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Pick-A-Hill2019on Ask HN: Folks who left tech later in their career, where did you go?

Pretty close tbh. A street-sweeper is left alone to do their job and - as long as its done well - is left alone to just get on with it :)

Pick-A-Hill2019on Ask HN: Folks who left tech later in their career, where did you go?

Wow, so much to pack in and respond to so I will start with a TLDR of a +1 annectoda of ‘it can be done’.

Did I make the right choice? Yes and No. Did it work out ok/well? Yes... And No.

Would I do the same again? Yes.

Note: I considered posting under a Temp/Throwaway nick but figured meh, to hell with it.

The following is just a +1 anecdotal "can be done" rambling of some internet stranger so take it with as many pinches of salt as you wish :)

I am 'semi-retired' from the IT game, rode the Y2K and Dot-com boom and bust and semi-retired/ 'left' the industry back in late 2012. At that time I had reached a level where I could pick and choose and/or name a price without worry, secure in the knowledge that within a day or two my phone would ring with someone else on the end desperate to have a problem fixed. {Will list my reasons for getting out of the IT game at the end of this comment}.

I branched out in to a non-IT related field (but was still a very technical and hands-on field). We are who/what we are and I just have this itch to 'fix' stuff.

My pay at first was a LOT less than I was earning previously (roughly 1/10th) but within two years it was on par and within 5 years it was about 3x what I was earning in IT so yes, it can be done.

The thing to ask yourself is this (I'm assuming here that you have considered all possible different roles within the industry and found that none of them would suit you. If you haven't done that yet then do so with haste. Often it's better the devil you know).

Also consider this - Wherever you go, You always take the Weather with you. In other words - If you haven't identified the underlying cause of your dissatisfaction then even if you do decide to trade fields you will find yourself asking the exact same question on a different technical forum within a few years ;)

If still convinced that a change of career is the right thing to do (hint – the fact that you haven’t reached the point where you go Fuck it – anything is better than doing this even if it means going back to Ramen Noodle Days suggests that you aren’t at that point) then consider doing a good old fashioned “likes and dislikes” and a SWOT analysis ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis ) to identify where/what to do next.

Those same strengths that brought me to that point in my IT career of where I could chose who to pick up the phone to also served me well in my ‘new’ choice of career. How did I identify the new field I chose to get in to? By trawling through a lot of Job sites (with pay filtering turned off) and just clicked/viewed the vacancies that sounded of interest. This gave me a really good idea of what interested me and if something was of interest then a quick Google/Glass-door search for roles within that industry showed the max potential earnings). As an example – “Street Sweeper” ticked a lot of my ‘boxes’ except that even the best of street sweepers could never hope to come close to what I would like to earn. But doing that gave me the criteria to narrow down on what aspects ARE essential for me in any role.

{Reasons for leaving IT} During the 2000’s the amount of pure greed, the countless ‘chancers’ (aka “cowboys”) in the field left me sickened and disgusted.

What ever you decide - Good luck and I hope you find happiness/contentment.

Pick-A-Hill2019on Japanese cops deliver warnings in replies to crime-linked social media messages

I think the lede is this ... * " began testing a system to use artificial intelligence to recognize secret words and messages for drug trafficking efficiently in order to ask Twitter to delete them. *

As is almost always the case - the road to hell is paved with good intentions & mutters something, something slippery slope towards automated censorship.

And as always it's "think of the children" or another one of the boogie-man "reasons".

I have an almost Pavlovian response to be against any initiative that uses those dog-whistles.

Pick-A-Hill2019on How to Run Windows 11 and macOS Virtual Machines in Linux

"Quickly create and run optimised Windows, macOS and Linux desktop VMs" submitted four hours ago which points to the GitHub repo (TFA links to it at top of article)

Pick-A-Hill2019on Yes, you can put out a burning gas well with a nuclear bomb

Quote from the article Screw It, Time for Nukes

Perfect Friday night reading before a quick bit of on-line gaming!

Pick-A-Hill2019on Sweden asks EU to ban Bitcoin mining...

" ... and to legally prevent anyone doing it from calling it eco-friendly."

Ok, that bit I can agree with.

