite, e.g., a programmer who hypes angular and trashes jquery.

They're using angular.js at work. I have another draft for "angular.js sucks", but never got around to finishing it.

I started using jQuery for the first time in the past year. I like it. I hadn't done much Javascript front-end work before, so I never seriously looked at it.


Anonymous Coward commented on I Still Don't Sign NDAs For Job Interviews.
I studied computer science at the best university in the country I live in. The examiners commented on my good performance.

Most of my employers have commented on the high quality of my work.

I think I lost my second from last job, because the directors of my part of the company got moved and a sociopath took over. She fired lots of people before she got removed herself.

I have written a software product that has done well for itself. One of my amateur software products I wrote in a week for fun once featured on the home page of a major technology company some years ago.

Yet I gave up looking for a job years ago. It was a waste of my time. I agree with FSK. The job market for software developers is a double lemon one.

I even got 100% in a written interview test at a Swiss investment bank. The same bank even purchased several copies of my software product. Yet they turned my down for the job I applied for.

The job market is stupid.


Klas-Henrik Adergaard commented on Stephen Colbert Gets Craig Kilborned.
Couldn't agree more.

Also, as an aside, is it just me or is Fallon simply trying too hard?

I don't watch Jimmy Fallon. I DVR The Daily Show and The Colbert Report and watch it during the day, skipping the commercials. (Magnavox 515h DVR, much better than a Tivo, no monthly subscription)

arnold commented on Stephen Colbert Gets Craig Kilborned.

Can you come back on IRC we miss you and I have my own server now and it is TOR only! You can find me on the big network where we met. If you even remember me!

I almost never user IRC and the last time I used Tor was several years ago. Maybe someone else is using the name FSK?

Reader Mail – 04/06/2014 To 04/12/2014

victor commented on node.js Is VB6 - Does node.js Suck?.
Wow, you're a bad developer, in the phase of need to being hired, a good developer have her own company and don't need to find a job

Mark commented on node.js Is VB6 - Does node.js Suck?.

I am a developer of over 16 years experience, run my own company and have never been out of work. I have worked for large blue chips, public sector bodies and small companies. I have used VB6, C#, Asp.net, SqlServer, MongoDb, Javascript, NodeJs and Python and am currently learning Go.I can honestly say that we can all rubbish any programming language as I am not aware of any language on the planet that covers all the bases. We can all pick holes in any language. I prefer to use the right tool for the right job I am always open minded and have no need to profess how great I am or how bad other people are.

I have hired developers and I can say one thing that holds true and that is if ever I come across a developer who thinks they know it all, or rubbishes other peoples work so by proxy advancing their own I know that they really are very poor developers, very poor employees and bottom line very poor individuals, I suspect FSK falls into this category.

>if ever I come across a developer who thinks they know it all, or rubbishes other peoples work so by proxy advancing their own I know that they really are very poor developers

Aren't you doing the exact same thing, by posting here complaining about what a loser I am for not liking node.js.

I researched it a little. The overhead for a thread context switch is ~1000-2000 cpu cycles. The memory overhead for a thread is also negligible compared to the memory used by your application data. So, the main argument in favor of node.js is ridiculous, because the overhead of threads are negligible compared to the other stuff your application needs to do.

Mark commented on node.js Is VB6 - Does node.js Suck?.

Where in my comment above have I criticized you for not liking Node ? Where ? I criticise your hyperbolic, aggressive categorisation of mainly people. I make no comment on you technical skills and I also do not advance my own skills by rubbishing your technical abilities. What I am criticising is your aggressive, arrogant and over the top attitude. You throw terms like scum, evil and psychopath around far to liberally, evil is something I haven't come across and if I did common sense would suggest to me that it would not be in the form of a computer tech/person I didnt like. Also just to clarify I have not called you a loser so don't even try that emotional blackmail. I suspected you of being poor especially in attitude and anybody reading your comments would come to the same conclusion.

I am more polite in person than the way I write in my blog. Some people really are evil. It's a disturbing fact to realize. I have noticed that evil people prefer trash like node.js and Rails, because they evaluate hype and not merit. Node and Rails and Git have created great hype, but the product is garbage, so they attract people who evaluate hype but not technical merit.

There have been evil people at almost all of my jobs. They are everyone and dominate our society, due to the way laws are set up and that most intelligent people are conditioned to be victims. Either you are too clueless to notice them, or are one of them.


Richard commented on Is The Go Programming Language Worth Learning?.
You're using excuses to justify your failure. I had no degree, was entirely self taught and got in the industry in 6 months. It's about drive, determination and confidence. How about you stop blaming others for your issues and instead push forward?

There is no buzzword game, like any other industry getting a job is ~85% based on your personality and attitude as well as the people you know. Nobody is going to hire someone they don't like to be around. I bet you that you come off this way in your interviews.

I don't have any usable contacts. For most resume submissions, it's totally based on keyword matching.

I'm comfortable treating idiots like idiots. I don't want to work for idiots. If you can't handle a couple of questions about your business plan, then you aren't going to succeed.

