Объявляется маленький challenge. Всего одна малюсенькая, простенькая задачка и неделя времени.

Пусть дан тип typeof(List<>).
Положив первый параметр этого типа равным typeof(string) мы получим нечто, что можно будет сохранить в переменную типа typeof(IList<string>):

Assert.IsTrue(
    typeof (IList<string>).IsAssignableFrom(
        typeof (List<>).MakeGenericType(typeof (string)))
    );

А теперь, собственно, задачка!

Дан некоторый тип T, только что загруженный из сборки. То есть это либо не generic, либо generic с неопределенными еще параметрами типа. Например, typeof(List<>).

Дан другой generic тип I, только что полученный методом GetType(). То есть это generic, у которого все параметры типа определены. Например, typeof(IList<string>).

Задача — путем определения параметров типа T получить тип, который будет совместим по присваиванию с I, либо сказать, что это невозможно.

Победителем этого конкурса станет тот, у кого исходник окажется короче. (Более точно — у кого в исходнике решения будет меньше лексем-идентификаторов, чем у других).

Конкурс длится неделю. Время пошло! Комменты скрыты. :)

The empire strikes back

In recent weeks, we've taken huge steps towards blocking spam accounts on LiveJournal. In fact, we've suspended as many as 30,000 accounts in a single day! We've implemented several pre-emptive measures to prevent the creation of spam accounts, and we've honed our detection of suspicious content. Spam bots are a crafty lot, so we'll continue to refine our tactics and keep up the good fight to keep you safe from spam attacks on LiveJournal.

RSS feeds again

If you're addicted to xkcd_rss, icanhaschzbrgr, or other syndicated feeds, we're pleased to report that we've resolved the update error that was mucking up your RSS feeds. While content was being pulled correctly, it wasn't being posted to the feeds themselves. Late last week, we finally nailed down what we hope was the root problem, so content should post properly. We thank you for your patience.

Wii have killer CSI Deadly Intent contests!

c_s_i

If you're a gamer who loves CSI, have Wii got news for you! c_s_i is sponsoring killer contests. Simply post a question to a member of the CSI crew. The winner will get a free copy of CSI: Deadly Intent for Nintendo Wii (with a retail value of $39.99) and get their question answered by a member of the CSI writing team! There's also a fantastic monthly contest. To enter, join c_s_i, play the online version of CSI: Deadly Intent, and respond to a two-part query for a chance to win a Wii! Entries will be judged on composition and originality. Sorry, but you must be a U.S. resident and over 18 years old to participate. Check out the rules here.

Enveloped in postcards

Last week, we asked you to send in postcards to help us decorate our drab concrete walls. Here's a photo of the results so far! Thank you so much and please keep them coming! You can mail them to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. Be sure to include your username, since we'll be giving ten random users paid account credits.

Photos of the week

If you haven't visited our new LiveJournal photo community, you're in for an amazing visual trip. LiveJournal users from around the world will take you on a scenic journey to everywhere. Post your own pictures or kick back and enjoy at lj_photophile. You can view some of this week's awesome photos after the jump. Please start tagging with geographic location, since we'd like to track all the places around the world represented in this community. Keep on commenting too!
( Read more... )

Well, I think we've nailed down (at least in the tentative sense) our wedding and reception venues which means we have a tentative date, looks like January 17 may end up being the big day :)

Its amazing sometimes to start thinking about all the costs that go into a wedding, even if you try and go on the cheaper side. There was at least two reception venues, like wineries, we talked to that start at about $10,000 for a reception. (No we didn't go with either of those). But even if you find an "inexpensive" venue, catering alone could break the bank. The wineries price list had $40/plate dinners they catered. Say you went with something significantly less expensive and had $10/person catering--if you have a 200 person wedding, that's already $2000, just for the food. When you start adding up all the different little things you'll need for the wedding and reception, wow, those numbers can start to grow fast.

I'm happy with the venue choices we were able to work out, VCC for the ceremony (my home church in Pleasanton) would have been one of my top choices. And being a winter wedding, we'll absolutely need an indoor reception venue because if you don't have an indoor venue, Murphy's law says it will be pouring rain that day. Paul and my mom drove around and looked at a bunch of venues over the weekend. Our top choice was the Pleasanton Senior Center. On the one hand that sounds kind of funny place to have events for non-seniors, but apparently they have a large banquet hall they rent out for events, and it's a beautiful site, and there's some gorgeous gardens outside that might make for some lovely photo opportunities, and compared to other local venues, fairly reasonably priced too... luckily it happened that one of the dates available at the church was available for the senior center too. At first we were slightly concerned about whether it would be an issue that on Sundays the senior center requires you to be out completely by 9, but the church has services all morning on Sunday, so it took a little thinking to figure out whether the timing would be too tight or not, but since it sounds like we can start setting up pretty much as soon as everyone's out of the sanctuary after second service, I think it'll work out fine.

