q-base

Yes. Never upgrade to anything ending on .0

Yeah I am not sure of the advantages of going the manager-path either. Unless perhaps you break above a certain threshold after some years. Because at a lot of managerial roles you get to work a hell of a lot more, without much more compensation and perhaps even less. So it seems like a tough sell unless you are really more interested in the managerial work.

Not really giving an alternative. But I have just bought a fully specced Mid 2014 MBP. I already have a T460s which I cannot decide whether to replace with a X1 Carbon or wait for a new scissor-style keyboard for MBP. But as I ran into the issue of not being able to upload React Native Expo Apps to TestFlight I had to buy a used MacBook.

I must say that even though I an very fond of the Lenovo keyboards - and they are great. The overall feel of a MacBook is just better. The keyboard pre-butterfly is one of the best ever. The trackpad is another level even though sitting with the T460s and T470s at work, it seemed like their trackpads was on par, but they really are not.

The X1 Carbon should be up there, but there is just something about the full experience of the product where MBP wins out. That is at least my experience going a bit back and forth.

Perhaps you are just better in US? I am in Denmark, Europe. I used the weather app from Apple, DMI (Official danish weather forecast) and finally a Norwegian called YR. But over and over again I find that none of them can even just tell me the weather I can see out my window and I even live in the capital so it is not like I live in some remote area.

I am very much a proponent of simple and pragmatic design. It should be the default, especially for small - midsize companies. I do however have my doubts once you get to very large financial institutions for instance, where you have a vast portfolio of products spread across numerous departments and potentially countries. On top of which comes heavy regulation.

In order to keep this system-landscape somewhat coherent, then I can actually see a need for enterprise architecture. Or put another way, I can't really see how it should succeed without it. The default should still be simplicity, but to keep every department from building their own version of components and keeping security at the forefront you still need guidelines and direction in my opinion.

Not that this necessarily is in opposition to the article though.

I researched a lot as I liked the feel of the wired Apple keyboard and wanted something similar for my pc at work. I ended up going with the Dell KM717. I comes with a mouse that I cannot stand using for too long, but the keyboard is absolutely awesome! I even bought another one to have at home as well.

Don't quit your job. Work on your project in your spare time. First of all your idea will probably take minimum 3-4x longer to gain traction than your most pessimistic guess. If/once it gains traction it will probably take significantly longer to be profitable than your most pessimistic guess.

Work on your project in your spare time and only think about quitting your job once the idea is verified by actual customers. I spend 3-4 years burning through savings without getting any traction. I have since started another project which will be done in my spare time. Having to deal with both money and start-up related issues at the same time is not preferable.

If they operate in Europe then I am pretty sure that the GDPR legislation is pretty straight forward here. If you can de-anonymize the data then it is by definition not anonymized.

The Mastermind from The Atavist needs a mention here as well. The best series of articles I have read in a long, long time. Beware that they may take a lot of your time if you start. https://magazine.atavist.com/the-mastermind

Also agrees on "Have you ever tried to sell a diamond" from The Atlantic

How is the keyboard on the T490? I have a T460s at home where I like the keyboard a lot. I have a T470s at work, where the keyboard is a little less to my liking and I tried a colleagues T480s where it felt awesome again - so how about the T490? Can't really decide between T480s, T490, T490s or 6th gen X1 carbon.

I had never heard this before. Knew him from F1. So thanks a lot for sharing this!

I think part of it can be explained or attributed to a life of people "catering" to you. Higher social class will in a lot of circles mean that a lot of people look up to you or wants to be your friend. One way of doing that is always giving the higher social status peer a lot of praise for anything he/she does.

If you always receive a lot of praise for anything you do, no matter the actual significance of it, then naturally your own perception of your skills inflates unproportionally to reality.

Solve problems and create value.

