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I have the benefit of having enjoyed the best (and worst) of both worlds. When I was 13 I had a crappy old PC that I used to take apart and fiddle with. When i

by Jem 18y ago

I have the benefit of having enjoyed the best (and worst) of both worlds. When I was 13 I had a crappy old PC that I used to take apart and fiddle with. When it bust altogether, I pretty much forgot about computers. I reached 14, I lost my brother, and as I watched my family crumble I turned to drinking and smoking weed. Yes, at 14. I hung out with the wrong crowd, I did things I shouldn't have and I spent my school time living up what was deemed the "ideal" social life by my peers. A year or so later I got really in to computers again. I started making web pages; I got a new (old) desktop which I tweaked up and geeked out on. I progressed from HTML and CSS to PHP (and yeah, I know that PHP has a bad rap amongst most hackers here, but I like it), spent all my time in IT at school etc. I gently progressed in to a real computer nerd. Looking back now, I can honestly say that the time I "wasted" messing about with computers, teaching myself how to code, etc.. they were the best of my teenage years, and I have no regrets on how I spent my time. It is who I am, I enjoy doing what I do. I wouldn't change for anyone.

mrtron 18y ago
Great point here as well. People often feel like they wasted their youth regardless of how they spent it. They always feel they could have done more, could have been more. I have heard the same stories from friends who made it to a very high level in sports - they feel they dedicated too much of their life just to one purpose too. The same goes with the socialites - they often feel they just wasted too much time at parties and all those blend together with time. It actually reminds me of a key point in my life when I was talking with a close friend of mine. He had just returned from an amazing trip backpacking through South America for 4 months and he told me he was envious of how I could be so stable and driven towards my one goal of starting my own company. I was shocked, because I felt the exact opposite and wished I had went on that trip with him. Such is life, and it is full of compromises.
- ph0rque 18y ago
  > People often feel like they wasted their youth regardless of how they spent it. I wasted my youth on a a variety of physical, mental, and social pursuits; all for the purpose of improving my life. :~/
- iamwil 18y ago
  >People often feel like they wasted their youth regardless of how they spent it. "Youth is often wasted on the young" - George Bernard Shaw
  - PieSquared 18y ago
    Well, I'm youth. What would you do if you were in my place? (High school, likes hacking, general geek, plays DnD, etc) I'm actually sincerely curious, since somehow lately I've been feeling that I'm not doing anything significantly awesome or useful - nothing I'll remember in a year or two.
    - lallysingh 18y ago
      Seriously, bulk up, dress up, and use your geek-built analytical skills to do well in the social scene. Nice thing about high school is that nobody's really any good at that stuff yet, so climbing the curve is a matter of just getting out there & trying it. Everyone fucks it up constantly, so it's just a matter of hit rate. And getting some big knock downs is a plus here: tough skin later on's absolutely wonderful. It's pretty liberating to pwn both worlds. B/c once you realize you're not limited to other people's pigeonholes (OPP), you look at the world differently. For a good look on how not to do it, look up "The Game" By Neil Strauss. http://www.amazon.com/Game-Penetrating-Secret-Society-Artists/dp/0060554738 http://www.amazon.com/Game-Penetrating-Secret-Society-Artist...
    - iamwil 18y ago
      I originally wrote more, but thought better of it. All the things I listed, I heard when I was also in HS, but they meant nothing until I actually had to deal with it. Advice is tricky business. So here's two for the immediate future. Date girls and get use to rejection - Things don't 'just happen' for guys (assuming you are one), so get out there and make some magic happen. Keep in mind that girls (and guys) sometimes have no idea what they want, and it's not always you. I use to think this was a natural thing, but like most anything else, it just takes practice. The skills you learn here you'll find applicable to a lot of situations where you'll have to deal with others. Cultivate a sense of curiosity - For that, I refer to you Bill Watterson of Calvin and Hobbes http://home3.inet.tele.dk/stadil/spe_kc.htm http://home3.inet.tele.dk/stadil/spe_kc.htm

by Jem 18y ago

mrtron 18y ago

Great point here as well. People often feel like they wasted their youth regardless of how they spent it. They always feel they could have done more, could have been more. I have heard the same stories from friends who made it to a very high level in sports - they feel they dedicated too much of their life just to one purpose too. The same goes with the socialites - they often feel they just wasted too much time at parties and all those blend together with time. It actually reminds me of a key point in my life when I was talking with a close friend of mine. He had just returned from an amazing trip backpacking through South America for 4 months and he told me he was envious of how I could be so stable and driven towards my one goal of starting my own company. I was shocked, because I felt the exact opposite and wished I had went on that trip with him. Such is life, and it is full of compromises.

ph0rque 18y ago
> People often feel like they wasted their youth regardless of how they spent it. I wasted my youth on a a variety of physical, mental, and social pursuits; all for the purpose of improving my life. :~/
iamwil 18y ago
>People often feel like they wasted their youth regardless of how they spent it. "Youth is often wasted on the young" - George Bernard Shaw
- PieSquared 18y ago
  Well, I'm youth. What would you do if you were in my place? (High school, likes hacking, general geek, plays DnD, etc) I'm actually sincerely curious, since somehow lately I've been feeling that I'm not doing anything significantly awesome or useful - nothing I'll remember in a year or two.
  - lallysingh 18y ago
    Seriously, bulk up, dress up, and use your geek-built analytical skills to do well in the social scene. Nice thing about high school is that nobody's really any good at that stuff yet, so climbing the curve is a matter of just getting out there & trying it. Everyone fucks it up constantly, so it's just a matter of hit rate. And getting some big knock downs is a plus here: tough skin later on's absolutely wonderful. It's pretty liberating to pwn both worlds. B/c once you realize you're not limited to other people's pigeonholes (OPP), you look at the world differently. For a good look on how not to do it, look up "The Game" By Neil Strauss. http://www.amazon.com/Game-Penetrating-Secret-Society-Artists/dp/0060554738 http://www.amazon.com/Game-Penetrating-Secret-Society-Artist...
  - iamwil 18y ago
    I originally wrote more, but thought better of it. All the things I listed, I heard when I was also in HS, but they meant nothing until I actually had to deal with it. Advice is tricky business. So here's two for the immediate future. Date girls and get use to rejection - Things don't 'just happen' for guys (assuming you are one), so get out there and make some magic happen. Keep in mind that girls (and guys) sometimes have no idea what they want, and it's not always you. I use to think this was a natural thing, but like most anything else, it just takes practice. The skills you learn here you'll find applicable to a lot of situations where you'll have to deal with others. Cultivate a sense of curiosity - For that, I refer to you Bill Watterson of Calvin and Hobbes http://home3.inet.tele.dk/stadil/spe_kc.htm http://home3.inet.tele.dk/stadil/spe_kc.htm