dingosity

In 1990, after the murder of a close friend, participating in the invasion of a small Latin American country and contracting for a national government on the edge of a war zone, I looked forward to a stable job as a software engineer. No one would shoot at me, I figured, so it must be a better gig.

It was, however, quite boring. I don't think I had real PTSD, but after a while in the sterile cube farm, I started imagining what I would do if opposing forces broke down our front door and attempted to claim our office park for the glory of Upper Kraznovistan. Apparently there are things worse than being in battle: the mindless drudgery and impossibly poor management of a telephony equipment manufacturer in the early 90s.

So I dropped my last dose of purple microdot and drove to NYC where I hung out with some old friends. I wasn't really paying attention and wound up with a part time job delivering scenic backdrops to Broadway. This was back when Times Square was somewhat crime-ridden (not peak crime, but still a lot rougher than it is today.) No one shot at me while driving my delivery van, but I did get guns pointed at me from time to time. And then the Teamsters would try to punch me for unloading the van. Turns out all the Teamsters didn't get the memo that we were supposed to unload items in the van, staging them in a designated area. Then the Teamsters pick them up and move them. I have no beef w/ Teamsters and get it they thought they were protecting their jobs against management scabs.

Was getting guns pointed at me and almost punched by Teamsters enough for me to return to the loving embrace of software? No. But I wasn't making nearly enough money to live in NYC or the surrounding areas, so I wound up as the VP of A&R for a small record label in Dallas while living in an artists' commune in what we might call "Midtown" today.

I eventually saw a print job ad in the Dallas Morning News with several lines of 8086 assembly with the comment "if you know what this does, give us a call." The siren call of working with crazy people trying to make a dent in the universe was hard to ignore and I once again returned to a career in the ontological arts and crafts.

I am now a nameless drone in sector 47 of the underground software mines. But it's totally fine, I have long since made peace with the fact I'll never put a dent in the universe. Or rather... that I had for a long time been building software with the idea that it would dent the universe. My outlook now is to focus on the software, let the universe dent itself.

This is a long way around of saying... Yes, software is largely soul eroding. The music business, which it has been observed by my betters as a cruel and shallow money trench in which pimps and thieves are rewarded is still less corrosive than software.

If you got into software just for the money, then I would say "yes, fly! be free!" But if you do personal projects on the weekend just 'cause you like it, then maybe not. Maybe just find a better environment to express your design pattern addiction.

You're always going to have to work with idiots. (Often you find that they're only really mildly less informed than you are and not real idiots.) There are always going to be people who will rejoice in thwarting your best laid plans. If the reason you don't like software is you've always worked with idiots or people who wouldn't know an agile process if it turned into a snake and bit them on the ass, even though agile processes seem to repeatedly turn into metaphorical ass-biting reptiles. If you work with people who are irritating, maybe first try to find a less-well-paying job in software first? It'll probably still pay better than a coffee industry lackey.

But you mention working with your hands so maybe it's the abstract nature of work you've had 'til now? Maybe try working on an IIoT or robotics project?

I think my advice is to consider other types of jobs with other types of teams/people, probably at smaller organizations before prostrating yourself to big coffee. Or not. I kept coming back to software, maybe you'll be happy to keep it far behind.

though to be fair, ncurses isn't a joy to work with.

So good videos aren't a new thing. But I think there's MUCH more decent and excellent content coming out these days.

If your business model is "we're going to make you pay to sit in a dark room and listen to uncomfortably loud advertisements," then I think I'll just stay at home and catch it on streaming.

I contrast that with seeing Cocaine Bear in an EXTREMELY janky theater. The kind that looks like it's been fully depreciated. It looks like they popped the popcorn a few weeks ago. I'm glad they never turned the light on in the theater, I didn't want to see what was on the floor.

But... they didn't pelt me with ads. When I walked in, there was cheezy music being piped in. I sort of worried the projector was broken, but a few minutes before the time the movie was supposed to start, the previews started. No ads, just coming attractions. And only about 5 minutes of them. The movie started more-or-less on time and I'm happy to report the sound system was not completely blown out.

So it seems like my choices are: Clean Theater but I'm not the customer, I'm the product or Sketch Theater, but it's clear they're not getting paid for my eyeballs. I think my preference is to watch the movie on my PC after downloading it from a torrent site.

  > "The hostile and uncertain regulatory climate in the United States has
  > introduced an unpredictable operating environment impacting the entire
  > American business community," a spokesperson for Binance.US said in a
  > statement. "We are focused on creating a safe platform where our customers
  > can participate in the digital asset economy."

  In other words, they're cheezed off they were investigated
  for money-laundering and tax evasion and promise not to do
  any more deals until Trump is re-elected.  What putzes.

If your standard is "that looks like a sentence" then sure, it's largely okay. But if your standard is "communicates a concept" then we're still a long way off.

More people should write if for no other reason than you get better at writing if you have practice. And even if you don't have anything interesting to say now, maybe you will later. It would be a shame if we didn't get to hear a brilliant idea just because the thinker felt their writing skills were substandard. Or worse yet, the ideas were dismissed because the style of the text was just a bit off.

Okay... here goes...

When I first read that title I thought the author was talking about Robots in Smalltalk.

In about 10 minutes he explains something my math methods instructor struggled with over two weeks (4 classes). I was resistant to the view that YouTube could host "decent" instructional content for a long time. That video was one of the first that was CLEARLY superior to the instruction I received at a tier 1 research institution.

What if it's a poltergeist or vengeful native american spirit!?

What if this is just marketing for Stephen King's next thriller where a wealthy businessman buys a social media site and it STARTS TALKING TO HIM!

  Businessman:  POOP! HAR HAR HAR!

  Titter: Now now, businessman, this is the spirit of your mother. Don't be a potty-mouth!

  Businessman: MAMMA! WHY DID YOU LEAVE US!

  Titter: Oh Businessman, I'm still alive, we ate dinner last week.

  Businessman: WHAT, then who am I talking to!?

  Titter: I AM THE GHOST OF ALL YOU HAVE WRONGED, RETURNED TO SEEK IRONIC JUSTICE!

  Businessman: *GASP*

  Titter: Also.  I'm trans.

Even if I disagree, I have to sit an think about it to try and figure out WHY I disagree (and then sometimes I realize I misunderstood what was said.)

I would be very surprised if Shotwell didn't have an all-hands to set the whole team's expectations beforehand.