It's much different for entry level and senior candidates. For senior candidates, employers seem to want a perfect purples squirrel keyword match. Age discrimination is a real problem, especially when you're older than the interviewer and all the other employees. I'm not that old! I'm still the oldest person there most of the time.


commented on I Still Don't Sign NDAs For Job Interviews.
I never sign an NDA either ; or only if I rewrite it in my own terms.

Larissa commented on I Still Don't Sign NDAs For Job Interviews.

Why do you think you're an unemployable loser?

I've been actively interviewing for 6 months now, and haven't gotten any offers. I only had one decent interview. I usually get eliminated at the keyword matching phase, because a lot of my experience considered "not hot".


Jeff commented on Reader Mail - 03/30/2014 To 04/05/2014.
I have to agree. I've learned so much from your blog posts - and look forward to more! More content posts please!

Stephen Colbert Gets Craig Kilborned

Does anyone here remember Craig Kilborn? That’s right, you don’t remember him.

He left The Daily Show to get a late night talk show on CBS. He was funny for a niche audience on basic cable, but his act didn’t appeal to the wider audience CBS required. He struggled for a couple years on CBS, his show was cancelled, and nobody ever heard from him again.

Colbert is probably going to have the same problem.

It’s a shame, I liked his show. The censors at CBS are probably going to require him to be less extreme and more mainstream, which means he won’t be funny anymore.

Reader Mail – 03/30/2014 To 04/05/2014

commented on I Still Don't Sign NDAs For Job Interviews.
Bro you gotta stop with the "reader mail" - it is cluttering up your blog big time. Also it's redundant, since anyone can read the comments to an article simply by clicking on the comment section. No offense - just offering a bit of constructive criticism. This is a good blog and the "reader mail" posts is starting to really drag it down in my opinion. Also, if you decide to stop doing those posts, you should go back and get rid of all the old ones. Let people read comments by clicking on the comment section if they want. Just one opinion!

The bigger problem is that I haven't been putting the time into creating new posts.

Some people don't go back to read the comments, which is why I started doing it. Sometimes, there are really interesting discussions in the comments, or I spend a lot of time writing a response.

I Still Don’t Sign NDAs For Job Interviews

I had a phone interview with a stupid startup. They insisted that I sign an NDA before they tell me their business plan. I refused, and said that I only sign NDAs at the job offer stage, never as a prerequisite for an interview.

I already mentioned this here.

They said I was the only candidate they talked to that refused to sign! (I probably also was the most qualified by a huge margin.)

They had 2 other red flags.

1. They hired an outsourcing firm to develop their MVP. I’ve been on several interviews where they wanted me to clean up the mess made by the outsourcing firm that made the MVP. They always say “It’s 80% done! We just need some finishing touches!”, but when I look at it, it’s garbage. That’s a no-win situation. The client isn’t able to admit that the outsourcing firm delivered crap and he wasted his money. He wouldn’t let me do a complete rewrite and do it correctly. Outsourcing your MVP is a no-win situation, a doomed startup. The outsourcing firm delivers garbage, but having wasted their money, the client wants to patch it and make it work instead of a complete rewrite, leading to inevitable failure.

1.a. When I asked them who the outsourcing firm was, they also treated that as super-confidential. Again, that’s proof that they’re crazy. I don’t need to hire an outsourcing firm, I’d just write it myself. The fact that they treated it as super-confidential shows mental illness level paranoia.

2. Neither of them were technical themselves, but they had a “technical adviser” who didn’t actually work on their product, which is another red flag every time I’ve seen that. (If their idea was so brilliant, their “technical adviser” would work on it himself full-time.)

So, I avoided wasting my time on fruitcakes. My “No NDAs!” policy served its purpose. However, I’m kind of surprised that nobody else refuses to sign NDAs? I thought that was standard among people who have at least half a clue? I don’t mind missing out on the opportunity, because they clearly were nuts. I’m surprised that NOBODY ELSE refused to sign the NDA. I’m 99.9% sure I did right thing, but it still is disturbing when an ***hole says that you’re wrong for standing up for yourself.


I saw one article that explained why “Non-technical cofounder looking for programmer/co-founder” types are all fruitcakes. If you’re a potential non-technical co-founder who’s an 8-10, you aren’t going to do a startup. Those people are VCs, hedge fund managers, investment bankers, etc. It’s only the low-quality nontechnical guys who do startups, the people who are 5s and 6s.

Another person said that the software job market is a “double lemon market”. It’s a lemon market for employers, because most active candidates are unemployable losers. (I’m an active candidate, highly qualified, AND an unemployable loser.) It’s a lemon market for candidates also, because a highly qualified manager will have plenty of people to hire from his network or from previous jobs, so he won’t be posting on some job board. When most of the candidates are lemons and most of the jobs are lemons, it’s very hard. It’s hard for the good candidates to get past the gatekeepers, who think their job is to filter out the lemons. Employers get frustrated, because their gatekeepers are also filtering out the outlier great candidates. It’s frustrating when most of the jobs you interview for aren’t worth taking.