jameal

Check out Rogue Amoeba’s audio software products. Also Symless Synergy.

Peter Askew of Deep South Ventures started a handful of businesses just based on available domain names. Known for his Vidalia Onions business.

deepsouthventures.com

Looks interesting! Unfortunately doesn't seem to let me add more than one point on my route. In the console I see

`Error fetching route from Graphhopper Error: Network response was not ok`

I tried a couple times and got this in the U.S. In Europe I picked a couple random points and it worked fine.

Nice landing page. The interactive illustrated calendar is great at showcasing the appeal. Love the idea of being able to look back months at a time and see what was going on in my life. Personally I prefer hosting my own locally but I might steal the emoji idea for my Obsidian journal.

Very neat. I'd love a write up on how you built it, what you're learning about fluid mechanics and flow fields.

I didn't expect much but I was pleasantly surprised with the output and its ability to refine based on my simple and limited instructions. Nice job!

I took a sabbatical that led me to pursue a coaching certification from a university across the country in Washington D.C. It was a wonderful experience and I connected with some great people, many of whom I still keep in close touch with today. I've met great people in tech too, but it was a breath of fresh air to work with people who are energized around helping individuals improve their lives.

I'm back in tech now, working for an AI services startup, but I leveraged my experience to create a role where I can bring coaching within the organization and to our clients through change management coaching.

I was inspired by my mindfulness practice and by Chade-Meng Tan's work at Google, where he used his 20% time to create mindfulness courses within the company. Especially as technological advancement continues to accelerate, there will be a huge need for personal growth initiatives to help people lean into the kinds of skills that AI can't replace: social/emotional intelligence, empathy, creativity, for example.

Same here.

“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.” - Bruce Lee

How did you get into chanting? It sounds like fun. Any resources you can recommend?

What is top of mind for me currently, based on observations from my experience: Doubt can be strongly embodied. Meaning, it's not as simple as thinking your way out of it.

As much as I've achieved personally and professionally, when I put myself outside of my comfort zone and into the public arena of judging eyes, I still face doubt.

As much as I can steel myself mentally, remind myself of my accomplishments, analyze my situation, etc. there is a part of me, perhaps as a self-protection mechanism, that creates doubt. That doubt colors my entire experience, influencing my thoughts and actions. Overall it acts as a limiter. I can feel the difference in my body.

I can be aware of all of this, and counteract it to some extent, but it has its own gravity. It's all very impressive in the most literal sense of the word.

So I am learning more about how doubt shows up, and how to work with it beyond simple motivational tricks. For example: Letting go of the need to control it, getting very familiar with the nature of it, and reorienting myself even as I fail to accomplish my goals again and again.

Happy New Year HN. May you find the resilience to overcome whatever doubts are holding you back from living the life you want.

SEEKING WORK - Indianapolis, IN - Remote preferred

I'm a front-end engineer proficient in JS, React, Node and of course HTML/CSS. I'm well-rounded with a keen eye for design. My experience spans across the stack, excelling at both the front of the front end and back of the front end (e.g. Node, Next.js). I'm also comfortable on the far side of the back end, especially in a LAMP stack.

Currently I'm helping a startup client salvage a botched job. I worked with their previous vendor to make a graceful transition, put together detailed documentation of what had been delivered, and furnished recommendations for how to move forward. Now I'm working with them to shore up technical debt, evaluate which features deliver on their value proposition, and get to market.

When it comes to collaboration I have a coaching mindset which means I am open-minded, curious, flexible and client-centered. I'm adept at evaluating technical and business trade-offs and moving quickly to deliver value.

I've worked with startup teams and enterprise clients. My work was pivotal for one of my startup clients being acquired. I continued to work with them post-acquisition, scaling what was initially a small MVP into a product that serves tens of thousands of users to this day.

Learn more about me at jameals.com

Email: jameal at my website above

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jamealg

I'm not sure why people assume that either. These are interesting points. I know very little about formal poetry, but I consider art to be expression. So what I meant is that there is an art to the way we live our lives. Many people of the modern era are very rational and technical and lean hard into a "command and control" style way of living that's very focused on future results. I think its in a way limiting, and to our detriment. So like the great masters, I try to find a balance between pure spontaneity and pure formality.

You might also distinguish Technical v. External as SEO v. SEM (search engine marketing). That's my understanding anyway.

