26 ms·

Resolutions for programmers (2012)

369 points by pkrefta 11y ago

pkrefta 11y ago
It has been probably posted sometime before but I think this is still very up to date and HN newcomers and veterans (and everobody else) should read this again and put into action.
xarien 11y ago
I always have #6 on my list and I always put it off. /sad
- wovfn 11y ago
  same here man, same here...
- seivan 11y ago
  It helped to have a purpose or something to accompany it, e.g making a game as that would require a bit more math than CRUD apps. This helped me brush up on some (embarrassingly simple) vector math http://natureofcode.com http://natureofcode.com
  - xarien 11y ago
    It was great when I was working aeronautics as the modeling and simulation required a thorough review of theories and concepts. These days, I'm lucky to do more math than built in excel functions... Again, /sad.
    - seivan 11y ago
      Please, stop. I always cringe over how embarrassingly poor my math is compared to most that I don't even dare to venture out of 2d unless it's for simple UI transforms even then I struggle because of no firm grasp over some of the concepts.
- sergiotapia 11y ago
  Same - I think it's because OK: I rote memorized how these equations work, but what now? What do I use them in? If I used them in my day to day, I would probably enjoy it more and probably stick to it.
- mhd 11y ago
  It's a bit like learning a language, you'd need some almost immediate application to make it past the first steps of a book or course (and/or make that gained knowledge stick). And while it's easy enough to travel to some country where they speak a language you just learned, that's often harder when it comes to mathematics and IT. 3D maths and game development worked out somewhat in the past (I forgot most of it though, and as that was the DOS days it wasn't really more than high school level geometry). But I doubt that I could find enough real noticeable application for e.g. category theory. (Just being the basis for something often isn't enough. You don't need to know much about physics to hop on a trampoline.)
  - Davertron 11y ago
    I was going to say, a lot of the Math I learned in High School and then never applied to anything I re-learned more recently when I started mucking around with computer graphics and game dev (especially trig, matrices, vector math, etc.) I'd love it if people had suggestions for other engaging ways to apply math while programming!
    - bonobo3000 11y ago
      I highly recommend Jeremy Kun's blog - Math and Programming (http://jeremykun.com/ http://jeremykun.com/). His posts are always awesome.
- jcadam 11y ago
  Indeed. I really just need to relearn most of the mathematics I took in college. Of course, without a job (or project) that demands things like calculus, I'd just forget it all again anyway. My current job has me messing around with linear algebra and statistical analysis on occasion, though I've found the cobwebs in that part of my brain are rather thick :)
Gladdyu 11y ago
At least 1920x1080 please.
seivan 11y ago
Don't let past death marches and shit-projects affect new projects mentally. It's harder than you think.
- matwood 11y ago
  This is a good point. Many people quickly become cynical and lose their passion for making things. Instead of thinking of the possibilities they change and only think of all the blockers. Recapturing that naiveté is what is required to just get some projects off the ground.
gregdoesit 11y ago
I would put stay healthy and invest in your health (chair, standing desk, exercise, food) as the #1 for any programmer for next year, and the years after. It's all too easy for us to forget about the long lasting effects of sitting in front of a computer that are hard to later undo.
- T-zex 11y ago
  Save by not investing in standing desk.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
  - dpweb 11y ago
    Build a standing desk.. Two resolutions - a hobby (learn carpentry) and health benefits!
    - pc86 11y ago
      The health benefits are at best questionable.[0] [1] [2] [3] [0] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/standing-desk-sitting-danger-study_561e87aee4b050c6c4a3bb7f http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/standing-desk-sitting-da... [1] http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/articles/2015/02/17/4-ways-your-standing-desk-is-doing-more-harm-than-good http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/article... [2] https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2014/11/03/yes-sitting-work-bad-but-standing-actually-better/7ceei6fb0B7QjgAH3FlOrK/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2014/1... [3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/standing-up-at-your-desk-may-energize-you-but-it-also-may-be-tough-on-your-legs/2013/11/22/4d166d9a-0f46-11e3-8cdd-bcdc09410972_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/stand...
      - jmilloy 11y ago
        Keeping in mind also that you can find fluff articles supporting nearly any position... * First one is only about sitting/standing and mortality. * Second one is about using standing desks wrong, and has nothing to do with whether using a standing desk correctly can improve your health. * Third one seems to support getting a standing desk (...?) * Fourth is a) anecdotal and b) also seems to support getting a standing desk.
voltagex_ 11y ago
#8. I'm currently waiting to see what comes back from fsck on a 4TB drive connected to a Raspberry Pi (don't ask). Drive is 390 days old according to SMART and reporting unrecoverable read errors. Most of the stuff was in other locations but I know there was one repo I was waiting to push... waited too long, I guess.
- dzhiurgis 11y ago
  Also backup your parents data. Holidays are almost over and new SSD/W10 install went rogue. Old HDD got somehow damaged so bad sectors appeared. Spent good part of holidays playing with Hirens boot CD, dd and other tools.
  - voltagex_ 11y ago
    That was Christmas 2014 for me! This year they have a Mac and everything is automagically backed up to a USB drive.
