Sukotto

Thank you telling us about what happened. I am sorry to hear that [paraphrase complaint]. We want all our customers to have a great experience and we let you down.

I have [refunded / free upgrade / given some other bonus] your account. We will also make it a priority to [describe how we will improve] to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.

Please let me know if there is anything else we can do to make this right or if you have something else to tell us. You can contact me by email me@example.com or phone $phone_number. Those are direct to me personally, not to our helpdesk.

Best regards

$me

I downvoted you because I read your comment as needlessly confrontational and possibly trolling.

If you want better luck making the exercise (or any other) habit stick better. Try one or more of the following:

* reduce the habit down to a ridiculously small subset of the habit. Eg. "I will floss every day" becomes "I will floss my upper, front two teeth". Or "I will exercise every day" becomes "I will change into my exercise clothes and step out my front door.". You don't have to floss all your teeth... just one. You don't have to actually exercise, just change and step outside

* put the habit trigger (your floss, your running shoes, whatever) where you have to trip over them during your regular routine. Eg. keep your exercise clothes on the chair where you sit to use your laptop or watch your tv

* put up a calendar where you have to see it every day (like at the dining table) and a red marker on a string (so you can't "lose" it) and make a Seinfeld chain

* enlist the aid of your family and friends. "Spouse... I'm doing this thing that's hard for me. I need you help. Please help me. And let's have a reward... if I [perform habit] for [reasonable time period... say daily for 6 weeks] I will take you to (or make it possible for you to) do [some activity spouse likes but doesn't get to do often]"

* have a big reward to work towards, but also lots of little rewards along the way to reenforce the good behaviour. Just make sure they don't undercut the habit

* make a consequence for failure. Something that won't really hurt you but will definitely sting. Make sure your friends and family know about it so you feel social pressure to go through it. "If I break the chain more than twice, I will publicly donate $1000 to [political party that I hate]... and the money will come from my budget for [hobby I love]"

* remove triggers for the habit you want to replace. Eg. If you want to eat healthy, then remove all non-healthy food from your home... don't hide it, don't put it somewhere out of reach so it will be inconvenient... get rid of it completely

* don't give yourself any wiggle room. Make your rules absolute. If you think you need an out (eg. might need to break $diet_plan due to business dinner) then explicitly give the authority to someone you trust and who has an interest in your overall success. Eg "I will strictly follow $diet_plan. My cheat day is Saturday when I can also eat [list]. Any other time, $spouse (or $friend) has to agree. Even so, I will stay within the following limits: $list"

* Plan out in advance how you will handle the curveballs that life throws at you (especially important to learn from the ones that caught you the previous times). How will you respond to $X? ... Decide now instead of hoping that future you will be able to detangle from the stress of $X enough to think clearly

* Take on only one habit at a time. Start the next improvement only after the current one is firmly entrenched. If you have more then one, choose the one that makes the other ones easier

TL;DR; Assume you will be weak. Assume that it will be hard to walk the path of $good_habit and fall back into $bad_habit. Do everything you can now to set future you up for success by removing decisions, removing temptations, getting help from others, and making it more painful/embarrassing to give up than it is to simply do the new habit.

Declining to reveal my previous salary when negotiating a new job.

I ended up with a significantly better salary than they originally offered and never even said a number. Just built a good rapport with the hiring HR rep and agreed that the offered amount would be totally reasonable for [someone else with good experience]. Then I pointed out that I also bring to the role [additional, relevant, and desired experience] and gently asked what they could do to make the number better?. (Then I kept my mouth shut and let them think out loud for a few minutes)

Can you give some brief examples of how you've done that?

I wouldn't mind if I never had to use awk again...

For what it's worth, I also use an iphone 4. I like the size and don't really care about apps that require a more recent ios version.

Unfortunately, it no longer accepts my off-brand charging cable, and even using a (borrowed) official Apple cable results in the dreaded "accessory might not be supported" error.

The repair place cleaned out the port and says the battery is fine. Most likely the port itself has broken ... and that part is not replaceable :(

Now I'm limping along on a loaner phone from a friend and torn between buying another 4 (or 5), or buying a 6 in 2 months after the 7 comes out. :(

A battery "swollen up to a point where I can't even close the laptop" is a serious fire/explosion hazard.

You should remove it from your laptop and safely dispose of it as soon as possible.

It does NOT go into regular garbage or recycle. Call your local recycle center (or the non-emergency number of your fire deptartment) to ask how your city handles laptop batteries.

This has been on my mind recently as someone who was in the front office for a few years (but not making trades) but is now on the outside.

