bbwharris

Just curious, any reason you don't install the dropbox client? You can selectively sync specific directories.

I keep all my code on a folder in Dropbox, and it's the only folder that I sync. (I don't want large images, PSD's, etc getting synced on my MB Air)

I personally think this could work. The big show stopper occurs on a shared computer. It would be annoying to get logged out of a service daily and have to request a new email link to log back in.

This is really the most professional solution in my opinion. Once payment is past due, then all work stops. If you have been consulting for a while, you can easily change gears and focus on something else.

Seriously doubt it, but if that happens most of us will go back to Linux.

Serious computing? Like gaming?

Last I checked typing text files and compiling them is more serious than most users and doesn't require massive clusters to accomplish.

It's odd, but just do and you will be productive. Start with something small and watch it snowball. Before you know it you will get into it and not be able to break away.

This is true with just about anything. Most of the time exercise doesn't seem fun, but you get into it.

It's much easier to be a consumer than a producer. Avoid consumption and just produce. You will gain far more slogging through it yourself than reading about someone slogging through it.

As much as this sounds counterintuitive, say no, and stop being a team player.

Petty requests for emails that someone should have are their responsibility. If you think about it, why should your resourcefulness help them complete their job while it blocks your own progress?

Your boss is doling out reviews, he's #1 priority. Everyone else gets "no" and no access to your time without talking to him first.

"Being a team player" is a fluffy way of saying "do other peoples jobs for them". Sure, help people out and don't be a dick.

It does sound like a mess, but this type of mess exists everywhere. When you meld highly technical people with less technical people you will get these scenarios. Before you know it, you will be expected to replace the toner.

I think there is a lot of delusion going on here.

In today's modern world, we are intentionally ignoring the rights that were given to us.

8 hours a day was fought for. 40 hours a week was fought for. If you are expected to exceed these limits without compensation, you are being ripped off. You have limited time in this life.

As a developer, you create tremendous value in this world. If you didn't you couldn't demand the salaries that you demand. If it was easy, then the business guys would be learning it and doing it for themselves.

It's a modern skill required by modern business. You should not feel like you are forced to spend every waking moment eating, drinking and sleeping code.

In my personal experiences I have found that I have to force myself to step away. After a few hours the wheels stop spinning, but when I come back I am always excited to work on something. This is far more desirable than feeling the dread that comes from doing something non stop.

Balance is extremely important, I do not understand the opposing viewpoint that we should all be code robots.

This is a little scary, a lot of people rely on Gmail. Im sensing a fundamental shift from "Free" to "Pay for it" for exactly this reason. When you are a free customer, no one has to care about you. When you are a paying customer, you suddenly have a voice.

And no, having ads does not mean that you are paying. Someone else is paying for those ads, if anything they are sponsoring your ability to enjoy a free service devoid of customer support.

Same here. It would open up doors that were once shut. It makes the possibilities seem limitless.

It's also a challenge to prove something.

I didn't pick up "don't get a job". I heard, "don't do something that feels like work". I 100% agree, life is far too short to spend most of your time being miserable.

At the risk of being downvoted myself, please downvote this submission. It's irrelevant and obviously a troll.

Work environment definitely matters. If the environment isn't any good, then the pay had better be great.

Ultimately, if you had an interesting product, a great environment and offered extremely competitive salaries then you would most likely end up with interest from more people in the "A" range.

That's actually an excellent point. Uber personal success would completely remove the desire to make a move for money.

Isn't that what acquihiring is about though? Purchase the talent that wont make the move for money.

How to hire A players: Offer way above current market value.

How to hire B players: Offer market value.

How to hire C players: Offer below market value.

You do two things when you offer more money.

1) You are more careful about who you hire. 2) You actually attract good people who would make a move for that kind of money.

I would love to hear an inverse argument against this.

Had this problem with a large background image (over 2 Megapixels, I believe). The solution that we came up with was to split the image in two, and then use css3 multiple backgrounds on the ipad, iphone. At that time, those were the only culprits.

I just used middleman http://middlemanapp.com/ for this exact purpose. A lot of sites don't really need a database, and they don't need to be incredibly dynamic. Most Who, What, When, Where, Why questions can be answered statically.

Here's a thought though. Information spreads faster today than at any other period in Human history. Pandora's box is already open. Other ways to release this censored information will appear.

Slowly but surely, the internet will receive the same censorship apparent in public broadcasting.

The fun's over. We've been discovered.

Damn Synchronicity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity

I am seriously considering getting a fixie or single speed and this article pops up on Hacker News.

I remember about 5 years ago getting a fixie was more of an enthusiast cyclist endeavor than a hipster one. I don't care, it's better for training and feels less inhibited.

I agree. Sass has really made doing front end work quite pleasant.

I went to school at UW. Madison is a great place to live, unfortunately there are few jobs for a lot of qualified candidates. When I graduated (2005), a handful of people I knew signed on at Epic. Most of those people are still there today. I hear a lot of good things.

All of this is just fluff until mobile payments become a reality. I don't want to remove the waitstaff, I want to remove the wait. I should be able to pay from my phone when I am done ordering and walk away.

In my experience adding new features quickly is a loaded term. My guess is that Notch would know exactly how to add new features to Minecraft very quickly. He has intimate knowledge of the codebase. However, asking someone else to do so is where this ability to iterate will be lost.

I admire well written code, but a lot of times I see gold plating where is isn't really necessary, because "maybe one day we could add X". You still have to maintain the knowledge of where that easy addition could be plugged in.

Code is great, we can just throw parts of it away and refactor it to add new features. Which is possible if you follow best practices. ;)

There is no "Gospel" when it comes to programming. There is a lot of code out there that isn't pretty, but it works and brings money into businesses.

I think we can all agree that Notch didn't make any mistakes. Minecraft is a huge success.

They are called "best practices", not "the only practices". But good for Notch to want to be like everyone else.

In general companies seem unwilling to "train". Everyone has to start somewhere. I honestly consider software development to be a trade skill.

For startups, it makes sense to desire a senior level developer. Midsize and large companies really should explore internal training programs. Everyone a generation older than me talk about a world where the "entered through the mail room" and worked their way up. Does this world even exist today? From my point of view, it seems like we only expect top talent everywhere.

Isn't it funny how the rabbit hole just keeps going?

I think it says:

"learn Python, win over your peers".

"don't be a dick, win over your peers".

"learn ruby, convince your peers you're good at CSS too."

"work at facebook/google and be popular."

Mixtent is a popularity contest. My bet is, if you asked someone on the street with no knowledge of programming "who is a better engineer". Split by name it would be random 50/50. But if you included where they worked, then the Facebook or Google person would win.

It is interesting though.

Poaching is the modern developers equivalent of "climbing the ladder" or getting a promotion. There is a limited ceiling for someone who is dedicated to their craft. They can go into management and "lose half their brain". They can go out on their own, but being a founder isn't for everyone.

There is no real loyalty. Companies will lay off their employees when money is a concern. Employees will leave their companies when they can make more money elsewhere. This is business. It's not personal, right?

I tried doing this, but it felt like I wanted to make this setup happen. It just wasn't there for me. The idea is elegant and simple, but the reality is that having a laptop is just more efficient. One day, this might be the nomadic developers toolbox.