5 ms·

> But I did them for no money And I assume you acquired the means to do that for free by.. doing the opposite for long enough to buy you freedom to do so? Or

> But I did them for no money And I assume you acquired the means to do that for free by.. doing the opposite for long enough to buy you freedom to do so? Or marry/born rich?

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
> > But I did them for no money > And I assume you acquired the means to do that for free by.. doing the opposite for long enough to buy you freedom to do so? Or marry/born rich? By working my butt off for over 30 years, making a rather humble salary, but never living large, avoiding personal debt like the plague, driving old cars, or crappy company cars, living in apartments and a small house, saving 25-40% of my earnings, investing in conservative, yet still a bit aggressive, funds, and then, after leaving a job I stayed at for nearly 27 years (at a famous Japanese imaging corporation, that makes optical equipment), being rejected (sometimes, quite rudely) by every place I applied at, for being too old. The first project I mentioned was done over a period of ten years, as a "side project," while I worked as an Engineering Manager (a job I hated). I did it because my life was, literally, saved, by an organization, and I wanted to Give Back. There are many reasons to do things that don't involve avarice, ego, anger, or cynicism. I want to make the world a better place. My resources are limited, but I have some ideas on ways to multiply my impact.
- wnolens 4y ago
  Thanks. Sounds like a ride. Glad you're able to have space to do work well-aligned with your values. I'm finding it really hard to do. Even if I wanted to make the personal sacrifice (and thus sacrifice my future children's stability and environment..) for more virtuous pursuits for far less compensation, I have a hard time believing in any organization's ability to affect meaningful change. I'm trying to start small by helping my one friend who is a doctor to streamline her office tech. I think I could give her 20% of her time back performing repetitive tasks.
  - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
    > I'm trying to start small by helping my one friend who is a doctor to streamline her office tech. I think I could give her 20% of her time back performing repetitive tasks. Sounds like a worthy cause. The ten-year project that I mentioned was actually ready to go, after a couple of years. All the rest of the time, was spent, talking about it, and trying to help people use it, until it went viral, and was taken over by a fairly accomplished team. Thanks to them, it has become a lot bigger than I could have made it.
    - wnolens 4y ago
      Awesome. If I may ask: what was this project?
      - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
        I don’t really mention it in public, but it’s no secret. If you visit the littlegreenviper.com Web site, I tell the origin story, under “Miscellany.” If you contact me, I’m happy to share it. It’s aimed at a very specific demographic.
  - nonrandomstring 4y ago
    > I have a hard time believing in any organization's ability to affect meaningful change. Organisations are generally pretty shit at achieving anything. But the good news is that individuals can and do make a difference and ultimately change things. It's the small wins that count. Changing one person's habits. Getting one more friend to drop BigTech. Getting one teacher to rethink the effect of over-connectedness on our children. Showing one person the problem of e-waste and seeing them jail-break an old phone instead of buying a new one. You overcome the myth of "the they" (the hordes of mindless "users" who just want convenience uber-alles that we always hear about on HN) one real person at a time. Then you start to see friends and colleagues reflecting good values back at you. Help your doctor friend streamline her time with real computing tools, but also make it clear that you're not a charity, or a mug and that what you're doing comes with a message that you expect her to pass on. The health message about harmful technology [1] should resonate with doctors. Encourage her politely to change her lifestyle just as you would commit to changing your diet and exercise if she told you to. [1] https://digitalvegan.net https://digitalvegan.net
- sizzle 4y ago
  Doctors aren’t exactly starving for business, hope you are getting compensated, even if it’s minimal. You it would cost the doctor 10x if they hired a software shop to do the work.
  - wnolens 4y ago
    It would cost 10x, and thus they never do. They instead can only pay old crusty companies for software that's passed through all regulatory hoops to which they provide shit support. I'm not trying to replace that company with my free labor. Mostly looking for ultra low hanging fruit - like scripted replies to FAQs that burn 15 mins/day replying to.