1. Попробую собрать аггрегированную информацию по размеру зарплат в нашем управлении разработки. Самому уже надоели слова "выше среднего по рынку" и "договоримся". То есть мы, конечно, договоримся, но некоторую информацию все таки хорошо бы предоставлять, чтобы кандидатам было от чего отталкиваться. Всем поучаствовавшим — спасибо за последнюю каплю. :-)

2. Маньяки. Вакансия является ответом на сложившуюся вокруг меня реальность. А реальность такова, что ко мне на собеседования приходят массово люди, которых я видеть в своей команде в данный момент не хочу. И всех их кое-что объединяет.
Они не интересуются программированием, но хотят программировать. Они, программируя на языке C#, не знают его. Они не умеют вести околопрограммистские рассуждения — конечно, они никогда этого не делали! Им ведь все это не интересно!

Цель публикации вакансии проста — изменить реальность. Хочу, чтобы к нам на собеседования шли те, кому как минимум интересно. А если в толпе попрущихся к нам маньяков будет ещё какой-то массовый недостаток (например, все как один будут неадекватами, фигачащими интересную и прикольную никому не нужную ерунду), я ещё что-нибудь придумаю. :-)

Tonight was the second week of MPPC's Foundations of Marriage class. It was definitely a stroke of luck (or maybe a divine appointment) that two days before this class, only offered twice a year, I happened to randomly think "gee, I should check up on whether MPPC has any of those pre-marital classes coming up" and turns out they had one starting two days later, on a night of the week we don't have other commitments and not to late to sign up or anything. Its been a good class so far. Tonight's talk was about the importance of a spiritual foundation in marriage and praying for each other. They had a couple who'd been married 50 years come in and talk about how they pray for each other daily, that was kind of cool.

В Екатеринбурге в управление разработки СКБ Контур требуется маньяк.

Маньяк вовсе не обязательно должен иметь 5 лет опыта работы разработчиком, и ему не обязательно знать WPF, WCF, ASP, DDD и прочие TLA. Но если он о них слышал хотя бы краем уха — хорошо.

Маньяк по определению должен маньячить. В частности, у него должно быть одно самое важное хобби, так или иначе свзяанное с программированием. В частности, ему должно быть интересно придумывать или на крайний случай изучать что-то новое в программировании. Более того, у него это должно получаться! И как следствие, к этому моменту у него уже должно быть много чего интересного придумано и изучено.

Маньяк должен быть неравнодушен к проблемам. Он должен их замечать, переживать по их поводу, но не ныть и не жаловаться. Вместо этого он должен постоянно искать способы устранения проблем и, собственно, устранять их, делая мир с каждым днем все лучше.

Маньяк должен уметь разговаривать и писать на русском языке. Мы много общаемся и если человеку сложно выразить свои мысли словами — нам с ним будет тяжело (впрочем ему тоже не сладко). Естественно, слушать и понимать других — тоже обязательно. Если неприятный, нехороший и гадкий собеседник приводит логичные и правильные аргументы — маньяк обязательно эти аргументы рассмотрит несмотря их происхождение.

Маньяк должен быть знаком с языком C# и с основами .NET Framework — с этим добром ему придется у нас работать. Мне даже немного стыдно за этот пункт, поэтому я поясню. Тут у нас никто не будет никого учить языку C#. А раз его все равно нужно будет изучать самостоятельно, то для маньяка не должно быть проблемой сделать это дома, заранее. Взять и потратить пару-тройку вечеров, чтобы освоить основные вещи.

Это, конечно, не все наши требования к маньяку, но основные.

У нас маньяку полагается большой рабочий стол в просторной комнате, наполненной другими маньяками, хороший комп, пара мониторов, бесплатные плюшки с чаем, наполовину бесплатные обеды в офисе, более менее свободный график, прочие интересные бонусы, и, наконец, работа над проектом, которым пользуются сотни тысяч пользователей.

Зарплата тоже полагается. Мы стараемся, чтобы она была адекватна уровню маньячества — для начинающих маньяков меньше, для матерых, маньяков с опытом — больше. Можно ожидать, что зарплата будет чуть выше среднего по рынку. Контур богат и может себе позволить платить большие зарплаты, но поскольку тут работают умные люди, то они понимают, что это было бы бессмысленное и в целом неправильное поведение. Так что на миллионы не надейтесь. Более подробную агрегированную информацию о зарплатах в Контуре могу рассказать в частном порядке.

Географически, к тому времени как маньяк найдется, мы наверняка уже будем располагаться в новом офисе на ул. Народной Воле 19А. Офис такой новый, что на Google maps его даже ещё нет .