- Davertron 11y ago
  I was going to say, if these are in priority order, move #8 to the top if you're not already doing it! That way you get the benefits of it moving forward :)
  - voltagex_ 11y ago
    This is going offtopic, but if you're going to do backup/NAS, check your logs! I'm going to see how much I have to learn to set up monitoring on my home network. An error from Windows (coming from Samba) that I dismissed as a Samba problem was actually an early warning of the drive failure. Edit: ouch. root@kiwi:/media/files2# ls -lah total 12K drwxrwxrwx 3 nobody backup 4.0K Dec 22 22:19 . drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K Dec 30 20:19 .. drwx------ 32 root root 4.0K Dec 31 00:54 lost+found
  - matthewaveryusa 11y ago
    This was on my todo for years. I never liked the idea of using a cloud solution for privacy and price reasons. I recently bought a QNAP NAS which provides amazing custom backup solutions. I raided the disks, and continuously backup all personal data directly to AWS Glacier, making sure to encrypt it first. Private and very cost effective since the only time I would need to retrieve from glacier would be in case of both local drives failing (theft, fire?) I sleep better at night now.
cport1 11y ago
"Switch to Dvorak" .. ha :(
- sawwit 11y ago
  I think this one is a waste of time unless you seek a mental challenge. In my experience, it's just not worth getting confused on QUERTY keyboards all the time, and the 5% speedup or so is really not worth it. It's definitely more a cargo cult/challenge than a useful skill.
  - mbrock 11y ago
    I don't think the speedup is worth it, but that wasn't why I became interested in the first place. I'm way more interested in the benefits of a more ergonomic layout for my wrists and fingers. I haven't studied the science of that very carefully, but I'm fluent with both Dvorak and Qwerty and the subjective comfort I feel when typing English with Dvorak is very much worth the effort of learning it, for me. It ticks me off a little bit when people discount it as "definitely" a "cargo cult" thing. If you don't like it, that's fine.
    - pc86 11y ago
      I'd be interested in knowing what resource(s) you used to learn Dvorak, and how easy it is for you to switch back and forth (if you do it often/daily).
      - metasean 11y ago
        I'm not a dual-keyboarder, so I can't address that question. When I first got a computer, in college, my father recommended I learn Dvorak instead of Qwerty for ergonomic reasons. My keyboard was one of the typical 80's/90's beige color, so I took a black sharpie and wrote the Dvorak equivalent on each key. When I was typing, I focused on trying to remember which finger had to move where for each character. If I couldn't remember it for more than a second or two, then I could look at the keyboard. It only took a couple of weeks to get the basics down, and it was several weeks after that that a friend pointed out I had worn off the sharpie for my most frequently used keys (I hadn't even noticed) and I was typing at a speed comparable to all the Qwerty keyboarders in the dorm.
mosburger 11y ago
#3 Embrace the Uncomfortable - one thing I did a few years ago that might fall into this category (as an American) is start using the 24h clock. It makes working w/ remotes a lot easier because you become good at doing the +12 math and knowing which hour it represents. :)
- swiley 11y ago
  That's a good first step, now switch it to UTC.
  - kwhitefoot 11y ago
    :-)
- khgvljhkb 11y ago
  How wonderful would the world be if we had a base 10 clock instead of 24? Let's make a day be 86400 seconds (already a SI standard), and then you can divide that into tenths, hundreds or whatever. One thousand of a day is 84.4 seconds, which is close to a minute (which is (/ 60 (/ 24 one-day))). We have metric for measurements in space, but something as simple for day-to-day time measurement would be nice.
  - criddell 11y ago
    Sounds a little like Swatch's effort a few years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatch_Internet_Time https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatch_Internet_Time
  - prolepunk 11y ago
    ^ Typical HN comment. I'm sorry I'm making fun of you, but I just can't help myself as this happens all the time -- somebody comes up with a reasonable idea, and then the next commenter takes it so widely out of proportion, willing to re-engineer the whole society just to marginally improve his own comfort.
    - 11y ago
sawwit 11y ago
> Switch from emacs to vim or vice versa. Switch to emacs + evil, or alternatively to Spacemacs: https://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs https://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs
- irishcoffee 11y ago
  I did this a few years ago, and as a result, I'm pretty confident I'm in the minority of people who 'like' both. I have not yet declared a side in the holy war of emacs vs. vi. They're both great.
  - rhizome31 11y ago
    I suspect the silent majority to have tried only one of them and therefore have no opinion about the other.
- greggyb 11y ago
  This is where I am. As a text editor, I find vim's paradigm to be absolutely superb. As an editing environment, emacs offers so much more in terms of extensibility and functionality. I tried for a long time to love readline's vi-mode, but the level of customization to get a bad vim experience (I know vi and vim are different beasts, that's part of the problem) makes this not too valuable a task. On the other hand, with emacs + evil, I get emacs in any REPL I want, and in a pretty capable shell, with evil editing everywhere, which is much less painful to configure than readline.
l1feh4ck 11y ago
# Keep a hobby project or fork an open source project and work on it when ever you find time. # Once in a year take one month off from work if possible and visit new places. # Go for a solo trip and spent time with yourself and nature. # Go for volunteering in some rural schools. And spend time with kids. # Publish a book.
victorp13 11y ago
