ExtremisAndy

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31.
by ExtremisAndy 4y ago
Not sure if anyone else has said it, but I sure will. I am the lone developer of my website, and it has been so wonderful to be able to remain in JavaScript for both front and back end development. Node also makes a fine scripting language,
32.
by ExtremisAndy 4y ago
Wow. This method is so ridiculous I just might have to copy it. Seriously though, I hadn't thought about using that time (which most people are guaranteed to have every single day, several times a day) for learning new things. I think
33.
by ExtremisAndy 4y ago
I have to. I definitely buy some tech books on Kindle and follow web tutorials too. I'm not against doing those things. But when I care to really understand a topic in tech, for reasons I'm not even sure I can explain, I need a re
34.
by ExtremisAndy 4y ago
One thing that’s worked for me is going old fashioned and getting my news in a daily 20-minute news video recap, not unlike the “old days” of watching the evening nightly newscast of your choice. These are often on YouTube nowadays, so you
35.
by ExtremisAndy 4y ago
Totally agree! But oddly enough, I have this problem with all code/languages… I always write code much more easily than I read it. I can write fairly complex applications just by following the logic of what the application must do in
36.
by ExtremisAndy 4y ago
Second this recommendation. Fun read! I know a lot of HN folks won’t be as impressed as I was, but I had no idea they wrote the first several versions of WordPerfect for DOS in assembly. To me, at least, THAT is impressive. I wouldn’t even
37.
by ExtremisAndy 4y ago
I have the exact same problem. Wow, I could have written almost the same post about myself (including the part about the panicking wife!) Thank you for the music suggestions. One thing I find a bit strange is that the music of Liquid Mind b
38.
by ExtremisAndy 4y ago
Do you have any examples of the type of work you’re talking about? I want to get into tech so bad I can’t stand it, but my education is in the humanities and while I’ve written thousands and thousands of lines of non-trivial* code in a vari
39.
by ExtremisAndy 5y ago
For me, I just really love how using a different language helps me to think differently about problem-solving in general. For example, I learned enough Prolog to make a very simple expert system (that no one on Earth would have possibly fou
40.
by ExtremisAndy 5y ago
I also thought the line about current vaccine protection against severe disease/death sounded a little more confident than the evidence seems to justify. I’m no expert in this field and would never pretend to be. But I would like to kn
41.
by ExtremisAndy 5y ago
Agreed! I use C++ for small scripts/tools and love it. Granted, I first spent some time writing a library of convenience functions like starts_with(), ends_with(), contains(), get_file_contents(), read_csv_file(), etc. that so many lan
42.
by ExtremisAndy 6y ago
You aren’t kidding. I really enjoy SFML, so I made simplified versions of a couple of early 80s arcade classics to play around with that library a bit. Even with so much given to you with a library like SFML, it’s still hard work to make ev
43.
by ExtremisAndy 6y ago
Oh goodness, yes. The haunting, disturbing atmosphere in both Limbo and Inside are pure magic. Two excellent titles!
44.
by ExtremisAndy 6y ago
You’ve got that right! I taught remotely all summer long on 6mpbs down/ 0.3 up. Dreadful. Just enough upload speed for PowerPoint + my voice. I’d love for something like Starlink to work.
45.
by ExtremisAndy 6y ago
It’s really depressing in rural places. I had to teach online all summer with DSL 6mbps down/ 0.3mbps up. Forget uploading any video. My students never saw my face. Thankfully, the videoconferencing software I was using managed to allo
46.
by ExtremisAndy 6y ago
I love C++ so much, and it has brought me such joy as a hobbyist programmer, but good grief, this one aspect of it (dealing with encodings & charsets) is so depressing I just want to cry sometimes.
47.
by ExtremisAndy 6y ago
Yeah, my wording wasn't great, so your confusion with my post is my fault for not being clearer. I obviously can solve problems to some degree otherwise I wouldn't be able to even create the simple tools I've made to solve so
48.
by ExtremisAndy 6y ago
I pretty much agree here. I am an example of someone who simply does not have the genes for it, so to speak. I have loved programming since I was a little boy but am horrible at it. I can learn a language's basic syntax just fine (and
49.
by ExtremisAndy 6y ago
I loved DSL! I can’t remember the specs, but I had an ancient machine lying around in about 2004, that would have been otherwise worthless, and put DSL on it just to check it out. I remember being so impressed with how productive I could be
50.
by ExtremisAndy 6y ago
I have never contributed to open source because I have always been so impressed with the source code I’ve seen in these projects. It intimidates me! I’m a self-taught programmer, and while I’ve certainly written thousands of lines of useful
51.
by ExtremisAndy 6y ago
Yes! A few years back I was asked to teach a philosophy class (having done no philosophy in many years... go figure!) and this podcast was instrumental in helping me to review the basics and form in my mind a solid overview of the history o
52.
by ExtremisAndy 6y ago
Why are you happy about no wifi/Bt? Genuinely curious.
53.
by ExtremisAndy 6y ago
Yeah, I know what you mean by using a small subset of C++. To be perfectly honest (and I'm just a hobbyist who writes simple tools for myself... so I can get away with this a little easier than a professional could) but I got really fr
54.
by ExtremisAndy 6y ago
"Another alternative is to treat the 25m as a minimum time in Pomodoro: if you are tired or have reached a natural break point for your task then stop. If you're in the flow continue." This. The pomodoro technique has helped
55.
by ExtremisAndy 6y ago
Oh wow... you just described me with frightening accuracy. I’ve never seen my issue described so clearly and concisely. Basically, if there aren’t negative consequences for me not completing a task, my brain simply never gets motivated. It’
56.
by ExtremisAndy 7y ago
Based on my own personal experience, I have to wonder if you're not on to something here. I wear just one glove every time I go to the supermarket and my nurse friends have been quick to point out to me that gloves are completely unnec
57.
by ExtremisAndy 7y ago
> The vast majority of medical professionals are not researchers, and are not trained in evaluating clinical trial data. They are notoriously poor at assessing such information. Citation, please. This is a very strong statement.
58.
by ExtremisAndy 7y ago
Could not agree more. A couple of years ago I decided to learn Java (I was already aware of the 'basics' in programming from other languages... variables, loops, functions, classes, etc.) so I spent maybe a week learning the basic
59.
by ExtremisAndy 7y ago
So glad to see this little gem mentioned! I have many books on C, but this is the only one I've ever read cover-to-cover. Clear and to the point, and no fluff/silliness. One of my favorite programming books ever!
60.
by ExtremisAndy 7y ago
For me, happiness at work consists of three things: 1) The people I work for and with are kind and respectful 2) I am able to do the job well (and don't mind doing it) 3) It pays enough for me to live without struggling financially Bas

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