    I mean each day 100's of Phd's start with clean market
    data, more data sources than you could possibly think of
    and statistical back testing systems that have 1000's of
    man hours put into them, trying to find a way to make money.

It seems to me that the Tiger Rule applies here. You don't have to outrun the tiger, you just have to outrun your buddy.

Is the choice really that one can be in the cohort you mention, or you can buy an index fund (or whatever the equivalent is in the market you're interested in)... and that's it?[1] Is the market so efficient that there is no middle ground where a smart and methodical person can make more money than the index plodders without being obliterated by the big players?

That seems really unlikely to me.

[1] (I don't think that's what you are saying... but you've given me a chance to try and express something I've been thinking about. Thank you for that)

I was going to message you but do not see any contact details in your profile.

Pasting your website, lead me to your contact link of team@futureleague.co ... is that best place for us to message you?

You might get more value from the "life simplification" method Bruce Sterling described in this keynote speech from a few years ago. (Starting at approx 32 min) http://video.reboot.dk/video/486788/bruce-sterling-reboot-11

== Starting comments ==

- Pay most attention to your common everyday objects. That is, anything that takes up your immediate space: on your body; in the room with you. Also those things that take a lot of your time

- Buy the best possible common everyday objects you can. Most importantly:

-- your bed: you spend a third of your life in it. Consider the per-hour cost

-- your chair: stop whining about your wrists and back hurting and buy a really good chair. Again consider the per-hour cost

- Ditch anything you haven't used in the last 12 months. eg: wedding china, tuxedo, everything in your storage locker

- Only buy real things you really use

---------

== How to get rid of stuff ==

First, note that getting rid of stuff is HARD (but doable). Do NOT start on impulse. Think hard about it and make sure you're morally prepared. Then... for each item in your life ask the following questions:

Q1) Is it beautiful?

Test: You have it on display. You share its beauty with the people in your life.

If yes then keep it, otherwise...

Q2) Is it emotionally important?

Test: It has a narrative. You share its story with other people.

If yes then keep it, otherwise...

Q3a) Is it a useful tool, piece of equipment, or appliance?

Test: It efficiently performs some useful function. It actually works. It is the best possible tool. (Do not put up with broken or shoddy stuff)

Bruce's side comment: There's nothing more materialistic than doing the same job 5 times because your tools are inferior.

Q3b) Are you experimenting on it?

Test: You methodically work on it and you publish your results.

Bruce's side comment: Beware brand-new time-sucking beta-rollout crap.

If yes to either then keep it, otherwise...

-> 4) It is unworthy of taking your space or time. Virtualize it (take its picture; record the barcode; record any anecdotes about it) then get RID of it. If you ever need it again, get another one from eBay.

---------

(recycled from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1767990 )

If you haven't seen it, this TED talk on using plants for air purification is pretty cool: https://www.ted.com/talks/kamal_meattle_on_how_to_grow_your_...

For another perspective, Mike Rowe (of "Dirty Jobs" fame) has a foundation to promote blue collar jobs. They even provide scholarships for training in a trade: http://profoundlydisconnected.com/

It seems like a great idea to me.

Something else that really helps is backchaining.

Split the thing you are learning into chunks... making each chunk as small/simple/easy as you can.

Learn the chunks in reverse order. Starting with chunk N, then N-1, all the way to chunk 1. This way, you always start with the hardest part and then move onto the easier (more practiced) parts.

This keeps the focus on the part you are trying to learn, and reduces learning stress.

It's not just games. My 5yr old is perfectly happy to watch videos of other kids opening and playing with toys.

Thinking back on my other kids at that age, I'm not sure if the 5yr old understands that the play is happening someplace else. It's as if they are right there, playing and having fun with the kids in the video.

South park... I fondly remember having time in my life to watch television :/

I really like the hobby(?) project http://www.phi-phenomenon.org/ which attempts to create a definitive weighted-aggregate of movie rankings using:

  many different types of lists to measure film quality
  ... polls of the general public, of academics, of critics,
  and of filmmakers.  Some of these polls ask respondents to
  list their favorite films. Others ask respondents to rate a
  large number of films. There are single author lists by
  critics, academics, and filmmakers. There are lists that
  focus on how films are rated by video guides or on how many
  awards the films received. Some lists try to call attention
  to obscure films. Others stick to the obvious choices. Some
  attempt to measure film quality directly. Others include
  factors such as the historical importance of the film.
  
  The use of different types of lists and the statistical
  methods used help to minimize the effect of factors other
  than quality in order to create a purer measure of a film's
  greatness.