13. Work on volunteer projects I set this resolution for myself last year, and have been able to work on three projects via http://socialcoder.org/ http://socialcoder.org/ - feels very fulfilling!
- pc86 11y ago
  Looks like a great site, I've signed up.
- k-mcgrady 11y ago
  Thank you for posting this. Over the last year I've been thinking about switching careers as I've noticed how unimportant what I work on is and I believe I'd get much more satisfaction from doing something that helps others. Social coder looks like a great solution to this for me.
  - mikestew 11y ago
    Over the last year I've been thinking about switching careers as I've noticed how unimportant what I work on is If I might suggest an alternative way of thinking, I would argue that even if your day job is figuring out ways to entice people to click on ads, it can still be important because it allows you to make arseloads of money which you then turn around and redistribute to the charities of your choice. Me, I like my work and like to think my work makes the lives of the people that use it just a teensy bit better. But like my work or not, when the local charity says "help, we're in a crunch and need money for $GOOD_CAUSE" I can whip out the checkbook, write a $1000 check and still make the mortgage payment. And this isn't theoretical, I've actually gone through this mental exercise with the local animal shelter. Is it better that I do a job that doesn't have quite as high a hiring bar as software, for less money, but doing "good work"? Or continue pulling down fat stacks in software, physically volunteer when I can, and write big checks? I chose the latter. As Tyler Durden said, "you are not your job." You are, however, what you do with the fruits of your job.
- shrikant 11y ago
  I've volunteered some of my time when I was between gigs, using this site for the UK: http://www.it4communities.org.uk/ http://www.it4communities.org.uk/ [As an aside, it was really depressing to see how smaller charities without adequate tech knowledge or budget get taken for ride by scam artists.]
plinkplonk 11y ago
Some of those resolutions are more transformative than others.
mavdi 11y ago
13. Avoid reading depressing news One look at any news site is enough to help you avoid the first 12 resolutions.
- prolepunk 11y ago
  So much this. Or maybe paraphrasing -- be aware of your mental health, try avoiding distractions by reading emotionally charged articles, facebook, political arguments. Meditate. Avoid distractions but at the same time take breaks.
Anilm3 11y ago
Very interesting article! I like the fact that you mentioned Prolog as one of the less mainstream languages to learn. During my time at uni I found that both Haskell and Prolog really changed the way I approached different problems and gave me a high level perspective to problem solving. Some interesting resources to learn Prolog: # http://www.swi-prolog.org/ http://www.swi-prolog.org/ # http://people.cs.kuleuven.be/~bart.demoen/PrologProgrammingContests/ http://people.cs.kuleuven.be/~bart.demoen/PrologProgrammingC... # http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~pjh/prolog_module/sem242.html http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~pjh/prolog_module/sem242.html # http://www.learnprolognow.org/ http://www.learnprolognow.org/ I'm getting an itch now, I think I'll give Prolog a second go this new year.
- sotojuan 11y ago
  I'd also add Elixir as an alternative to Erlang. Still a different way of thinking if you're an imperative programmer but has nice tools and perhaps a familiar syntax.
- steinsgate 11y ago
  I did some Prolog programming too for fun, and boy! it requires a complete paradigm shift in thinking! For those unfamiliar with Prolog, Prolog is very different from procedural programing languages. In procedural languages like C and Python, we assign values to variables and ask the computer to do operations on them. In logical programming langauges like Prolog and LISP, we tell the computer truth values of a list of statements, and ask the computer to check truth values of other statements using the provided list. In the past, Prolog and LISP aimed to become the go to language for Artificial Intelligence programming. Sadly, not many people use them any more.
  - tlikonen 11y ago
    (Common) Lisp is a multi-paradign language. It doesn't have any specific logic programming features, no more than any other generic language. Some lisps tend to lean towards functional paradigm. EDIT: OK, maybe Lisps' symbol type helps a bit on logic or AI but there's no built-in resolution algorithm like in Prolog. But Prolog is really something different. I only know some basic ideas but definitely want to dig deeper in the future.
SoulMan 11y ago
I would try to use potable devices like iPad/Kindle/Mobile more for reading (Hacker news etc) purposes. Most of the time we don't need a full fledged computer compromising the sitting posture.
- greggyb 11y ago
  Do you find that you read better with a mobile device? I tend to find myself adopting awful posture when using any mobile device. With my computer and desk at home, though, I've got a monitor and keyboard at the right height and a very comfortable chair where I can maintain appropriate posture.
richmt 11y ago
On the health note, the single most beneficial thing I did for myself this year was to start lifting. 6 months ago I started committing 3 days a week to a strength training program which I've strictly followed since. Making gains in the gym has motivated me to sleep better and eat better which both have had huge effects on every aspect of my life. Not only that, but the exercise has helped a ton with anxiety I've had throughout life and even the few gains I've made have been a huge boost in confidence. I urge everyone here to take up lifting as a hobby and stick with it.
- dasboth 11y ago
  This is exactly what I want to do in the coming year. What was the biggest barrier for you to start, and how did you finally overcome it?
  - rbinv 11y ago
    Honestly: just start (with low weights). That's what I did, anyway. Work your way up and focus on proper form.
  - cabinpark 11y ago
