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pizzaparty2

104 karma · joined November 2, 2019

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pizzaparty2··on Ask HN: How to find job again after career break?
As someone who recently quit your question sounds like you just returned from a re-education camp. I'm neither depressed nor have I found working on a development team to be fulfilling in years. Well, ever since I figured out the whole thing was about making myself an obedient tool for someone else.

I don't have any advice for you to get back into programming. I doubt sitting in a chair in a silent room doing what someone else tells you all day is going to help your depression.

pizzaparty2··on Ask HN: How to Convert HTML to PNG on a Serverside?
You could roll your own fairly easily with qt webkit and a mere smidgen of c++. But it'd probably be similar yo puppeteer. Maybe you can save some time by not creating a new instance of puppeteer for each image.
pizzaparty2··on Sundar will be the CEO of both Google and Alphabet
Alphabet. Alpha bet. Ohh!
pizzaparty2··on Amazon Braket – Get Started with Quantum Computing
What types of problems are quantum computers used for?
pizzaparty2··on Ask HN: Have you ever left tech to do something completely unrelated?
I hate how knowledge matters less than social standing. I could read ten programming books and work hard at improving myself as a programmer but it wouldn't ever matter. The only thing that matters is the heirarchy on the team. Plus it's a pyramid. Fight it out at the bottom until a hand reaches down to you from above and pulls you into a senior dev or management position. No thanks. I hated having some other person tell me what my skill level and self worth were. I know my skill level and self worth and rarely as a developer did I ever get to live up to my potential because either I was in a feature factory or I was on a project with constraints that forced me to write terrible code. I hated looking through other people's god awful code and being judged because I had a hard time understanding it. Like they always measured and judged me with the wrong metrics. I hated going into meetings and being an expert (or at least best in the room) on some topic and having other people not listen to me. I hated not being listened to when I was trying to improve code or feature quality. I hated code reviews where the only point was to make the reviewer feel like he'd accomplished something by forcing me to make some inconsequential change. I hated the little bs politics people play about what comes back as a bug. I hated not being respected as a human but just being the stupid programmer who turns all of our genius ideas into reality. I hated not being able to use my own brain eight hours a day because I was renting it to someone else. I hated two hours a day in rush hour traffic. I hated sitting inside in a dead quiet room on a beautiful day. Perhaps more than anything I just hated working in a terrible code base.

If you wait until you're financially ready you might be missing out. Part of dropping the golden handcuffs for me was living with less. I wasn't living sustainability anyways and it was better I dealt with it before I got too old and found myself unable to deal with the change.

Good luck!

pizzaparty2··on Ask HN: Have you ever left tech to do something completely unrelated?
I don't know exactly. I'm just going to try it and see what works. If it fails I'll just try another idea. The basics steps I imagine are:

- getting local supporters. This will be useful for bootstrapping the Kickstarter

- gorilla marketing. Basically just think of how to promote the product in low cost high impact ways.

- traditional marketing like google and facebook. Maybe a couple expirements and demographic research before going all in on a campaign

- do the Kickstarter. It'll be a modest Kickstarter. My goal at this phase is to have a successful Kickstarter, not to make money.

- if Kickstarter succeeds fulfill the orders

- Turn it into a business or maybe just a passive income. All I'll have to do is order more boards and cases if orders for the product come in. Plus, the patent itself will be worth something.

What do you think? Does it sound doable? Too shy for Kickstarter? That seems like too small of a thing to hold you back.

pizzaparty2··on Ask HN: Have you ever left tech to do something completely unrelated?
I quit a couple weeks ago. I've been a developer for about ten years and I could probably do a lot of different types of development jobs if I really wanted. These last three years though I just loath working on development teams. I decided if this next programming job didn't work out I should quit programming. ...thats was TWO jobs ago, lol.

After that I took a break and lived day to day. I worked pretty much all day and night for months and it felt so much better than working in tech. For example, I would flip cars by buying broken ones and fixing them, I built a table and sold it at a flea market, I drove for Lyft, I drove for Doordash (which by the way was great for getting me out to see new places since I'm a bit of a loner. I'm serious, it was good for my mental health). I started work on a patent for an invention I intend to sell. I learned how to use Blender to create 3D models so I could 3D print a case for the afformentioned invention. All while being high as a kite whenever I wanted (and it was safe, of course).

