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zgmon The Gift

"Statistically, there does not appear to be much of a genetic component to pancreatic cancer, but still, I worried. How much longer do I have? Could there be a tumor growing inside of me at this very moment?"

I lost my father to pancreatic cancer when I was only 18. Even though I'm only 20, this is something I constantly have in the back of my head. Although I don't live each day exactly like it's my last, I no longer stress out over small things and am a lot more questioning of the decisions I make. Death really does strip away everything doesn't matter.

zgmon Your Goals Are Holding You Back

This is exactly how I approach improving in programming. Since I didn't really get into it until I started college, I always feel like I'm playing catchup to everyone else. The trick to making progress is to not get discouraged.

You'd be surprised how far "do a little bit each day" will get you.

zgmon Light Table (Kodowa) is hiring

Same. I've been playing around with Light Table for about a month now, and I'm completely hooked on Clojure.

zgmon At ‘Hacker Hostels,’ Living on the Cheap and Dreaming of Digital Glory

I concur. I am currently staying at the Mountain View house while doing a summer internship at a startup. It is difficult to find short-term housing on craigslist or other rental sites as most landlords are looking for long-term leases. Luckily, I was able to stay with friends while looking for housing and was fortunate to find an open spot at Chez JJ. Though $1000/month can seem pricey, for the location (biking distance to my office, grocery stores, YC, and HackerDojo) and community of hackers and entrepreneurs, you would be hard pressed to find a more ideal housing arrangement.

zgmon It's Playtime - Light Table Playground released

Nice work, Chris! I can't wait to start learning Clojure with it.

zgmon Ask HN: How to get started in Java Development?

With regards to Java itself, definitely check out Bruce Eckel's Thinking in Java (http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Java-Edition-Bruce-Eckel/dp/0...). The 4th edition is the most current. However, previous ones are available for free here: http://www.mindviewinc.com/Books/downloads.html.

Another good introductory text is Head First Java (http://www.amazon.com/Head-First-Java-2nd-Edition/dp/0596009...).

In terms of frameworks, I would recommend checking out Play! (http://www.playframework.org/) for web applications. Spring is a bit more enterprise-y, it is also a good option (http://www.springsource.com/).