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jbawgs

123 karma · joined July 13, 2016

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jbawgs··on Ask HN: Successful one-person online businesses?
Mike Wheeler!

Love your content, you helped me get where I am today as a successful salesforce dev, much love.

jbawgs··on TOOL's 5th Studio Album “Fear Inoculum” Has Been Released
I just got my physical copy via UPS, I'm really curious to see a teardown of what's powering the embedded screen & video.
jbawgs··on Ask HN: What background music do you have while programming? Or Netflix/YouTube?
I like: Https://musicforprogramming.net/

It's a low effort choice for repetitive noise.

jbawgs··on Apple refused to Fix our iMac Pro
Linus' whole schtick is cringiness, but I do enjoy his channel in general. I've never known if them to intentionally lie, and when they've been mistaken they make corrections.
jbawgs··on Ask HN: Suggest a easy name for a new social network, please
headbook
jbawgs··on How to survive 80+ hours a week coding
I was similarly aghast. I don't think I love anything enough to punish myself like that.
jbawgs··on Hey programmers, we need to talk (2013)
I'm disappointed by the idea that all of my waking minutes should be devoted to producing value for someone else. Sometimes, I need some minutes to produce entertainment value for myself. Thus, internet comments.
jbawgs··on [dead]
What... Even is this ?
jbawgs··on Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map
Its the only actual town for miles in any direction. All those other dots on the map nearby are incorporated hilltops. If they have a gas station with a Hunt Bros pizza franchise, its a town.

That said, our leaders spend any aid money we get on 'tourism' which never pays off, but they don't learn.

jbawgs··on Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map
In general, they blame environmental regulations rather than market forces. The area is full of urban legends about how the natural gas power plants are vastly inferior to coal fired plants, but they're being upheld by a cabal of evil liberals who want to destroy the industry because ???
jbawgs··on Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map
Well, at one time it stayed full of coal trucks. Not that I disagree with your point.
jbawgs··on Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map
Nope! They aren't mutually exclusive, of course, but a lot of folk believe that they are, hence my comment.
jbawgs··on Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map
In general, the fervor surrounding coal stems from the fact that for a long time it was the only industry where a person could bring home more than minimum wage, and see the decline of the industry as a personal attack.

What the people really want is work. The article tells the tale - a thousand applicants for a handful of positions. The program I'm in had hundreds of applicants for only ten positions.

To me, too much money has been spent trying to resuscitate the coal industry when it could have been directed at new industries. The politics of it all doesn't interest me, and it wouldn't interest the legion of skilled technical personnel now clamoring for even minimum wage jobs if they had somewhere else to go (aside from relocate entirely).

jbawgs··on Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map
Hadn't ever considered it, didn't know the power companies were crossing over like that. I'll definitely investigate further, thanks!
jbawgs··on Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map
Our electric company is AEP, but our ISP is TDS. They're awful.
jbawgs··on Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map
I haven't met any of their devs, but when our program began the owners came to speak to us. They're good people.

A lot of times it seems people take it for granted that 'skilled/intelligent' and 'rural' are mutually exclusive.

jbawgs··on Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map
DSL is what's available. Wireless is too susceptible to the terrain.
jbawgs··on Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map
1mb 'broadband' service, offered as DSL, runs about 90$ per month, and that's our only ISP. One could get satellite that's faster, but satellite internet also has low data caps, and the cost scales out of proportion. The terrain derails reliable wireless services, and the low population density rules it out anyway - folk are pretty far apart.
jbawgs··on Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map
I live on the most populous hilltop in Hyden KY. Our only ISP caps at 1mb, and its not terribly reliable. Satellite is of course an option, but the expense is prohibitive if you use a lot of data.
jbawgs··on Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map
There isn't anywhere else I'd rather be. Before I joined a program in Hazard like the one mentioned in the article, I was in construction for 15 years, and I've been a lot of places. Appalachia is the best place though. We could also stand to have an influx of bright young people with a broader view.
jbawgs··on Former miners out to put Kentucky on the tech map
I live in eastern KY and there are a few programs like this one. In Hazard KY, another coal-bust town, I was accepted to a program to train force.com developers. Hold your scoffs please, we've learned a lot in the last few months, including using JS.

The broadband struggle is real. I worry that at some point we'll still need to relocate.

jbawgs··on AT&T giving away FREE LTE IoT starterkits
Ordered one for free. Use the code, and you don't even have to enter payment details.