    If you've never been to a gym before or done weights, please, please, please get a personal trainer for a session or two to show your the correct form. I see way too many people at the gym who have shit form but "lift" a lot of weight and it is ineffective and can be dangerous. Form is way more important than weight. Remember, many exercises are designed with a specific muscle to target and if you don't do it properly, you won't get any of the benefits.
    - dasboth 11y ago
      You're right, I can't imagine I could get proper form by looking at Youtube videos. There's no substitute for someone telling you where you're going wrong.
      - richmt 11y ago
adrianlmm 11y ago
I would add: - Relearn what you already know.
brlewis 11y ago
Programmers tend to live sedentary lives, and we face unique health challenges from our occupation. Yes, that's actually how Fitbit started. From http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223780 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223780 Fitbit got its start after founders James Park and Eric Friedman sold their peer-to-peer photo-sharing company Windup Labs to CNet in 2005. While pondering their next move, Park, a former cross-country runner and avid swimmer, realized two things: that years of startup life had left him in terrible shape, and that he had the resources to come up with a solution. In early 2007, the two launched their fitness gadget company in San Francisco's Financial District, with Park as CEO and Friedman as CTO.
arvinsim 11y ago
The whole site itself is chock full of good advice.
sarciszewski 11y ago
Initial reactions to each of these list items: > 1. Go analog. Hahahaha NO. I get paid to solve problems, not be happy or healthy. > 2. Stay healthy. "Stay" healthy? Heh, for me and a lot of programmers I've known, that ship has long since sailed. Maybe "become" healthy would be more appropriate. > 3. Embrace the uncomfortable. Well, if more people did this, we'd probably not have religious conflicts. > 4. Learn a new programming language. Yes. Usually a good idea. > 5. Automate. Yes. Automate more, hire less. > 6. Learn more mathematics. This could be useful for most people. > 7. Focus on security. I already do this, but I agree that most programmers should focus more on security every day. > 8. Back up your data. Ditto with security. > 9. Learn more theory. This could be useful for most people. > 10. Engage the arts and humanities. Ugh, hell no. That's for other people to enjoy. > 11. Learn new software. Yes. > 12. Complete a personal project. Wait, you mean to tell me that "start a personal project and actually finish it" is a thing people are capable of?
- mjburgess 11y ago
  > I get paid to solve problems, not be happy or healthy. > that ship has long since sailed > that's for other people to enjoy. > is a thing people are capable of? You seem very unhappy.
  - sarciszewski 11y ago
    Pretty much, but who really gives a shit?
    - J_Darnley 11y ago
      Ha. Agreed. I'm surprised you got downvoted for your content-full post. I've made worse shitposts and been upvoted for them. You addressed each point. They may have been negative cynical but still substantive. "Please stop posting unsubstantive comments to Hacker News" was said to me recently.
emergentcypher 11y ago
Was I the only one expecting a list of screen resolutions?
molteanu 11y ago
stop using facebook
- xxs 11y ago
  "Go analog" covers
jakejake 11y ago
12 resolutions is too many for me. Set 1 resolution and stick to it.
- pinkunicorn 11y ago
  1. Follow the 12 resolutions
pmiller2 11y ago
Lots of overlap with "12 resolutions for grad students" (http://matt.might.net/articles/grad-student-resolutions/ http://matt.might.net/articles/grad-student-resolutions/) as well, especially for junior folks. Everything other than "check with your committee applies directly, and if you replace "committee" by "mentor," then it works very well.
jonathanfoster 11y ago
I really like the resolution to embrace the uncomfortable. When you're young and inexperienced you have very little to lose by taking uncomfortable risks, but as you advance in your career it becomes more difficult to take the same risks. I recently read the 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss and he has some great exercises called Comfort Challenges that really push you to go outside of your comfort zone. Some examples include * Maintain eye contact for a long time * Approach attractive males/females and get their numbers * Lie down in the middle of a public place These seem like simple activities, but they quickly get you acclimated to uncomfortable situations. I highly recommend Ferriss' book if you're interested embracing the uncomfortable.
- thebosz 11y ago
  > * Approach attractive males/females and get their numbers Should I get my wife's permission first?
  - rffn 11y ago
    Depends on how much you want to embrace the uncomfortable.
pacomerh 11y ago
Oh that number 3. I've been avoiding it for a year and I already know its very necessary for me. I'm just gonna close my eyes and do it.
sotojuan 11y ago
For anyone who wants to learn more discrete math, I recommend the Mathematics for Computer Science MIT OCW course: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-042j-mathematics-for-computer-science-fall-2010/index.htm http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput...
javabr 11y ago
That is all I needed: More resolutions to skip!
steinsgate 11y ago
The first thing programmers (or any group of people) need in order to improve their lives is a reason to improve their lives. The blog says "go analog" or "improve your health" or "learn a new programming language" etc. But why should I, or anyone for that matter, go analog, improve their health or learn a new programming language? For fun? If it's for fun, the list should have been called "Fun activities for programmers". This all new "improve-yourself-without-any-context" new age movement doesn't make any sense to me.
- douglance 11y ago
  Yeah. Being happy is stupid!
andrei_says_ 11y ago
Stopping sugar and caffeine changed my productivity and sleep patterns in a very positive way.

