Same for me. Kayak and BizToc plugin never work. One 'Ambition' plugin I tried, worked.
528 karma · joined July 1, 2015
As of April/May 2022: A programmer who now mostly freelances at present. I am trying to get into big tech, just to keep the stuff interesting, and not getting too comfortable with a particular way of work mode.
I am a 25+ years experienced developer and software architect. With experience in various tech stacks. And always eager to learn new things (For example, was fascinated by Self-Driving cars and did the Udacity course to learn about the tech)
Up to 2018, I was trying to grow my own Startup. Dream of getting back to startup life, or my own projects, at some stage. Hopefully, when my kids have graduated college.
-- My note written, when I first created the account in 2015 --
A programmer who is trying to grow a Startup, organically. Like how a tree grows from a seed. Without the inorganic fertilizers aka VC money. Nothing against VCs. Just like the freedom for now, although could do better with the pace. No easy decision in life.
PS: Not affiliated with AWS. Just created this handle, when I had to ask an AWS specific question (my first post for this handle[1]). And then continued with it for other things.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9810303
Android is based on Linux.
Know people who have had strokes or break the fast due to extreme hardship. Domestic helps who are Muslims, or people doing physical labor, simply can't observe it. Its one of the hardest fasts there is, and restraint from drinking water is the main reason.
ps: I taught my kids programming.
"Over 700 people joined a pro-return-to-office group. Its description says employees need to "Think Big" about the return to office policy. (By comparison, the pro-working remotely channel has around 28,000 members.)"
So more people want to work remote.
Edit: Wish you good luck, whichever path you choose.
And yes, very less percentage of the time, do we right chunks of fresh code, in which this could help. But that again to an extent. It can generate functions. But the glue code is still complicated. So it can definitely be a better Stack Overflow replacement, perhaps.
I feel sad and sorry.
I have been comfortable being useful doing remote work for a SV client for close to 4 years. But do worry a lot recently about ageism etc. So this page article and discussion is very useful for me.
In some months, I will try to share my experience of 'how it went'. It will take that much time, as I would devote 6 weeks at least for learning, and then try to go through 2-3 tech companies in parallel, as per the common advise I have seen.
Media may cry wolf, whether there is one or isn't. But trust me it was a tough time for India this time. I live in Bangalore. And for the "2 weeks" you mention, there was severe Oxygen shortage in hospitals in most cities. Patients could not get beds in time. There were queues outside funeral homes and graveyards. It was hell.
I am not the one to panic easily. And kept on going for my runs during the first wave in 2020, when Alpha was there. As the curve was so flat. Please note case numbers can't be compared, but you can compare positivity rate (positives/tested) and fatality chart[1].
The 2021 Delta wave in India was approximately 4 times severe by all measures. Because of the shortage of Hospital beds and Oxygen, many more people ended up dying than what normally would have.
I know several of my relatives including a 42 year old strong built man who died (his O2 count was 30 unfortunately by the time he got to the Hospital). There are numerous fund raisers going on for people who died. In few cases both the parents dying.
Yeah it was a short wave mercifully. But did a lot of damage. If you just search you can see images of bodies floating in rivers, as the people didn't have means to do last rites etc.
Also the actual span felt like 6 weeks. There was panic as the curve was so steep, and it was spreading like wild fire from the the west (Maharastra/Gujarat) etc to the east. And the peaks at different places were at different times. So the period starting April beginning to May 20th or so was pure nightmare.
Even if one was not affected by the virus. As thankfully in my family's case, there was this fear of not getting a hospital bed/Oxygen cylinder should there be a need.
Overall, I agree UK looks much better thanks to being vaccinated. Although I would say, one needs to keep observing for another month, before making a call, and if by then the fatality curve remains flat, then we can call it a big success.
PS: I got vaccinated after the wave. Only dose 1 yet. And ended up catching delta variant 2 weeks after that. Thankfully, a mild one. But I still wonder how I got it, as I remained very cautious through out. N=1, delta is very very contagious. But yes, if you are vaccinated, no need to worry too much.