Not OP but I was struck by the sentiment. I'm sure many of us on HN approach our lives through the lens of an academic/engineering mindset. Of course that kind of approach is valid and useful. We can also approach life as artists (poets) and lean into spontaneity, playfulness and creativity. There is a kind of freedom that is unique to the latter approach. You don't have to be a professional artist to make art out of living.

Design is more objective than most people think. Forget about "pretty" designs for a moment and think of design as utility. It's about visual communication. There are principles that you can familiarize yourself with that, when followed, will create a great looking end-product.

Emphasis - Every mark on a page has visual weight. Adjust the size, lightness/darkness, shape, texture, etc. to control emphasis.

Visual hierarchy - What are the most important elements and in what order? Use emphasis to guide a person's eyes through those elements.

Unity - All the elements on a page should look like they belong to the same "unit" (think military or corporate uniform). Simply applying consistent margins, padding, font sizes can go a long way in enhancing a design.

These are a few to start with but if you search "principles of [web] design" you can learn a few more and see some examples. Start to look critically at the websites you like through the lens of these principles.

Once you're comfortable with the principles you can begin to decorate, make them pretty, and even start to break the rules (see brutalism).

>> Motivational speakers are fond of saying it doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down, it’s how many times you get up. But sometimes, it does matter how many times you get knocked down.

He kind of breezed past this but damn, it really strikes a chord with me. As someone in their early thirties I'm only just beginning to appreciate the toll life takes, even as I grow more resilient.

On an unrelated note, there is a book "Bruce Lee Artist of Life" that is a compilation of Lee's notes on philosophy, martial arts, and more. Some of the notes are what he copied verbatim from his college texts but there are also some brilliant reflections on his experiences. I turn to it from time to time for inspiration and insight.

SEEKING WORK - Indianapolis, IN - Remote preferred

I'm a front-end engineer proficient in JS, React, Node and of course HTML/CSS. I have a keen eye for design and have taught professionally at Butler University.

My experience spans across the stack, excelling at both the front of the front end and back of the front end (e.g. Node, Next.js). I'm also comfortable on the far side of the back end, especially in a LAMP stack.

When it comes to collaboration I have a coaching mindset which means I am open-minded, curious, flexible and client-centered.

I've worked with startup teams and enterprise clients. My work was pivotal for one of my startup clients being acquired. I continued to work with them post-acquisition, scaling what was initially a small MVP into a product that serves tens of thousands of users to this day.

More recently I shared my passion project, a progressive web app that I used for tracking my progress across a 5-day backpacking trip https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33420852

Learn more about me at https://jameals.com

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jamealg

Email: jameal at my website above

I wouldn't say it's a character flaw. If you're happy being alone then you should feel free to pursue what makes you happy. But if other people can rouse doubt in you about it, then maybe it's worth investigating further.

I love being alone and I have a rich inner life. Relationships are messy, awkward, and sometimes painful but so is life. It's in relationship with others that I get to know myself better. I see it as two sides of the same coin, and for me, when those two sides aren't balanced, I suffer for it.

This is good advice and it reminds me of the highly sensitive personality type. It's distinct from introversion (extroverts can have it too) and there is research that shows that it exists in about 20% (IIRC) of the population and shows up in other species too. Elaine Aron has written about it. I would recommend anyone who considers themselves to be sensitive to empower themselves and learn about it.

Take it at your own pace and be genuinely interested in learning about others. You don't have to be a rousing conversationalist. Active listening is a superpower and people are attracted to those who listen.

Be careful how you identify yourself. While it may be true that you're an introvert, be aware that along with that label you may be imposing artificial limitations on yourself.

I highly recommend the book "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" by Susan Cain. Our culture idealizes extroverts to the point where we as introverts don't recognize what a gift it can be. The book contains a wealth of research and stories and is incredibly empowering.

Also if you're socially avoidant, there's a reason for that and I would recommend investigating it through introspection and/or working with a counselor. Human beings are social creatures and we suffer when we lack meaningful connection with others.

Introspection. Someone mentioned journaling and looking for patterns. I'm also fond of what I call "talk-aloud walks" where I talk to myself out loud as I walk (often recording it in case I want to listen back later). It's a different dynamic compared to written reflection. I think it's more fun.

Counseling. Our deepest flaws come from early childhood experiences so it can be extremely valuable to build a relationship with a therapist to dig into those.

Mindfulness meditation. For me it helps to see myself and the world more clearly. Mindfulness emphasizes nonjudgment which helps provide a more objective lens.

