Have you seen this project yet? I only thought of this link while reading the last part of your sentence (the AI writes a program with very similar output).

Self-Programming Artificial Intelligence Learns to Use Functions http://www.primaryobjects.com/CMS/Article163

At least to me, that AI is actually incredibly simple. All its doing is mutating a random code snippet through a genetic algorithm. If you read the comments, the author explains that once it creates a function that it needs to complete the target program (e.g. addition func for its multiplication), it adds the function string to the list of possible mutations to add to the code snippet. It's actually a relatively simple design and I would go so far as to say genetic algorithms are probably not the way that AIs will write code in the future. Its too random and for any significant program, it would take much too many generations and the generations would be increasingly harder to fitness test as you added more and more possible functions. Still a really interesting article though. Thanks for the link.

People said that about java ages ago. Never happened.

This is a great explanation. It's also called "golden-handcuffs".

In your 30's, I think you need to start thinking about exit-strategy (saving enough to live financially independent), rather than hopping to yet another job.

Then, you can job hop down in salary and do something more fun.

Effectively you need to become a force multiplier, leverage your high level experience into a role that allows you to add value to 10 to 20 people rather than just yourself. eg. You were a 10X coder, now become a 10X manager.

Also, if you spent your 20s building up contacts it becomes pretty easy to start a business serving the needs of your particular niche in the industry.

Management and starting a company that grows beyond 8 people require pretty much the same leadership skills.

I have no idea what makes you think a 10X developer can just "become" a 10X manager. This tendency of programmers to think they are automatically qualified, let alone interested, in being a manager is baffling to me. They are two mostly unrelated disciplines and in my experience, most programmers are not cut out to be managers.

Agreed, and also I suspect (or maybe this is just a silly hope) that the best developers in a company can often make more than their manager, even if their manager is great.

Now, moving up to director or VP level or higher (assuming you have the aptitude and desire), is a different story.

Yes, the best devs will generally make more than their mgr, however, the best mgrs will make far more than the the best devs.

And as you said, the target is really a VP/Director type position, using mgmt as a stepping stone.

It's like how a Sergeant makes more than an Lt in the Army, however, the progression in the officer core quickly outstrips the best an enlisted man can hope for.

The great thing about leadership roles is they're typically very transferable, there's not many orgs that don't need good leaders.

> It's like how a Sergeant makes more than an Lt in the Army, however, the progression in the officer core quickly outstrips the best an enlisted man can hope for.

Not in the U.S. Army. Most junior NCOs make less than even a fresh Academy graduate. The NCOs making more than a junior lieutenant have all been in the service for 10+ years.

Agree completely. I have a team leader and a manger, with junior to intermediate experience in development and zero formal training in management. Frustrating to work for. I guess if we were both to apply for the same job, it would be a case of "well that guy has management experience", and give it to my team leader, despite the fact is is a poor coder, and an even worse manager.

Starcraft 2, Might and Magic X, Age of Wonders III

I get the point they're trying to make, but putting a little girl in a kitchen with pink pastel colors, a princess egg, and other gender-biased artifacts defeats the purpose. It only reinforces the idea that girls are different and need to be treated that way. I suppose it eases gender-biased parents into buying more constructive toys for their girls, but that's only addressing the symptom, not the problem: equality.

Better solution?

Google Inactive Account Manager https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036514

And for sending emails in the future:

Boomerang for Gmail https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/boomerang-for-gmai...

Isn't escrow.com supposed to prevent payments from being stopped after the domain is released? Obviously, in this case it's justified, but for regular customers, you don't want escrow releasing a domain and then the buyer stops payment.

The buyer can't stop the payment as the wire is already complete and money in escrow.com's account. Escrow.com had to stop the payment and in this case they did so because there was a request from law enforcement.

Yes, I'm pretty sure this is where the FBI comes in. So the solution to this is: you agree to buy back your stolen property using an escrow service, then the FBI tells the escrow service not to release the money to a thief. Eventually you get your money back.

I believe the thief demanded payment first, outside of escrow. Which seems odd considering they actually did return the name. Maybe they were afraid Escrow.com would determine the domain was stolen and simply return it to its owner?

Totally guessing, but it might be the thief was getting antsy and wanted to conclude a deal quickly. Maybe they did in fact have another buyer on the hook. Rather than spend all the extra time going through escrow and the potential risk of the buyer doing exactly what she intended to do (rely on raising the dispute of the domain after escrow had both halves of the transaction), the thief tried to pressure a quick sale through less regulated means.

From what I understand though, it isn't all that easy to actually stop a wire transfer once it is being processed. I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that both sides might have actually gotten the money and the backing bank will be left trying to go after one or both of them for it.

Is this really much easier than using https://www.npmjs.org/package/mailer? Also, unless nodemailer is written by the same developer as mailer, it appears they copied the tagline, "simple as cake".

        email.send({
            host : "smtp.gmail.com",              // smtp server hostname
            port : "465",                     // smtp server port
            ssl: true,
            domain : "localhost",            // domain used by client to identify itself to server
            to : "recipient@somewhere.com",
            from : 'sender@somewhere.com',
            subject : 'My Subject',
            body: 'Blah\nBlah\nBlah.,
            authentication : "login",        // auth login is supported; anything else is no auth
            username : '',
            password : ''
        },
        function (err, result) {
        });

"mailer" and its derivatives are deprecated in favor of "nodemailer". Besides, "mailer" uses "nodemailer" as its backend (it used to have its own SMTP client but it had a lot of shortcomings), so it doesn't really count. You could as well create your own wrapper areound "nodemailer" that would be even easier to use.

"So, my Coinbase account was hacked, bitcoin stolen, now what?" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6946832

FYI, after some time, Coinbase followed up with my support ticket and said tough luck, bitcoins lost, better luck next time. No mention was made of any effort to track-down the hacker or fraudulent transaction. They probably didn't even block the hacker's IP address.

And yet, Coinbase declares, "We strongly believe in transparent, thoughtful, and comprehensive consumer protection measures. We pledge to lead the way."

If the interview is local and they will pay more, why not give it a try. You could always walk from the already accepted position. However, the fact this co took so long to respond doesn't bode well. I think you accepted the right job.