kaon123

Funny you say so Robert. Currently living in Zurich and definately planning to move to Utrecht.

It certainly won't be too hot in 30 years. And sea level rise shouldn't be problematic yet this century.

Scary.

This past year I went from seeing Climate Change as a "challenge to be overcome" to something that is simply happening during my lifetime. I suddenly realised that the truth is, in 20 years time 30+ degrees Summer Days will be completely normal in the Netherlands. I was jokingly asking myself when Switzerland will introduce the Siesta.

I my attitudes went from Denial to Activism to Acceptance. Interesting how the mind works. Anybody else experiencing an attitude change?

Great article. It is necessary to be reminded of this some time. I always like to remind myself of Steve Jobs' famous speech where he says something like:

"As with all matters of the heart, you know when things are right". Which implies you damn well know when things are not right too. (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc&ab_channel=Stanf...)

Not sure if Steve Jobs is a devil according to this guy.

As a european my answer is that throughout my entire upbringing, I've been taught to aspire to "just landing a job". Only in the second half of my twenties did I discover the "coolness" of being an entrepreneur. I am planning to start my own business soon, but I had to invent the dream myself. My observation is that in American culture, entrepreneurs are much more celebrated as heroes, in contrast to capitalist profiteurs.

Actually Switzerland released a Study today that they can cover the entire electricity demand in the country by building 3000 additional windmills. So maybe the nuclear power plants aren't needed after all. But of course, what will actually happen is that the power plants will be closed while the windmills are on the bureaucratic drawing table.

YES! Jesus christ it shows how shortsighted parlementary democracies are. And many individuals: Becoming semi-powerindependent has been possible and cheaper for a long time with Solar Panels. It doesn't heat your house though. But really, who needs to heat so much anyway? Just heat one room, wear a jumper, and visit your friends or the pub instead.

But no, instead of calling for behavioral change, what do the politicians say now? Subsidize!

Thank god I live in Switzerland. The most democratic country in the world, and Europe's least dependent on Russian Gas.

I have a question: I've noticed that whenever I talk to Americans, or read American blogs and books, they always tend to talk about working so many hours. Personally having worked in Switzerland and Holland I've never experienced this.

Is it that Americans actually structurally work overtime? Or is it the braggadocio way American English works where everything is always in hyperbole? Has anybody here worked on both continents? Can you tell me more whether a cultural divide exists?

What have the Romans ever done for us?

The catch is that other forms of energy are also greatly incentivised. Arguably even more than renewables (sorry can't be bothered to find a source).

I live in a European country, and the first reaction by most governments here to rising gas prises was to subsidise gas [insert captain Picard facepalm here].

Good point. In my experience the chances of persuading the culprit are limited. However an article written by a third person is effective in helping persuade other team mates, POs, BAs and line managers. Ah yes, the terrifying politics of a team with internal disagreement.

I am working in a code base right now that was literally ruined because of #3. It's full of extremely difficult to follow and test higher order functions that are completely unnecessary. A feature request did come for a "half/half" pizza and we're spending our days trying to disentangle the higher order functions.

The developer who wrote this thought himself the programmer genius and wanted to make a pattern out of everything. He did not accept criticism because "DRY is a holy principle".

And that is why a post like this is important. Because next time I have someone like him in my team I can point him to this post. Argument by Authority may be a fallacy, but it is significantly more persuasive than other arguments.

And yes, you can respond to this with "why did you hire this guy in the first place, or why did you not fire him?". Well I do not make all the decisions. Not every teammate is perfect. Such is reality. Particularly in such a young industry as software development which (compared to, say, electrical engineering) is still searching a common understanding of ubiquitous best practises.

Nairobi should be full of programming jobs. There should be many that will hire you. Try to find one in an industry you are interested in, and where your colleagues are good so you can learn from them.

Then everything will be fine. I am jealous; Kenya/Nairobi is a phenomenal location to be in. When I was 23 I knew nothing. I started at 26, and now at 33 I can say I am a happy and pretty decent (maybe above average) programmer who can really add value to businesses.

Visit meetups regularly maybe if that's something you enjoy?

I think the picture of how he describes life and life-with-a-full-time-job is fairly accurate.

One solution is to work 80%. Or even 60%. You can still make plenty of money to support yourself, and you can be happy while doing it.

To be fair, I believe there is some disputed evidence that the Kurdish (partially) descend from the Hittani. The arabs living in Iraq do not. Well... I guess in reality it is so far back that probably everyone in Eurasia descends from the Hittani.

Still, I can imagine it makes a difference if you identify yourself with Hittani as ancestors or you do not

YES! I was born in 1989 and have played quite a bit of age of empires 1. I find this podcast gave me goosebumps.

The one on the Assyrians is my favorite podcast i've ever heard.

Why is this?

Pretty cool tool for all those who are uncomfortable with their non-native english accents.

Huh? I thought it was the plot of "The ministry of the future"? Also written by an SF author (Kim Stanley Robinson). Ah well I guess great minds think alike. It is not an unlikely future.

The article needs more quotes.

Hi. Maybe I am very much like you? I love reading and completing online courses. Day job as a software dev.

Sometimes it feels like I am wasting my potential; I know so much, usually way more than some dumb manager making decisions somewhere, but it doesn't always come to fruition. That's OK.

The career advice I received that really helped me was not to pick a profession (software dev) but an industry/sector. If you can work in an industry that touches many of your interests, then you will naturally be useful and excel in what you do. Opportunities will arise.

For me, it was the off grid solar sector: It combines technology, renewables, microfinance, economic development, entrepreneurial energy and Southern Hemisphere countries. I enjoy spending my time reading books on the history of Africa (of which I knew nothing) and of renewable technologies. Even the cliche startup/business literature is applicable. I noticed people really valued my knowledge and engagement and opportunities have been coming in steadily. My career path is to climb up from Technical Expert (software dev) to Product Manager, to CTO-for-hire. And then... we'll see.

There should be more sectors like this. Though I understand it may be challenging to switch industries if you have a family.

Actually - in reality i betrayed my ideals and took a quick break from that sector in the wake of the corona crisis, and now I waste my time in a swiss bank collecting a high salary. It does not make me happy. Don't be like me. I really should get back to the off-grid solar sector.