369 points by pkrefta 11y ago

It has been probably posted sometime before but I think this is still very up to date and HN newcomers and veterans (and everobody else) should read this again and put into action.

xarien 11y ago

I always have #6 on my list and I always put it off. /sad

wovfn 11y ago
same here man, same here...
seivan 11y ago
It helped to have a purpose or something to accompany it, e.g making a game as that would require a bit more math than CRUD apps. This helped me brush up on some (embarrassingly simple) vector math http://natureofcode.com http://natureofcode.com
- xarien 11y ago
  It was great when I was working aeronautics as the modeling and simulation required a thorough review of theories and concepts. These days, I'm lucky to do more math than built in excel functions... Again, /sad.
  - seivan 11y ago
    Please, stop. I always cringe over how embarrassingly poor my math is compared to most that I don't even dare to venture out of 2d unless it's for simple UI transforms even then I struggle because of no firm grasp over some of the concepts.
sergiotapia 11y ago
Same - I think it's because OK: I rote memorized how these equations work, but what now? What do I use them in? If I used them in my day to day, I would probably enjoy it more and probably stick to it.
mhd 11y ago
It's a bit like learning a language, you'd need some almost immediate application to make it past the first steps of a book or course (and/or make that gained knowledge stick). And while it's easy enough to travel to some country where they speak a language you just learned, that's often harder when it comes to mathematics and IT. 3D maths and game development worked out somewhat in the past (I forgot most of it though, and as that was the DOS days it wasn't really more than high school level geometry). But I doubt that I could find enough real noticeable application for e.g. category theory. (Just being the basis for something often isn't enough. You don't need to know much about physics to hop on a trampoline.)
- Davertron 11y ago
  I was going to say, a lot of the Math I learned in High School and then never applied to anything I re-learned more recently when I started mucking around with computer graphics and game dev (especially trig, matrices, vector math, etc.) I'd love it if people had suggestions for other engaging ways to apply math while programming!
  - bonobo3000 11y ago
    I highly recommend Jeremy Kun's blog - Math and Programming (http://jeremykun.com/ http://jeremykun.com/). His posts are always awesome.
jcadam 11y ago
Indeed. I really just need to relearn most of the mathematics I took in college. Of course, without a job (or project) that demands things like calculus, I'd just forget it all again anyway. My current job has me messing around with linear algebra and statistical analysis on occasion, though I've found the cobwebs in that part of my brain are rather thick :)

Gladdyu 11y ago

At least 1920x1080 please.

seivan 11y ago

Don't let past death marches and shit-projects affect new projects mentally. It's harder than you think.

matwood 11y ago
This is a good point. Many people quickly become cynical and lose their passion for making things. Instead of thinking of the possibilities they change and only think of all the blockers. Recapturing that naiveté is what is required to just get some projects off the ground.

gregdoesit 11y ago

I would put stay healthy and invest in your health (chair, standing desk, exercise, food) as the #1 for any programmer for next year, and the years after. It's all too easy for us to forget about the long lasting effects of sitting in front of a computer that are hard to later undo.

T-zex 11y ago
Save by not investing in standing desk.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- dpweb 11y ago
  Build a standing desk.. Two resolutions - a hobby (learn carpentry) and health benefits!
  - pc86 11y ago
    The health benefits are at best questionable.[0] [1] [2] [3] [0] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/standing-desk-sitting-danger-study_561e87aee4b050c6c4a3bb7f http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/standing-desk-sitting-da... [1] http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/articles/2015/02/17/4-ways-your-standing-desk-is-doing-more-harm-than-good http://health.usnews.com/health-news/health-wellness/article... [2] https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2014/11/03/yes-sitting-work-bad-but-standing-actually-better/7ceei6fb0B7QjgAH3FlOrK/story.html https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2014/1... [3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/standing-up-at-your-desk-may-energize-you-but-it-also-may-be-tough-on-your-legs/2013/11/22/4d166d9a-0f46-11e3-8cdd-bcdc09410972_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/stand...
    - jmilloy 11y ago
      Keeping in mind also that you can find fluff articles supporting nearly any position... * First one is only about sitting/standing and mortality. * Second one is about using standing desks wrong, and has nothing to do with whether using a standing desk correctly can improve your health. * Third one seems to support getting a standing desk (...?) * Fourth is a) anecdotal and b) also seems to support getting a standing desk.

voltagex_ 11y ago

#8. I'm currently waiting to see what comes back from fsck on a 4TB drive connected to a Raspberry Pi (don't ask). Drive is 390 days old according to SMART and reporting unrecoverable read errors. Most of the stuff was in other locations but I know there was one repo I was waiting to push... waited too long, I guess.