> But I did them for no money And I assume you acquired the means to do that for free by.. doing the opposite for long enough to buy you freedom to do so? Or marry/born rich?

ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago

> > But I did them for no money > And I assume you acquired the means to do that for free by.. doing the opposite for long enough to buy you freedom to do so? Or marry/born rich? By working my butt off for over 30 years, making a rather humble salary, but never living large, avoiding personal debt like the plague, driving old cars, or crappy company cars, living in apartments and a small house, saving 25-40% of my earnings, investing in conservative, yet still a bit aggressive, funds, and then, after leaving a job I stayed at for nearly 27 years (at a famous Japanese imaging corporation, that makes optical equipment), being rejected (sometimes, quite rudely) by every place I applied at, for being too old. The first project I mentioned was done over a period of ten years, as a "side project," while I worked as an Engineering Manager (a job I hated). I did it because my life was, literally, saved, by an organization, and I wanted to Give Back. There are many reasons to do things that don't involve avarice, ego, anger, or cynicism. I want to make the world a better place. My resources are limited, but I have some ideas on ways to multiply my impact.

wnolens 4y ago
Thanks. Sounds like a ride. Glad you're able to have space to do work well-aligned with your values. I'm finding it really hard to do. Even if I wanted to make the personal sacrifice (and thus sacrifice my future children's stability and environment..) for more virtuous pursuits for far less compensation, I have a hard time believing in any organization's ability to affect meaningful change. I'm trying to start small by helping my one friend who is a doctor to streamline her office tech. I think I could give her 20% of her time back performing repetitive tasks.
- ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
  > I'm trying to start small by helping my one friend who is a doctor to streamline her office tech. I think I could give her 20% of her time back performing repetitive tasks. Sounds like a worthy cause. The ten-year project that I mentioned was actually ready to go, after a couple of years. All the rest of the time, was spent, talking about it, and trying to help people use it, until it went viral, and was taken over by a fairly accomplished team. Thanks to them, it has become a lot bigger than I could have made it.
  - wnolens 4y ago
    Awesome. If I may ask: what was this project?
    - ChrisMarshallNY 4y ago
      I don’t really mention it in public, but it’s no secret. If you visit the littlegreenviper.com Web site, I tell the origin story, under “Miscellany.” If you contact me, I’m happy to share it. It’s aimed at a very specific demographic.
- nonrandomstring 4y ago
  > I have a hard time believing in any organization's ability to affect meaningful change. Organisations are generally pretty shit at achieving anything. But the good news is that individuals can and do make a difference and ultimately change things. It's the small wins that count. Changing one person's habits. Getting one more friend to drop BigTech. Getting one teacher to rethink the effect of over-connectedness on our children. Showing one person the problem of e-waste and seeing them jail-break an old phone instead of buying a new one. You overcome the myth of "the they" (the hordes of mindless "users" who just want convenience uber-alles that we always hear about on HN) one real person at a time. Then you start to see friends and colleagues reflecting good values back at you. Help your doctor friend streamline her time with real computing tools, but also make it clear that you're not a charity, or a mug and that what you're doing comes with a message that you expect her to pass on. The health message about harmful technology [1] should resonate with doctors. Encourage her politely to change her lifestyle just as you would commit to changing your diet and exercise if she told you to. [1] https://digitalvegan.net https://digitalvegan.net
sizzle 4y ago
Doctors aren’t exactly starving for business, hope you are getting compensated, even if it’s minimal. You it would cost the doctor 10x if they hired a software shop to do the work.
- wnolens 4y ago
  It would cost 10x, and thus they never do. They instead can only pay old crusty companies for software that's passed through all regulatory hoops to which they provide shit support. I'm not trying to replace that company with my free labor. Mostly looking for ultra low hanging fruit - like scripted replies to FAQs that burn 15 mins/day replying to.