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emit_timeon Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?

I read "The Rosie Project"[1] and the sequel and it made me realize I have a number of similar patterns to the main character.

Made me more aware of how I should act in a relationship.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Rosie-Project-Novel-Graeme-Simsion/dp...

emit_timeon Ask HN: Have you been laid off?

Same position here. Thankfully starting at a FAANG, so less likely to see layoffs than smaller more vulnerable companies. Scheduled to start on 3/30

emit_timeon Apollo: An iOS Reddit app built for power and speed

I was back on the /r/apolloapp sub before the app was released, and was in an early public beta.

I had so many major gripes with all the other reddit apps for iOS, and I tried all the major ones.

I remember using it and dealing with all the bugs, and seeing all the deadline delays etc, never expecting to see it come to light.

Left for a while, and then it was actually released.

And I LOVE it.

Thank you so much iamthatis :)

emit_timeon macOS Kernel Extensions are officially deprecated

Also, use this[1]!

[1]: https://objective-see.com/products/kextviewr.html

emit_timeon String Algorithms in Lisp

I use evil-mode in emacs with the emacs lisp interface that works with Franz's Allegro Common Lisp.

I really like it, and do the vast majority of my development in it as a common lisp developer.

It's no longer support and has some bugs, so I've been meaning to set up SLIME, but a previous developer gave me a config that worked out of the box, so I've been using that.

emit_timeon A CS degree is better than teaching yourself how to code?

I graduated with a physics BS a little over a year ago.

My experience has been that it has taken a lot of effort and time to try to learn things, and keep up with everything. Also, I think my resume just gets straight up tossed out a large fraction of the time compared to CS majors.

Maybe there's other issues, but I've had people look over my resume and things like that.

Additionally, my lists of technology are pretty weak (I'm trying to work on it, but my company doesn't use a lot of mainstream technologies if any).

I did not have any internships in CS.

I don't know how bootcampers and other get jobs at FAANG companies in 6 months, because I can't even get a non technical phone screen with them.

I even did triplebyte without too much success.

That being said, I accept there are probably other issues and things I need to work on, and I'm trying to work on them as much as I can.

But, I have spent a lot of time reading about topics, asking my friends questions, reading conversations in group chats that are technically oriented and looked up things from them to learn. It has been a hell of a journey.

Trying to move to a company that uses more mainstream technologies. So I can have a resume that will actually get me calls back.

This is a bit of a ramble.

Also, considering the article. I don't think I really had to learn any of those things in school well. Maybe if you do clubs and things, but I don't think it's much of a result of the curriculum IMO as far as teamwork/communication go. I know CS majors have senior design where the work in teams, but I think a lot of them suck at the teamwork part.

Current weaknesses of mine: Socket programming, messaging, multi threaded applications, I don't know SQL (beyond basic queries)/database schema design (we don't SQL it at work)

I still barely know what dependency injection, factories etc are. I only learned what a "god object" was today.

I'm trying really hard. I want to have a really good job since I know the benefits in terms of rewards of me studying hard are HUGE.

emit_timeon Nautilus to be acquired by an investor group of fans

13 year old account with 13 karma. Wow!

emit_timeon 1.5M Packages a Day Bring Chaos to NYC Streets

I worked for a trucking company for a few weeks during two summers in college. I did Manhattan deliveries once, which meant going in the middle of the night ~9pm - ~5am and doing the deliveries to avoid spending all day in traffic.

Was definitely an interesting experience.

emit_timeon Ask HN: What do you self-host?

Have you considered moving from tinc to Wireguard?

emit_timeon Ask HN: Who has the best personal website/blog?

https://www.gwern.net/

Beautifully designed, highly readable, black and white. Take a look :)

emit_timeon Apple is evaluating new keyboard mechanisms to make thinner MacBooks

“Windows has gotten good enough”

As someone who took a job using Windows after 4.5 years away from it, I completely disagree.

I hate windows with a passion, and it’s part of the reason I’m looking for a new job.

I’m not saying it’s not good enough for some, a lot of things in it still suck.

emit_timeon Ask HN: Resources for Learning about Databases

Not very dry in my opinion. Good mix of explanations, information, and context.

I’m about 2/3rds through it.

emit_timeon Ask HN: What occupation or field would you take if money wasn't a concern?

Physicist probably. Maybe work in a national lab? Not sure if I’d like being a professor.

Physics or math are probably likely for me.

emit_timeon Ask HN: What’s Your ROI in Browsing Hacker News?

