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Ask HN: What did you learn the hard way?

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Re: Ask HN: What did you learn the hard way?

#171

Post by jonesdow »

polpenn wrote: post #44

Life, by default, is suffering. The surprise is not the fact that there is suffering around the world, but how we managed to achieve the level of prolonged peaceful co-existence that we have today. We should act in such a way that suffering or chaos is reduced---however small such reduction may be. Suppose you had a choice between watching T.V. and washing the dishes. Watching T.V. means, perhaps, that your spouse wi…

Speaking of dishwashing and life lessons. When I was in college (20 years ago) and sharing an apartment with 3 colleagues, the guys were leaving their dishes unwashed in the kitchen sink. Initially I washed my own dishes after finising a meal, only to find out the colleagues happily used my clean dishes then let them dirty in the sink. I realized I'm washing them twice: once when picking them dirty from the sink, washing them so I can eat and secondly after I finished eating. So I optimized: only washed them once like all folks do: before eating.

Lesson: when in Rome, do like the Romans.

And P.S: no, you can't argue with the Romans and make 'em wash their dishes after eating.

Re: Ask HN: What did you learn the hard way?

#172

Post by chrisacky »

SteveNuts wrote: post #158
chrisacky wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, I already had all of the infrastructure and technology. I can't even remember the software I used for game hosting[1] , but they were the largest paid technology that provided this kind of thing at the time. I bought him with the intention of moving into "web hosting", since at that time my business was entirely focused ONLY on providing services such as "teamspeak", "battlefield 2" hosting, GMod, Call of Duty e…

Wow that's quite the story, are you still in the hosting business?

Yes and no...

Now I help run a vacation rental/holiday rental software company -- so instead we help host people. We provide management/distribution for agencies. The original product was to just focus on a web marketing front-end software (so I suppose a little bit of "hosting" through our SaaS product). I started that business a few years after the above story.

Re: Ask HN: What did you learn the hard way?

#173

Post by markdoubleyou »

kokx wrote: post #162
markdoubleyou wrote: post #122

If you're a dev, don't work for a company where software development is viewed as a cost center--you want your work to be viewed as something that brings in revenue. (Learned the hard way when I worked at a large bank.)

I think that these days, the best large banks do not view software development as a cost center anymore. I'm hearing more and more from people in banking that banks these days are basically IT companies with added security constraints.

Fair point. My particular experience was at Washington Mutual, about 13 years ago, which was not one of the "best large banks" by any objective measure. I left about a year before the collapse while they were still raking in money from shady loans... everyone there thought I was nuts for leaving.

Re: Ask HN: What did you learn the hard way?

#174

Post by itsreallyme »

fhood wrote: post #75
schen57 wrote: post #18

Documentation is like sex. If it is good, it is good. If it is bad it is good

"Our code is self-documenting. If you need documentation then the code isn't written well enough" -Assholes who don't know what it is like to work with mature code bases.

    "Our code is self-documenting. If you need documentation then the code isn't written well enough"

    -Assholes who don't know what it is like to work with mature code bases.
- People who don't know how to write clean code

Re: Ask HN: What did you learn the hard way?

#175

Post by marmaduke »

polpenn wrote: post #44

Life, by default, is suffering. The surprise is not the fact that there is suffering around the world, but how we managed to achieve the level of prolonged peaceful co-existence that we have today. We should act in such a way that suffering or chaos is reduced---however small such reduction may be. Suppose you had a choice between watching T.V. and washing the dishes. Watching T.V. means, perhaps, that your spouse wi…

The other two marks of existence, emptiness and interconnectedness, are also pretty useful.

Re: Ask HN: What did you learn the hard way?

#176

Post by kup0 »

RickS wrote: post #68

The danger of overly ambitious goals is their brittleness, and when they break, they break all the way. Much like "the best camera is the one you have", the best diet is the one you keep, and the best course is the one you'll attend. It's better to set yourself up for modest success than spectacular failure. ------- Community matters. Relationships with other people matter. When I thought strong work would scratch my…

I think the calcified disinterest in some of us comes from being raised in (and eventually leaving) a Western religious and conservative environment.

Re: Ask HN: What did you learn the hard way?

#178

Post by badloginagain »

enraged_camel wrote: post #135
madeuptempacct wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I think this is a pretty accurate summary, as probably evidenced by the downvotes you are getting (and I no doubt will get). :)

The 'Canadaland' Podcast, a Canadian media criticism podcast, did a fantastic episode on Petersons media strategy. It basically maps how Dr.(?) Peterson exploits his controversial reputation to sell his books.

http://www.canadalandshow.com/podcast/canadaland-guide-jorda...

(As a side note, even though its Canada-centric, Canadaland is probably one of best things that has happened to Canadian journalism in a long time. Anyone even remotely interested should give it a listen.)

Re: Ask HN: What did you learn the hard way?

#179

Post by stevenkovar »

sufiyan wrote: post #133
jfc wrote: post #118

A few things: 1) People's words are like deep water. Pay careful attention to what people say--it's profoundly revealing (more than they realize). By listening, I've been able to identify people who intended to trouble me in some way. It's incredible, they just can't keep it inside even when pretending to be nice. 2) Actions speak louder than words (given #1, this is really saying something). Don't look for people to…

Could you expound on (1). I have been toyed around by my former Co founder who sweet talked me into believing him. I still think I suck at understanding human behaviour and nature. Are there any telling signs that help you?

Input vs. Output. Does the person talk about how they're going to act more than they actually act? One of the biggest tells for me.
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