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Steve Yegge quits Google in the middle of his speech [OSCON Data 2011]

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Re: Steve Yegge quits Google in the middle of his speech [OSCON Data 2011]

#131

Post by adw »

espeed wrote: post #65
adw wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Making the world better is a complex problem which depends on a hell of a lot of systems. Having worked in academia, you rapidly appreciate that the people who keep the lights on - administrators, lab techs, librarians - are about the most important people there. And that system? Depends on taxpayer funding. If you're doing things which are ethical, and you're doing them well, then you're helping cure cancer and all…

I don't think he is trying to minimize the work of others. Steve is saying if you see a meaningful problem that you know how to attack, it's up to you to make it a priority rather than putting it off because you can't be bothered. He's talking about working toward your potential and possibly making short-term sacrifices in exchange for the greater good. Because if you have a unique perspective on a problem, you may b…

Thanks, and I totally agree.

What I was really aiming for was "don't do yourself down" - and "don't underestimate the impact a well-placed tool can have".

Re: Steve Yegge quits Google in the middle of his speech [OSCON Data 2011]

#132

Post by VladRussian »

jacoblyles wrote: post #110
mad44 wrote: post #54

while listening to the talk, I took notes. (Not exact notes, I probably reworded several things, hopefully not twisting the meaning too much.) Here they are, if you don't have time to watch the talk. ----- Google, "where I work right now", they are doing great work to attempt to change the work. At least more than other companies. I work on compilers. I like to work on big data, learn about data mining. Because even…

It feels hard to get into Bioinformatics without a PHD. I would love to tackle problems in genetics, medicine, and etc. But I'm not going to commit 7 years of my life to breaking into a highly regulated sector before I get to "Hello World!". Is there a hacker scene in Bioinformatics?

it is hard to be hired there. That creates relatively closed system where software is in the state that can significantly benefit even from short professional generic programmer involvement - at least it was on few occasions i or my friends happened to touch it.

With respect to open source work - the field is wide open. For example, as "data mining/big data" was mentioned, the interesting recent development synthesizing advances in general availability of cheap server farms (hardware and software -wise, in particular cloud/hadoop) and a new approach - "meta/shotgun sequencing" - enabled by such advances can be found here http://bowtie-bio.sourceforge.net/crossbow/index.shtml

Also may be interesting to look at http://www.jcvi.org/cms/research/projects/jcvi-cloud-biolinu...

Re: Steve Yegge quits Google in the middle of his speech [OSCON Data 2011]

#133

Post by beambot »

Create wrote: post #120
beambot wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is 23andMe misleading in scientific value? They just published "Web-based genome-wide association study identifies two novel loci and a substantial genetic component for Parkinson’s disease" in PLOS Genetics: http://spittoon.23andme.com/2011/06/23/plos-genetics-parkins... http://www.plosgenetics.org/doi/pgen.1002141

correct me if I am wrong, but the debate which started at about and around [1] didn't quite finish. Would you trust the output of this chip, as it has been presented/used in the paper [2]? 1.Katsanis, S.H., Javitt, G. & Hudson, K. A Case Study of Personalized Medicine. Science 320, 53 -54 (2008). 2.Konstantinopoulos, P.A. et al. Integrated Analysis of Multiple Microarray Datasets Identifies a Reproducible Survival Pr…

My robotics training hardly qualifies me to asses the output of their academic research. However, I applaud their commitment to publishing results it top-tier academic journals.

Off-handed comments (in a thread about Google) calling 23andMe's scientific research "misleading" seems a bit snarky. Educated discussion has a place -- eg. in HN threads related to the company [1] or (especially) in the peer-review process.

[1] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2813270 (currently on HNs frontpage)

Re: Steve Yegge quits Google in the middle of his speech [OSCON Data 2011]

#135

Post by paulrademacher »

georgemcbay wrote: post #72
mad44 wrote: post #54

while listening to the talk, I took notes. (Not exact notes, I probably reworded several things, hopefully not twisting the meaning too much.) Here they are, if you don't have time to watch the talk. ----- Google, "where I work right now", they are doing great work to attempt to change the work. At least more than other companies. I work on compilers. I like to work on big data, learn about data mining. Because even…

The problem with calling out specific companies for quality is things can change -- eg, Pixar, who would have clearly belonged on his list a couple of years ago, but post-Disney, post-Cars 2, post Newt being cancelled for Monsters Inc 2, post the Canadian branch being formed to shit out TV specials... well... things can change (including for the worse) quickly.

Meh. Since the 2006 acquisition: Ratatouille, Wall-E, Up, Toy Story 3.

Re: Steve Yegge quits Google in the middle of his speech [OSCON Data 2011]

#136

Post by jergason »

jacoblyles wrote: post #110
mad44 wrote: post #54

while listening to the talk, I took notes. (Not exact notes, I probably reworded several things, hopefully not twisting the meaning too much.) Here they are, if you don't have time to watch the talk. ----- Google, "where I work right now", they are doing great work to attempt to change the work. At least more than other companies. I work on compilers. I like to work on big data, learn about data mining. Because even…

It feels hard to get into Bioinformatics without a PHD. I would love to tackle problems in genetics, medicine, and etc. But I'm not going to commit 7 years of my life to breaking into a highly regulated sector before I get to "Hello World!". Is there a hacker scene in Bioinformatics?

