sugaroverflow

GitLab team member and author of the blog post here. Both excited and terrified to be on HN, honestly - what a honor!

* Totally agree that the Makefile was a high bar of entry right at the beginning. Since we're working with a single source file, I just opened an MR to update the blog post to compile it directly in the terminal [1]. Do you think this approach would make it more beginner-friendly?

* My fondness for C++ might've steered the direction of the project a bit! I considered a 2D platformer at first, but felt that I/o centric approach would be easier for a beginner. I could always rebuild the text adventure into a 2D platformer - would make for an interesting follow-up post. I hadn't thought of an ASCII crawler at all, so thank you for that idea!

* Lately, everyone's been using AI assisted code as a helping hand, especially in simpler projects like this one where it's likely to provide helpful suggestions. The integration was an attempt to, of course, promote our Code Suggestions feature ;), and also showcase how AI can function something like copy pasting code from a tutorial by providing you with code you can use.

* As for the complexity, I was debating between writing this for beginners vs an intermediate audience and asked myself things like "Can I assume that this person who knows what conditionals like while or for loops are?". After some peer reviews, it became a very introductory C++ lesson. Striking the right balance can be tricky. I'm hoping to get into more complex code in future parts, but first I really need to introduce functions because the code needs it haha.

Thanks for your valuable feedback and things to think on, super appreciated! :)

[1]https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/merge_request...

After reading your comment, we swapped out the photo so that no one else would have such an unsettling experience! I liked the compass photo, so I feel a bit silly that I didn't notice what you did! I'll remember your comment and zoom the next time we pick a stock photo, haha. Thank you!

We've updated the image in the blog post: https://about.gitlab.com/blog/2023/07/05/beautifying-of-our-....

[1] https://about.gitlab.com/direction/#fy24-roadmap [2] https://about.gitlab.com/company/okrs/fy24-q2/#okrs

Coming back to what you noticed about the personas page. Another GitLab team member (u/john_cogs) created a Merge Request[1] to update the page so that there's a "List of internal personas" to match the list at the top :)

Thanks for helping us improve the handbook!

[1]https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com/-/merge_request...

Thanks for mentioning a possible bug! I looked over the page to check and get it fixed, but it looks like Eddie and Dana are listed in the Table of Contents, but under "Internal Personas" (assuming you meant they weren't listed in the User Personas list in the beginning): https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/product/personas/#internal...

I actually didn't know about https://thispersondoesnotexist.com/, that's kinda neat!

Our 1:1 structure is based off the CEO's suggested 1:1 format[1] and was something I put together because I wanted more structure. From what I've heard, members of my team have different formats with the same manager.

1. Check-In - personal check-ins on life

2. Discuss/Help/Review - items I need my manager to help or advice with, issues we need to discuss, or updates on projects related to OKRs

3. FYI/Think - items I'm thinking about or working on that manager may not be aware of. We don't always vocalize this section, sometimes its there for me to showcase things I'm considered e.g I think it would be cool to work on X, but I don't have a plan yet.

4. What’s going well: a celebration or something to my credit

5. What could go better: item that could've gone better

6. Action Items: any TODO items for myself or manager

When there isn't a lot to discuss due to a quiet week or larger projects ongoing, my manager will check in on how I feel about my role, work, and capacity. It's helpful because I often get caught up in the day to day and it's hel,pful

[1]https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/leadership/1-1/suggested-a...

GitLab has some project visibility settings that you can utilize to control visibility and prevent users from publishing repos to the public: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/public_access.html#restrict-...

Alternatively, private groups can only have private projects: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/public_access.html#private-p...

There were recent changes to user limits on the Free tier of GitLab SaaS. We are limiting the number of users per namespace on the Free tier to 5 users per namespace. Details are in this blog post: https://about.gitlab.com/blog/2022/03/24/efficient-free-tier.

Storygraph seems to be attempting something similar with the pair reads, but it feels a bit clunky and isn't there yet.

I've been using and loving an alternative, https://www.thestorygraph.com/it has similar vibes to Booqsi and also includes a Goodreads import, AI based recommendations, and some mood-based book tracking (i.e tags like fast-paced, dark, emotional)

Was a really helpful and great book to help put in words some of the challenges I faced on a previous team (while I had an absent manager).

To better understand the attrition rate:

- Who is the team made up of - internal transfers or external hires?

- How long have the current team members been on the team?

- When was the last time someone on the team was promoted?

Delving into career trajectory and your questions about training:

- What does the path look like in 3, 5, 7 years for this role?

- What leadership opportunities does this role lead to?

- Will my professional goals be linked to the company's goals?

I spent hours on this game when I was working in web dev and had a project using flexbox.

I've worked for municipal government in the US and federal in Canada. In the US, following Section 508 and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) was a requirement for all our projects. As a team, we also committed to writing at a Grade 5 or less reading level, as for many constituents of the city, English may not be their first language, and government services should be accessible to everyone. Having a website that people could use, interact with, complete tasks on, etc, meant that they were fewer phone calls, emails, and support requests for things like translation support, checking where the snowplows were, or renewing a dog license.

If you have a broad audience and a global audience, having an accessible website makes it possible for everyone to get the information or have the interaction you're looking for. In my experience sometimes that can be mean losing out on cutting-edge or super interactive features, but you get to ensure a baseline pleasant experience for everyone.

I also think OP could use some change at work so that they're not coming back to the same intense workload or routine that is boring them. Maybe the things they used to be excited about aren't the same anywhere and changing up responsibilities or projects might help.

I'm still banging my head through my first Nerdle, despite being challenging it's pretty fun!

One of my friends is super attached to his phones and notifications (he has two, one personal and one for work). He said it was a good experience, but weird because he kept feeling the buzz of phone notifications even though they weren't with it. I thought that was pretty interesting.