Updating Your Utility Belt | Hacker News Reader

Updating Your Utility Belt

codinghorror.com

37 pointsBIackSwan43 comments

"every self-respecting geek has one"

I realize Jeff's just being...poetic, but really it's just an excuse to buy toys. Spend your money on what makes you happy. If more gadgets, or that 6th purse, or 20th pair of shoes does that, great. If you want to define [part of] yourself by your possessions, do that. But don't judge others by the lack of theirs.

But then people wouldn't click on his amazon referral links maybe?

Yeah. If you need to unlock doors, then you need keys. But you don't need a flashlight all the time unless you are a security guard or something.

We might as well be talking about purses.

That's what I thought, until I started carrying one. Now I use it all the time for mundane tasks such as finding something that dropped under my car seat, plugging in an ethernet cable under my desk, rummaging around in the back of a closet, and so on. It really makes life easier, especially as I find my night vision isn't as good as it used to be. LED lights and Li-ion batteries last for ages, so it's hardly an inconvenience.

I find the one built into my cell phone adequate for all of that. It's brighter than the $3 filament bulb flashlights they sell at Wal-Mart, which people considered adequate for decades. I have a real flashlight (uses the same Li-Ion pack as my Bosch cordless screwdriver, 8+ hours continuous use) for something like walking at night; I don't need to carry that all the time as the phone light is plenty for all spontaneous type situations you've mentioned.

Well, it's nice to able to light up a room when you need to. But to each his own.

I am not so sure.

I draw a joke distinction between a geek and a nerd like this. A geek is someone who loves technology and toys. A nerd is someone who gets utterly obsessed by a particular topic.

I usually bring this up when explaining to a fellow programmer that I'm a nerd but not a geek. Which fact I then demonstrate by pulling out my flip phone.

If they proceed to doubt that I am a nerd, I'll then offer to explain something esoteric. A good example is the differences between the Riemann integral, the Lebesgue integral, and the Generalized Riemann integral. And why if the last had been discovered earlier, we might not have needed to develop Lebesgue integration at all!

Seems like irrelevant categorizing that doesn’t make much sense and isn’t very useful. Who cares what you are in terms of dumb categories like that?

> Who cares what you are in terms of dumb categories like that?

Certain kinds of nerds do (though usually not geeks).

Seems like pretty handy categorising - it's come in handy already! :P

Because you can be one without the other, and people frequently assume that because you're one, it means that you're the other--and predict your actions based on that (for example, by buying you stupid geek toys when you are merely a nerd.)

So, why not eschew those categories altogether and reject them outright?

It seems to me they are too, well, mushy to be really useful.

I don't understand what you're saying. The reason it is useful to make this distinction, is to explain to people that don't see the distinction (and thus assume that, for example, someone who likes math watches Firefly; or that someone who collects MTG cards will be able to fix their computer), that in fact there is a practical difference between the two categories, and that they should keep them in mind so as to not offend people that aren't both by assuming they have traits of a group they don't.

A nerd is someone who gets utterly obsessed by a particular topic.

I usually bring this up when explaining to a fellow programmer that I'm a nerd but not a geek.

I believe this answers your question. Being a self-proclaimed nerd, btilly clearly does, per his definition.

I believe "geek" typically describes someone obsessed with a particular topic and/or with media/games/tech/some-corner-of-popular culture. Conversely, "nerd" typically describes someone obsessed with a particular academic topic and/or with learning in general. It's a significant difference.

Though not typical, it's also worthwhile to remove the "socially awkward" connotations of the use of "nerd" and "geek" terms and ascribe those to "dork" instead. Many self-described geeks and/or nerds don't consider themselves socially handicapped and it's deleterious to society to muddle academic engagement with social impairment.

The categorizing is indeed irrelevant. However I find it useful as a way to explain to self-proclaimed geeks why I don't care about the things that they think geeks should care about.

If the programmers around me self-declared as nerds I would reverse the distinction. Because I don't care about the label at all. What I care about is concisely explaining why it is that you can find someone who is competent at programming who does not share a lot of the interests that they assume I should share.

Do fellow programmers tend to back away slowly? :)

Both words seem to be used to describe people that like specific categories of things but are unpopular or awkward. I refuse to be labeled with either regardless of any fine distinction in meaning. To me, what you are describing is like, "no I'm a douche, not an asshole." (I think you are neither, just an analogy.)

Do fellow programmers tend to back away slowly? :)

I have definitely left some in utter disbelief.

Among unpopular and awkward technical types, I stand out as being both awkward, and exceptionally extroverted. It is an interesting combination, though best observed from a distance. Kind of like a train wreck.

But you have to work with what you've got. And somehow it does seem to work out for me in real life.

I used to respect Jeff a lot, partly because of his stackoverflow fame. However, these days I find him annoying, as he has just become part of the "noise" we all find unproductive. This post just strengthens my point, where he buys useless bling to show off and everyone applauds him for being a materialistic prat.

I'll probably get downvoted but I've just had enough of this 'utility belt' bull.

He's been doing this post since 2005, so I don't think much has changed.

Plus you can buy the entirety of his 'useless bling' for $35, and it seems pretty obvious to me that he actually uses these tools on a daily basis.

The only thing I didn't really like were the affiliate links without disclaimer... but it's not that big a deal.

It's just a blog post. It's not like he posted this to personally ruin anybody's day or Hacker News viewing experience.

It's just a post on his personal website. He's not forcing you to read it. You're the one turning it into "noise". You're the one letting it make you unproductive. It's not his job to be your nanny, frankly.

