Comment by alias_neo | Hacker News Reader

Comment by alias_neo | Hacker News Reader

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Your parents deserve credit here for that great response.

My parents mostly encouraged me mostly by providing the tools and leaving me to it; I spent some of my early years (pre-teen) reverse engineering/cracking (education only, never released), then an inordinate amount of time playing the Discworld MUD.

Once I got bored of BASIC my dad bought me some books on C++ and took me to a college course on PC building with him; though initially the college were reluctant to let a child take the course (I was 12). He'd often take me to work and answer all of my questions about what he was doing; PLC/panel-building at the time, with some very cool fibre optic tech and DIN rail mounted devices of all kinds; I'd help make wiring looms and labelling.

He and I would build a new ("family") PC every year until I got my first job after uni and could pay for my own damn computer;

He just uses laptops now and hasn't built or used a desktop since the last one we built together with my first pay-packet over a decade ago.

I was lucky. During the "core" years of my childhood (8-12), my dad worked from home. This is also when I started getting into computing. He always arranged his days so that he was off work by the time we kids came home from school. My desk was in his office, and in the summers he'd always answer my questions or at least point me in the right direction if I asked him something when he wasn't on a call. He always seemed to have this superpower of being able to switch his full focus instantly. Mom was a full-time mom until I was 15, when financial conditions ('08) meant they both needed to work. She has a masters in math education, so there was always at least one well educated person I could annoy at any time.

I remember when dad first gave me the ability to use the internet by myself (2001, iirc). He told me how it was an unprecedented way of accessing information and learning, something he felt would have put him years ahead of where he was if he had it when he was in college. I discovered so many niche communities for the things I was interested in (LEGO Mindstorms, AVR, Rokenbok, model trains, etc.). I kinda yearn for the days when the internet wasn't the advertisement ridden and siloed hellscape it is today.

Incredible. I hope my children are interested in programming/IT as I am; because it's both something I'm good at an passionate about and I'd love to share that with them.

I work from home now, and have done since Covid; so I've spent (almost) every day of my children's lives at home with them. I'm currently trying to work out how best to set up the older child (3yo) with a computer to learn on; Something like a child-friendly / fun version of Monkeytype [0] to get her reading/spelling/typing as she's always shown an interest in what I'm doing on the computer.

I have a bunch of Pis and mechanical keyboards so I'm thinking I'll let her choose some sort of enclosure we can "print" (3D printing is just "printing" to her, because how could it have fewer than 3 dimensions?) and set her up nearby.

The internet really isn't what it was when I was a child (not too far from yourself), but I guess that's the price for it going mainstream.

Monkey see, monkey do.

One of my earliest and fondest memories is my father taking apart and fixing the family PC at the kitchen table while on the phone with Zeos support. Seeing your parents genuinely interested and doing these activities is priceless.

Zeos! I remember wanting their sleek notebook after seeing a bronzed ad in Byte. Of course, sleek was like, under 2" thick.

I didn't have a parental example with technology, but at least they bought computers and let me play with them.

I think gcompris might be what you're looking for. It runs nicely on Raspberry Pis and there are several activities that are suitable for three year olds, as well as activities for older learners.

I'll be looking for a similar project soon. My 2yo also just knows 3d printing as printing ("blue tape... printer hot!") and we recently built the Otto DIY robot[0] together. I'm looking into building something like a modernized TRS-80 model 100[1] with bigger font and maybe a better screen angle. The robot has been great in that we could build it with minimal components and add parts to improve functionality, and I'd like to carry that spirit into our computer build as well. (Bonus points if I can get the computer to send instructions to the robot!)

I've learned a tremendous amount on the internet and I'm still learning. There's never been a better time to get information, but some of it is getting harder to find.

0: https://www.instructables.com/Otto-Build-You-Own-Robot-in-Tw...

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80_Model_100

Damn that mirrors my experience with my dad pretty much (bar Uni)! He'd also take delight in renting out my support services (mainly as a proud parent but also so I could make some pocket money) by fixing his mates machines, which were usually a piece of cake. Helped me get a career in IT.

Ha, my dad did exactly the same to me; except he wouldn't let them pay me. I guess if you're gonna raise tech-literate kids, you've got to be able to call on them for favor-making. I'm sure he is (I am) owed more than a few returned favors by now.

> Your parents deserve credit here for that great response.

Well, half a great response

No way I would tell my kids to take up with some a-hole online that is more interested in trolling than anything else

I don't know that trolling was what it is now; I don't remember trolls so much in those years (mid 90s-early 00s for me), and they might have just thought that this person could be reasoned with, though depending on how old my children were, I'd certainly be keeping an eye on that conversation.

Oh, there was no shortage of troll those days…

> No way I would tell my kids to take up with some a-hole online

That was my first instinct as well. But thinking about it, the second interaction seems to have solidified to him that the person didn't have any actual argument against his participation, that it was just an asshat being unpleasant.

What's the inverse of rose-colored glasses? Looking at the past through the lens of today? That's kinda what this comment suggests. The internet of the 90s was much safer than the internet of today is.

This has nothing to do with internet. There were assholes long before the internet who would bully whoever looks weaker. They would do it in person, on meetings, in friends group, against students if they were teachers, against waiters and other service staff. This guy definitely seems like one.

Plus, that assessment turned out right.

I think it was necessary to build resilience, so it doesn’t affect you in a worse way when you are an adult

Imo, teaching kids to assert healthy boundaries is better then teaching them to accept being insulted or doormats.

Heya from a fellow Discworld player! What was your character’s name if I may ask?

Hi! My main was "Beholder" (Warrior), I also had Mythrandyr (Witch), an (PK) Assassin whose name I forget (his dual-wield poison-daggers were named Atrum and Lucis) and a couple of other minor character's I rarely used.

I met some incredible characters in my time playing that have had as much effect on my life as any IRL person I've met. I would love to be able to get back into it again but I don't think the experience will be the same any more, decades later.

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