So when this last job didn't work out I wasn't nearly as afraid. You know, I've basically been pretending anyways. Like that meme of the dog in the house on fire. But being a programmer and making more money doesn't magically make me happier.

Right now I'm flipping cars again. After I flip a few I'll drive for Lyft. My long term goal, the only one that matters, the only one that is going to get me into the life I want, is completely unchanged. In fact, hustling like this lets me optimize for bootstrapping a business with my invention. I'm not afraid of failing. Ill get up and try again. There's no point in pretending anymore. I want a better life than this. Programming is not going to get me there.

pizzaparty2··on Study Finds Wind Speeds Are Increasing, Which Could Boost Wind Energy
So the fossil fuel industry is behind the green energy movement? Those cunning devils.
pizzaparty2··on Filesystem devs should aim to make “badly written” app code “just work” (2009)
You really like leaving in commented code? I used to prefer that too but then at work we had a policy of taking out unused code. I actually think it's cleaner so I've been doing it in my own code and rarely regret deleting something. But when code (my own or someone else's) is more chaotic I do find it to be useful to leave bits and pieces lying around.
pizzaparty2··on An Epidemic of AI Misinformation
I bet ai is going to become like coding where everyone thinks they're an expert.
pizzaparty2··on Machine Learning Generated Gradient Colors
Kinda cool... which part is machine learning? Just the likes and dislikes? Still cool. gj
pizzaparty2··on Ask HN: Dealing with newcomers' arrogance?
Two things.

One, there is no excuse for garbage code. Deadlines don't cause people to suddenly forget how to code. Perhaps corners get cut and things need to be refactored but if developers are coming and going and saying the code is bad I doubt that's just because of a deadline. That sounds more like a bad developer using a deadline as his excuse.

Two, do you have code reviews? Are you looking at their code? Are they looking at yours? Why would you expect them to write triple A code when they have to use what you say is a garbage code base? Garbage code breeds garbage code. Maybe their arrogance is a way of venting their frustration with being forced to write bad code? Or maybe they're telling the truth but for some reason you interprit it as arrogance?

pizzaparty2··on Ask HN: How do you convince people to work for you as a non-exciting startup?
That's a good point. I left out a concept of constraints. For example, it has to be written in the same language as our other applications. But if it's not different enough from an existing application just copy the existing application and don't call it a greenfield.

Or let someone burn their turn by copying the existing application but making minor tweaks and changes. That could work just as well.

pizzaparty2··on German parliament passes bill allowing banks to sell and store cryptocurrencies
If they build up the infrastructure with that famous German engineering I'd just as soon stay away.
pizzaparty2··on Domes are overrated
I believe the idea is to use a Boring company machine.
pizzaparty2··on Ask HN: What do you do after a successful Kickstarter?
Maybe, but I wish I could do it like an equation. I need x dollars to move this product to the next level. Maybe it would be 50,000. I'm just blind to what that next level looks like.
pizzaparty2··on Ask HN: What do you do after a successful Kickstarter?
I already have some horror stories. I tried getting someone on FIVERR to draft the patent. Despite many 5 star reviews it was a bad idea. At best I lost $300.

Anyways for me part of the benefit in taking my time is building out the skillset to do this in general:

- knows how to file patent

- knows how to make case

- knows how to get a case design

- knows how to design the board

- knows how to get the cases and boards manufactured

- general idea of all the prices involved

- how do to Kickstarter marketing

- how to handle the legal side (like an LLC or ...?)

Because you're right I'm just kind of hoping people will like it. But if they don't I'll still then have the skillset to try something new. Plus the more people I ask the more likely someone will demotivate me, or steal my idea, or just leak the concept which would take some shock and awe out of marketing. I'll do more market research when I get closer to launching.

How did you hear about the campaigns that you backed?

pizzaparty2··on Ask HN: What do you do after a successful Kickstarter?
Hi, I have questions.

1. What was your thing? Did you keep it going after the Kickstarter? If so how's it going?

2. Why do you get most funding at the start and end? I can see at the start because that's where you have to bootstrap it but why the end? Did you apply marketing at an increasing rate or decreasing rate or a constant rate?