Coaching. A good coach can help you recognize patterns in your thinking/behavior and help you cultivate a growth mindset. Coaches focus on helping you create a better future (as opposed counseling, which is more focused on dealing with past trauma). Look for coaches who are credentialed through the International Coaching Federation. I should note that I am a coach so I'm biased, but I also have worked with several coaches and still do to this day.

There's always the risk of losing that passion when you do something for money. It's an old cliche. It's especially difficult in an organization with all the red tape and other constraints.

In my experience, you have to have a hobby outside of coding. Whether it's wood working or something else. Now, take that hobby and combine it somehow with coding. If it's music, make your own synth. Make your own tools to learn music theory. If it's exercise, make your own workout tracking app. You might even just build tools to empower your own dev workflows. Maybe it's a bookmarklet or user script to taylor your favorite websites to your liking.

Don't do too much planning or thinking ahead, just let yourself get into a creative flow state. Flow state is key! And it sounds like that's what you're missing in your day job.

I wrote about this idea on my blog if you want to read about my experience. I combined my love of hiking with coding and discovered a newfound enthusiasm that I hadn't experienced in a long time: https://jameals.com/essays/build-for-fulfillment

Why do you think you would be burning the bridge by leaving the company for a new position? As long as you do it in a respectful way, with notice, then it shouldn't be a concern.

The key to avoiding burnout is setting boundaries and being proactive about self-care, focusing on what is within your control. Some questions for you to consider:

- Are you getting enough sleep? Are you eating well? Do you have a physical exercise routine? These are your pillars.

- How is your social support network? Do you have people who you can talk to at work and outside of work who genuinely care?

- When is it most stressful for you? Can you find the time to take short breaks during these times? What about slightly longer breaks intermittently throughout the day?

- Can you get into a flow state in your support role where you're focusing on one thing at a time? i.e. can you turn off notifications and limit distractions?

If you want to chat about any of this, I'd be more than happy to. I've navigated burnout from multiple angles, as an individual contributor, manager, and business owner. You can find my contact info and more about me on my profile.

Maybe you are overthinking it. Do you have a good relationship with your manager? Ask for their advice and for feedback.

Length and detail of updates in standup isn't a good metric for you to judge your value. Direct feedback is better, and any company worth their salt will get that feedback to you in a timely manner.

If you are making an honest and sincere effort, you have no need to be anxious. But be proactive about asking for feedback and support when you need it.

SEEKING WORK - Indianapolis, IN - Remote preferred

I'm a front-end engineer proficient in JS, React, Node and of course HTML/CSS. I have a keen eye for design and have taught professionally at Butler University.

My experience spans across the stack, excelling at both the front of the front end and back of the front end (e.g. Node, Next.js). I'm also comfortable on the far side of the back end, especially in a LAMP stack.

When it comes to collaboration I have a coaching mindset which means I am open-minded, curious, flexible and client-centered.

I've worked with startup teams and enterprise clients. My work was pivotal for one of my startup clients being acquired. I continued to work with them post-acquisition, scaling what was initially a small MVP into a product that serves tens of thousands of users to this day.

More recently I shared my passion project, a progressive web app that I used for tracking my progress across a 5-day backpacking trip https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33420852

Learn more about me at https://jameals.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jamealg Email: jameal at my website above

Adjacent to this, getting properly fitting shoes. The wrong size shoes can cause all kinds of problems for your feet and overall musculoskeletal health. There are still stores around where they will measure your feet for you and make recommendations. Strongly recommend!

You might be interested in reading The Mindful Path through Worry and Rumination by Dr. Sameet Kumar. I've read it multiple times and worked through it with many of my friends. A game changer for me. He makes a great case, backed up by scientific evidence, for a regular mindfulness practice can help with worry and rumination.

Expecting other people to reach out to me without making any real effort myself.

At some point I heard this thought experiment: If you could only have one, which is more important: To love or to be loved?

Now I understand that if I want to receive love and connection that I have to be able to give it. This shift has strengthened so many of my relationships and helped me build new ones as well.

Can people book without a Google Account? I set one up and went to the appointment page in Incognito and the appointment page redirects to a Google login page.

I'm not sure if it's worth mentioning unless you have specific plans to end the contract in a certain period of time. Otherwise, I don't see it as relevant. You are a contractor and so they must understand they aren't your only client. Whether or not your contract stipulates, I would say it's just good business to give them a heads up when you have a good idea of when you might transition away, especially depending on how critical the work you're doing for them is.