331–340 of 344 posts
I went through chicken farming, loading trucks at a builder's merchant, handling directory enquiries phone calls, fork lift driving, designing kitchens, fruit picking, managing vehicle fleets, and more.
Eventually concluded dev work is what I love and returned to it about 5 years later.
I was a manager, for many years. I ran a development shop, but did not write paid code. I was good at it, but hated it. I wanted to code all the time. During that time, I wrote open-source stuff, on the side (unpaid). Since leaving that job, I am now writing code, more than ever, and still not getting paid. Not what you're looking for, I know, but that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Have you considered getting sponsors on Patreon or Github?
I actually don't mind that my stuff isn't that popular. The more folks that use it, the less freedom that I have to modify it.
I'm my own best customer. I write the software that I need, and consume it. Publishing it forces me to cross my t's, and dot my i's.
It seems that high-Quality software isn't a "thing," these days, so I guess my stuff isn't something people want.
I went to law school and am currently a biglaw first-year. Trying to switch back to dev though (see https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29690759 ) Basic reasons for switch: 1) self-taught dev, so felt like I was always playing from behind; 2) wanted to pursue interests I had before going into tech; 3) felt like I wasn't productive in college, and thus wanted to have an intellectual experience. I didn't think at all…
Did you study from scratch to get into law school or did you already have a pre-law background? I am thinking (daydreaming, really) about becoming a non-profit type lawyer as my next profession because I am interested in some social causes that have fallen out of favor and don’t have much activism anymore. Going to law school seemed to me a good option for understanding how to effect change through the legal system.
I would say to strongly consider going if these social causes are sufficiently specific (sounds like they are) AND if you really care about them enough to be able to put up with any BS in the actual act of lawyering to pursue such litigation.
If you're in tech, I can say with like 80-90% confidence that the actual experience of working in the law is going to feel like bullshit. But, if lawyering is a means to an end for you, then I think it can be worth it.
> Going to law school seemed to me a good option for understanding how to effect change through the legal system.
Do you know anyone working at a policy-focused legal non-profit? Paradigmatic example would be the ACLU, immigration-focused non-profits, or environmental orgs. I would ask them for a better take on whether effecting such change is even possible.
If you're willing to share what your particular social causes are, I can perhaps give better advice, but ultimately the kinds of changes you want to see are probably better pursued through lobbying and other such advocacy as opposed to actually lawyering. FWIW, during law school, I interned at the ACLU and one of the bigger environmental orgs (and also at the Manhattan DA's office and for a state appellate judge in CA, but those aren't really applicable here).
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never thought that would be enough. what did you exactly do day to day in your wall street job?
I was on the private side doing m&a, debt and equity advisory. MBA is a common path into the role.
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What a load of shit. This is the same mindset folks who pop up to yell at some Google engineers have. Why are you using your skills to collect data for adtech! You could be helping bring clean drinking water to the world! People value what they value, and should be able to work in fields that bring them happiness and don’t break the law without your judgement. Who are you to tell anyone what’s meaningful?
It's unfortunate that adtech enjoys less popularity than bringing clean drinking water to the world. That's really a tragedy and the main thing wrong with the world. I wish I could do wildly unpopular things without people criticizing me. Who the hell is everyone else, to dare judge me? I am above judgement.
The sentiments from you, and the original post I was replying to, have inherent privilege baked into them. A South Asian person with family who depends on them for remittances is ignored. A family with a child with special needs that require specific health insurance coverage is ignored. There are so many reasons people do the work they do. Presumably you think people who work in adtech, for example, are somehow morally inferior. It's this sophomoric view of the world that's bothersome. To tell anyone they should consider teaching at a coding bootcamp instead of what they're doing ... I have no words.
I'd love to hear how these folks are changing the world for the better. It's much easier to tell others what they should do with their time and money.
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Here’s the thing. If I could just code without being a slave to a scrum master or being product micromanaged.. I would never leave the industry. I worked five years in mobile gaming when the Apple Store first opened. Released 13 titles, had my hands in a half a dozen others, three teams in two countries, 15 employees at our height (95% remote). Never had a standup, planning meaning, grooming.. etc.
> If I could just code without being a slave to a scrum master or being product micromanaged.. I would never leave the industry. My current job has zero planning meetings and a standup twice a week with 20 people attending that lasts about 7 minutes on average; standup is literally "what are you working on and are you blocked?". If the person rambles in standup, our boss cuts them off and has the next person go. It's…
Moved to renewables. Wanted to try and help with climate change and needed new challenges. Solar is a fantastic industry. Lots of room for improvement feels like internet did in thr mid 90s. Just a ton of enthusiasm and a sense you're part of something big and important.
Could you give a sense about what the interesting problems there are? I get the sense (knowing nothing) that it's maybe similar to ML in the sense that only a few top research labs does all the fun stuff. The internet in the 90s had tons of low hanging fruit just about anyone could pluck.
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It's unfortunate that adtech enjoys less popularity than bringing clean drinking water to the world. That's really a tragedy and the main thing wrong with the world. I wish I could do wildly unpopular things without people criticizing me. Who the hell is everyone else, to dare judge me? I am above judgement.
Or you know, do the polite thing and keep quiet? The sentiments from you, and the original post I was replying to, have inherent privilege baked into them. A South Asian person with family who depends on them for remittances is ignored. A family with a child with special needs that require specific health insurance coverage is ignored. There are so many reasons people do the work they do. Presumably you think people…
The truth is there are underprivileged people in every type of industry, doing every kind of job. When people criticize adtech, it is not poor people they are criticizing, and I think we both know the picture you're painting is nothing like the median adtech worker.
You're using disadvantaged people as a blanket justification for the whole industry. But the industry targets everyone, whether they're disadvantaged or not. With that reasoning you can justify anything, but that's not even the core of the problem.
There are scammers who target the elderly over the phone, that have the same justification. You might think I'm picking scammers because they're so hated, but the truth is scammers are people too. They have families that depend of them, they have kids to feed, and they deserve empathy just as much as you do.
But who does their work hurt? Old people, poor people, rich people, and also other underprivileged people.
That's the real problem with the idea that doing the right thing is a privilege. You don't care who's being hurt, and you don't care what their privilege is.
If you're hurting more people than you're helping, you don't get to demand that people also love you for what you're doing, is the problem.
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It's unfortunate that adtech enjoys less popularity than bringing clean drinking water to the world. That's really a tragedy and the main thing wrong with the world. I wish I could do wildly unpopular things without people criticizing me. Who the hell is everyone else, to dare judge me? I am above judgement.
Or you know, do the polite thing and keep quiet? The sentiments from you, and the original post I was replying to, have inherent privilege baked into them. A South Asian person with family who depends on them for remittances is ignored. A family with a child with special needs that require specific health insurance coverage is ignored. There are so many reasons people do the work they do. Presumably you think people…
No. I think that's being presumptuous.
The point is not about calling people "morally inferior". Before thinking of yourself as underprivileged and above criticism, you should try to see that there are people less privileged than you that adtech is targeting (or preying on), and people much more privileged than either of us that profit from this work.
>I'd love to hear how these folks are changing the world for the better. It's much easier to tell others what they should do with their time and money.
No, absolutely not. It's really not me who has a pet peeve against adtech in particular, it's a whole lot of people from all walks of life. Do you think I want to feel "superior" and tell you that you're "inferior"? What good does it do to anyone to think like that, exactly?
Maybe I happen to do something that is less unpopular than adtech. Or maybe not. But if you think that's why I replied to you, you're missing the point.