Ask HN: What is the most unethical thing you've done as a programmer? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What is the most unethical thing you've done as a programmer?

#441

Post by pc86 » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 2:36 PM UTC

amingilani wrote: post #212

thom wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's cute that you think every company, even the kind that did brochureware sites for brands more than 10 years ago, does code review.

I downvoted you because you were condescending while providing an otherwise relevant piece of information.

> Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith.

> Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Ask HN: What is the most unethical thing you've done as a programmer?

#442

Post by pc86 » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 2:40 PM UTC

hluska wrote: post #423

diminoten wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No there aren't, none relevant to this conversation at least.

Check out the Americans with Disabilities Act.

ADA applies to companies with 15 or more employees. Nobody is under any obligation to make their blog ADA compliant.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most unethical thing you've done as a programmer?

#443

Post by pc86 » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 2:41 PM UTC

NullPrefix wrote: post #67

diminoten wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my perspective, at least you could stop going to the website if they did stuff like this, and TBH anyone's free to do whatever they want on their website. A lot of these other stories are doing things without informing customers, or using customer data illegally, and stuff like that. It's sure not great if you want people to come back to your site, but it's not morally bankrupt.

>TBH anyone's free to do whatever they want on their website That's where you're wrong, kiddo. There's laws now.

Insultingly diminutive language aside, you're just wrong. Assuming you're referring to the ADA, "there's [been] laws now" since the 90s. The line you quoted is clearly referencing personal websites, which are not bound by ADA.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most unethical thing you've done as a programmer?

#444

Post by pc86 » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 2:45 PM UTC

Schwolop wrote: post #315

Aeolun wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s great. Just as long as you reward me for watching an ad as opposed to making them a forced part of the experience. E.g. watching an ad to double my score/gems, sure. Making me watch an ad after every level before I can continue, hell no, that’s an instant uninstall.

As a hypothetical since I'm working on a game that may use this, how would you feel about the following? For a multiplayer .io-style game, you get a score per level, and a cumulative score. The top few players by cumulative score are shown to everyone and celebrated, etc. If you ever get zero points in a level though, you'll lose your cumulative score - unless you watch a video ad. Is that acceptable, or does it feel…

Disclaimer: I don't mind advertisements in general and I think they get a lot of undeserved hate, especially on HN, which I think is a bit funny since a lot of the folks here work at companies that wouldn't exist without lots of advertising.

I think it's a unique and interesting idea! I might only allow it once or twice because I think eventually the folks at the top of the cumulative score list will have just been the ones to watch the most ads, as opposed to the ones who are the best at your game. Or maybe something like you can watch an ad to keep your score but then you have to play that level again, and if you get a zero again you lose your cumulative score no matter what? Not sure how much that would change your mechanics.

It does not feel like blackmail to me especially if it's a limited-use type of thing.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most unethical thing you've done as a programmer?

#445

Post by krageon » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 2:54 PM UTC

secfirstmd wrote: post #416

Doxin wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At the very least you'd end up being sued for defamation or whatnot by DOW for the next century or two. DOW is not a company you want to tango with.

Its fully possible to tip a journalist or regulator these fays with a level of anonymity these days.

And what if they can tell from the information leaked who leaked it? This person's life will be destroyed by armies of lawyers. Just so some journalist can report on something that'll be out of the news in a few weeks and change precisely nothing.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most unethical thing you've done as a programmer?

#446

Post by ender89 » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 2:58 PM UTC

powvans wrote: post #201

I helped build Grindr, which of course I don't think was unethical. But I've been surprised by some people's reaction to it. It generally comes up in some conversation where someone asks "what have you worked on that I might have heard of?" Occasionally they follow up with (paraphrasing) "how do you sleep at night?"

I believe the correct response to that is "sandwiched between two burly gay men I met on grindr".

Re: Ask HN: What is the most unethical thing you've done as a programmer?

#447

Post by cartercole » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 3:10 PM UTC

I built a toolbar ad network for about 200k users and would do inline ads on every page and replace all search results with ad api feeds

Re: Ask HN: What is the most unethical thing you've done as a programmer?

#448

Post by secfirstmd » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 3:18 PM UTC

krageon wrote: post #445

secfirstmd wrote: post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its fully possible to tip a journalist or regulator these fays with a level of anonymity these days.

And what if they can tell from the information leaked who leaked it? This person's life will be destroyed by armies of lawyers. Just so some journalist can report on something that'll be out of the news in a few weeks and change precisely nothing.

True.

That is always a risk when someone does something in the public interest. But doing stuff for the betterment of others at risk of your own lifestyle is a noble endeavour that many have undertaken despite these reasons.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most unethical thing you've done as a programmer?

#449

Post by jweather » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 3:18 PM UTC

0xfeba wrote: post #251

marktangotango wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Car mechanics do this all the time, so what if an experienced mechanic can do a task in 1/10 the time, they always charge for the book time.

Mechanical work is straightforward though, and book time can be a bit liberal but is otherwise fair.

Are you a mechanic? It's only straightforward when everything goes according to the book, which is a welcome surprise, but certainly not the norm.

Re: Ask HN: What is the most unethical thing you've done as a programmer?

#450

Post by netaustin » Mon, Aug 06, 2018, 3:29 PM UTC

Rzor wrote: post #348

netaustin wrote: post #289

After Jared Kushner originally bought the New York Observer, I was hired to lead the tech team, which I did for a year and a half in house then for three more as a vendor. He asked me, out of band, to blackhole articles critical of his commercial real estate colleagues and I complied.

You should've used a throwaway.

I appreciate the sentiment, but I've been open about this on Twitter and to a team that wrote a profile of him in the wake of the election. That a newspaper publisher would participate in an administration that labels the press the enemy of the people is a total betrayal of the journalists and other media professionals who worked hard for him for years.