Diagnosis of what, if I may ask.

emit_timeon People trying to save enough to retire by 40

Yeah, and people also need to cover the alternative. If you don't retire early and don't save a significant portion of your income, are you still going to be protected from massive medical bills?

Having a job isn't going to protect you from a lot of things.

What if you become disabled and find yourself no longer able to work? What's the cost of stress etc on your happiness life...

Not saying one is better than the other, just that saying "what if???" a bunch of times doesn't mean the other situation is any better.

I'm sorry if this sounds attacking in any manner, I think it's important to consider that there are risks in both sides, and that having a job isn't going to protect you from lots of things.

emit_timeon People trying to save enough to retire by 40

I find reading his blog helpful in that it gives me a new perspective on things. E.g. putting a dollar amount risk on buying a "safer" car and things like that.

I highly recommend reading his blog to many people, in that I think it will help you think a bit differently.

One of my favorite blog posts[0] is about how happiness is the only logical pursuit.

[0]: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2016/06/08/happiness-is-the-...

emit_timeon People trying to save enough to retire by 40

Good blog post covering some safety margin talk[0].

[0]: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/10/17/its-all-about-the...

emit_timeon Ask HN: What things do you wish you discovered earlier?

What has been your life trajectory, if you don't mind me asking

emit_timeon Bezos: A CEO Who Can Write (2018)

I don't remember the name, but the teacher for the class was a famous nonfiction author John McPhee[0], and I believe you needed to apply, or win a lottery to get in the class.

John McPhee wrote "Levels of the Game"

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McPhee

emit_timeon Bezos: A CEO Who Can Write (2018)

One thing Tim Ferriss likes to talk about is how a difficult writing class he took lead to improved grades in all of his other classes, and he think it's attributed to the clarity in which he cultivated, and evaluated thoughts.

emit_timeon Ask HN: Best Lisp for software development?

The Allegro IDE puts syntax highlighting in the undo stack.

Better to use SLIME or the eli with it ;).

That being said, there are things you can do in the IDE that I don't believe you can do in SLIME or eli.

emit_timeon Ask HN: What have the past 12 months taught you?

How often did you run starting out?

I’ve been doing 1 miles after my strength workouts ~3x a week, and it hasn’t gotten much better. Been doing it for about 2 months.

emit_timeon Cutting 300 Calories a Day Shows Health Benefits

Isn't caloric restriction one of the few things to robustly show huge benefits in longevity etc across species?

emit_timeon In May 2009 O'Reilly agreed to publish a book about Common Lisp (2011)

I'm not saying it's more functional than another language, also depends on the dialect of lisp.

In general though, lisp is a functional language.

emit_timeon In May 2009 O'Reilly agreed to publish a book about Common Lisp (2011)

Is the second programming language to have existed, and it is still used for some applications. It has some unique properties, including _code is data_.

It is a functional language, and functional programming is making a comeback as well.

There's a lot to it.

I work at a company that used common lisp all the way down.

emit_timeon Ask HN: Which headphones are you using?

Sony WH-1000XM3

I wear them everyday at work. Better than the BOSE QC35, and better than the new Bose 700's I had the opportunity to try.

emit_timeon New Evidence of Age Bias in Hiring, and a Push to Fight It

Anecdote: My dad (finance/accounting guy) lost his job in his 40's and was never able to find another one.

Thankfully my mom makes enough for things to work out, and they own a piece of rental property, and my dad stashed away a lot of money for retirement while he worked (to the dismay of my mother).

Additionally, the company I work at is half (or more) people hired straight out of college which kinda makes me feel weird. It's a small company that has been around ~15 years or so, and I feel like their hiring practices would lead to their ass getting handed to them in court.

I like the people I work with, but something definitely feels wrong.

emit_timeon Google and Binomial Open-Source Basis Universal Texture Format

Seconded. Very friendly too :)

emit_timeon What makes Lisp macros so special?

In Lisp macros you have access to the Lisp language... Which means Lisp macros are insanely powerful.

Code is data.

emit_timeon Ask HN: What would you like to say to your fellow HN readers?

In your head don’t spend time going over how you could have done things better/differently. Initial evaluation is good when things could have gone better, but past a certain point you’re just beating yourself up and getting worse than nothing out of it.

If you beat yourself up mentally to much, it’ll make it harder to do anything, because you’ll be afraid of failure etc.

That’s partially how I think of it anyways.

Also, be realistic with your expectations.