aaronkaplan

Joined 17 years ago

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Mar 10

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Comment · 2 years ago

This post demonstrates why I hate UI programming. The number of unpredictable, niggling little things that can go wrong exceeds my patience for dealing with them. I kind of enjoy thinking through the ways something might fail and writing tests to catch them, but aimlessly clicking around to see if anything breaks feels haphazard and annoying.

Is UI construction inherently that complex, or have we just not found the right programming model yet? Is it unreasonable to wish that sometimes things would just look and work the way I intended on the first try?

Comment · 2 years ago

Your argument is that if a paper makes a valuable contribution then it should be accepted even if it's not well written. But the definition of "well written" is that it makes it easy for the reader to understand its value. If a paper is not well written, then reviewers won't understand its value and will reject it.

Comment · 4 years ago

International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia Climate School | Intermediate Software Developer | Palisades, New York (near NYC) | ONSITE | VISA

The IRI Data Library team curates and provides access to data related to the Earth's climate and its effects on human populations, and builds web applications that present such data in forms that are needed by decision makers at government agencies and NGOs worldwide. Most of our current work is related to agriculture and food security in the developing world.

We're looking for an intermediate-level software developer (3-5 years experience) to help with improving the platform as well as developing applications on that platform for specific projects. Experience with linux system administration/devops, scientific/numerical computing in python, GIS programming, and web application development would all be appreciated.

Apply via https://iri.columbia.edu/contact/employment/ and feel free to drop me a line as well.

Comment · 4 years ago

International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia Climate School | Intermediate Software Developer | Palisades, New York (near NYC) | ONSITE | VISA

https://iri.columbia.edu/contact/employment/

Comment · 4 years ago

There is CardDAV sync built in to iOS Contacts, but I don't think the person who programmed it actually tried using it. When you create a contact on the iPhone, there's no reasonable UI for putting it in a group (it can be done, but it's ridiculously hard); and only contacts in groups are synced via CardDAV. So in essence you can't create contacts on the phone.

Comment · 4 years ago

International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia Climate School | Intermediate Software Developer | Palisades, New York (near NYC) | ONSITE | VISA

https://iri.columbia.edu/contact/employment/

Comment · 5 years ago

International Research Institute for Climate and Society, Columbia Climate School| Intermediate Software Developer | Palisades, New York (near NYC) | ONSITE | VISA

https://iri.columbia.edu/contact/employment/

Comment · 6 years ago

International Research Institute for Climate and Society (Columbia University) | Palisades, New York | must be US-based currently, ONSITE post-COVID | software developer/scientific programmer

The IRI works with stakeholders in developing countries to use climate science and data to improve human well-being. Applications include crop insurance, and planning interventions to fight malaria and locusts.

The IRI Data Library http://iridl.ldeo.columbia.edu is a 25-year old web application that is at the core of most of the institute's work. It's a quirky application written largely from scratch, and primarily in a homegrown dialect of Forth. Our current focus is bringing the application into the 21st century and integrating it with the burgeoning open source geoscience ecosystem, without interrupting ongoing work that depends on the existing platform.

There is an open position with the title Staff Associate III on the Data Library team. Responsibilities include software development and maintenance of the platform, using the platform to develop applications, and training and supporting users. Post-COVID it will involve travel to Africa and South America to help partners install and use the software. https://pa334.peopleadmin.com/postings/6360

Please apply through the annoying HR website. A real person will read your application in short order, I promise. Although the cover letter is optional according to HR, I strongly encourage you to upload one explaining why you're interested in the position and how your experience is relevant. Mention that you saw this on Hacker News. I welcome questions by email as well.

Comment · 6 years ago

Could you say more about why ansible is better than shell scripts for one-time configuration? In my mind, ansible's big advantage over shell scripts is that it has good support for making incremental changes to the configuration of existing resources. In a situation like packer, where the configuration script only gets run once, I prefer the conciseness of a shell script.

Comment · 6 years ago

IRI, Columbia University | Palisades, New York (near NYC) | Staff Associate (software developer and trainer) | ONSITE, full-time

The International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), part of Columbia University's Earth Institute, works with decision makers in developing countries to help them use climate science for the good of their populations, particularly in agriculture and public health (e.g. providing crop insurance, targeting pesticide application to control the spread of locusts). The IRI Data Library is a web application that's used for much of that work. We're looking for a a software developer to help build, maintain, and support the Data Library. There will be travel involved (15%) to install the software and train users in developing countries.

The application is a 25 year old crufty mix of Fortran, C, Perl, JavaScript/jQuery, and a custom dialect of Forth. We're rebuilding it on a new foundation of python/xarray/dask, while continuing to support all the vital work that depends on the existing system.

Minimum qualifications: B.S. and 4 years' experience, web development skills, familiarity with Earth Science datasets.

IRI is located on Columbia's Lamont campus, in a bucolic setting 15 miles up the Hudson River from the city. There's a free shuttle between Lamont and the main campus in Morningside Heights.

As I write this, the opening hasn't been officially posted yet. I'll give an update as soon as it's official. In the meantime, contact me for info.

Comment · 7 years ago

Wow. Is no one spared?

Comment · 7 years ago

For the record, it's been around more than two decades.

Comment · 7 years ago

Where did you go? It's hard to find any US bank that supports it any more, let alone one with decent interest rates.

Comment · 7 years ago

> What are some non-profits who work on enabling people in poorer countries to withstand disturbances? Are they looking for coders?

The International Research Institute on Climate and Society at Columbia University's Earth Institute is looking for a programmer to work on their Data Library. Unfortunately I don't see a way to get a permalink to the job listing; you can find it by going to https://jobs.columbia.edu/ , clicking "SEARCH OPEN POSITIONS" in the left nav, and specifying Department 6061.

I'm not affiliated with the group. I actually interviewed for the position last week, but probably won't end up taking it.

Comment · 14 years ago

It's also important that assembly lines can be offshored, whereas a lot of repairs really need to be done locally by someone who can interact with the consumer to understand the problem. Countries where labor is cheap relative to imports don't have the same throwaway culture, because in those circumstances it's economically viable to repair things rather than replacing them.