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I'm really happy that you've signed up! Amusingly I'm in a very similar boat to you. I'm fairly certain that almost all the money that I'm receiving on Gittip

by jeresig 13y ago

I'm really happy that you've signed up! Amusingly I'm in a very similar boat to you. I'm fairly certain that almost all the money that I'm receiving on Gittip is due to my work on jQuery - which I haven't actively worked in quite a few years. One way in which Chad explained it to me, that resonated, was that Gittip can be better thought of as a "genius grant". People are giving you money not to support a specific thing (otherwise Gittip would be project-centric, not person-centric) but to support YOU and the things you want to do. It's kind of crazy because I'm fairly certain that I'm getting donations because of my work on jQuery and not for my current side-project research into Japanese woodblock printing - but people don't seem to mind! (And I've made it clear on my profile what it is, exactly, that I'm working on right now and what I'm using the money for.) I have a full-time job at Khan Academy and I'm well paid so I don't need the extra money - but it is appreciated. I'm re-donating a portion of the money that I get. Additionally it's paying for my extra server costs for my side projects and it's probably even paying for a good chunk of my monthly utility bill. I've been trying to think of other ways in which I can use the money that'll have a more obvious "money in -> using money -> output" pipeline but I'm not sure what that is, yet. Let's hope you'll be able to keep your account open and find good uses for the money!

jashkenas 13y ago
Hah. I'm afraid that -- between being currently funemployed, having just had all of my worldly possessions (at least for this year) stolen out of the back of my car last week, and discovering that travel insurance doesn't really cover it very well ... I can certainly think of a few good uses for it ;) I'm afraid that I'm still "actively" working on everything (except for Ruby-Processing, which has been passed along), but it's all on a light simmer on the slow burner. More excitingly, there's a new OSS project, still in the early planning stages, which I'm pretty jazzed about. Seriously though, thanks for the nudge. Much of the time, open source can feel like a slog through a bottomless pit for inane GitHub issues, with the occasional diamond in the rough. Your article is making open source feel more like a friendly love-in tonight.
- whit537 13y ago
  Geez, man. Wow. I'm sorry. :-( I can't believe I'm asking this, but what would it take for you to work on open-source full time instead of going back to NYT in the winter? Is that something you would even want? What would it take to keep you funemployed forever?
  - jashkenas 13y ago
    > Is that something you would even want? I don't think so. Having a balance between short-term deadline driven stories and slower, larger, more greenfield projects is a terribly nice luxury for a programmer to have. I also find it hard to imagine a more interesting and enlivening day-to-day environment than a national newsroom. I talk a little bit more about it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3HanxEFFlk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3HanxEFFlk ... and Derek's got a great post from this morning about the job as well: http://thescoop.org/archives/2013/07/16/why-develop-in-the-newsroom/ http://thescoop.org/archives/2013/07/16/why-develop-in-the-n...
    - whit537 13y ago
      Fair enough. Thanks for the links, and for giving Gittip a try. :-)
- ilaksh 13y ago
  Can we get a hint about the new project that is in early planning stages?
  - jashkenas 13y ago
    Hint: "Will It Blend?"
    - ilaksh 13y ago
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USiaeXzYkOE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USiaeXzYkOE So definitely a high performance open source kitchen appliance. Or something to do with open source movies/3d (Blender). Or maybe its something like literate CoffeeScript but allowing you to use any language that compiles to JavaScript. Or maybe its a way to edit programs interactively by using a non-textual abstract syntax storage format that allows for different types of presentations or editors. Like reactive CSS for ASTs or something. LOL.
kingkilr 13y ago
If you enjoy speaking or attending conferences, I've tried to use some of the money (since I'm also in the "have a full time job" boat) towards going to conferences I normally wouldn't, and trying to be an asset to the community there.

by jeresig 13y ago

jashkenas 13y ago

Hah. I'm afraid that -- between being currently funemployed, having just had all of my worldly possessions (at least for this year) stolen out of the back of my car last week, and discovering that travel insurance doesn't really cover it very well ... I can certainly think of a few good uses for it ;) I'm afraid that I'm still "actively" working on everything (except for Ruby-Processing, which has been passed along), but it's all on a light simmer on the slow burner. More excitingly, there's a new OSS project, still in the early planning stages, which I'm pretty jazzed about. Seriously though, thanks for the nudge. Much of the time, open source can feel like a slog through a bottomless pit for inane GitHub issues, with the occasional diamond in the rough. Your article is making open source feel more like a friendly love-in tonight.

whit537 13y ago
Geez, man. Wow. I'm sorry. :-( I can't believe I'm asking this, but what would it take for you to work on open-source full time instead of going back to NYT in the winter? Is that something you would even want? What would it take to keep you funemployed forever?
- jashkenas 13y ago
  > Is that something you would even want? I don't think so. Having a balance between short-term deadline driven stories and slower, larger, more greenfield projects is a terribly nice luxury for a programmer to have. I also find it hard to imagine a more interesting and enlivening day-to-day environment than a national newsroom. I talk a little bit more about it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3HanxEFFlk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3HanxEFFlk ... and Derek's got a great post from this morning about the job as well: http://thescoop.org/archives/2013/07/16/why-develop-in-the-newsroom/ http://thescoop.org/archives/2013/07/16/why-develop-in-the-n...
  - whit537 13y ago
    Fair enough. Thanks for the links, and for giving Gittip a try. :-)
ilaksh 13y ago
Can we get a hint about the new project that is in early planning stages?
- jashkenas 13y ago
  Hint: "Will It Blend?"
  - ilaksh 13y ago
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USiaeXzYkOE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USiaeXzYkOE So definitely a high performance open source kitchen appliance. Or something to do with open source movies/3d (Blender). Or maybe its something like literate CoffeeScript but allowing you to use any language that compiles to JavaScript. Or maybe its a way to edit programs interactively by using a non-textual abstract syntax storage format that allows for different types of presentations or editors. Like reactive CSS for ASTs or something. LOL.

kingkilr 13y ago

If you enjoy speaking or attending conferences, I've tried to use some of the money (since I'm also in the "have a full time job" boat) towards going to conferences I normally wouldn't, and trying to be an asset to the community there.