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The pomodoro technique helped me enormously. I don't follow it strictly, I just set the timer and focused on one task until timer is done. I never worked the duration up, I still just do 25 minutes or less. I even put websurfing in a 25 min bucket, then stop.

I ended up learning how infrequent real emergencies pop up. Which in turn, got me to stop looking at my phone at red lights.

'Tango with Django' is by far the best tutorial on Django that I've found (http://www.tangowithdjango.com/). It is well written and goes much deeper than other tutorials. It's depth is similar to the Rails Tutorial in RoR world.

I'm not from US and it's always weird to watch NFL on TV and hear the pro players introduce themselves and their college: "Peyton Manning, Tennessee".

Before 2001, I'd always ask the pilots to let me sit in the cockpit during takeoff. If they said no, they'd often offer a tour of the cockpit when cruising instead.

The scare quotes were unintentional. Poor punctuation. Just defining his science as experimental.

His articles and book don't suit my tastes, they're a bit too wordy for me and his "science" is more from experiments, less on the chemistry (proteins, salts, molecules etc).

For a more layman's chemistry view on food science, take a look at Harold McGee's book called "On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen". It really gave me a good foundation to actually understand what is going on when I cook. When my cooking is a disaster, I don't need to experiment as much because now I can think through what went wrong.

Is Bosnia considered Western? Genocide there in 1992-1995.

On a road trip, a Serbian in-law had us stop by this beautiful bridge in Bosnia. Built in the 1500s with Ottoman architecture, which is odd for that area. I took photos there, smiling and having fun like an idiot. Only after leaving and checking wikipedia on my phone did I see that the relative failed to tell me about the massacres that happened there by the Serbs. Women, children, rape, etc.

Wikipedia article: Visegrad Massacres

The foreign exchange market has more volume and eyes watching it. Just watch the value of the GBP.

The fundraising page is depressing. They're only asking for US$200,000 and they only have 19% at half way through the year. In other news... Instagram hits half a billion monthly active users... but not on Django's fundraising page.

I'm not knowledgeable about open-source issues, pros/cons, etc., but man... only 19% of $200K. Doesn't seem right given Python is one of the major languages and I believe Django is the most popular web framework in Python.

Anecdotal opinions don't bother me :), but in the case of personal finance, the rules can easily be followed up with math.

Your general rules are fine and make sense, but sometimes when you do break them, it becomes difficult to see the effect or know when to stop. If you didn't save 10% this month, without the math you don't get any immediate negative feedback. So then maybe a 2nd month with no saving is OK. In fact, with credit cards the feedback will be positive!

I've had a corporate finance career for 10+ years and here's my "math". I take the amount in my accounts today, then add and subtract my expected income and expenses out daily until I'm 80. Tada! Addition and subtraction. Nothing a basic spreadsheet can't handle. I know what my balance will be when I'm 40, 50 or on June 19, 2017. Anybody's well intention advice can be inputted and evaluated.

It's not a budget per se because I don't restrict myself like a budget. It's also a longer term look in detail, instead of just monthly numbers out a few years. I see what my daily overpriced coffee will do to me and I can decide if it's OK. (The daily walk to the coffee shop with the cute baristas is well worth it haha.)

"Dad or Mom advice" does have its spot, but I think it should stay values-based. Many years ago I got a lot of criticism when I bought my expensive new car. Everyone threw out these general rules to me, but I knew it was fine and I really enjoy driving it. I've had it for 9 years now. When it hits 10 years I planned to hand over the keys to my nephew (free). The "Dad advice" kicked in appropriately here when my brother said no way to giving my 16 year old nephew the car with its horse power and tinted windows etc.

So I understand family should teach you the appropriate values and such, but with all the mis-information in the personal finance industry, I wish people would do the math instead of following rules.

This article and the book is exactly what's wrong with personal finance education. There is no special wisdom, clever tricks or golden rules in finance. Chicken soup for the soul won't help.

