thesecretsquad

Putting aside this silliness of using AI to declutter AI generated noise... Can anyone explain why someone would be inclined to use this app as opposed to asking an existing AI chatbot to summarize an article? What exactly does this app add beyond that?

Also, Smalltalk was heavily inspired by LISP[0]. The line between functional and object-oriented is quite blurry. Especially in a pure OO language like Smalltalk. The dynamic and prototypical model of JS is definitely another example of the subtle harmony of functional and OO.

[0]: https://worrydream.com/EarlyHistoryOfSmalltalk/

I was reminded of this article (https://blog.cleancoder.com/uncle-bob/2014/10/01/CleanMicros...) from Uncle Bob while reading this paper.

From the article:

> The Deployment Model is a Detail.

> If the code of the components can be written so that the communications mechanisms, and process separation mechanisms are irrelevant, then those mechanisms are details. And details are never part of an architecture.

> That means that there is no such thing as a micro-service architecture. Micro-services are a deployment option, not an architecture.

Coming from a C#/Java background, discovering Smalltalk was an eye-opening experience regarding supposed "legacy" programming languages. I would argue it's a more expressive language with simpler syntax (I dare say the simplest) and has had language features for decades that Java and C# have only recently added. That's how I learned newer isn't always better.

This bit of the article struck a chord with me: "The issue is institutional knowledge — when the people who wrote an application 20 years ago leave, the remaining people often don’t know the application with anything close to the same intimacy."

Code readability, testing practices, and the types of patterns employed (or really the types of anti-patterns avoided) are more important than the language used if you expect anyone to be able to maintain a system over time. These are like embedding artifacts of institutional knowledge in your code to guide future maintainers. The choice of language alone doesn't carry any institutional knowledge.

I've heard of Bridge, but had no idea how it's played. I looked it up and it's totally not what I expected. Sounds interesting. Thanks for the suggestion.

This seems to be the sentiment from others as well. I'll probably refocus efforts on finding a less isolating and arduous hobby and instead look for more social, physical, and entertaining hobbies. Thanks for your input.

Interesting suggestion, but I that would scare the crap out of him :)

> *IMHO your dad's new hobby should be to keep trying new stuff*

That's a good idea. I'm going to suggest that. Thanks

This is a good idea. Thank you.

Congrats on retiring. Thanks for the suggestions. I've added them to my list. Following your example, it sounds like maybe I should encourage my dad to seek those simpler hobbies instead of getting involved in programming, which can be quite arduous. You mentioned playing a musical instrument and I remembered my dad was a pretty good piano player years ago. He hasn't played in years, but he might be interested in picking it up again now that he has the time.

Thanks for your input. Many commenters suggest hobbies with more social aspects, and I'm thinking they (and you) are probably right. Although my dad tends to keep to himself, I think too much of that is probably not good and a solitary task like software development will only enable that. One of the things he liked about work is, as an introvert, he got his daily dose of social interaction.

Sorry to hear you've had relationship troubles with your parents. I hope things get better.

I appreciate the suggestions. I'll add them to my list.

I would love to spend more time with him. Unfortunately, right now I live 1500 miles away. But I think you might be right about the OSS. A lot of other commenters seem to share the same sentiment and I'm thinking they might also be right.

I've had several conversations with him about what he plans to do with his time after he retires and he doesn't know. He's actually said to me, "I don't know. What do you think I should do?". My dad loved his job and never really wanted to retire.

I was trying to come up with some ideas that were more than just idle consumption, like reading books or watching tv/movies because I imagine that will get old quickly. I was trying to think of less passive activities. He used to be a big pool player when he was younger and he said he might try to find some people to play pool with at a local pool hall, but he's had 48 years to do that and I think I can count on one hand the number of times he's gone out to play pool; so I'm a little skeptical that he'll do that. He's quite introverted and doesn't really look to get out much. In fact, he currently plays virtual pool online. But he only does that for about an hour a day and I don't think he'll want to fill entire days doing that. That's why I was looking for something maybe he can get involved in that he could do from home and would be both creative and challenging, e.g. open-source. I also thought doing something totally new might be fun for him.

This is good advice, of course. But my dad is very much an introvert, so he never really sought out things to do with others. He never really took up a hobby by himself either because like I said in my post, "he loved working". And I mean he loved it. He looked forward to it every day. He never imagined retiring. We asked him for years when he would retire and he would say he doesn't want to. So maybe it's unfortunate that he's in this situation, but not much can be done about that now except to figure how how to move forward.

My opinion is the best strength training routine is the one you can stick to. Sometimes you get into a routine because someone told you it's the way to do things. You try to force yourself to do it even though you don't like it. Eventually you stop doing it because you're not motivated to do something you don't like. At that point you might think, "if this is the way I'm 'supposed to' workout, but I don't like it, then I've failed and just won't workout because anything else is not the way you're 'supposed to' do it". Don't listen to anyone who says you have to do one thing or another. Do what you like because you'll be more motivated and stick to it.

This has been my experience... Personally, I don't like going to a gym. I'm not a fan of the atmosphere. I've tried several gym-based workout routines and I just never enjoyed doing them. When I say gym-based, I mean routines that really require gym equipment and access to heavier weights.

I also don't like workouts that waste a lot of time. I found with gym-based workouts I always had to keep looking up each exercise because I would forget exactly how to do them and that wasted a lot of time. There also seemed to be a greater risk of injuring yourself doing certain exercises, especially those requiring heavier weight. I also found exercise routines advertised as being "simple" or "basic" would have several exercises requiring equipment my gym didn't have, so I always had to figure out alternative exercises for that muscle group, which also wasted time.

I ended up doing P90X for a few years, which was great for someone like me that always has other things occupying my mind because I didn't have to think about what exercises to do. It was all laid out for me. Also, I could do it at home and it incorporates HIIT, which allows you to get in some cardio. As I got older, I found P90X felt like it was over-training and I couldn't keep up with the intense hour-long exercises. I switched to P90X3, which has 30-minute routines. That was good for a while, but personally not enough strength training for me. It had a variety of exercises (because variety is kind of the P90 way), but a lot of the exercises didn't really feel like they required enough exertion. P90X3 is probably good for someone starting out though if you need to get a basic level of physical fitness before moving on to more intense stuff.

After P90X3, I purchased RIPT90 Fit, which is very similar to P90X3 (30-minute home workouts) but is cheaper and has fewer, simpler, and more impactful exercises that I think maximize your 30-minutes. I still occasionally mix in some P90X3 routines, like yoga and core workouts.

HTH