Ask HN: What keeps you up at night?
I just found this question on the application form of Techstars. I have no idea what they want to see through this question...
Almost every programming language in use today is over fifteen years old, and we still have to deal with stupid things like character sets and the like. Writing a program isn't about being smart, it's about knowing a predefined set of rules that keep the computer from puking all over the brand new carpet.
And my wife snores.
Here's an example of that type of usage:
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_6380000/newsid_6388...)
> Loads of kids in the UK can't sleep at night because of worrying about the environment, according to a new report. Fears about global warming and its effects on people's health and animals are some of their biggest concerns. But what keeps you awake at night?
Sometimes the usage is more specific, about the jobs that people actually have. Here's an example of that usage:
(http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/news/what-keeps-you-awake-a...)
> Moore, who deals with the rest of the astrophysics portfolio, said his worry is how to implement the missions called for in the 2010 NRC Decadal Survey for astronomy and astrophysics with NASA's existing budget, and how to work with the Europeans on achieving science objectives. He also is worried about the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism (GEMS) small Explorer mission that he said has technical and cost challenges. "We hope we can thread that needle," he said, and "be honest and straightforward about cost."
There's a subtly different form of this. People identify challenging aspects of their work, and they key important aspects of their work. These are framed in a positive way. Here's a video of some of this type of use. Note the small difference, the NASA quote is a bit brutal ("We have really tight budgets and we hope we can meet budgets") while the AskTheExperts video is more aspirational ("Progress is difficult but exciting possibilities exist").
(http://newgtlds.icann.org/en/announcements-and-media/video/a...)
The urge to code.
Next door singing karaoke.
Bad colds.