zapperdapper

'climate change' is quite a nebulous entity. I actually think software is unlikely to help anyway - the greatest changes are to be had in getting people to change their lifestyle. For example, reducing debt-fuelled consumption, reducing energy needs, using the car less or, unimaginable to many, getting rid of the car altogether. To be honest, the biggest impact you can have is always to change your own behaviour first...

What do you mean by "normal"?

I think this is a great idea. I would also offer in addition something like Technical Trainer or Developer Advocate, although with a youngster the travel could be seen as problematic. With a Technical Writer position you could do some code, work from home and write. All while leveraging existing skills which I think is important to do.

When you say "idea" these things rarely thrive in a vacuum. What is really key is 1) What is the problem being addressed? 2) Why is our approach unique, effective, more profitable etc. So I would say it is very important to be very clear about these. Execution is a given, if you don't execute well you won't compete and you won't provide a great solution.

I would go back to fundamentals. Do you have ONE customer that LOVES and NEEDS your solution? If not, start there.

Is copying an idea a moral issue? For example, is copying the idea of "a restaurant" or "a hotel" morally questionable?

You have a number of options but before taking the leap I would consider a few things. 1) Exactly why are you bored? 2) Will starting your own business really be that much different to what you are doing now? 3) Perhaps there is a third option - contracting or part-time work or staying another year or two, saving hard, and then taking a gap year. That would give you some downtime to work on your business. You might find, with a gap year for example, that you don't actually like working on your own business.

My own thoughts - almost any job can be made more interesting. You don't believe it now but it my well be your mindset that needs to change, not your job.

Yes, tempting to hold in cash and wait for the market correction - if it ever comes.

I took a year sabbatical in 2017/2018. I was 55. Everyone I spoke to said I was mad, and that I'd never work again (I had been mostly contracting/freelancing over the previous 15 years). I am so glad I didn't listen to them!

I worked on side projects and general learning, and spent a month in South East Asia.

Here's what happened:

1) Noticeable increase in physical and mental well being

2) Slept better

3) Ate better

4) Learned loads

5) Had plenty of down time and lots of long country walks

6) Caught up on a lot of reading.

7) Spent time mountain biking with my brother and then putting the world to rights over coffee in small, quiet coffee shops (Don't underestimate this one - the brain needs it).

It was absolute bliss. Never a dull moment.

I came to two important conclusions.

1) The current work environment for permanent workers is absolutely toxic - toxic to creativity, productivity, problem-solving and mental and physical health.

2) To see opportunity you have to lift your nose from the grindstone now and then.

Since the break my freelancing business (which I run on the side) has exploded (more work than I want). I am also working on a web app that could easily be a 10K a month business - in a niche I knew absolutely nothing about before the break (it's travel hacking related).

Advice:

1) Get plenty of down time, esp. time outside.

2) Get plenty of time with your brain (and phone) switched off.

3) Don't feel you have to be productive (counterintuitive, but this takes the pressure off and you end up more productive).

4) Travel (wonderful way to grow your mind - live among the locals rather than a five star expat enclave).

5) Explore areas that are completely new to you. I did this by being inquisitive and often just jumping around on YouTube, and checking out niche areas.

6) Most of all - enjoy the year off!

All the best!

I will say ride sharing combined with EV tech.

I am not bullish on self-driving cars - I think that will take longer than people think (more than ten years to become mainstream).

I think EV combined with ride calling (Uber/Grab etc.) will grow considerably.

I think you got a lot right here.

Don't get me wrong, I love my online banking as much as the next guy, but a lot of technology being produced has a very negative impact - look at social media.

Yes, I think a lot of people still aren't aware of this problem, which has been studied for many years now. Once the positive feedback loop takes hold it's game over.

Labourer on M25 motorway construction. Awesome gang of guys, hard physical work, operating/driving machines and tools, outside all day, great money...

Are you in Silicon Valley by any chance?

Finish your current contracts, then take a year off.

> Sounds like a dream job.

Yeah, I thought that too. :)

I would ride it out for as long as you can, saving as much as you can. The Cash Cushion you'd get would then give you a lot of options...

Generally it looks like: unstructured mess -> CSV -> database, or mess -> structured intermediate format -> whatever. Or database -> nicely formatted report that makes CEO look good. Even structured (weird XML) -> sort of structured (XHTML).

There was no generic solution although I've ended up reusing a lot of code.