Buuuttt, what I have a problem with is this - if Sweden / EU wants to ban crypto mining then simply create a specific industry code [1] that covers crypto mining and legislate/tax accordingly.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Industrial_Classifica...

Pick-A-Hill2019on Pulling 20k Lbs of Plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

One of the criticisms of this device as per the article is that the critics feel that it might entrap marine life. That sounds like a reasonable criticism and is one that is refuted by the inventor saying that the ‘net’ is towed at low enough speeds and it also has various lights, escape paths etc. as mitigations but nobody seems to say either “it was zero caught so pffft to that criticism” or “yes a small amount were caught up but was it a small enough number that the benefits to species x,y,z outweigh the small amount of accidental damage” or (from the critics) “it was a fish massacre”.

I appreciate there might be technical reasons why the inventor is unable to determine the exact quantity (if any) however the absence of any quantities being mentioned at all is puzzling and either a missed opportunity to ‘slay the nay-sayers’ or is something they would rather not mention.

In fairness there may be an exact figure available somewhere out there but wasn’t something a quick dig through the first few pages of search results revealed.

Pick-A-Hill2019on The Betty Crocker Effect

Thanks for posting this - I almost posted a slightly better / different link to a Betty Crocker Effect page [1] but checked the comments first and TIL, Snopes (FWIW) agrees that your are correct (see [2]).

[1] https://medium.com/@mukri2/betty-crocker-add-an-egg-248dce3d...

[2] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/something-eggstra/

Pick-A-Hill2019on It's weird that most of “Hacker” news is dominated by business news

Why not be the change you want to see? Submitting articles is free and really easy.

Pick-A-Hill2019on Would you take that project or finish your studies?

Personal opinion only based on a life-times worth of collecting grey hairs. Stick with your studies.

A certificate is much more valuable in the long run compared to 'worked at startup xyz for 2 months before it folded/leveraged/pivoted’.

Yes there is a genuine fear that you might turn down a role in the next unicorn and miss out on a fortune but realistically playing the odds that the bit of paper will be worth more than an entry on your CV makes it worth sticking to your studies.

Personal experience story time: I once quit a course a few weeks away from graduating in order to take an oppurtunity that seemed to good to be true. Turns out that it was indeed too good to be true and the company folded a few years later. If I could turn back time I would do so on that one (and a few others).

FOMO and sweet whispers of untold wealth if only you get in early enough tempt many to abandon their studies.

Some times it works out, often it does not but ask yourself this - how often do startups turn in to unicorns?

Yes by passing on the offer you might miss the next Google but be guided by the statistics and acknowledge that you are still green enough to be unable to sort the wheat from the chaff.

Personal experience data point of n=1. Number of unicorns missed by passing on a job offer = 0. Number of roles that opened up because I had some piece(s) of paper that provided solid evidence of skills and abilities = 20+

YMMV

Pick-A-Hill2019on Busiest US container port complex warns of industry ‘crisis’ over supply chain

IKEA and Costco (amongst others) have chartered entire ships in order to secure shipping slots. A few weeks back there was a "Ask HN" posted about how to set up a shipping company. Shipyards are back-logged with orders for container ships. Shipping rates are through the roof.

My biggest concern is that when the bubble bursts (i.e. the global backlog is processed) that there will be a hella lot of insolvencies which will lead to cancelled orders (for container ships) which will lead to lay-offs as shipping prices crash.

Sometimes 'The Market' makes no sense to me, Sometimes it makes me SMH. Other times, it makes me weep.

Pick-A-Hill2019on Pumps run dry at gas stations in Britain

There is also a shortage of tanker delivery drivers which means that it is impossible to increase the number of deliveries which leads to outages which are then amplified via social media and news outlets (anything that gets clicks/engagements wins the race for Top Post/Ad Views/Headlines).

The biggest problem imo is that any time just about any government official in any country in any continent anywhere on the planet says trust us there is no need to panic people cast their minds back to the previous times they have heard that and (rather naturally) go 'Yeah, right!' and so think to themselves 'better safe than sorry'.

The UK gov has done a U-Turn and said that they will grant 5000 temporary work visas to EU HGV drivers .... that expire on Christmas Eve. Quelle surprise the take up rate has been rather low.

