8 ms·
Confessions of a Necromancer
- kirab 10y agoEvery time I see a new post from hintjens I think: "oh, he's still alive!" and I feel a strange mix of happiness (about him being still alive) and sadness (about his very probable demise) at the same time.
- k__ 10y agoYes, he always reminds me that we all must die. You have to make the best of the time you have and you don't know how much it is, even if you're smarter or richer than most people on earth.
- taneq 10y agoWell so far I'm intrigued...
- bramjans 10y agoGreat read. I've only been in the professional software business for a couple of years, but already many of his insights (especially the ones about terrible people management) hit close to home. Thanks a lot for taking the time to write this down!
- TuringTest 10y agoThis one certainly resonates: > It took me decades to realize that technology is a slave to personality. It doesn't matter how good the design, when there are unresolved problems in the organization. It's not just that a good technology design needs to fit the needs of the organization; even a design that would be a good fit will be hard to deploy if the organization pushes against it.
- eternalban 10y agocontext: https://twitter.com/hintjens/status/777462241515962368 https://twitter.com/hintjens/status/777462241515962368
- PieterH 10y agoIt got better, I had a bad reaction to paracetamol I'd just started taking, it seems.
- Myrth 10y agoYour post has touched me deeply and resonated a lot with my own life. Thank you for writing!
- M_Grey 10y agoIt's good that you're still here, and writing. It's never less than a pleasure to read what you have to say.
- eternalban 10y agoThat's a relief! Glad to hear the plan is on hold. Hey, noted you writing about not being into this "fight this thing" ("neighbor") but curious how this turn of event alters your views. Just purely in the emotional and psychological sense, does this all of a sudden having an extended expected horizon, doesn't [it] seem like future could be anything in the realm of possible. (I apologize if this is too personal.)
- PieterH 10y agoWell, I'm steadily losing weight, down to about 65kg now from 76kg when I was diagnosed. I'm finding it harder and harder to eat, and I've steadily increased my painkillers from 10mg to 50mg or more per 12h. So, clearly, things are not getting better. I'm dying and it is just a matter of what bed I die in, and whether it'll be a vital organ like the liver that gives up first, or euthanasia if the breathing gets too hard, and the pain too much. What the extended horizon does is let me write a little more in that article (there are still stories to tell) and wonder if maybe it'll be enough for a book. Weirdly the main emotion I feel is a kind of embarrassment at raising a false alarm that gets so many people worried. Also, happiness of course to still be alive and see my family & friends and chat a little more with people on the Internet :-)
- signa11 10y agodupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12562163 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12562163
- jwildeboer 10y agoI scrolled through the "new" pages quite a bit but didn't saw it. Hence I posted it. I don't know why the dupe catcher failed here.
- signa11 10y ago> I scrolled through the "new" pages quite a bit but didn't saw it. oh that is kind of strange.
- lawpoop 10y agoNot that strange as one cannot saw a digital entity.
- sctb 10y agoThis is intentional, since the previous submission didn't get much attention and is now too old to have a chance. Resubmissions are fine in that case and the software allows it.
- PieterH 10y agoThis often happens, the previous article didn't get any visibility so people post it again, not realizing. I think the old one is the dupe :-) We need a name for a "dupe that was ahead of its time."
- CiPHPerCoder 10y agoI propose "dud"
- dredmorbius 10y ago"Leonardo".
- Raphmedia 10y ago"The foundation for a good project is: a competent client who knows the business and has power of decision; a full-stack team that can deal with the work, at all technical levels; and a technical platform that is both dependable and tractable." Very true.
- lawpoop 10y agoNeeds more pony
- dang 10y agoPlease stop posting unsubstantive comments.
- GFischer 10y agoMy observations very much confirm his. Especially this point: technology is a slave to personality. It doesn't matter how good the design, when there are unresolved problems in the organization. Amen. And that's exactly what a lot of the latest project management styles try to fix. I almost never dread technical challenges (especially in the cookie-cutter LOB apps I build in my day job), but I do fear organizational dysfunction.
