5 ms·

These kind of projects are awesome. They may seem "pointless" or "a waste of time" to some PHB-types but they're a wonderful showcase of a great, true-hacker cu

by nlh 13y ago

These kind of projects are awesome. They may seem "pointless" or "a waste of time" to some PHB-types but they're a wonderful showcase of a great, true-hacker culture and I bet they do a ton for morale. I hope that any future startup I'm involved with has this sort of culture - it's a goal I'll aim for. Well done guys.

ahmadss 13y ago
shameless plug -- if you like "pointless" projects, check-out Pointless Corporation -- http://www.pointlesscorp.com http://www.pointlesscorp.com
- jodrellblank 13y ago
  Related concept: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chind%C5%8Dgu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chind%C5%8Dgu
aortega 13y ago
Raspberry Pi is great and easy to work with. I got it, I don't need 5 inane projects per day to remind me about it. I particularly like this one, but for me life is too short to waste time in useless projects.
- Spittie 13y ago
  If you're enjoying yourself and having fun, it's not a waste of time.
  - aortega 13y ago
    Creating useful things is also very fun. And takes about the same time/energy. Anyway, doing stuff with a raspberry pi has no hacker merits IMHO. Anybody can connect stuff to a portable supercomputer and make it do things.
    - zo1 13y ago
      So you're basically saying that you're only a "hacker" if you do stuff with hardware. That is completely upside down, if not borderline elitist. Building stuff and "hacking" has no requirement for hardware. It hasn't been that way for a long while. Now excuse me while I gladly take our Raspberry Pis, Arduinos and "software" thingimaggigs off your precious lawn.
      - aortega 13y ago
        Chill dude, call yourself a hacker if you wish, has no strict definition anyway. I believe "fun" and "easy" projects have no merits, them being hardware/software/whatever (unless you are in high-school) It's nice to make one once in a while, but if you only do fun and easy projects then you are wasting your life. You should try to push yourself to make things that are not easy. Get outside your comfort zone. Doing stuff with a supercomputer like the raspberry pi is easy (BTW also, it is very cheap, and sometimes projects are good only because of that).
        zo1 13y ago
        Well, then we obviously differ in our definitions of "not wasting" our lives. I find time spent creating something/anything as worthwhile, whereas you find time spent being challenged as worthwhile. In the end we're both creating something; spawning usefulness from our own doing. It's still a learning experience, even if you're not overly technically challenged or frustrated.
        deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
        chrismcb 13y ago
        Just because something isn't difficult, doesn't mean it isn't useful. And sometimes people just enjoying doing stuff. Do you enjoy watching a movie, or reading fiction, or just sitting and chatting with friends?
        aortega 13y ago
overgard 13y ago
I do always find it funny when some companies say they value "innovation" but look at things like this and think its a "waste". I mean, you can't really be innovative without also encouraging a culture where you can experiment.
jsingleton 13y ago
Nothing is pointless. :) I wired one of these tasteless gnomes (http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/meerkat-solar-light http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/meerkat-solar-light) up to our build server with a Raspberry Pi (which also plays sound effects). It has to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever claimed expenses for! Seemed silly at the time but now everyone loves it. No one has to be the guy that tells you that you broke the build. The anger is all directed at the meerkat and you can't ignore it like you ignore emails.
userbinator 13y ago
I think this is not at all a waste of time if it means that employees can be spending more time at their desks and doing work instead of waiting for a toilet. The fact that they were motivated enough to build such a system is an indication that there was a large amount of time spent waiting.
- bagels 13y ago
  Or that they need more toilets.
fayyazkl 13y ago
Moreover, the concept is quite abstract and has many similar applications. I used to work in a scenario when there was a specific gateway resource that was needed to be run by every developer for executing his code, was very expensive and people would annoy each other by suddenly remote logging into machine and disturbing others. Then we came up with a resource locking / waiting and current state showing software, along with estimates of when which machine would be free, so you could request a reserve slot. Some sophistication included things like how much of it was actually used by you vs reservation time so it could adjust appropriately.

by nlh 13y ago

ahmadss 13y ago

shameless plug -- if you like "pointless" projects, check-out Pointless Corporation -- http://www.pointlesscorp.com http://www.pointlesscorp.com

jodrellblank 13y ago
Related concept: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chind%C5%8Dgu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chind%C5%8Dgu

aortega 13y ago

Raspberry Pi is great and easy to work with. I got it, I don't need 5 inane projects per day to remind me about it. I particularly like this one, but for me life is too short to waste time in useless projects.

Spittie 13y ago
If you're enjoying yourself and having fun, it's not a waste of time.
- aortega 13y ago
  Creating useful things is also very fun. And takes about the same time/energy. Anyway, doing stuff with a raspberry pi has no hacker merits IMHO. Anybody can connect stuff to a portable supercomputer and make it do things.
  - zo1 13y ago
    So you're basically saying that you're only a "hacker" if you do stuff with hardware. That is completely upside down, if not borderline elitist. Building stuff and "hacking" has no requirement for hardware. It hasn't been that way for a long while. Now excuse me while I gladly take our Raspberry Pis, Arduinos and "software" thingimaggigs off your precious lawn.
    - aortega 13y ago
      Chill dude, call yourself a hacker if you wish, has no strict definition anyway. I believe "fun" and "easy" projects have no merits, them being hardware/software/whatever (unless you are in high-school) It's nice to make one once in a while, but if you only do fun and easy projects then you are wasting your life. You should try to push yourself to make things that are not easy. Get outside your comfort zone. Doing stuff with a supercomputer like the raspberry pi is easy (BTW also, it is very cheap, and sometimes projects are good only because of that).
      - zo1 13y ago
        Well, then we obviously differ in our definitions of "not wasting" our lives. I find time spent creating something/anything as worthwhile, whereas you find time spent being challenged as worthwhile. In the end we're both creating something; spawning usefulness from our own doing. It's still a learning experience, even if you're not overly technically challenged or frustrated.
      - deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
      - chrismcb 13y ago
        Just because something isn't difficult, doesn't mean it isn't useful. And sometimes people just enjoying doing stuff. Do you enjoy watching a movie, or reading fiction, or just sitting and chatting with friends?
        aortega 13y ago

overgard 13y ago

I do always find it funny when some companies say they value "innovation" but look at things like this and think its a "waste". I mean, you can't really be innovative without also encouraging a culture where you can experiment.

jsingleton 13y ago

Nothing is pointless. :) I wired one of these tasteless gnomes (http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/meerkat-solar-light http://www.robertdyas.co.uk/meerkat-solar-light) up to our build server with a Raspberry Pi (which also plays sound effects). It has to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever claimed expenses for! Seemed silly at the time but now everyone loves it. No one has to be the guy that tells you that you broke the build. The anger is all directed at the meerkat and you can't ignore it like you ignore emails.

userbinator 13y ago

I think this is not at all a waste of time if it means that employees can be spending more time at their desks and doing work instead of waiting for a toilet. The fact that they were motivated enough to build such a system is an indication that there was a large amount of time spent waiting.

bagels 13y ago
Or that they need more toilets.

fayyazkl 13y ago

Moreover, the concept is quite abstract and has many similar applications. I used to work in a scenario when there was a specific gateway resource that was needed to be run by every developer for executing his code, was very expensive and people would annoy each other by suddenly remote logging into machine and disturbing others. Then we came up with a resource locking / waiting and current state showing software, along with estimates of when which machine would be free, so you could request a reserve slot. Some sophistication included things like how much of it was actually used by you vs reservation time so it could adjust appropriately.