Is this book relevant only to beginners? Do you think a programmer with about 7 years of experience (in C, C++, C#, Java) will find it useful?

It's a really short and interesting read. It's difficult to think anyone could read it and find it to be a waste of time.

Absolutely, the book sits nicely between being fairly general but goes into just enough depth without bewildering you.

Yes! I read it about 5 years after finishing my degree (which already covered many of the topics in depth), and it was very enjoyable. It gives a very good, succinct (if simplified) overview of computer architecture.

For practical purposes, does the difference really matter? Most consumer phones come with Google services on them. Building a usable ROM without Google services on them is not an easy task.

Not only is it an extremely easy task for someone who wants such a thing, it's already been done and is widely available pre-build for a plethora of devices with projects like LineageOS (risen from CyanogenMod), AOSP, CopperheadOS etc...

I'd think that the Google+, Google Photos, the Twitter apps are at at least 75% of the complexity of the Facebook app.

I can't find the link, but I remember an Epic engineer saying that they use Perforce internally and do a 2 way sync with Github.

Correct, it is managed in Perforce and MIRRORED onto Github.

Valve's new employee handbook looks pretty interesting - http://www.valvesoftware.com/company/Valve_Handbook_LowRes.p...

According to Newell[1], Valve aggressively fires as it hires. It's not based on stack-ranking bullshit - more of a cultural and disciplinary fit. If you have the right personality you could thrive there, but if you need a manager to help you shine it's best to look elsewhere.

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8QEOBgLBQU

It's based on capricious and cliquish factors that aren't documented anywhere. Having the "right personality" to thrive there means knowing who to ingratiate yourself with.

Source: close friend is an ex-valver.

That Valve Employee Handbook is the 2012 edition. Is there a newer publication?

I think GP meant the Valve "New Employee" Handbook

The "culture" part might be good, but the end-result is Steam-- lousy software which has been lousy for decades at this point, and is unlikely to ever improve.

You forgot Wipro and TCS.

The sad part is, he doesn't seem to be the only one. There are other people having the same problem.

I translated this line from the New York Times - "The dismissals followed the abrupt firing on Friday of Gov. Chris Christie" to Tamil. It translated "firing" as துப்பாக்கி சூடு (Gunfire). Maybe it needs to infer the contextual meaning from the earlier word "dismissals"?

English>Tamil is not one of the language pairs of the new neural engine.

>> looking for any game that looked like Age of Empires on its cover.

Story of my life!

I can't afford to take a 1 year break either, but it sure feels good to read about people doing it. If I hadn't come across articles like these, I probably wouldn't have even thought about something like this. The idea really resonates with me and at least now, I can plan to do something like this few years down the line.