logandavis

The most stunning outcome here is the apparent internet consensus that Star Wars is better than Star Trek.

This is indefensible.

A Star Wars fan will tell you there are, at most, four good Star Wars movies. A Star Trek fan will tell you there are 6-7 good Star Trek movies, depending on whether you count Galaxy Quest. This might leave us with some room for debate about whether the cultural impact of Star Wars episodes 4 and 5 outweigh Star Trek's larger amount of quality material.

Except that Star Trek is a TV show.

For the movie franchise to not even be the better movie franchise is just... there's... it's not even a question.

For sure! I'm an SF-based software engineer who's also on an improv team that did monthly performances in the Before Times.

There are three "big" improv theaters in SF which I know of: Endgames Improv in the Mission, Leela in SoMa, and BATS Improv in the Marina. The show you might've heard of is "Your F'd Up Relationship", which is put on by Endgames Improv's main house team on Fridays at 9 and 10:30. That's a great one to start with. Speaking as an improviser, those performers are especially strong, and the format helps them be consistently funny.

You can also take classes from those theaters, or from a couple other spots, like Thunderbolt Comedy (who actually have a really neat online platform called Pineappl: a web app that's designed specifically for improv, so that performers can simulate being on stage, maintain consistent relative positions to each other, set custom backgrounds, etc. without wrangling any of the messy Zoom stuff like covering up your camera when you're "offscreen".)

Unfortunately the city's comedy scene has taken a massive hit due to the pandemic. I have to imagine that being locked in a crowded room with 50 strangers all laughing is just about the last thing that the city is going to allow to reopen. It seems like Endgames is in financial trouble, since they've put one of their theaters up for rent and the other one is running GoFundMe's. To me, watching Zoom improv really just isn't the same -- really, so much of the improv experience is sharing it with an audience. I really do hope the theaters survive the pandemic so we can have in person shows again when it's safe!

Great thread, great answers!

Follow-on question: OK, so how does your company's interview process test for these traits?

It's mind-boggling to me how many organizations understand that the most important traits of a great engineer are "soft skills" (how many answers here are about really understanding big-O complexity or pointer math?)... and yet are content to interview candidates with whiteboard algorithms problems.

Interview for greatness, not for having-brushed-up-on-Djikstra's-ness!

>“And by the way,” I added, “Stop calling your subscribers ‘users.’ They’re not ‘users,’ they’re listeners––our listeners in fact. You’re the ‘user.’ You’re using our music to monetize our listeners for your profit.” He looked at me as if I’d just shot Santa Claus in the face. “No, man! You’re wrong!” He was sweating now, and the dozen or so musicians who’d gathered around us began heckling him. He shouted, “Spotify is our product! You don’t get it at all!” He stormed off.

Then all of the very famous musicians in the room walked up to me and said "Wow, Blake! You sure did show that nasty Spotify executive!" They began to shower me with praise and small tokens of affection. Everyone was in awe of my wit.

Beyonce said "Blake - those words you've said were the most beautiful that I've ever heard. Will you write the lyrics for my next album?" And I said, "Beyonce - I'm honored. Ordinarily, I would say no, but because #IRespectMusic so much, I can't refuse this opportunity."

Next, Tegan and Sara came up to me. "Wow, Blake," said Tegan. "That was so amazing. I can't believe how brave you are." Sara chimed in "and handsome!", giggling. We made small talk for a few minutes, before they had to run to a recording session - but first, they surreptitiously slipped me their numbers.

By the time I was done talking with Tegan and Sara, most of the other famous musicians had already thanked me and left. I turned to finally leave the building, when I saw one last hooded straggler, standing in the corner. Suddenly, he looked up at me. "Tupac?!" I said. Indeed, it was Makaveli the Don himself. He looked deep into my soul and said: "Blake... God isn't finished with you yet." Then he smiled, a mysterious smile, and faded away, just like Obi-Wan Kenobi in A New Hope.

And that was the day that I, Blake Morgan, saved music.

> We'll include the license updates with React 16's release next week.

Was this release date known before now? I can't find it anywhere else on Google or Twitter. Man, talk about burying the lede.

Are those ACT scores? Surely you realize that an ACT score is not a sole determinant of "qualification" for admittance into college. If it were, there would be no such thing as an admissions department. Everyone would just use ACT scores instead.

The difference between a 34 and a 32 on the ACT is the difference between the 99th percentile and the 98th percentile. This is well within the range of an individual's personal variation. A given ACT taker's score can vary by a couple points around their "true talent" based on short-term environmental factors (e.g. the quality of their pencils, the temperature of the room, their luck with guessing...) An admissions process that admitted a student with a 34 and not a student with a 32 would be deeply arbitrary. Which is why every college admissions officer I've ever spoken to has said they use standardized test scores as a rough initial screen and then never look at them again.

The relative qualification of students should be measured by their performance at the school, not by their standardized test scores.