dzhiurgis 11y ago
Also backup your parents data. Holidays are almost over and new SSD/W10 install went rogue. Old HDD got somehow damaged so bad sectors appeared. Spent good part of holidays playing with Hirens boot CD, dd and other tools.
- voltagex_ 11y ago
  That was Christmas 2014 for me! This year they have a Mac and everything is automagically backed up to a USB drive.
Davertron 11y ago
I was going to say, if these are in priority order, move #8 to the top if you're not already doing it! That way you get the benefits of it moving forward :)
- voltagex_ 11y ago
  This is going offtopic, but if you're going to do backup/NAS, check your logs! I'm going to see how much I have to learn to set up monitoring on my home network. An error from Windows (coming from Samba) that I dismissed as a Samba problem was actually an early warning of the drive failure. Edit: ouch. root@kiwi:/media/files2# ls -lah total 12K drwxrwxrwx 3 nobody backup 4.0K Dec 22 22:19 . drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4.0K Dec 30 20:19 .. drwx------ 32 root root 4.0K Dec 31 00:54 lost+found
- matthewaveryusa 11y ago
  This was on my todo for years. I never liked the idea of using a cloud solution for privacy and price reasons. I recently bought a QNAP NAS which provides amazing custom backup solutions. I raided the disks, and continuously backup all personal data directly to AWS Glacier, making sure to encrypt it first. Private and very cost effective since the only time I would need to retrieve from glacier would be in case of both local drives failing (theft, fire?) I sleep better at night now.

cport1 11y ago

"Switch to Dvorak" .. ha :(

sawwit 11y ago
I think this one is a waste of time unless you seek a mental challenge. In my experience, it's just not worth getting confused on QUERTY keyboards all the time, and the 5% speedup or so is really not worth it. It's definitely more a cargo cult/challenge than a useful skill.
- mbrock 11y ago
  I don't think the speedup is worth it, but that wasn't why I became interested in the first place. I'm way more interested in the benefits of a more ergonomic layout for my wrists and fingers. I haven't studied the science of that very carefully, but I'm fluent with both Dvorak and Qwerty and the subjective comfort I feel when typing English with Dvorak is very much worth the effort of learning it, for me. It ticks me off a little bit when people discount it as "definitely" a "cargo cult" thing. If you don't like it, that's fine.
  - pc86 11y ago
    I'd be interested in knowing what resource(s) you used to learn Dvorak, and how easy it is for you to switch back and forth (if you do it often/daily).
    - metasean 11y ago
      I'm not a dual-keyboarder, so I can't address that question. When I first got a computer, in college, my father recommended I learn Dvorak instead of Qwerty for ergonomic reasons. My keyboard was one of the typical 80's/90's beige color, so I took a black sharpie and wrote the Dvorak equivalent on each key. When I was typing, I focused on trying to remember which finger had to move where for each character. If I couldn't remember it for more than a second or two, then I could look at the keyboard. It only took a couple of weeks to get the basics down, and it was several weeks after that that a friend pointed out I had worn off the sharpie for my most frequently used keys (I hadn't even noticed) and I was typing at a speed comparable to all the Qwerty keyboarders in the dorm.

mosburger 11y ago

#3 Embrace the Uncomfortable - one thing I did a few years ago that might fall into this category (as an American) is start using the 24h clock. It makes working w/ remotes a lot easier because you become good at doing the +12 math and knowing which hour it represents. :)

swiley 11y ago
That's a good first step, now switch it to UTC.
- kwhitefoot 11y ago
  :-)
khgvljhkb 11y ago
How wonderful would the world be if we had a base 10 clock instead of 24? Let's make a day be 86400 seconds (already a SI standard), and then you can divide that into tenths, hundreds or whatever. One thousand of a day is 84.4 seconds, which is close to a minute (which is (/ 60 (/ 24 one-day))). We have metric for measurements in space, but something as simple for day-to-day time measurement would be nice.
- criddell 11y ago
  Sounds a little like Swatch's effort a few years ago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatch_Internet_Time https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatch_Internet_Time
- prolepunk 11y ago
  ^ Typical HN comment. I'm sorry I'm making fun of you, but I just can't help myself as this happens all the time -- somebody comes up with a reasonable idea, and then the next commenter takes it so widely out of proportion, willing to re-engineer the whole society just to marginally improve his own comfort.
  - 11y ago

sawwit 11y ago

> Switch from emacs to vim or vice versa. Switch to emacs + evil, or alternatively to Spacemacs: https://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs https://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs

irishcoffee 11y ago
I did this a few years ago, and as a result, I'm pretty confident I'm in the minority of people who 'like' both. I have not yet declared a side in the holy war of emacs vs. vi. They're both great.
- rhizome31 11y ago
  I suspect the silent majority to have tried only one of them and therefore have no opinion about the other.
greggyb 11y ago
This is where I am. As a text editor, I find vim's paradigm to be absolutely superb. As an editing environment, emacs offers so much more in terms of extensibility and functionality. I tried for a long time to love readline's vi-mode, but the level of customization to get a bad vim experience (I know vi and vim are different beasts, that's part of the problem) makes this not too valuable a task. On the other hand, with emacs + evil, I get emacs in any REPL I want, and in a pretty capable shell, with evil editing everywhere, which is much less painful to configure than readline.

l1feh4ck 11y ago

# Keep a hobby project or fork an open source project and work on it when ever you find time. # Once in a year take one month off from work if possible and visit new places. # Go for a solo trip and spent time with yourself and nature. # Go for volunteering in some rural schools. And spend time with kids. # Publish a book.

