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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/softwa

by 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
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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
  Yes I do enjoy movies but I'm not constantly looking at movies. Also, easy and useful is the best kind of useful. Easy and useless is well, useless.
mcroft 13y ago
You might have a point from a technical perspective, but I think these kinds of technically easy projects show their worth in other ways. In this case, the builders had to think about their users, the best way to notify people, the kind of notifications which would work best (active/passive) and in doing so, they've just strengthened those neural pathways that are involved in this sort of customer-focused thinking. The fact that it's technically easy just means that it was a lightweight thing to do which didn't take up much time at all and generally improved morale. I think that's a good thing.

by aortega 13y ago

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

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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
Yes I do enjoy movies but I'm not constantly looking at movies. Also, easy and useful is the best kind of useful. Easy and useless is well, useless.

mcroft 13y ago

You might have a point from a technical perspective, but I think these kinds of technically easy projects show their worth in other ways. In this case, the builders had to think about their users, the best way to notify people, the kind of notifications which would work best (active/passive) and in doing so, they've just strengthened those neural pathways that are involved in this sort of customer-focused thinking. The fact that it's technically easy just means that it was a lightweight thing to do which didn't take up much time at all and generally improved morale. I think that's a good thing.