By Jessica Roy 5/15/12 7:35am

Code or Be Coded

Mr. Atwood, probably yelling at you for wanting to learn a new hobby. (flickr.com/pepez)

‘Do Not Learn to Code,’ Declares Professional Coder

The “learn to code” meme probably reached its pinnacle around the time Mayor Bloomberg announced his dedication to the initiative, but it has now begun the inevitable slide into backlash territory. Who would have thought that a fluffy gesture of commitment to a burgeoning New York industry would tip over into controversy? This is why we can’t have nice things, Internet.

In a post published today on his popular blog Coding Horror, Stack Exchange founder Jeff Atwood publicly decried programming newbies’ hilarious attempts to learn the art of code. As if you pathetic wannabes could ever know as much as he does about coding. Read More

By Nitasha Tiku 2/07/12 5:51pm

Work-Life Shmalence

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Stack Exchange CTO Jeff Atwood Chooses Life Over Work, Internet Applauds

Yesterday, Stack Exchange CTO Jeff Atwood did the unthinkable, at least in Startupland where work is your life and companies are talked about and tended to with the same care as young children. On his blog Coding Horror, Mr. Atwood announced that effective March 1st, he would leave day-to-day operations of Stack Exchange, the beloved New York-based community-driven Q&A site for programmers, behind.

But not for all the usual reasons like starting his own company, starting a VC fund, or untold riches in preferred Facebook stock. No, Mr. Atwood did for actual human young children. Earlier this month, his wife gave birth to twin girls whose Twitter handle (@theladybabies) is probably better than yours.

“Stack Overflow and Stack Exchange have been wildly successful,” Mr. Atwood wrote, “But I finally realized that success at the cost of my children is not success. It is failure.” Read More