TheGrkIntrprtr

Not saying this is a good approach for OP, but I like this comment. Good for you, justinyee17. There’s more than one way to skin a cat, and you’re finding the ways that work for you. I think if I were to pursue something more physical, I’d try to go for something with a higher barrier to entry personally, I.e. I’d pick the car mechanic role over deckhand.

It’s not really a specific tool, but I came across another comment on HN where someone used an LLM to generate Anki cards from textbooks. I’ve been doing this with Claude Sonnet 3.7 and it’s been very effective.

Do you have significant ownership in the company? If not, I don't see any reason for you to give frank feedback.

You can't know for sure whether the information will reach them, nor whether they will be able to infer who provided the feedback.

The best possible outcome for you if you have no ownership is...senior management is better informed on what employees think of this manager. You don't know what they'll do with this info.

The worst possible outcome for you is that the manager is able to infer it was you that provided certain feedback, and that they are upset by this feedback. This could result in you losing the job eventually (they could make your life difficult, claim you're not performing well etc. etc.)

It probably makes the most sense (assuming you're primarily concerned with remaining employed to provide for your family) to maximize the level of positivity in all of your feedback.

Hey, I’m probably not the best person to give an answer for this, but since you’re not getting comments…

To keep track of progress, you could create dashboards, maybe using Python or JavaScript. Would managing the git repo include CI/CD? The role sounds like it involves some DevOps components. If so, push for access to Python so you can automate some of these tasks. Sounds like it involves some project management stuff as well, so you could take the opportunity to learn how to set stuff up in Jira (if that’s what is being used).

Do you have a CS degree? If not, I’d suggest starting an online CS degree such as Oregon State University’s or the Georgia Tech masters. Get a feel for how intense the job will be first though. I suspect that, since it’s public admin in the EU, and if you’ve been able to automate some tasks, it will be fairly relaxed. Doing a degree while working full time is still exhausting though.

Look up job descriptions for DevOps , or try to find to find the role it most closely matches with, and go deep. Find an excuse to use the tools/methods typically used in the job postings you see, and you’ll be in a good position to find one of those jobs after a while. If they won’t allow you to, practice using those tools outside of work, or get involved with open source projects.

Yeah, their mentored bugs program for contributors is great, and if I wasn't concerned with my career trajectory at the moment I would probably just continue out of pure interest & for the learning opportunities.

Do you think career advancement from continued contributions is likely in my case though? Or should I invest my time elsewhere?

Thank you. So you think I should focus my learning activities on refreshing ML/stats knowledge? Also, I would have thought that the SWE jobs at tech companies are the positions with very specific requirements (experience with certain tools etc) whereas their data positions might be more general?

“Charles Darwin found the example of the Ichneumonidae so troubling that it contributed to his increasing doubts about the nature and existence of a Creator”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichneumonidae

Edited - thanks

saint11 mentions on his about page: “Murder Engine: 2D Pixel art C# ECS Game Engine made by Isa! I usually help on the render and physics side of it.”

Isa: https://isadorasophia.com/projects/

I took CPSC 110 at UBC with Gregor Kiczales (who worked at Xerox PARC). It was the best course I’ve ever taken.

The course can also be completed for free: https://www.edx.org/bio/gregor-kiczales

How to code - simple data, and how to code - complex data together make up the material in CPSC 110 (though there are probably some differences). They’re completely accessible with no background requirements.

The courses are based on this curriculum, which uses HTDP: https://programbydesign.org/

The programming language used is based on scheme.

Re battery life, it was decent I think. We left it plugged in most of the time though - it comes with a long charging cable.

We took the option of ordering one of the tablets they provide with the software installed already, since he didn’t have a tablet, but you can also just install the app onto a tablet that meets the specs listed on their website. The tablet we got was a large Lenovo one, and the performance seemed decent enough.

I don’t think they can fully remote in, but they can push updates to the tablet I think.

I think the extent to which you can access it remotely is limited to the options in their website/app for family members. You can add administrators with varying access levels, contacts with/without admin privileges , and add and remove links/available apps etc.

If she has pills to take, you can also set up various reminders, questionnaires on how she’s feeling today etc.

The features we used the most were the text messaging and video calling ones - he didn’t really do much browsing. I did try adding links for him, some YouTube videos etc., and it worked fine. The text messaging can be set up so that it sends to your email and/or phone.