victorp13 11y ago

13. Work on volunteer projects I set this resolution for myself last year, and have been able to work on three projects via http://socialcoder.org/ http://socialcoder.org/ - feels very fulfilling!

pc86 11y ago
Looks like a great site, I've signed up.
k-mcgrady 11y ago
Thank you for posting this. Over the last year I've been thinking about switching careers as I've noticed how unimportant what I work on is and I believe I'd get much more satisfaction from doing something that helps others. Social coder looks like a great solution to this for me.
- mikestew 11y ago
  Over the last year I've been thinking about switching careers as I've noticed how unimportant what I work on is If I might suggest an alternative way of thinking, I would argue that even if your day job is figuring out ways to entice people to click on ads, it can still be important because it allows you to make arseloads of money which you then turn around and redistribute to the charities of your choice. Me, I like my work and like to think my work makes the lives of the people that use it just a teensy bit better. But like my work or not, when the local charity says "help, we're in a crunch and need money for $GOOD_CAUSE" I can whip out the checkbook, write a $1000 check and still make the mortgage payment. And this isn't theoretical, I've actually gone through this mental exercise with the local animal shelter. Is it better that I do a job that doesn't have quite as high a hiring bar as software, for less money, but doing "good work"? Or continue pulling down fat stacks in software, physically volunteer when I can, and write big checks? I chose the latter. As Tyler Durden said, "you are not your job." You are, however, what you do with the fruits of your job.
shrikant 11y ago
I've volunteered some of my time when I was between gigs, using this site for the UK: http://www.it4communities.org.uk/ http://www.it4communities.org.uk/ [As an aside, it was really depressing to see how smaller charities without adequate tech knowledge or budget get taken for ride by scam artists.]

plinkplonk 11y ago

Some of those resolutions are more transformative than others.

mavdi 11y ago

13. Avoid reading depressing news One look at any news site is enough to help you avoid the first 12 resolutions.

prolepunk 11y ago
So much this. Or maybe paraphrasing -- be aware of your mental health, try avoiding distractions by reading emotionally charged articles, facebook, political arguments. Meditate. Avoid distractions but at the same time take breaks.

Anilm3 11y ago

Very interesting article! I like the fact that you mentioned Prolog as one of the less mainstream languages to learn. During my time at uni I found that both Haskell and Prolog really changed the way I approached different problems and gave me a high level perspective to problem solving. Some interesting resources to learn Prolog: # http://www.swi-prolog.org/ http://www.swi-prolog.org/ # http://people.cs.kuleuven.be/~bart.demoen/PrologProgrammingContests/ http://people.cs.kuleuven.be/~bart.demoen/PrologProgrammingC... # http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~pjh/prolog_module/sem242.html http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/~pjh/prolog_module/sem242.html # http://www.learnprolognow.org/ http://www.learnprolognow.org/ I'm getting an itch now, I think I'll give Prolog a second go this new year.

sotojuan 11y ago
I'd also add Elixir as an alternative to Erlang. Still a different way of thinking if you're an imperative programmer but has nice tools and perhaps a familiar syntax.
steinsgate 11y ago
I did some Prolog programming too for fun, and boy! it requires a complete paradigm shift in thinking! For those unfamiliar with Prolog, Prolog is very different from procedural programing languages. In procedural languages like C and Python, we assign values to variables and ask the computer to do operations on them. In logical programming langauges like Prolog and LISP, we tell the computer truth values of a list of statements, and ask the computer to check truth values of other statements using the provided list. In the past, Prolog and LISP aimed to become the go to language for Artificial Intelligence programming. Sadly, not many people use them any more.
- tlikonen 11y ago
  (Common) Lisp is a multi-paradign language. It doesn't have any specific logic programming features, no more than any other generic language. Some lisps tend to lean towards functional paradigm. EDIT: OK, maybe Lisps' symbol type helps a bit on logic or AI but there's no built-in resolution algorithm like in Prolog. But Prolog is really something different. I only know some basic ideas but definitely want to dig deeper in the future.

SoulMan 11y ago

I would try to use potable devices like iPad/Kindle/Mobile more for reading (Hacker news etc) purposes. Most of the time we don't need a full fledged computer compromising the sitting posture.

greggyb 11y ago
Do you find that you read better with a mobile device? I tend to find myself adopting awful posture when using any mobile device. With my computer and desk at home, though, I've got a monitor and keyboard at the right height and a very comfortable chair where I can maintain appropriate posture.

richmt 11y ago

On the health note, the single most beneficial thing I did for myself this year was to start lifting. 6 months ago I started committing 3 days a week to a strength training program which I've strictly followed since. Making gains in the gym has motivated me to sleep better and eat better which both have had huge effects on every aspect of my life. Not only that, but the exercise has helped a ton with anxiety I've had throughout life and even the few gains I've made have been a huge boost in confidence. I urge everyone here to take up lifting as a hobby and stick with it.

