ASN.1 is extremely complicated and hard to implement correctly. All ASN.1 implementations I've seen are either specialized (know how to work only with a very specific message), or slow, buggy and expose equally complicated APIs. Modern systems like protobufs tend to use much simpler encodings & specs which are easier to understand and implement correctly.
I totally get the frustration and such, and not trying to protect Amazon, but: author's web site intercepting browser history to trigger "checkout this content before you leave" when back navigation is clicked is outright evil. Just don't do that, be kind to visitors.
Edit:
1. Dictionary: evil, adj.: morally bad, cruel, or very unpleasant
2. To get the prompt you need to stay around on the page for a while, scroll around, pretend to read it. Triggers at least in mobile chrome browser.
I find it amusing that the advice in the style guide gives a good example contradicting another good example, and contains a subtle bug.
In the "Reduce Scope of Variables", second good example leaks an open file when WriteString fails, because it doesn't follow the own advice of "Defer to Clean Up" if you are curious.
Wired web site displays annoying "pay us now" banner over half of the page on a phone browser, which cannot be removed, probably due to JavaScript bug. Can't help, but flag this.
I'm fine with paywalled content overall. I'm not fine with paywalled content on the front page of hn, because it reduces hn utility: I can't see the content.
It costs me money (past a certain number of freebies) to access Equifax's data on me--to get a credit report.
I get that this is not their main business model, and that their customers that they bundle and sell consumer data to are more valuable. But end users, in this case, are still customers. They still pay money and get a service in return. Contrasted with e.g. Google services, it's a different scenario.
Well, in restaurants now the tip's already on the bill, unless you want to make your entire group or date uncomfortable by "talking to the waiter about taking it off".
Really? I rarely have dinner over 20 pounds a person (which isn't cheap, I get it, but for London prices it's also not expensive), and I haven't seen a bill without service charge added in months (excluding Whetherspoons). As soon as I don't manage to order at the register, and instead someone brings a menu, there will be a service charge.
There was one restaurant recently that didn't have one, and we almost freaked out about it.
Not really, it's a service charge that in most places is charged for groups over a certain size (4 or 5). There is no culture of compulsory tipping for anything, because it's ridiculous.
My experience does not match what you are saying. I was always taught that (unless a service charge is already included) you should tip 10-20% in good restaurants. Not to tip I believe is generally seen as rude/a sign that service was bad.
Of course, most of us don't regularly eat in "good restaurants" - pretty much anything on the high street/your local shopping centre isn't, and anywhere you can get a meal for under £15 a head before drinks doesn't count as a "good restaurant", in my books.
I mean where you draw the line is up to you, but if there are three of you x £15, plus drinks lets say total of £64 , I would normally round it up to 70. By good restaurants I meant anything that isn't fast food (Subway, McDs). But perhaps I am not a typical customer, I don't know.
Often I go out to a restaurant with a friend and order fairly common food - totalling <£30 including drinks, and not making many demands of the staff. I don't think tipping someone to do the bare bones of their job is reasonable.
On the other hand, if I were to go with a reasonably sized group of people, had to get a table big enough for the lot of us, have people with dietary requirements or order cocktails or who otherwise make many demands of the staff... it's worth tipping as we're a pain in the ass, basically. And many restaurants automatically add a service charge in that case anyway.