Maybe not something you want to even think about, but one thing I really appreciated was having access to all of the messages etc. after he passed. We exchanged many messages, and their support team was able to give me a download link to all of them before ending services.

Hope you find the right solution for your grandmother :) I fully recommend Claris!

I’ve mentioned this before on HN, but I had great service from https://www.clariscompanion.com/ . My grandfather was using it in his 90s before he passed away, and it really helped us stay in touch despite being far apart. Not sure if it would meet her needs, but have a look anyways.

It’s $30 per month, but well worth it IMO. If she has runs into issues, there’s a support line she can call. You can add apps to her “desktop” or remove them to keep things simple, etc. Sorry if this sounds like an advert, but I’m just super grateful to this company for their services - they really care about their customers and I was actually in touch with the owner (Paul, nice guy) for support on a number of occasions.

This might be what you’re looking for: https://www.valueinvestorsclub.com/

Famous investors such as Michael Burry were discovered there. You don’t have to participate, you can have a guest account with a delay on seeing new posts. There are some insightful comments that you can read as well.

Edit: you don’t have to create an account to view posts

This book containing interviews with Common Lisp hackers is pretty interesting. https://leanpub.com/lisphackers

I believe the author worked at grammarly, using CL. Would be nice if he wrote an updated version!

If you’re looking for software related ebooks, I’d really recommend the Pragmatic Bookshelf: https://pragprog.com/support/

Great customer service, less expensive than getting it from Google play books etc (at least in my case), and DRM-free ebooks so you can copy to your other devices if needed.

I have taken a programming course which included writing a sudoku solver in Racket etc., so I have created that kind of simple self-contained program before. I guess you mean doing the same with C++ specifically?

I'd recommend signing up for a guest account at https://www.valueinvestorsclub.com/, where the likes of Michael Burry and other famous professional investors have posted (see Mike's posts here: https://valueinvestorsclub.com/member/michael99/1219). Mike makes it look easy in some of his posts, but there was no doubt a great deal of analysis and thinking involved. The reason I suggest this is to get some sense of what can be involved in selecting individual securities to invest in. If you're still considering a style involving picking a handful of stocks, go and read some CFA level II CBOK material on equity valuation, and consider whether it makes sense for you to try it as an individual investor. This would be very time consuming, but consider the time invested into earning the funds in the first place - if you really think you're skilled enough to choose a concentrated portfolio, you owe it yourself to invest some time into becoming familiar with common methods of analysis, and to think about what edge you have VS the seller of shares when you purchase them.

The point of doing this is mostly to dispel the extremely common Dunning-Kruger effect among amateur investors. Maybe my advice will be unsatisfying for you, but there is no single right answer to how one should invest. Reading a bit about how to think about valuation, risk adjusted returns etc.[0] should help you form some opinion on an investment strategy that you will feel most comfortable with, which will be important for you to keep in mind when facing the vicissitudes of the market.

[0] A great book on how to think about investing, by Howard Marks: https://www.amazon.com/Most-Important-Thing-Illuminated-Thou...

I'm not the only one who agrees - Elon Musk is offering 100M in prizes for carbon removal solutions: https://www.xprize.org/prizes/elonmusk

Why not focus on developing emissions removal technology instead of trying to convince people & companies to reduce emissions? Frankly I don't think political organizing on an international scale will make a dent either, in a reasonable time frame.

Nothing really. For a long time, my hunch has been that emissions removal rather than reduction will be key. I think trying to force people around the world to reduce emissions is a losing strategy in the time frame we have. Developing emissions removal technology is needed imo.

Also, I must say that I'm glad the more fanatical vegetarians haven't succeeded in their campaign against meat eaters. I suffer from gastrointestinal issues, and when I'm flaring I temporarily have a very meat-heavy diet because it's easy to digest and nutritious whereas veggies go right through me and worsen symptoms.

A different hobby suggestion - bridge! Buffett and Gates seem to love it: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/20/how-bill-gates-and-warren-bu...

Thanks for this great reply. Yes, I think you're right - at least with the constraints I've set for myself, if I want to build software as a full time job in the public sector it seems like there's no way around getting the credential.

However, I'm guessing I might need to start at the bottom again. Probably wouldn't be able to just waltz into a full dev position with my data analyst experience I'm guessing. That'd mean accepting a huge decrease in salary.

