401–410 of 459 posts
I've been running a blog at https://xeiaso.net for almost a decade now. It has been the single best decision I have ever made in my career. It allows me to skip technical screening interviews. It has made interviewing at companies _easy_ because I have _already proven_ that I understand what I'm talking about. Learning how to write well also makes it so much easier to explain things succinctly, especially when workin…
I've been running a blog at https://xeiaso.net for almost a decade now. It has been the single best decision I have ever made in my career. It allows me to skip technical screening interviews. It has made interviewing at companies _easy_ because I have _already proven_ that I understand what I'm talking about. Learning how to write well also makes it so much easier to explain things succinctly, especially when workin…
Social media was unheard of at that time. News sites and blogs were primary sources of information. I set up a WordPress blog to collect and disseminate critical information.
Spending 4-5 hours every day, I compiled information about relief efforts and rehabilitation activities. There was a section for missing persons too.
The blog was mentioned in the publications like the Washington Post, the New York Times, CNBC etc. It remained at number one spot in search engines for quite some time.
But it was the comments and emails from those who found hope in the midst of the chaos that truly fueled my drive. I heard from people who had reunited with their loved ones, others who received vital on-ground aid, and still others who found ways to lend a helping hand.
Though my blog may now be archived, the memory of those days still lingers on. For in that moment of crisis, I found the strength to make a difference, and my efforts brought light into the lives of so many.
This is my first post on HN, though I've been reading conversations here for years. I would encourage the OP to create their own website and share it with their friends and workmates. I went through a similar journey in 2020 and all I can say is that I wished I had done it sooner. I started writing articles when the pandemic hit, and bought a domain / published my articles there last year. Reason for doing so was an…
- Some form of "marketing" or "exposure" to the inconsequential side projects that you do and probably thought no one really cares about
- Some small amount of internet money ~$10/month enough for the site to pay for itself from AdSense
- Expert networking gigs ($100 to $200/hour). Basically, they connect you with their clients on consult about a certain topic. These are rare though. I've only done 2/7 successful arrangements so far.
I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat.
This is my first post on HN, though I've been reading conversations here for years. I would encourage the OP to create their own website and share it with their friends and workmates. I went through a similar journey in 2020 and all I can say is that I wished I had done it sooner. I started writing articles when the pandemic hit, and bought a domain / published my articles there last year. Reason for doing so was an…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Overall things are much safer, but contact by scammers online (online scams in general) is much more a thing now than it was then. There was a turning point in the mid-late aughts for me where the level of trustworthiness of random anonymous online contacts took a dive.
This is my feeling as well. For some reason online community feels more "trustable" in the early 2000s. That is definitely NOT true today.