  It is not perfect, but it is closer to perfect than any
  other method is.

When I lived in Canada, my mother's cup set had a 250ml "1 cup" and my grandmother had a 284ml one.

I just bought a measuring cup set here in Japan and the 1 cup measure is 255ml.

If that's not bad enough, a "cup" is 150ml when measuring coffee and 180ml when measuring rice.

Unfortunately, "cup" is not a standard measurement. :)

To be one data point.

I read everything Patrick (and Amy Hoy and Brennan Dunn and Ramit Sethi and a few others) emails me. All tend to be long form (typically x,000 words) essays and/or sales letters.

My ROI on time spent reading has been totally positive and I have no plans to stop.

Kudos for putting a link to basic info at the top of your post. I wish everyone did that (just make it part of your blog template).

If your employee is going to leave anyway, your best course of action is to encourage them.

Perhaps something along the lines of: "We're really going to miss you, but it's clear that this is a great opportunity for you. When it's time for you to move on from that role give me a call... I'd love to chat with you about roles back here that would be a good fit with that additional experience under your belt"

Is this article missing a link to the next page? It just suddenly stops at the point he mentions the bartender program.

What does "all airports" mean? Global or just US domestic?

Reminiscent of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

  "But the plans were on display . . ."

  "On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar
   to find them."

  "That's the display department."

  "With a torch."

  "Ah, well the lights had probably gone."

  "So had the stairs."

  "But look, you found the notice, didn't you?"

  "Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in
  the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a 
  disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying 'Beware 
  of the Leopard'."

Python, Java, and SQL

Python: gluing things together, prototyping, data munging/analysis, web development, ad-hoc non-relational data manipulation.

Java: Rock solid, widely used, maniacally backwards compatible, and easy to find work.

SQL: Imo the best way to handle relational data (and in my experience, almost all data I've seen has been relational).

Programming Pearls: Jon Bentley

The Pragmatic Programmer: Hunt and Thomas

The C Programming Language: Kernighan and Ritchie

If returning to school is something you really want to do then there is a third option: go get a job at the school you want to attend.

Just make sure to negotiate your benefits to include the ability to take classes (both the time during your days to attend, and reducing the costs -- preferably to zero -- of attending)

I really needed to re-read this tonight and it hit me as hard as it usually does. So much so, that I'm posting it, despite the fact that it will almost certainly fall, without notice, off of "new" in the next few minutes.

But maybe it won't. And if it doesn't, maybe it will help someone else gain some perspective the way it has helped me (repeatedly over the years)

So let's hope.

--

Please, do not post links to any previous discussion.

Anyone interested in that is fully capable of using the search and I strongly feel that those comments damage the conversation more than they help.

Specifically, that they:

1) chill the current conversation by implying that everything interesting has already been said, and

2) drive people away from the current thread to go look at reams of old comments elsewhere.

They don't always kill the discussion, but IMHO they serve as additional weight making it harder to get the conversation off the ground.

I quite liked this other article of his on being banned from ever returning to the remote island of Tristan da Cunha.

http://laphamsquarterly.org/travel/take-nothing-leave-nothin...

Possibly because many (most?, nearly all?) engineers are extremely poor at contract negotiation and believe whatever lies HR tells them about how much money is available and how valuable their contribution is.

Technological generalist: programmer, project manager, product developer, database guy, etc.

Why am I in tech? Partly due to participating in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award program and partly because I just took whatever was interesting at university until I was forced to pick a major... when I tallied up my course credits, the shortest path to a useful degree was "computer science" so I did that.

Why does my career look like the plot to "Memento"? Because each time I reached a point where my work was no longer that interesting, I looked around and started doing something else.

So I went from front-line cast member at Disney World[1], to a university grad, to Java dev for a small dev shop, to Perl/CGI and Javascript at a tech mega-corp, to acquire/process/present data on a trading floor, to semi-retirement, to Japan, to a web-dev shop, to an ecommerce mega-corp. At the moment I don't do any development but that will likely change soon as I miss it.

I feel I've been really lucky. I could easy have (and almost did) crashed and burned but somehow it has worked out so far.

The trick is to look at every opportunity and ask yourself "if I turn this down and never get another chance, will I look back and wish I had done it?". If so, think hard about what really matters to you and do whatever will maximize that.

[1] I took a year off university to go work at Disney on a cultural exchange program. It was an awesome experience, I met my future wife (who was on a similar program) and gained extremely valuable customer-relationship experience.

Why is the first pin 1415 and not 3141?

[edit to add] and I don't mean that in a snarky way. Was just curious.