Personal finance should be taught as a math problem. Figure out the cost of the lifestyle you want, and work backwards from there. If your fancy house, car, and dinners out cost $100,000 then you can figure out if your choices make sense... does you career choice match up? does taking on school debt make sense? etc.

Or if you are older and made these life choices already and make $50,000, your math problem is a bit different. Does the honda or tesla fit? You can very easily see if credit card interest of 20% will help or hurt you achieve your goals/lifestyle if you do the math.

None of this generic "avoid debt" or "house are the best investment" (garbage) advice helps and only confuses the matter. I think the only area that has more confusion and bad advice than personal finance is nutrition. In the letter, grandma says "go for a fixed rate mortgage"... what!?

I remember this being one of the things that caught Blackberry by surprise. BB had better battery life and functionality etc, so BB co-CEOs never thought the iPhone would catch on.

Same thing with the airline industry. People often say they'd pay more for extra few inches of leg room, but when they shop online, it's the cheapest price that wins.

One clarification regarding "the loser pays" system (here in Canada), is that the loser paying isn't the default. The default is each party pays their own costs. Then later the judge can decide to punish the loser if it was frivolous.

I've been through the small claims process twice recently. In one, the judge had power to make a binding decision and he put an end to the case against me after 10 minutes. In the other, it was a non-binding settlement meeting where he told the other party that they had no chance in court.

My point is that if you give the judge more power, good luck trying to game him and the system.

Since this is the internet, I am free to reply with hearsay... I read that if you fall asleep that fast, you might not be getting enough sleep the previous night.

I forget the story behind Hasseb, but wasn't he considered a scammer or dishonest? Is that what you mean by "(in)famous"? A quick google search reminded me that Cardrunners drop him.

Anyway, everyone gets a fresh start. However, he'll have to be proficient at shipping code (instead of chips) and be productive if he's to keep his job/compensation level.

I find sports are the best for meeting people and actually building a relationship. In my experience, floor hockey, slow pitch, hiking and cycling were good. Oddly, running groups were not. Also better results if it is a mix of men and women.

I think bringing a friend is essential. It reduces the awkward times when you don't know anybody. In addition, it doubles the chance of meeting people because your friend meets people too. A wing men are helpful :)

Art is solitary.

When I go to planned meetups for drinks, it is just small talk or ulterior motives (ie. they are looking for work).

We don't need to try. A hacker already did and was successful.

Investment bankers wear it with a badge of honor, but who cares it's only money... the scary one is when doctors brag about it! Especially the ones in med school or just out of school. Peoples lives or quality of lives depend on them making correct decisions.

With a small business, I understand why there can be lack of sleep - you don't have the resources to hire more, but stuff has to get done. But with IBs/Doctors, why can't the Managing Directors/Head of Depts just hire more, but pay less (with shorter shifts)?

The thing is, you "tried some other options - teacher, artist, entrepreneur". I think "trying" is the key. It helps you be more satisfied with the road you are on when you've been on the other roads (at least a for a little bit).

When clouds roll in, people are not OK with their TVs turning off. So you'd always need the traditional grid in place, even if it's for a few days a year.

In that case, the utilities would charge a standby fee for keeping their multi-billion dollar infrastructure in place (it's called a "demand charge" in the utility industry). Then, when you use the electrons during the cloudy period, you'd pay an astronomical "consumption charge", beyond $100/KWh because everyone in the city wants/needs those electrons. The utility share-holders would be fine.

But the people of Hawaii would have the cost of the solar installation PLUS the cost of the traditional grid. The calculation in the article misses this point and only shows the $/KWh consumption costs on the utility side.

So, yes, a huge amount of solar can figuratively blow up the electrical grid.

The point is to match the debt to the asset.

As the car depreciates at a static rate, it is OK to pay off car debt at a static rate too (ie. monthly loan payments).

A house actually depreciates in value just like a car, at a static rate, but over a longer period (say 25 years). So it is OK to pay the mortgage off with a monthly payment for 25 years.

I think labeling homes as an investment and vehicles as a sunk costs is a problem that the general public has. Houses need to be maintain and upgraded to keep (or improve) its value. House values definitely don't always go up - as seen in the subprime mortgage crisis.