[1] https://www.covid19india.org/ (Look at the bottom most curve on the right hand side for positivity chart of the two waves)
Edit: A point regarding fatality numbers in India in the 2nd wave. They were under reported by some multiple. There are various articles comparing total registered deaths during months of the 2nd wave in 2021 with previous years. And there is a sharp bump in the figures, which shows that fatality was severely under reported.
Edit2: Now the same playbook is playing out in un-vaccinated Indonesia unfortunately, with Oxygen shortages and everything. I think, in another month when we compare how delta plays out in UK and Indonesia, we would have several answers to questions of effectiveness of vaccines etc.
Both reported figures in this range. This is overall compensation including stocks. I was told, one can get in this range 1 Cr+ even upto 1.5 Cr INR, for high profile companies.
You are welcome to correct my understanding, if you know of counter examples.
Edit: I guess, the MNCs need to ensure some sort of pay parity between roles in different countries. And there has been lots of upwards pressure (to increase pay) in the past 3/4 years.
Prior to that, I had experience as a corporate employee for 12+ years. And then my own startup for 10+ years. Now for past 2 and half years, work in the freelance mode.
Based on my experience, can say that both startup and freelancing are more freedom friendly choices. Although in your own startup/product, its difficult to pay yourself well, unless you are one of the few very successful ones. The reason I persisted for 10+ years is that, I was able to pay myself some salary, sufficient to live a decent life without eating into my savings (but perhaps 30% of my market value).
Once I started doing freelancing, then suddenly began to like it. It was refreshing experience. Kind of like swimming in cash flow, and having more than 50% surplus, which you can safely park in investments.
Also coming to full time freelancing after own product, was significantly less work. So less that, now I worry, if I have to work more (like in my startup days) will I be able to.
Based on the rumors I hear, recently, the salaries in India for senior engineers is out through the roof. And I am told one can make 200k USD at Internet company jobs in Bangalore, which are in the FAANG category. But I am not sure, its worth trading my freedom, at this point. Not sure, If I should be thinking of opportunity missed cost.
So what do you think, does del.ico.us can have a second run under Pinboard creator?
But their process is a bit difficult, as another sibling comment has described. Knowledge of algorithms is required. And the second stage of being able to clear a programming test, is generally described as a significant barrier. It is advisable to practice algorithm problems before applying.
Just to clarify, I am also not going through a crisis as such, thankfully. Just a doubt on future continued ability lingers on occasions.
What you say, makes sense to me. After a few decades, we just see some patterns repeating with different names - RPC -> CORBA -> RMI -> Web servcies (based on SOAP) -> REST (based on JSON) -> Google RPC (going again to binary style) ... and so on. Not being cynical. Things progress in a way, but also have echos of the past.
One question: Do you go through a mid life crisis in programming in your 40s/50s?
My story (just felt like sharing): I am in my 40s and have been programming for 30 years (I first wrote in Fortran in my Engineering College, 1st semester). Later professionally coded in C++ for around 10 years (and still keep coming back to it, as needed). Java for 10 years. Golang for 7 years. And Python for last 2-3 years. And there were other languages like Visual basic (late 90s). A lot of Unix shell scripting. I still think, I am at my best. But do have occasional self doubts. The main difference from younger days, which is perceptible to me, is the need for eye glasses, and needing slightly bigger fonts on occasions (HN is perfect that way).
I teach/guide my elder son, in programming, who just turned 20, and doing well as a programmer - did half of K&R C chapters and decent in algorithmic programming. Spent few months at Codeforces website and reached specialist level (Next level is Expert, which is generally considered respectable by any standard). And he also likely lurks on HN. :)
So now, when I see your message, it only makes me happy, that HN has likely at least 3 generation of programmers if not more.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=lutusp
Edit: typo
They sent a vague email, regarding violation and suspended Ad serving. Never ever had any issue before.
I can only suspect that their policies have changed because of the current pandemic. But isn't it disingenuous, in that case. Similar to laying off an employee, and cooking up a shady reason for it.
They will only make me kill the business, which in turn will stop payments (reduce significantly) to AWS. Thereby enabling more slow down.
Very very unhappy with them.