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osmyn

12 karma · joined September 1, 2017

Founder of Our Time To Think, a software developer, team lead, and Pluralsight author in Lincoln, NE.
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osmyn··on Ask HN: What is one simple thing LLMs are insanely bad at?
Designing real world pinball game layouts. It just doesn't get the physics and 3d
osmyn··on Ask HN: What did you read in 2025?
Asked Gemini for a list of books recommended on this page multiple times:

Top Recommendations

Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams: This was the most mentioned book on the page, with five different users discussing its "cautionary tale" regarding power and idealism.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir: A favorite for both readers and audiobook listeners, praised for its engaging story and high-quality narration.

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman: Multiple users recommended this LitRPG series, particularly noting that the audiobook experience is exceptional.

Mother of Learning by nobody103: This time-loop progression fantasy appeared in several lists and was described as a "must-read" for fans of the genre.

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller: A classic that continues to resonate, with several users discussing its humor and depiction of the human condition.

Other Notable Duplicates

Apple in China: Cited three times for its insights into the relationship between the tech giant and Chinese manufacturing.

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb: Featured in both re-read lists and debates about its emotional intensity.

Permutation City by Greg Egan: Highly recommended by sci-fi fans for its "stimulating" concepts regarding digital consciousness.

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie: Mentioned by three users as a top new release for the year.

osmyn··on Don't Use Mocks
I agree with the premise and have taken a deeper dive (https://github.com/osmyn/Practices/blob/master/UnitTestGuide...) if anyone is interested in learning more about creating tests that aren't brittle. I did this after suffering through poorly written tests that made our team afraid of any refactoring.
osmyn··on Paul Graham AI Essay Writer
Great advice on minimizing distractions: You may be thinking ‘I can't just delete my browser or delete my PC.’ But you can delete your browser, or delete your PC, or move to a country where there are no PCs. If you want to get things done, you have to be willing to make sacrifices.

https://www.paulgrahamai.com/rect2Rp1eu7V1I8JG

osmyn··on Google Assistant – “Tell Me Something” Seems Broken / Hacked
It's doing the same thing for me. I asked on my Phone.
osmyn··on Under Construction
Malware bytes blocked that site for me; reportedly due to a trojan
osmyn··on Study: Focus will shape the future of distributed work
I've been working on a side project to help teams focus - https://www.indiehackers.com/product/our-time-to-think - It's surprisingly hard to find people who actually want to not be distracted.
osmyn··on Ask HN: What is your trick to do deep work or study?
https://ourtimetothink.com/ tames my slack notifications
osmyn··on OBS Studio 26.0
Here's a neat use of OBS by Scott Hanselman for PowerPoint presentations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciNcxi2bPwM
osmyn··on Ask HN: Solo devs, how do you plan your development?
I really like to brainstorm by putting sticky notes on a wall (my process https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/agile-requirements-proce...), but https://app.storiesonboard.com/ is where I manage it after that.
osmyn··on Slack Is Not Where 'Deep Work' Happens
This is a big reason behind why I created https://ourtimetothink.com - a tool for teams on Slack to manage their DND status for scheduled blocks of time each day so they can get some deep work done
osmyn··on Show HN: Our Time to Think – A Team Pomodoro-Like Tool for Slack
Our Time To Think (OTTT) is a productivity tool for teams who want to have a few blocks of time a day where they are not interrupted by notifications.

When an OTTT session begins - either manually with a command like /ottt 30 (for 30 minutes) or by the OTTT schedule tool - OTTT scans the Slack channel for its members and sets their Do Not Disturb (DND) for that period of time.

Subscribers to OTTT can link multiple Slack workspaces so that starting an OTTT session in one will set their DND status in all of their workspaces.

In the future, OTTT will include managing teams DND settings on their computers and phones, too, and support a physical indicator such as a light that turns color so that other office workers know when a team is focused.

osmyn··on Show HN: Tech Productivity – A Newsletter for Techs Who Want to Get Stuff Done
I enjoy lists of helpful tools for devs; signed up.
osmyn··on Ask HN: We have a great team and capital but can't find a good idea
I love how my Raspberri Pi I can just swap out the SD card and have a completely different OS. As a software developer, it would be awesome if I could do that on my laptop or phone.
osmyn··on Ask HN: Who's mentoring?
.Net Software Dev/Architecture | Nebraska | Rusty | https://hackhands.com/osmyn/
osmyn··on Ask HN: Do you do any mentoring outside of work?
I'd encourage you to look for a local chapter of https://girlswhocode.com/, see if there are after school programming clubs in your city (or start one), or sign up with https://hackhands.com/ and get paid to mentor.