(via Instapaper)
Aperture Laboratories faded iPhone wallpaper.
(via Instapaper)
The quality jump from the iPhone 3S and onward is pretty impressive. I’d like to see a nighttime shot comparison.
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Gabriel Weinberg discusses how he manages inbound hiring at DuckDuckGo.
“(Teachers in Finland) have a large degree of autonomy, because they are professionals.”
Our (USA) system of education is designed around the idea that teachers aren’t capable of teaching their students. That they are so incompetent their students must be regularly tested by an impartial level of standards.
There are perfectly valid reasons to have a standard test. For a properly functioning democracy the general public should be educated enough to understand and contextualize the issues they are voting for. A standardized test can give our system a baseline to target. The trouble is, that standard baseline becomes the goal when institutions use it to differentiate students.
Now, rather than serving as a snapshot to extrapolate a student’s knowledge, the standardized test is all that the student knows.
Take math as an example. It becomes a disadvantage to try and teach an entire class actual mathematical concepts, that takes serious time and effort. It’s far more reliable and efficient to teach students shortcuts and rote rules that let them to speed through the test questions. It’s faster and easier to teach students how to recognize the right answer from a list of answers, than to teach them how to derive the answer or to comprehend why the answer is what it is.
Why don’t developers dress better?
I’ve taken to wearing collared shirts and slacks to work. Why?
I have to admit that the biggest reason is to thumb my nose at social convention. People in “geek” jobs are simply expected to dress down. “Ha!” says I.
To my surprise, I found that dressing up is actualy much more comfortable than a t-shirt and jeans. The pants are the biggest difference, they just feel so relaxing and smooth compared to jeans.
It’s been a month since I started this, and I’ve noticed a change in my work too. I’m more careful, deliberate, and precise in my work. Since I’m dressing and looking professional, I’m acting more professional. Getting more smiles and pleasantries from coworkers and strangers is pretty nice too.
Taking it a step further, a coworker and I have started “raise the bar Fridays” in which we dress even nicer and wear ties to work.
“What’s with the ties?”
“We’re just trying to raise the bar.”
That comment was left on the Hacker News comment thread about this week’s YCNYC. I went to the meetup on Monday and was one of those wearing a tie, jeans and a blazer, mistaken by many as a suit. The cliché is that many developers don’t know or care how to dress themselves. The result is ill-fitting screen-printed tees and hoodies. To some, it’s a secret handshake. It’s a “my talent supersedes my necessity to follow the guidelines of society.” But I still wonder, why aren’t developers better dressed?
I’m a developer and I’ve been attempting to dress better for the last few months. I’ve adopted a strict no T-shirt policy and I try to wear a tie a few times a week. Blogs and shows like Put This On help keep me informed.
The sentiment in the above comment is not uncommon though. For a group of people constantly trying for improving development ability, I’m surprised more aren’t trying to develop their dress. You see hints of honest self-improvement with successes like Tim Ferriss’ 4-Hour Body. There really is hardly an excuse. Developers have money. Many developers are holding increasingly public roles. You are building the future, so dress like it. You’ve got nothing to lose, save for some “geek cred.”
Maybe it’s the New York City in me speaking, but the days of T-shirts and hoodies are over. Even Zuck has been sporting a suit more and more. He’s the last person that needs to impress someone based on how he dresses.
Challenge yourself and try dressing better, maybe even only once per week.
If you’re interested in improving your wardrobe, here are a few tips coming from a fellow developer:
- Fit is the most important. No matter what you wear, you should always buy for fit. This rules out T-shirts for most people. Unless you’re going to the gym twice per week, you probably won’t look good in a T-shirt. Find a good tailor.
- Set silly goals for yourself. I set the goal of trying to wear a tie three times per week. Try to only wears shorts on the weekends or at the beach. When you start, you will look like an idiot. You will inevitably get better though.
- (For guys) Girls like guys in ties. Show me a young woman who doesn’t like a well-dress guy and I will show you a liar. This doesn’t mean putting on a suit every time you step out of your apartment, but just putting on clothes that make you look good.
- Watch every episode of Put This On. It will get you 80% of the way there.
- Get a decent pair of shoes. Rather than rock your favorite pair of New Balance, go for something that’s still sneaker-like but a little nicer.
What planes are overhead?
What’s that in the sky? Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Yup, it’s a plane, and it is currently 31,100 feet high and traveling to St. Louis from Chicago. Simply enter “planes overhead”, and Wolfram|Alpha will provide a list of flights overhead based on your current geoIP location.
You can also click on specific flights to learn more information, such as departure airport, estimated flight duration, and more:
