I always use the chess analogy. Some people can play chess every day for years and never get past being an advanced beginner. That's over 90% of the populatio

I always use the chess analogy. Some people can play chess every day for years and never get past being an advanced beginner. That's over 90% of the population whether it's Chess or programming. It's a very intense mental exercise... even if the author of the article thinks it's just "playing." To get a job programming you have to be better than a mid-level chess player and demonstrate it by 'winning' projects that are relatively difficult. Even by doing that you still have to jump through tons of hoops to get a decent job. The types of perks and jobs the author is talking about sounds like a fantasy to me when I've worked nothing but soul-sucking .NET corporate jobs, and web contract work where I'm always worried about getting paid on time. For me it's come to the point where I'd rather work a part-time job (I'm basically a Janitor) and do programming/startups on the side... than have more soul-sucking code-slave work. So it's almost like this guy lives in an alternate universe to me. I'm trying to make it easier for me though... lately I'm taking a bunch of Nootropics (racetams, fish oil, various amino acids) and I'm getting back on track. I have a friend who takes Adderall every day to keep up with his job. It's great that the author does not have to do these things and everything just falls into place for him... but at least have some perspective that for many people this shit is not easy.