Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bub? C'mon now. No need for that.
I consider someone trying to gaslight me to be a "bub"
Being wrong gaslighting
Staying with the US Digital Service
171–180 of 251 posts
Re: Staying with the US Digital Service
#172Congrats Matt. It was a pleasure to meet you at the USDS ice cream social last fall. Today was my last day at 18F. I'm returning to private sector, for now. I'm proud of what we accomplished in building cloud.gov. I think 2017 will be a big year for the platform.
Wow! Just took a look at the pricing page[^1]. This seems like a very expensive service. What makes it cost so much in comparison to what we see in the private sector? There's some info here[^2], but it's pretty general. [1]: https://cloud.gov/overview/pricing/rates/ [2]: https://cloud.gov/overview/pricing/pricing-model/
The TL;DR answer is that compliance in the government is expensive (for example, the gov't can require companies to maintain amended terms of service[1]). There are many vendors who choose not to work with government for that reason and its one reason the government ends up paying more for services.
Edit to add this link to a place in a video explaining more about compliance.[2]
[1]: https://www.digitalgov.gov/resources/negotiated-terms-of-ser...
Re: Staying with the US Digital Service
#173Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would guess that most of the people who downvoted it, did so because they were opposed to the idea of a Muslim registry (as am I). If you're opposed to it, and hope that he is also opposed to it, then the last thing you want to do is to force him to go on record at this stage in his career as being opposed to it. That may do nothing, or it may hurt him, but it's not going to help him or the opposition to the regist…
So much of tech opinion is shaped at HN, I believe it's worth it to share – and in a way collectively rehearse – personal reactions to some of these hypotheticals. I hope that if I were to be given a task so clearly violating rights, I would follow through with what my first reaction now is: sabotage it, using means usually considered illegal if necessary, up to and including property damage. edit: I'm not at USDS, n…
> So much of tech opinion is shaped at HN
You grossly overestimate the reach and importance of HN
Re: Staying with the US Digital Service
#174Howdy Matt - will you build a Muslim registry if Trump orders it or Congress passes it?
The registry was already there under Obama: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article... Also, it would be silly to assume that we didn't have a database of "country from" for immigrants or visitors. "Muslim" is not a country, it's a religion, so you'd need some serious behavior profiling for that -- probably FB/Google are ones you should be after. (Disclaimer: am immigrant, am minority.)
Please post direct links to the article rather than aggregators like google amp. Thanks!
Re: Staying with the US Digital Service
#175Earlier quoted context omitted.
Since you pitch the USDS to tech people, please let us know: how free do you feel to speak your mind on political matters, or to effect those positive outcomes? Personally I've judged the quality of incoming political appointees, and I would chafe at working under leadership I could not respect. In my worst imagination, I would be holding down a desk until it could be filled by the employees of well-connected contrac…
First I'll add the disclaimer that this is my personal opinion. I'm not speaking for anyone other than myself. I think the mission of the US Digital Service is fundamentally non-partisan: we want to make government work better for the American people. When a veteran can apply for health benefits online, they have a better experience. But it also saves the money from them driving to see someone in person. There's so m…
> I think the mission of the US Digital Service is fundamentally non-partisan: we want to make government work better for the American people.
Couldn't most agencies claim the same?
Re: Staying with the US Digital Service
#176Hi Looking at the salary and that I'm in Baltimore making $135k as Sr. UI/UXer (designing/coding sites apps for Govt agencies) I'm not sure the salary range of up to $163k would be worth it. That's probably not for UI/UXers or is it? My rent here in Baltimore with utilities is 2k ... if I moved to D.C. A lot of the additional salary would be absorbed by the doubling or tripling my cost of rent. Thus I wonder why remo…
Housing in DC is a little over 3x what it is in Baltimore (overall so I'm sure you could find exceptions). In addition to that, you don't work for the federal government to make a lot of money. Because you can't.
So yes the salaries are not comparable. You would make less even if you got Step 10 of GS-15 (which you definitely would not). You might be able to make on your W2 at USDS what you make in Baltimore. Maybe a little less. If you work for the government in DC you are doing so out of a sense of service.
It's part of why it's so hard to get good tech people to work for the government. You have to be a Matt Cutts and have made your money already, or come from money, or have that inner drive for public service. It's hard to make $115k in one of the most expensive cities in the country when you could live almost anywhere else and make more each month and pay less to live there.
Re: Staying with the US Digital Service
#177Earlier quoted context omitted.
> "The citizens never did anything" Snowden pulled the veil on many issues similar to what you're referring to. I'm fairly certain he was a citizen at the time. I'd reference Chelsea Manning, because she acted as a citizen when betraying her oath to the military. I could see arguments against that, though. The government came down hard on both these individuals. It's a damn shame. And please don't take this to be a p…
You're confusing "the citizens" with two specific citizens. I've never called out Chelsea Manning or Edward Snowden specifically. We did nothing in spite of the actions of those individuals. They laid everything bare out in the open for everyone to see. In the case of Chelsea Manning at great personal expense. The citizens did nothing in response other than make a racket.
I see what you're saying now and in that light I totally agree. We the people have been unable to hold our government accountable for things for a long time, and it's a total shame.
Re: Staying with the US Digital Service
#178Earlier quoted context omitted.
You state this as simple fact, but is it so? Delivering enterprise software is very hard. Matt suggests that USDS was necessary to rescue healthcare.gov, for example. The labor pool of skilled coders is smaller vs. demand than for many other professions. If the top 500 coders declined to participate in a project that savagely violates human rights - and encouraged this as a norm in our communities - isn't it plausibl…
> If the top 500 coders declined to participate in a project that savagely violates human rights - and encouraged this as a norm in our communities - isn't it plausible that doing so could either prevent, derail, or meaningfully weaken such a project? Not sure what the top 500 vote totals were on this, but when Snowden's documents revealed existence of a massive domestic surveillance program that included large amoun…
Phone metadata isn't "large amounts of data," nor do the programs using it qualify as a "massive domestic surveillance program."
Re: Staying with the US Digital Service
#179Earlier quoted context omitted.
One of the USDS project selection criteria is that we prioritize work that based on what will do the greatest good for the greatest number of people in the greatest need. I do not believe a Muslim Registry does any good for anyone. Being involved in building one would require formally changing our values which would be visible to everyone in USDS. Disclaimer: personal opinion, I am currently serving on a USDS team, m…
> One of the USDS project selection criteria is that we prioritize work that based on what will do the greatest good for the greatest number of people in the greatest need The USDS is a taxpayer-funded public entity. The "greatest good..." is determined by the law, written by our duly elected representatives. You don't get to serve the public and selectively reject the law. If the Congress passes a law you disagree w…
The "greatest good..." is determined by the law, written by our duly elected representatives. You don't get to serve the public and selectively reject the law.
Sure you do. Our "duly elected representatives" are bullshit and have no special standing at all. The State imposes itself on us whether we like it or not, and we are all, as individuals, certainly entitled to oppose its abuses in any way we can.
Re: Staying with the US Digital Service
#180Anyone know who the guy in the video giving the speech with his shirt buttoned all the way up is?
Edit: wow I don't recognize Jobs with a beard.