One of the first gigs I got was to process about 7,000 pages from a static website, scrape out the relevant data, and plonk it in a database so they could run queries on it. :)

You could probably latch onto a common use case and build a solution for that e.g. Blogger to Wordpress transfer - something I've had to do in the past by building some custom tools. (That was years ago though - I've not looked at current state of play with regards tool availability). Not suggesting that would be your use case though - just an example.

Good advice. I would almost be tempted to invest the 100k or whatever in long term index-linked investments and work on the side project on the weekends...

Great ideas. A lot of the freelance Python coding work I do is data transfer either from database to database, file to database, API to database, or some combination thereof.

Absolutely agree. Pretty much all the freelance Python coding work I've got has been through mining my existing network. I wouldn't touch UpWork with a bargepole frankly.

Also, you need to be able to offer something unique if you don't want to have to compete on price - so demonstrating competence in a niche is important.

I love the XINU book. Just beautiful writing. Used it recently while building my own memory allocator. Will give you a lot of insight.

The Thomas Anderson books are a multi-volume guide to OSs.

Yep, with the peer-peer lending, ratesetter.com specifically, you can get 6.1% for their five year plan right now.

5-10x gains are always hard to find unless you invest for the long term.

Boglehead here...;)

Good answer, and you made me think of something with a bit more risk. There are these micro-loan companies now where you can lend out cash and get at least a higher rate of interest than most savings accounts.

That sounds more like speculating than investing. I always view investing as simply a hedge against inflation rather than a true money making venture.

If you are investing put it in a low-cost index tracker sheltered in a tax efficient vehicle (in UK that would be ISA or private pension scheme). Let it compound forever. That's probably what I would do.

If you've not heard of him, look up Harry Browne. He recommended splitting your portfolio four ways: gold, cash, bonds, stocks. He reckoned that way you'd do OK no matter what was going on in the world.

If you feel more like speculating perhaps learn poker and take a trip to Vegas? ;)

> How can I start, or be involved in, something more rewarding?

Absolutely fascinating question, but sadly not one I personally have the answer to, because I think only you do.

EDG looks very interesting - but I wonder how much business they actually do though? I also notice they do work with Dinkumware (http://www.dinkumware.com/) - God that is a blast from the past!

I guess just keep trying small projects and following interesting ideas and companies - something will grab you in the end.

Nice list. I was just leafing through Internetworking with TCP/IP Vol 2 by Comer. Excellent book and a good one to add to your list. A bit old now, with non-ANSI C code, but still very interesting!

Completely agree.

My very real experience is a lack of a degree won't hold you back, a lack of passion will.

It definitely sounds like there's a deeper issue in play here...

> I recently quit my job to travel and "find meaning to my life". Spoiler: I didn't.

Wherever you go, there'll you be.

> I always worry that my lack of degree will/does hurt my career

I doubt it's that holding you back.

> And if my resume is all contracting work, wouldn't it get harder to get a job as an employee later?

No, not if you have the right skillset/attitude. Been in the biz 30+ years with a good mix of permie and long periods of contract work. Never had any issues switching between the two.

stevepavlina.com - It's not a patch on what it was in its heyday but I still check a few times a year.

jamesaltucher.com - I can't say I've ever actually learned anything useful on the site, but I still enjoy James's writing. I found a few of the podcasts of interest - although most is the usual baloney of people thinking they are God's Gift and are just there to flog their tat.

lifepassionandbusiness.com - new but I have listened to most of the podcasts and I like the questions the presenter (Paul Harvey) asks. By having a set set of questions for all guests it keeps things on point and not just about how wonderful the guests are (in their own estimation) as on some other podcasts.

https://www.gogently.co/listen-to-a-podcast - blog/podcast with Michael Nobbs. Not personal development per se, but I think we could all do with slowing down a bit. Michael's a great presenter and should probably be hired by the BBC! :)

https://seths.blog/ - again not strictly personal development, but there are usually useful life tips to be picked up.

https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/ - some life changing content in there. Depends where you are in the journey though. For some all this falls on deaf ears, but if you've made a lost a fortune a couple of times this could help get you on the straight and narrow!

https://www.alastairhumphreys.com/ - probably one of the best things you can do if you are serious about personal development is get your teeth stuck into a big hairy adventure that makes your balls shrivel - if so Alastair's your goto guy!

Just a few to get you started...