I really miss carrying a knife, but since 9/11 it has been almost impossible to actually, you know, go anywhere. I have had multiple times when I simply forgot to ditch it before going out and wasn't able to get into places, particularly museums. Having one attached to my keychain? I'd never remember to take it off.

Plus, carrying that thing around in your jeans pocket looks uncomfortable, I can barely manage a wad of keys.

"And there's also a nail file, on the other side of the screwdriver, but what is this obsession with nail files on multi-tools? Who are these people filing their nails all the damn time? I've never filed my nails once in my entire life! Can anyone mansplain this to me?"

Jagged, unfiled nails are viewed by women (accurately) as a major sign of sexual inexperience/ineptitude...

> Jagged, unfiled nails are viewed by women (accurately) as a major sign of sexual inexperience/ineptitude...

Holy sweeping generalisation Batman. However, as I'm not even one woman, let alone all women, I won't speak on their behalf.

This is just one giant amazon affiliate link.

My "everyday carry" is the remote fob for my car, my phone, my license and two credit cards. I have no need for anything Jeff considers essential, including keys -- HomeLink in my car opens the garage door to get in and out.

Some day my phone will be able to pay for my purchases (not everywhere has NFC terminals yet) and start my car. The only thing that doesn't seem to be on the horizon is ID. I suppose I would leave the license in my car, but I'd worry about being hassled by police, who don't like to hear you have no ID when they ask for some.

What happens when there is a power outage at your home? How do you get in then?

With a hidden key on the property. I think most homeowners have one. Just don't put it in a fake rock near the door or under a mat where it's obvious.

You can get a phone case for carrying your license and credit cards. One less separate item.

Recently updated my utility rack. Now it's full of heel irons, welt irons and a few flat irons. I'm a moonlighter shoemaker, and I don't spend zilch on (not sure how to define these things!) "techno tools." My most recent advanced gadget-related purchases have been:

* A set of 18 shoemaking tools, second hand. Currently cleaning and restoring each one * Macbook Air (a needed update to my Early 2008 White Macbook) * Portable HD (I needed a few extra GB) * Circular slide rule (because I always wanted one and it's a beautiful little and cheap geek gadget)

That's it. I'd never think of spending money on a combo tool: I have a beautiful workshop where I have one of each of these tools (or many of them) in perfect condition. Also, I'm of the opinion that a good tool should do one job perfectly (except emacs, that's it.) This is why I have a dumbphone and and iPod Touch. Actually my dumbphone doubles as flashlight, which is pretty cool because I'd never remember where my flashlight is.

I used to have an old Linux professor that taught class on the weekends. He was a network engineer at his day job and there was never a day where I didn't see him with his fisherman's vest. Every pocket was occupied with some weird gadget, and his zipper had a keychain bottle opener. He had a single pocket entirely dedicated to candy bars and always made sure it was properly stocked. The man practically never left his house without his emergency candy rations, and as far as I could tell he didn't have diabetes or anything.

I guess you never know when a candy bar might come in handy.

I have had the light for a few years and really like it. I have both the single mode version and 3 mode version and like the 3 mode a little more. the tradeoff is that the head is slightly longer and the high isn't quite as as bright. the extended runtime and practical use of low output is what I use most.

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Version-80-lumen-Keychain-Flashl...

Haitz's law is interesting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitz%27s_law

Is it possible to calculate the theoretical maximum number of photons that can be produced from a fixed small electron source?

Just curious how close we are to maximum theoretical efficiency. 50% ? 80% ?

i've owned many Fenix lights over the years and many more custom LED lights before this. (any CPF members remember Arc LSH-Ps?, rare-binned Luxeon stars and low dome optics :)

my current EDC (every day carry) is a Fenix LD01 - it's amazing what a single lithium AAA can deliver with current regulation circuitry (pun)

http://www.fenixlight.com/ProductMore.aspx?id=50&tid=10&cid=...

interestingly, i also carry a pocket USB3 SSD since all my apps are portable/truecrypt and i need those low latency 4k random writes.

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-Flash-Drive-SDCZ80-032...

When I was into martial arts I used to hang out with guys who would carry around knives or kubotans everywhere. Funny to see that programmers also have their own "everyday carry"… although I have to admit to being skeptical of the actual real-world usefulness of either one.

I am the only one who read this article and immediately thought "Did he really have to worry that someone would try to make copies of his keys from a photo"??

Makes you kind of sad that people have to fear other people's cruel intentions so much

Would you leave a password or IP address unscrambled in a blog post? It doesn't seem unreasonable to obfuscate that which can be used against you, whether or not anyone actually will.

I did wonder why not just take the keys out of the photo, but my guess is that it serves to show how bulky/not-bulky the stuff is.

it was not meant to be a knock on jeff at all, in fact I was impressed he thought of that, it was more of an observation, upon first seeing it I actually took a second look and had a thought about whether or not that's actually what he was doing

Anyone know the story behind the engraving on the side of his Leatherman Squirt? It must be significant, because he also added it to his updated Squirt.

My guess was a Pulp Fiction reference.

Maybe it just goes with the wallet[1].

[1] http://www.bmfwallets.com/

I am genuinely curious: if I carry an iPhone everywhere, why do I need to carry a flashlight, too?

If you ask me, you don't. If you're asking Jeff? He answered that in the article.

> I also flirted with the idea of dropping the standalone flashlight and relying on my smartphone camera flash as a flashlight, but in my testing smartphones make weak flashlights.

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