jimejim

I like the fact that the list view is more like a notepad where you can just keep typing. Many other task list tools make you hit a few extra keys to create tasks and most of the time you just need a simple todo list. It makes it easier to convince others to use it too for the simple stuff.

Beyond that, I don't like how their board view (Kanban style) is hacked on and doesn't coexist with the list view yet, and a lot of the more complex stuff is done better elsewhere.

"We don't let managers code where I work."

"...ended up with managers who slowly lost their technical skills and essentially fossilized, and couldn't make rational tech decisions"

There's a connection here. A technical manager can't make reasonable tech decisions unless they do some tech work, but perhaps we just need to be more clear that what you want is a pure project manager to check off boxes.

I think a good tech manager still respects a bottom up approach most of the time, but should have enough experience to push back when the group is steering in the wrong direction. A generic project manager isn't going to do that.

I agree with you that consumerism is at least one of the important issues, which is why generic "tech is bad and scary" articles are still a form of Luddism. It's not addressing the actual issue, as you said. You're sort of making this either/or case rather than a connected whole.

Your kid is eventually going to have a communication device. You have to embrace the dangers of that and teach them about the issues they'll face and the compromises they'll have to make when using it. That doesn't mean you disable Netflix, but that does mean you can teach them about how the internet works, how companies make money off advertising and data, and that there are still ways to protect themselves to reduce risks. Your 2nd paragraph is all things I cover with my kids.

"No, convenience trumps all"

No, this is not what we should teach our kids. Compromises may be acceptable, but that doesn't mean convenience trumps all. One other avenue to explore is how our government can and should do more to make it harder for companies to abuse people in the name of convenience. That's not something that they do a good job of now, but hey, better education for people is part of the point we're discussing. Luddites don't even know the right questions to ask.

"There is no responsible way to "teach" consumer technology"

I disagree, but also don't think we have a choice. Either you learn better ways to teach your kids about tech, or you'll continue to have a system that abuses tech.

"This is just common sense, it applies to everything."

Tech risks are not common sense though outside Silicon Valley. I agree some of the tech problems are more about consumerism, in general, but there are plenty of issues that aren't just that. Avoiding tech won't stop those particular issues.

"And as you write, the former is inevitable, but then so is a lack of privacy, and so are the bad habits that are inherent to consumer technology."

There will always be risks and compromises with interacting with tech. Going back to my sex-ed analogy, there are also risks with sex, but we learn to wear condoms and practice safe sex to minimize those risks. This idea that we can't teach safer risk mitigation strategies for tech also is silly: ad blockers, privacy blockers, better password and identity management, how and when to share personal information, government and legal interventions. All of these are things that affect tech use and should be taught.

Introduction to tech should still be age appropriate and have constraints. That's different from avoiding it completely. Some apps should be limited and it should be pointed out why to the kid so they understand the dangers.

We know there are problems with ads, privacy, and subtle ways our "free" apps try to gain our attention. Kids are more capable than you may realize of understanding those issues too, and the sooner you work WITH them to learn those issues and how to counter them, the better.

Having said that, if a parent doesn't have a healthy relationship with tech themselves, they're going to have a hard time teaching their children.

I use a food analogy when talking about tech consumption with my kids, so I'm fine with occasional junk food so long as they're keeping a well rounded diet and getting exercise. It takes some work to get there, but so far, so good.

We have a pretty standard schedule:

- Tech off at 6pm every night and during dinners

- After school till 6 is basically free for all time if they don't have other obligations, which I count as decompression from the day. They hang out with neighbors too.

- Weekends we allow tech, but only if it's educational programming or they're creating something (arts, crafts, stop motion, game programming), so it's a bit more strict.

YMMV, of course.

The first 3-4 people mentioned in that article were connected to Facebook and Youtube, so "no shit" comes to mind when you think about them having a questionable relationship with tech and their own decision-making. Part of an education for anyone should be to understand why those two sites specifically can be problematic even if sometimes useful.

This has always been a form of Luddism. Tech is inevitable.

I view tech similarly to how I view sex-ed in 2018: it's been proven that if you do abstinence only education then bad things happen (teen pregnancies, stds, etc...). Your kids are going to grow up to be adults with bad tech habits if you don't start teaching them how to use it responsibly and protect themselves early.

Help them find good content. Have days where no tech is allowed on the weekends, but don't keep them away from it completely. Give them time to unwind with tech and choose stuff themselves, just as you probably do. Teach them about privacy and the problems that can come up with tech so they know how to deal with it themselves. Teach them that too much tech isn't good for you and you need to do other things too.

Monitor what they're watching and make sure you talk to them when things get out of hand. Expect to have some occasional issues, and treat them like you would an adult: are they sad? Is something going on at school? Is the tech affecting their ability to do other things at the time?

Eventually your kid is going to use tech. Teach them early how to be responsible with it.

No, they didn't. The people that think Sarah Jeong is a racist are the kind of people that take Alex Jones seriously.

Jones is going to whine about being a victim regardless, since that's part of his character. He should be treated the same way nazi websites are and make it harder for him to make a profit off his bullshit.