Sorry if I implied that the car goes from 100% to 0% value instantly. If it did, then I should pay off the loan in the same fashion. In fact, lets say a new car loses 25% of its value immediately once you drive off the dealership lot. Then you should have a car loan only for the 75% of value remaining and should have paid 25% upfront... match the debt to asset.

Vehicles can be considered an investment if it generates income (eg. taxis, commercial airplanes).

Debt is great if used appropriately. Most people don't use it correctly.

Debt is supposed to match the life of the asset. If you have a house that lasts 25 years or longer, then a mortgage of 25 years is OK. If you have a car that has value for 5 years, then a matching loan is 5 years is OK. If you go on vacation, there is no lasting asset, therefore should be paid in cash (ie. saved up for). Same with that expensive meal.

Your example is a good one. Another example would be if you have 99.99% up-time guarantee, but don't provide it and have to provide refunds or discounts.

Groupon had troubles with revenue recognition. When it sold the coupons, it would count the full coupon as revenue even though 50% belonged to the merchant.

Oil producers have to pipe the oil to a refinery. The oil producer actually sells the barrel of oil to the pipeline and buys it back on the other end. Then the oil producers takes that barrel and sells it to the refiner. The oil producer has sold that 1 barrel twice.

However, as patio11 mentions, this isn't basic bookkeeping.

Bookkeeping is the wrong place to start learning the basic building blocks of finance and accounting. It's too detailed and step-oriented. You should start at the high-level of reading financial statements and dig deeper as you go. Try to see how financial statements flow by using everyday concepts.

If you are trying to spot mistakes an accountant made, you won't spot it by going through accounting entries. If you are trying to see how your business is doing, you won't know from knowing debits and credits.

You can spot an accounting mistakes or see how your business is doing by comparing the financial statements to what you are seeing in the business in real life. "Why is my net income look great, when the cash in the bank is so bad?" Or, "why does my cash in the bank not match the cash in the financial statement?". By asking these questions you learn accounting much more effectively. And your accountant should be able to explain that to you convincingly and in detail - if not get a new accountant (In fact, it is best practice for corporations to switch accountants every 4 years or so to catch mistakes).

I'm in the "definitely do not learn bookkeeping" camp. Even to many accountants, bookkeeping is different than accounting.

Bookkeeping is the data entry of accounting - degree or professional designation are not required.

Accounting is taking the data and trying to reflect an accurate story to the financial statement reader - the data visualization.

Finance folks are readers of financial statements, where you interpret the data viz to make decisions. Business owners should be readers too. The decisions regarding working capital, capital structure, budgeting, etc. are the important parts. Not debits and credits.

It does help finance and business owners to learn accounting, but bookkeeping is a step too far - especially when there is many other higher priority things to learn. To put it in a tech analogy: a Python dev could learn C to gain a better understanding, but assembly is step too far.

I don't even trust websites and emails, so not sure why you would trust a bittorrent client. I still use these tools, but with some some caution. Your level of caution is up to you. Other posters suggested things such as verifying checksum and virtual machines.

If you think lawyers aren't useful, then you've never run a business of ANY size. You've also probably haven't completed a significant deal or transaction before. You'd benefit a lot from pairing up with a "business rat" (your words in another comment).

I wonder why it's not recommended for cycling then. Cycling is my main exercise. Very little arm movement on a bike.

I do not believe Fitbit uses heart rate to track calories. If it uses heart rate to track calories, it would be able to work well with cycling exercises, but it does not. From fitbit website: "Fitbit trackers are optimized for walking, running, and general lifestyle activities but are not recommended for tracking cycling"[0]. Sounds like it uses the step counter and not heart rate to estimate calorie burn along with your weight and age etc.

The Charge HR heart rate functionality could be useful to keep my heart rate in a specific range during cardio. However, it doesn't seem like it's good for that either[1].

[0]https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/Does-the...

[1]http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/01/lawsuit-claims-fi...