dasboth 11y ago
This is exactly what I want to do in the coming year. What was the biggest barrier for you to start, and how did you finally overcome it?
- rbinv 11y ago
  Honestly: just start (with low weights). That's what I did, anyway. Work your way up and focus on proper form.
- cabinpark 11y ago
  If you've never been to a gym before or done weights, please, please, please get a personal trainer for a session or two to show your the correct form. I see way too many people at the gym who have shit form but "lift" a lot of weight and it is ineffective and can be dangerous. Form is way more important than weight. Remember, many exercises are designed with a specific muscle to target and if you don't do it properly, you won't get any of the benefits.
  - dasboth 11y ago
    You're right, I can't imagine I could get proper form by looking at Youtube videos. There's no substitute for someone telling you where you're going wrong.
    - richmt 11y ago

adrianlmm 11y ago

I would add: - Relearn what you already know.

brlewis 11y ago

Programmers tend to live sedentary lives, and we face unique health challenges from our occupation. Yes, that's actually how Fitbit started. From http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223780 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223780 Fitbit got its start after founders James Park and Eric Friedman sold their peer-to-peer photo-sharing company Windup Labs to CNet in 2005. While pondering their next move, Park, a former cross-country runner and avid swimmer, realized two things: that years of startup life had left him in terrible shape, and that he had the resources to come up with a solution. In early 2007, the two launched their fitness gadget company in San Francisco's Financial District, with Park as CEO and Friedman as CTO.

arvinsim 11y ago

The whole site itself is chock full of good advice.

sarciszewski 11y ago

Initial reactions to each of these list items: > 1. Go analog. Hahahaha NO. I get paid to solve problems, not be happy or healthy. > 2. Stay healthy. "Stay" healthy? Heh, for me and a lot of programmers I've known, that ship has long since sailed. Maybe "become" healthy would be more appropriate. > 3. Embrace the uncomfortable. Well, if more people did this, we'd probably not have religious conflicts. > 4. Learn a new programming language. Yes. Usually a good idea. > 5. Automate. Yes. Automate more, hire less. > 6. Learn more mathematics. This could be useful for most people. > 7. Focus on security. I already do this, but I agree that most programmers should focus more on security every day. > 8. Back up your data. Ditto with security. > 9. Learn more theory. This could be useful for most people. > 10. Engage the arts and humanities. Ugh, hell no. That's for other people to enjoy. > 11. Learn new software. Yes. > 12. Complete a personal project. Wait, you mean to tell me that "start a personal project and actually finish it" is a thing people are capable of?

mjburgess 11y ago
> I get paid to solve problems, not be happy or healthy. > that ship has long since sailed > that's for other people to enjoy. > is a thing people are capable of? You seem very unhappy.
- sarciszewski 11y ago
  Pretty much, but who really gives a shit?
  - J_Darnley 11y ago
    Ha. Agreed. I'm surprised you got downvoted for your content-full post. I've made worse shitposts and been upvoted for them. You addressed each point. They may have been negative cynical but still substantive. "Please stop posting unsubstantive comments to Hacker News" was said to me recently.

emergentcypher 11y ago

Was I the only one expecting a list of screen resolutions?

molteanu 11y ago

stop using facebook

xxs 11y ago
"Go analog" covers

jakejake 11y ago

12 resolutions is too many for me. Set 1 resolution and stick to it.

pinkunicorn 11y ago
1. Follow the 12 resolutions

pmiller2 11y ago

Lots of overlap with "12 resolutions for grad students" (http://matt.might.net/articles/grad-student-resolutions/ http://matt.might.net/articles/grad-student-resolutions/) as well, especially for junior folks. Everything other than "check with your committee applies directly, and if you replace "committee" by "mentor," then it works very well.

jonathanfoster 11y ago

I really like the resolution to embrace the uncomfortable. When you're young and inexperienced you have very little to lose by taking uncomfortable risks, but as you advance in your career it becomes more difficult to take the same risks. I recently read the 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss and he has some great exercises called Comfort Challenges that really push you to go outside of your comfort zone. Some examples include * Maintain eye contact for a long time * Approach attractive males/females and get their numbers * Lie down in the middle of a public place These seem like simple activities, but they quickly get you acclimated to uncomfortable situations. I highly recommend Ferriss' book if you're interested embracing the uncomfortable.

thebosz 11y ago
> * Approach attractive males/females and get their numbers Should I get my wife's permission first?
- rffn 11y ago
  Depends on how much you want to embrace the uncomfortable.

pacomerh 11y ago

Oh that number 3. I've been avoiding it for a year and I already know its very necessary for me. I'm just gonna close my eyes and do it.

sotojuan 11y ago

For anyone who wants to learn more discrete math, I recommend the Mathematics for Computer Science MIT OCW course: http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science/6-042j-mathematics-for-computer-science-fall-2010/index.htm http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/electrical-engineering-and-comput...

javabr 11y ago

That is all I needed: More resolutions to skip!

steinsgate 11y ago

The first thing programmers (or any group of people) need in order to improve their lives is a reason to improve their lives. The blog says "go analog" or "improve your health" or "learn a new programming language" etc. But why should I, or anyone for that matter, go analog, improve their health or learn a new programming language? For fun? If it's for fun, the list should have been called "Fun activities for programmers". This all new "improve-yourself-without-any-context" new age movement doesn't make any sense to me.

douglance 11y ago
Yeah. Being happy is stupid!

andrei_says_ 11y ago

Stopping sugar and caffeine changed my productivity and sleep patterns in a very positive way.