Pick-A-Hill2019on Europe’s energy crisis is about to go global as gas prices soar

There exists a world beyond your experience. A world in which people on low incomes have to chose between heating and eating. Sure - there are those that fly to meetings but there is also a world less represented/vocal here on HN for whom this could be (probably will be) a crisis.

Yes, Global Warming is a problem but the people trying to keep themselves from freezing contribute a much smaller amount than Big-Tech and industry as a whole.

Trying to shift the blame from corporations on to people just trying to survive the winter is a tale of corporate white-washing/green-washing/hand-waving/lobbying.

Pick-A-Hill2019on Leaked grant proposal details high-risk coronavirus research

Unless the Intercept changed the page the submission also breaks the guidelines about editorializing submission titles. TFA headline reads: Leaked Grant Proposal Details High-Risk Coronavirus Research (I didn't flag it, just voicing a possible reason for the submission to be flagged)

Pick-A-Hill2019on ExpressVPN employees complain about ex-spy's top role at company

It [ExpressVPN] said it had not known of the federal investigation or the details of Gericke's work in UAE

Seriously?

So either he lied or they are lying. I'm not an expert in American employment laws but would have assumed that one of the conditions of employment would be disclosing/reporting being under a federal investigation.

Pick-A-Hill2019on What Police Can Do with Social Media Spy Tool ShadowDragon

I would love it if somebody from either Europe or California did a Data Subject Request for their own data and blogged/posted about it, it would make for interesting reading and while they may shrug at a GDPR Data Subject Request I'm not so sure they would wave off one from a Californian resident.

Pick-A-Hill2019on Visually impaired Paralympian hit by self-driving bus

I know that it is frowned on here at HN to ask 'did you read the article' however -

The Mainichi daily said the bus automatically stopped but the operators pressed the start button as they did not think he would walk out on to the road. (fourth paragraph from the end).

Perhaps you missed that part?

Pick-A-Hill2019on George Gamow, Fred Hoyle, and the great Big Bang debate

T.I.L on HN.

I though that the Big Bang Theory was exactly that - a Theory - yet the NYT assures me that it was (past tense) Just a Theory.

Full (obvious) Disclaimer - IAMNAC (I am not a cosmologist)

Pick-A-Hill2019on A Rubik's cube solution that is easy to memorize (2003)

Have a submission upvote simply for the nostalgia. Thanks :)

Pick-A-Hill2019on I’m a nuclear armageddon survivor: Ask me anything (2017)

There was someone (died in 2019) who experienced and survived both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atom bombs (which I guess is pretty much one of the most definitive versions of having a shit week)

" The Man Who Survived Two Atomic Bombs"

https://www.history.com/news/the-man-who-survived-two-atomic...

Pick-A-Hill2019on Ask HN: Managing career progression for those with no interest in progressing?

Firstly - Make sure you thank them for their honesty.

Secondly - Make sure they see a copy of their review in which you praise their abilities within the team. That will help to reassure them that there are no penalties for not wanting to 'progress'. Slightly OT since it isn't IT related but I once asked a PC (police Constable, aka a British 'Bobby') why they had remained a PC for 25 years (I was curious). Their answer was - Mo' Money, Mo' Problems. In other words they preferred the day to day life and didn't want more Paperwork, more BS and ass-kissing (sadly a prerequisite for ladder climbing) and they really did not want the hassles of managing others. I did a mental re-take and thought fair enough. I am slightly ashamed that my initial ‘hunch’ was because they lacked the skills or abilities to gain a promotion (my bad and I was glad I asked rather than silently assuming/judging).

One thing to think about doing is exploring their responsibilities – Think about their specialities / preferences / interests. If they are a ‘people person’ consider making offering them the role of helping to onboard newcomers on the team. If they have an analytical mind, consider delegating some of the cost centre analysis work to them. Ensure any unofficial roles are noted positively in their next review so that they can see in black and white their value to the team.

Pick-A-Hill2019on New U.S. Navy Secretary Is “Exclusively Focused on the China Threat”

{chuckles} to coin an internet meme - I see what you did there

Pick-A-Hill2019on Xiaomi releases tablet knockoff that literally has iPad Pro in the name

The Ars Technica link in the article has a much less click-baity take on it. For those specs and at that price point if I had the money at the moment I definitely would get one.