- kevinali1 10y agoCan you give some examples of "project management styles" that try to fix this?
- GFischer 10y agoWell, that's what I read into the Agile manifesto: http://agilemanifesto.org/ http://agilemanifesto.org/ Basically any modern project management style focused on people and needs instead of reams of documentation. I've unfortunately never worked at a place that does this right, but I had the strong impression some really good companies do it right - I was blown away by Guidewire back when I was in the insurance business, for example, they really seemed to do project management right ( see https://www.guidewire.com/blog/best-practices https://www.guidewire.com/blog/best-practices , and stuff like this - https://www.guidewire.com/blog/best-practices/implementation-project-best-practices-find-your-protagonist https://www.guidewire.com/blog/best-practices/implementation... , Scott Hatland really impressed me as a guy that lived this kind of person-first approach ). Since it's more of a people and organization thing than a formal "project management style" thing, I don't know if there's one "style" that does this above all - Agile, Scrum, Kanban, can all be twisted by people who don't understand the core concepts.
- dalore 10y agoThe start is straight out of Ready Player One for James Halliday.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- gricardo99 10y ago"Be nice to people, even those trying to hurt you. " Perhaps one of the hardest lessons to live by, but of immense value.
- pritianka 10y agoIt's very hard lesson to imbibe, as I've recently learned from interactions with people I'd worked closely with. What do you do when being nice only results in the person getting worse? Some people don't respond to kindness. Some take advantage of the fact that they are physically stronger. What do you do in those situations?
- copperx 10y agoYou rough them up. There is no silver bullet in social interactions either.
- mediocrejoker 10y agoThat seems a bit at-odds with the advice to "be nice to them", does it not?
- HCIdivision17 10y agoTo be sure, but that's the 'no silver bullet' clause. You can compromise and gently escalate, though. Be nice, yet firm. Or be ostensibly nice but with a subtext of consequences ("speak softly and carry a big stick"). Or perhaps the ideals fail and you just need to bare your teeth at them. But return to civility; no reason to senselessly burn bridges. (What if they're just horrible? Then leave. What if you just can't walk away quietly? Well, just try not to burn bridges as a first resort, at least not while you're standing on it ;)
- gricardo99 10y agoI would add to this that being "nice" doesn't mean to cave or placate others. To me it means to try not to act out of malice, hurt, or anger towards others, even when they seem to be acting that way towards you. You can calmly and rationally explain your position, and hold firm, while trying to avoid negative emotions. Easier said than done, but it can be incredibly powerful.
- NumberCruncher 10y agoI just found the book The Psychopath Code thanks this HN post and I am reading it right now on a long bus trip. It brings back a way to much not so old memories.
- xhedley 10y agoThank you for posting that. Talking about the human process and story about how things happen help other people going forward. Understanding how people build things is crucial. Legacy isn't just for novel writers and building architects and big name visual artists - it's for anyone who creates things. "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants" Isaac Newton 1676
- jasim 10y agoThe plot is thickening. I'm here: > Which was when someone decided to bluff the project, sign it for the budget the client was willing to pay, force DEC to accept whatever solution we came up with, and then hire me to make it all work.
- ge96 10y agoDoctor Veeeennnnttuuuurrreeeee!!! - Necromancer guy
- mathgenius 10y agoGreat read. Reminds me of "Coders at work", but more on the business side of things. We all talk about this stuff, but not many people are bold enough to write it all down and stick it on a webpage or in a book. I'm most impressed by just how much work ends up flushed down the toilet. Makes me feel so much better about all the dead-ends I have been involved with. Actually my sense of the industry is that the majority of projects tank for one reason or another. I guess that's fine if you are just doing it for the money, but if so, then you are probably not a top-level dev.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- sguav 10y agoHave been reading and enjoying this for a few days so far, then I came to : > And why pizza with ketchup and mayo is a Good Thing. and as an Italian I ought to dissent.