3. On selling yourself. I've heard this but idk how to do it. I'm not an expert in the field my product is in. My main motivation is just to make money. So I don't have a compelling story. I'm just a guy with an idea. I was planning on doing a video where I explain where the idea came from but aside from that idk how to interject myself. How did you do it or how do you think someone like myself should?

Thanks for replying.

pizzaparty2··on Domes are overrated
I thought going underground was the way to go. I wasn't imagining a "pressurized tunnel" but rather a pressurized underground complex filled with tunnels and rooms (minecraft).

But maybe pressurizing an underground complex with walls made out of ...Mars is more difficult than building something on the surface?

Going underground seemed like it had limitless room for easy expansion.

I like the authors suggestion and it does sound better than a dome but living underground seems safer to me.

pizzaparty2··on Ask HN: How do you convince people to work for you as a non-exciting startup?
Let everyone architect but only after they've completed some challenging but reasonable tasks. For example:

- passes multiple choice test about how current code works

- has a professional knowledge of the language they are using (part 2 of the test)

- has read and done a book report on 2-3 design-pattern/architecture books.

Once you do all that you go in the queue. New developers have precedence over seasoned developers. When a new project comes up the developer who gets that greenfield is the first developer in that queue who hasn't had a chance to architect yet.

The main idea is that good developers don't want to be assembly line workers and yet a total lack of autonomy seems to be the norm for (I think) most software developers. So the ability to make technical decisions is a real benefit IMO.

Some other things that might be advantages:

- you now have a team of experts. Good job.

- you can avoid senior devs possessing all of the knowledge of the companies software (because only that select few got to design anything) and then not having an incentive to improve.

- Creating a genuine interest in new code (because you want to see how the new guy did it).

"Everyone is an architect" should be your tag line.

pizzaparty2··on Off-Grid Cyberdeck: Raspberry Pi Recovery Kit
Any program that's closed source. But also it's just kind of a pain to do.
pizzaparty2··on Off-Grid Cyberdeck: Raspberry Pi Recovery Kit
I'd go with an x86 or 64 bit SBC because although someone compiled Linux to run on ARM a lot of programs still can't.
pizzaparty2··on Ask HN: Have you ever used SQLite as a client/server DB for a high volume site?
At that point why not use a heavier database that one would expect to be faster?
pizzaparty2··on Bye Bye Microsoft Office, Hello LibreOffice
Libre Office thinks its doing the world a favor but it's a pretty weak experience compared to what else is out there. Plus, fun fact, the markup language they use is quite verbose and weak compared to just html/css.

The only document format my beaurocracy accepts is .html.

pizzaparty2··on The Simulation Argument and the Simulation Barrier
The first time I heard of this being noticeable on a human timescale was the movie Interstellar. But I don't no think in real life there is that much of a difference between the rate at which time passes near a large mass.

This answer on Quora says the rate at which time passes on Jupiter is only a few nanoseconds off compared to Earth.

https://www.quora.com/Will-time-pass-slower-if-we-go-to-Jupi...

pizzaparty2··on Tesla Cybertruck
Have you seen the work trucks some guys have? $40,000 doesn't sound unreasonable to me.
pizzaparty2··on Tesla Cybertruck
Sure would be a shame if the Internet reacted to this like they did when screenshots of the new Sonic movie came out.
pizzaparty2··on Tesla Cybertruck
And the sides of the bed of the truck come down at an angle so you can't lean over the side to grab something out of the bed or sit on the side of the bed. Strapping things down at an angle like that will be difficult as well.

It's tough in unimportant ways but weak when it comes to the bed which is arguably the most important feature of a truck.

I think this vehicle is better described as a crossover. For a crossover its not as ugly to me because I'm not hung up on the design decision to neuter the bed. But as a truck it looks like they chose a really terrible looking form over function.

pizzaparty2··on How do you encourage an employee to not go all the way down the rabbit hole?
He doesn't understand what the business values. Show him that.

Nights? Or just I worked on it last night while also learning inkscape or something? Maybe he's trying to master a technique that he'll use in other places. The way you said it makes him sound bad.

pizzaparty2··on The Efficiency-Destroying Magic of Tidying Up
I agree, beautiful code is often the other extreme. Plus it's often only beautiful to the person that wrote it.
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