Look at the entire flow of the product you are a part of. Get to know as much about it as possible and get a deep understanding of the full picture. You will probably be surprised at how many people, permanent as contractors, who only look narrowly at their little pond and solves issues without a general understanding of the entire business.

Don't try to be cocky know-it-all, but humbly suggest when you see a better solution for a problem or spots a potential problem coming up in the horizon.

When you have a good understanding of the entire business and the part your product plays in it, then you will also be better at seeing the parts where it hurts the most. Suggest to help there. Take on as much responsibility as you can handle. Be the one that solves the problems and creates value for the business, then you in turn also raise your own value.

This is very good advice.

Yes. Working as a freelancer/contractor. A big part of it due to sought-after skills in a market that values native speakers. A small part of it probably to do with my experience and the way I conduct my work and finally a pinch of always trying to raise my prices.

Thanks a lot for this! I am really wanting to change my WordPress site to something more simple. Been fascinated for a while about different minimalist static sites, but never found a good way to get started. This looks like an easy way to start, with something that is close to what I am after.

Step 0: Stop calling yourself worthless!

Your friend has either gambled - and it payed off (He did not have another offer) Or he did have another offer in which case he negotiated from a leveraged position.

Allow me to be all internet-meta-psychologist. You are having difficulties with this because you are not ready to gamble your current position, as you do not have another offer lined up. You like the positive outcome of the gamble (a raise) but cannot stand the negative (loss of job).

You should only bluff if you are ready to be called on it.

I would concur with a lot of other advice here and perhaps add a little from the book "Never split the difference".

I would probably start as others said with explaining how much you like being there and enjoy your work. But with the market is and what other people in your position gets paid either there or other places you are having a hard time not looking at other career opportunities. So you would really appreciate your managers input on how he could help you stay in your current position and not be forced to look for other opportunities.

As an independent contractor, in the right market, you will in a lot of cases make way more than any level remotely close to yours.

If you are a scarce resource and gives immense value, then you can easily earn more than the managers close to you. And as I said several levels above them.

In a lot of cases managers are more easily replaceable than good individual contributors.

I see this "Push for new and shiny solutions"[1] across everything from startups to large corporations. And I am genuinely surprised at how often I see people falling for this good old trap of over-optimization/engineering. I genuinely cannot fathom why people want the complexity.

It is by no means constrained to infrastructure, it is architecture, technology, management the whole lot.

[1]http://jesperreiche.com/the-push-for-new-and-shiny-solutions...

Can you recommend any of his books in particular?

Yes, but it just underscores the point of how important it is to not lifestyle inflate. I am now coming to a point where I do not feel like I really need the money more than the vacation. Sure it is lost income, but will it really change my life as opposed to the time off - properly not :)

Freelancer here. This does not ring true for me. I can see a causation between freelancing and vacation. Vacations "seem" more expensive as they are both a cost and a period of lost income.

But all those existential worries looks like an underlying issue with the person itself, more than freelancing in general. Freelancing may enhance it. But if you are more angry, less social and hence less happy, then no matter what job you are in - you should probably consider a change.

Fun thought experiment. Made me smile even though the direct relation to Buffet perhaps is a little vague.

But your second saying about only getting rich once is probably closer to the truth.

This is only correct reasoning if you assume that every time someone google's something, they do so from a clean slate.

They are not either or. You do not need to know facts. You need to know how to recognize good and bad answers.

I have had their subscription twice and the only real complaint for me would be, as you also touch upon, that they almost seem to come too often. If only they had a cheaper "digital only" subscription.

I can only +1 on this approach. I have successfully used the exact same approach for years.

That was a very good read. Thank you very much. I purchased the Kindle version of "The Dream of a Ridiculous Man" after reading this.

I have never read Dostoyevsky before. Any recommendations on where else to start?

+1 I am in the exact same boat. Very glad that I bought their lifetime subscription. It absolutely works for me. And I do not really care if they made it by hand or AI or accident - it serves the purpose I want it to.

Wow - thank you very, very much!