As I said though, he used his platform to abuse people and should have been banned a long time ago, regardless of his lame conspiracy theories.

You and others didn't read my last sentence and keep hiding behind childish free speech absolutism. Jones specifically used his platform to abuse people. He should have been banned a long time ago. This isn't just about his conspiracy theories.

You have more faith in human rationality than I do at this point. Making his content harder to get will reduce his legitimacy. Con men and frauds should not be treated with respect or debated. Also, Jones specifically used his platform to abuse people, so this is not just about being full of shit all the time.

So, what IS a good alternative to Gmail? Are any of the self-hosted alternatives actually better?

ICE really shouldn't exist in the first place. It's an unnecessary organization that is already proving it's dangerous, unorganized, and too powerful.

That mantra some of you repeat to yourselves all the time only gets you so far. The lack of self-awareness is probably part of how this mess got started in the first place.

Palmer Luckey has always been an interesting case to me since I can't figure out how a guy smart enough to build the stuff he has can be so incredibly dumb and out of touch with humanity when it comes to stuff like this.

I tend to lean more towards the classic introvert where too much interaction will tire me out after a while, but I make sure to spend time with people I care about on the weekends to balance things out and that's usually the right balance. My week is devoted to work and taking care of the kids, which I love too.

I still go through peaks and valleys of how much outside interaction I'm craving though.

The struggle never really goes away and you have to accept that. You will have peaks where you're excited about something and super productive working late and then valleys where you go weeks feeling way less productive.

Life will find ways to make you have to change your strategy over and over, but I think that's more about being human than anything to do with where you decide to work.

I've worked mostly remote for over 20 years, both as an engineer and a business owner. I wouldn't give it up for the world.

However, simple fact: not all people are cut out for it. Some perfectly fine engineers are better in an office environment with other people. Sometimes an office environment is LESS distracting for those people, not more.

It also depends on where they are in life: A person with toddlers is going to have a better work life if they can get away occasionally. I had my own struggles with this and had to work through the new environment.

So, both are good and can work depending on when and where your life is at, and neither is perfect.

I've had the keyboard replaced twice for the exact same issue, the "B" key kept repeating. I'll probably have to pay extra if it happens again, but already you I've lost about days waiting on the repair since they have to ship it out.

I prefer to use an external keyboard when I can, but that can't be avoided all the time.

I had to have my keyboard replaced twice due to BB repeat issues. Same key both times even though they supposedly replaced the entire top of the keyboard.

I still prefer working on an external keyboard, but when it's working fine I don't mind it so much.

That's kind of a silly comment when we have proof that Facebook's poor design lead to abuse.

I recently setup on ZorroVPN after going through that list. It's a little on the pricier side (BlackVPN is another one I was considering with similar pricing), but the performance has been pretty good so far. They don't have their own client so you don't have to worry much about them installing junk on your machine. You can use one of the open source clients out there.

I don't look to it as a foolproof solution, but I do see it as a way to make things a little bit harder for someone that's trying to track me.

The arguments here often sound similar to "experts" that complain about 2 factor auth: Sure, it's not perfect and there are better solutions in some cases, but it's still better than nothing for a lot of people.

Having a dumb opinion is fine, but enacting laws that force others to abide by your stupid opinions is not. There's a huge difference.

It's fine to argue about where the line should be drawn, but pretending the line doesn't exist is just as dangerous.

Yeah, you're a bit late to the crazy train when it comes to Adams. He's been an unrefined troll online for quite some time. He'll talk politics or other bullshit and then say it was all just a joke when he gets called on it.

I hope you don't also like Orson Scott Card...

I can only give anecdotal evidence on this. I prefer to walk on my treadmill desk which tends to have less impact on my knees and hips. Standing or sitting without motion will eventually tire me or cause some pain, though I generally find I'm likely to move around more while standing. Sitting for too long just tires me out.

I rotate through all 3 though throughout the day, so if my knees are bothering me or I feel like taking a break, I'll sit down for a bit.

The most important thing once I starting using the treadmill though was investing in decent shoes.

To be fair, many of us used to watch He-man and a variety of other really bad tv before the internet came along. Now, there's just way more options to waste time.

It gets worse though. My daughter likes to watch some girl make up stories with barbie dolls and other similarly sized characters. Every one of the videos I've looked at has millions of views, so she's not alone. It's a little weird.

Can we just call a fanboy a fanboy? He'll always frame discussions of Apple in a positive way. Occasionally, he'll have an interesting insight into the Apple ecosystem, but I had to stop reading since far too often he's making little trollish jabs at everyone else.

I also still disagree with this article. This year was a surprising high note in the amount of stuff that came together assuming it all holds up well after you get past the marketing they're good at. We'll have to wait and see if this is a continuing trend for them or we just got lucky this year. I would love to see it continue.

Jeez, yeah, I could see how having a few of those experiences might make you want to take a break. Some people can't be trusted to be responsible. I've been pretty fortunate with the groups I've been with.

That makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.