Если вдруг вы искомый маньяк — пишите на pe@skbkontur.ru. Если у вас есть знакомый маньяк — дайте, пожалуйста, ему ссылочку на этот пост.

In response to user comments from last week, we want to let you know that we'll remain LJ cut-free for the next month in order to get more eyeballs on our evolving newsletter. As for product coverage, that continues to be our top priority. For more granular detail, however, we recommend you join lj_releases.

Super-tweak for Yandex search

Some of our beta testers expressed privacy concerns using the Yandex search engine. Here's why: Last week, when you ran a search, you could see the usernames (and only the usernames) of everyone who commented on an entry, even if that entry was switched to Private or Friends Only after it was originally indexed. You could NOT see the actual comments from Friends Only or Private posts. In response to your input, we've implemented a fix to keep all user activity currently marked Friends Only or Private completely hidden. If you'd prefer your public content not to be indexed by Yandex, click here and use the settings labeled Search Inclusion (this covers your entire journal) and/or Comment Search Inclusion (which covers comments only). To test drive Yandex search now, click here.

Postcards from the edge

Several years ago, we asked LiveJournal users to send postcards to help us decorate our dull, white-washed offices. Since a good idea warrants repetition, we're at it again (same issue, new address). We hope you'll surround us with LiveJournal love by sending your postcards to Frank the Goat, Esq., c/o LiveJournal, Inc., 539 Bryant Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, CA 94107. We'll post snapshots right here. Be sure to include your username, since we'll randomly pick 10 lucky recipients to win free paid account time.

Conquer Writer's Block

Here are some excerpts from this week's most popular question of the day:

If a friend or relative makes a racist or homophobic remark, do you tend to confront them or let it slide? Are you more likely to confront them if it offends you directly or someone else who seems reluctant to speak up?

1. I find it easier to stand up for other people, and i wouldn't let it slide if they made a rude or hurtful comment.
2. Usually if a friend makes a racist or homophobic remark, I tend to let it slide. I think that while i would not say such things myself, I have no right to censor those around me.
3. This happens all of the time. I confront some relatives, but I refuse to if they are drunk or watch Fox News.
4. I'd let it slide if it was just a private remark... As much as I despise bigotry and intolerance, I know that you can't change people-they have to change themselves ...
5. Confront! confront! confront! Politely, but without equivocation.
6. SPEAK UP. Always, always, always speak up. Letting something slide lets ignorance win. No matter if it offends me directly, or someone else, I will confront the speaker and let them know that's not ok.
7. I don't get offended personally. As an immigrant, woman, gay and person of color if I took every single potentially offensive remark seriously I wouldn't get anything done.
8. I punch them in the balls. With my mind.
9. I do speak up, but often very timidly because I feel that I'm white and therefore I don't really have any authority to lecture someone on what's racist and what isn't...
10. Generally speaking, I do not let this shit fly, because it reduces me as a person, to this non-person and it replicates the destructive discourse that makes sure that sexual minorities, racial minorities, women, people with disabilities, trans people and every intersection thereof into something other than human... And sometimes... I'm just too tired to deal with it, so I roll my eyes, make a sarcastic remark and hope the conversation moves on quickly.

For more daily questions and user comments, join writersblock. FYI, we don't want to invade your privacy, so we haven't credited individual users for their responses. We'd appreciate your feedback on this!

Spotlight community of the week

We can't resist making one last midnight trip to the ol' pumpkin patch. If you adore crazy costumes, fiendish festivities, and bottomless candy consumption as much as we do, this community has just what it takes to light up your jack-o-lantern.


halloween_fan

Photos of the week

We received so many incredible photos, we had to close our eyes and point. We uploaded a selection of awesome images at our new lj_photophile community. Please join and start posting (try to keep the width at around 625 for the sake of consistency)! We'd love for you to tell us more about your photos! You can help us select spotlight photos by commenting on your favorites. Once again, we thank you for making our online world more beautiful!

shutter	pancetta	ilya_gorokhov

Curtains

Thanks, again, for tuning in. We look forward to seeing you next week.

Paul and I had a "date night" tonight. We got all dressed up, and went and had dinner downtown, it was really nice, we should do that more often. But this one was also a little special too, because Paul had scoped out the place ahead of time and had a bouquet of red roses waiting on the table and asked "the question" at the end of dinner after a heartfelt speech about why he wants to marry me...he'd even left a (white) rose on my computer for me when I woke up in the morning (the way to a geek's heart?...hmm, its kind of in the way of the keyboard...I might have to move that to a vase...). Anyway, it was just all romantic and nice, we went to this nice little italian place, had classical music playing and some nice atmosphere...it was nice...