I'm probably gonna submit a talk to this summit this year! Been going to GDC as a volunteer since 2005, I've always wanted to talk more about online services development for sometime. So glad to see this happening!
IIRC YouTube Gaming was created to establish streaming on YouTube. When it was created, they didn't allow streaming on the main YouTube app. That all changed in about 2015, when they started bringing the livestreams in to YouTube proper.
This shit is easy to lookup ... and the fact of the matter is, trying to claim that "we" are as bad as the Russians is the same shit Putin does to dispel any criticism against his fucked up regime's actions. No matter how bad the US has been in Wars and sticking their fingers in democratic elections, the Russians are 10 times as worse and they know it.
First, that was the Washington Post that released the tape, and second, that is more for the fitness of the candidate (at the time). Third, and more importantly, it was obtained legally, without having to break in to a server to get it.
If they are a news organization, they do a terrible job of reporting the news. They are a black box repository for leaked data. They were once a great resource for info hackers and leakers to push their data, like back in 2008/2009. But that was before news organizations started using their own secure drop servers for sources. Once WikiLeaks sources started to not go to them, they started to look for other benefactors and sources. They found it in the Russian Government.
When it was done with the intent of influencing the 2016 election, that tends to fall under conspiracy and espionage ... especially when it comes from a former adversarial government.
A credible news organization would have tons of fact checkers and editors to make sure the relevant facts made it in to any article they wrote. They wouldn't, blindly, release tons of unedited emails, including some that were doctored to make the DNC and the Clinton Campaign look bad.
Doesn't need to be state-sponsored (and most news organization aren't "state-sponsored" ... unlike RT, for example) to be credible.
I don't think Freedom of the Press is dead. WikiLeaks isn't a news organization, especially when they released campaign emails during the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election. They have been to be a known tool for the Russian government, even going as far as creating a show for Julian Assange on the state-backed RT TV Network.
I'm 30 with about 8 years of professional development experience under my belt (including a couple of nice contracts with some respectable companies). Being self-taught has both helped and hindered my career/job searches of late. It's helped get me interviews, because recruiters see the years of experience, and gain some side contracts. It's hindered my career/job searches because everyone assumes I've got a comp sci degree during the interview. I get asked questions that are very specific comp sci questions, and I don't know how to answer them, even though I may have used those concepts in the past.
So, to answer your question, Yes ... and no. I do worry, but I hope to be moving toward a management position (or running my own business) instead of being a code monkey for the rest of my life.
I will agree with Volunteerism. That was the best thing to help my mood, because, while I wasn't getting paid for it, I was among people who were genuinely happy to see you and talk to you.
My last employer was like that. The guy had an office half the size of the open office and he barely used it because he was out doing business and CEO things. It always upset me.
Not an IRS Rule, but it is something bigger companies want to implement so they don't have to pay for benefits for the contractor. When googling it, most I come up with is that most big companies don't want to make it look like they are using temporary work in place of a permanent employ.
Former Disney Contractor (in 2012) here. I was working for a Disney Contractor in the Disney Offices in Celebration, FL (about 1.5 miles from the Magic Kingdom Gate). I knew of the Disney Contractor rule from Day One, and was reminded of it almost every week. I would have co-contractors leave, to be replaced by another contractor the next month. It was pretty commonplace in our little department.
They did mention that there were ways around Disney's rules, but the 18 Months on, 1 year off rule was something Disney has had for years.