I work in a bioinformatics/proteomics lab that does all open-source work. I am sure we are not alone. https://github.com/princelab is where our code lives. OpenWetWare is a wiki for biology labs that several bioinformatics people use as well. http://openwetware.org/wiki/Main_Page

Re: Steve Yegge quits Google in the middle of his speech [OSCON Data 2011]

#137

Post by tom_b »

jgmmo wrote: post #103
tom_b wrote: post #42

So I'm not really an ask me anything type guy, but I work on a bioinformatics team at an academic cancer research center. We have genomic sequencers and a software stack running 24/7/365 plus your normal collection of IT and small dev projects here. If you have questions about what it's like to be a hacker in this type of environment, post them here and I'll share what my experience is like. BTW, I completely wish I…

Lets say I want to get in this field. I have a BBA in Econ -- but no upper level math -- would I be better off getting a BA in Math and then going off to grad school (in CS or Bio, or both..)? Or would it be a better use of time to take certain maths and then just head into a masters program?

My co-workers have very diverse backgrounds - PhDs in bioinformatics all the way to folks with a BA in history.

They all seem to be hackers. So I would say, if you're already a hacker, you can probably find a way in somewhere given enough time regardless of your current degree level.

If you know you are going to head off to grad school, don't do another undergrad before. Many CS programs take on students who need a little remediation in math or CS background. I would guess that would be much more difficult for a MS program in biology.

You might even find that a MS in bioinformatics is the appropriate choice. There seem to be several of these programs floating around, they are multi-disciplinary to begin with, and if you can crank out a good GRE score, you can probably get in one without too much effort.

You will probably find it easier to break into the academic research world with at least a MS. But, I hear lots of buzz about commercial companies wanting to get into the sequencing business. Maybe you could just give yourself a crash course in python or ruby and a little biostatistics and sneak into one of those? Especially if you can find someone in your network already working in the field.

I recruited a friend to work with me who had a BS in history and a MBA (I teased him). But he was working in the software field already and I knew he would pick up the simple tech we were using to get work done.

Re: Steve Yegge quits Google in the middle of his speech [OSCON Data 2011]

#138

Post by david927 »

Timothee wrote: post #53
cletus wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is definitely something weird going on. 7. MS-DOS is 30 years old today (extremetech.com) 44 points by ukdm 3 hours ago | flag | 11 comments 8. Bring your half-baked idea to the Half-Bakery (halfbakery.com) 54 points by rfreytag 4 hours ago | flag | 11 comments And this... 22. Steve Yegge quits Google in the middle of his speech [OSCON Data 2011] (youtube.com) 162 points by kodisha 3 hours ago | flag | 35 comme…

I would think that people flagging the story is weighing it down. If the talk is good, why would it be flagged? Maybe because the title of the submission is kind of sensationalistic relative to the talk. The talk is about working more on solving important problems, less on making cat picture sharing easy and fun, and it's not so much about him leaving his job, though it does illustrate his intentions.

It would have to have been a huge number of flag votes -- too many to be a reasonable explanatoin. My guess is that it was moderated down. Which leaves the big question of why?

Is it because the YC portfolio is heavy on cat picture startups and light on startups that do something important?

Re: Steve Yegge quits Google in the middle of his speech [OSCON Data 2011]

#139

Post by david927 »

camillionaire wrote: post #128
david927 wrote: post #6

Please change the title to: Stevey gives up the being part of the chase for the superfluous (in money), and calls for us to do something about the necessary No one needs a million dollars. No one. Why are we chasing it and dying of heart disease -- heart disease we can cure if we start chasing that instead? Our priorities are absolutely messed up and it's time we start realigning them. This isn't a speech; this isn't…

'No one needs a million dollars. No one.' Yeah, but it helps. I think it should be noted that Steve is probably fairly wealthy by most any standard from GOOG & AMZN stock. And with that wealth comes more freedom...to work on 'big' projects. I think it's a bit disingenuous to ask people to work on non-lolcat projects when you are wealthy and set for the rest of your life. It's admirable to devote your life to working…

Your argument is specious to the point of being crazy: - Millionaires can work on important things. (Yes they can, but they usually just end up working on their tan.)

- Everyone else is just making ends meet. (Huh? Everyone?)

- If you have the chance, join FB early so you can be a millionaire and work on important things.

Look at the startup Color. It has brilliant people and they are all working on ways to make sharing pictures with people you don't know.

We're saying, "Stop It!" Maybe you'll get a hit and get rich but that's a stupid goal.

No one needs better ways to share pictures of your cats. There are important things to do instead, and our brightest minds, instead of engaging in ways to humanity forward, are writing PHP to get themselves forward.

Re: Steve Yegge quits Google in the middle of his speech [OSCON Data 2011]

#140

Post by david927 »

huckfinnaafb wrote: post #84
aridiculous wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is cynical past the point of healthy. There are plenty of sectors that would be revolutionized if smart people focused their attention on them. You don't have to cure cancer; that's absurdly binary and based on fame. You can do less sensational things like invent a device that improves patients' lives using modern robotics and sensors. You can design a system for Alzheimer's patients that incorporates your knowl…

In addition, even "cat picture project" technology can sometimes be used to implement "world changing" technology. I think "do what you love doing and always challenge yourself" still generally applies here.

That's the rationalization that smart people tell themselves so that they can sleep at night.

Accidents can always happen but if you're writing PHP to tag cat pictures, no, it's not going to do anything. But keep telling yourself that if it helps you sleep.

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