I mean sure .... it is called the Mi Pad 5 Pro but what the heck - Would it be better to have called it the Mi Tab 5 Pro (aka a Samsung 'knock-off')?

Highly doubt that anyone looking for an iPad would get confused... Why would an Apple product have a name like Xiaomi in it? And even if someone was that 'confused' - in these days of internet commerce, a refund is just an e-mail away.

Sure. I get why a site like 9to5Mac might be ever so slightly biased but boy - haven't they heard of the Streisand Effect?

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/08/xiaomi-gets-back-int...

Pick-A-Hill2019on New U.S. Navy Secretary Is “Exclusively Focused on the China Threat”

Wow. I'm not sure if he has been selectively quoted or not but he certainly did say those exact words so (smh).

Weeds grow fastest in the shade of others. Ignoring the three major shipping choke-points (and not even mentioning the upper Arctic slowly becoming open to maritime traffic) is.. Welp.

I sincerely hope he was misquoted or 'mis-spoke' when he used the word 'exclusively'.

Personal opinion obviously

Pick-A-Hill2019on Ask HN: Why do I get my ham radio out on my holidays?

Re ham radios on vacation - The Geek in me says it's because any new (to you/me) areas have different propagation properties. That and the 'fun' of trying to run portable equipment by tweaking it is like moths to a candle.

As for the underlying question of 'why when I am on holiday do I find it easier/more comfortable reaching out to others in the 'techno-sphere' versus interacting with fellow vacationers? I wouldn't presume to answer for you but for me it would be -

A) An innate shyness B) Trouble de-coupling brain after 50 weeks on the corporate treadmill C) A realization that I had little in common with fellow vacationers (you tend to see very few geeks slapping on the factor 50 and hanging out round the pool)

In short – I don’t know but you aren’t the only one (grin)

Pick-A-Hill2019on I compromised 300 stores and a “Spanish consultancy”

I have no wish to start a flame-war here but I would politely disagree with your point of view. Even non-techie users are taught not to reuse credentials. Sure, they still do buuuttt...as an Admin for a 300+ client CMS system ... to not know any better is inexcusable. Even if they didn't know it at the time of starting out in the industry - at what point would they be so blind as to not know / have read about hacks of others and/or the existance of haveibeenpwned and seen the error of their ways?

Sorry but no. No.

Pick-A-Hill2019on I compromised 300 stores and a “Spanish consultancy”

Holy mac-shit-snacks! "..got access to the dashboard as a Super Admin in less than 1 minute. The password of this guy was the same as his username." AND credential reuse. Ouch.

Ding, Ding, Ding! I think we have a winner for the fastest way to the unemployment line.

Pick-A-Hill2019on Ask HN: Why are all non-English submissions flagged?

How do you propose HN's anti-spam filters and Mod(s) check submissions? While I take your implied point about inclusiveness how many different languages do you expect the spam filters and Mods to be fluent in? One? Two? More? That opens you up to “What-About-ism”

In my opinion there is nothing wrong with a website starting up (and keeping topics and discussions) to their lingua franca. As a neutral-ish example – What if I went to a .ru forum and posted something Swahili? Chances are high that it would be flagged/deleted because Swahili is not a language they speak (the mods) and so they have no way of checking to see if it is a Viagra spam or a meaningful contribution.

Pick-A-Hill2019on [dead]

Free for 14 days /s

Why not try re-submitting your post/project as "Archive your website for 14 days - free of charge.”

Also, only 10x sites and each site is limited to 10x pages that would probably disappear the moment the money runs out or you decide to pull the plug on it vs the Internet Archive offering. Seriously?

Also, in what way(s) is your* project better than the Wayback Machine as stated in your previous submission? The Site FAQ fails to answer that.

I seriously feel that perhaps I am being a bit too harsh here but if something hasn’t gained traction even after submitting it 6x times has got to tell you something.

(*I'm guessing that since you have submitted this same site six times already that it is your project but please correct me if I'm wrong).

Pick-A-Hill2019on Ask HN: Single best practical advice from your expertise?

Compete on Quality, not on price.

Competing on price is a race to the bottom, competing on quality is a race to the top.