Maybe learning enough outside of work to begin contributing to open source projects that interest me would be enough to scratch the itch.. or perhaps some freelancing/building software to sell on the side? Is it feasible to really get good at it if isn't my full time job though, I'm not sure..

One thing I was thinking of doing, if I decided against the degree, was really digging into some open source data engineering projects like dbt and airflow. Even just reading the source code and getting a good understanding of it if I can't contribute. My thinking was that even if no positions labelled as "data engineer" exist, it might do something to help me maneuver into a data analyst/science labelled position where modern data engineering is really what's needed.

The Georgia Tech OMSCS is one option I'm considering which would be more flexible, but I'd definitely need some more courses under my belt before they'd accept me. Unfortunately it'd probably take longer, 3 yrs or so part time I'm guessing.

The kind of 1 year MS in CS masters requiring little or no background that exist in the US aren't really available in Canada as far as I know.

I have some health issues that require expensive drugs, so the health benefits are really helpful, even here in Canada. Some close family members are in a precarious position (mental health issues), and I have some anxiety issues myself, so I really value the job security. Then again, everyone has issues, so perhaps I am just especially risk averse. Probably out of place on HN, but it's a great forum for learning.

I think work experience in place of a degree only works if you've been kind of grandfathered in unfortunately, so a related degree is usually a hard requirement.

Hey, thanks for your comment. It is definitely helpful. Perhaps this would be the best option, especially if I stay in the public sector. I'd be interested to hear your approach to self-learning too, if you're open/have time to share.

Ian Goodfellow has a nice free book that includes an "applied math and machine learning basics" section that gives a nice overview of linear algebra, probability theory etc that make it a nice starting point. It's also specifically written for software engineers I believe: https://www.deeplearningbook.org/

I FULLY recommend the Claris Companion: https://www.clariscompanion.com/. It keeps things as simple as possible, and they provide tech support. I've used them for over a year now I think and I've been very satisfied. My grandfather is in his 90s and is able to use it in his care home.

The UI takes over the normal android UI to make things very simple. It also provides an email/messaging system which blocks out communication from anyone but the approved contacts, so there's no need to worry about email scams etc.

I'm not sure if they ship to the UK but they have a 4G version. But if you can get a 4G device, you could still use their app.

The key thing is absolute simplicity of interface and use, and this service is great for that.

Sorry this sounds like an ad, but it's seriously provided so much value to me in being able to keep in touch with and see my grandfather from 1000s of kms away.

Thanks for this! I could self teach and my work in the public sector would let me go on 1 year of unpaid leave to try out a software dev job.

In some sense though, just on a psychological level, I feel like I'd still have lingering doubts. That I'm just an amateur hacking away etc., and that my resume will just get screened out without a CS degree. How did you deal with that, if you experienced it? And would you mind giving a few details of what it is you do now? Thanks again for the encouraging comment.

Thanks for your comment. That's a good way to break down the value of it, and yes there is certainly an increased risk level during this huge downturn.

There's a few aspects that make it difficult for me to assess. Right now, I feel kind of uncomfortable.. I feel as if I'm in a position which, at least outside of my org, is much more difficult to obtain without a graduate degree, and I don't think I'd enjoy doing a master's in stats etc. I like that software dev has less credentialism in that you can go very far with just a bachelors, or even without, providing you have the skills etc.

Though, if I did go the self taught route, I would not be able to remain in (most of, probably) the public sector or my org, whereas if I got the degree I could potentially come back to my position (with changed duties) or another in my org. But I could get up to 1 year of unpaid leave to try it out, and return to my position (same duties) if I wanted to. I'm also uncertain as to what degree Canadian employers are open to a self taught dev. Is this more accepted in the USA I wonder.

The other thing is, I've been through two reorgs already. Although things are good now, that can quickly change with a bad manager, and I feel like with the CS degree it'd be easier for me to quickly get a different job elsewhere.

One much cheaper alternative for me, which would take a lot longer, is to do a few core online CS courses and apply to Georgia Tech's OMSCS, but that would be completed ~ 4 yrs from now. Doing the CFA exams while working full time took a lot out of me - I'm afraid I'd constantly have doubts if it wasn't a full time program that I can just hammer out and get done. It can be hard to evaluate where you're at when you're self taught too I think.