Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#571

Post by therealdrag0 » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 4:52 PM UTC

barrkel wrote: post #334

mattlondon wrote: post #142

Computer Science degree. Sure, lots of us "learnt" programming in our bedrooms or whatever by doing our own thing and messing about in whatever language. I went into my compsci degree arrogantly thinking that I pretty much knew how to code already so please just give me the bit of paper saying I have the degree and I'll be on my way thanks very much. I was very wrong. Although I was pretty good at the coding (or at l…

I went into my degree thinking the same thing, and I learned very little, because I generally knew more than the tutors. The biggest win from my college time was from the library and access to books on compiler theory, my real interest. Now, decades later, I despair at how poorly new and many not so new developers we hire really understand complexity theory. Complexity theory is the single biggest thing you can learn…

OTOH: With good monitoring, starting naive and improving later isn't the worst. My company uses NewRelic and it auto-magically sets up traces for all transactions. Can see where time is being spent, and the number and duration of DB and external-requests.

Of course you actually have to pay attention to it. I've gotten a lot of praise by just optimizing things that everyone else shrugged off. (Turns out people appreciate a fast authentication system; who knew!?)

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#572

Post by therealdrag0 » Sun, Oct 07, 2018, 4:59 PM UTC

Keinstein wrote: post #53

EliRivers wrote: post #48

Being good at reading and writing. The ability to quickly and efficiently understand and mentally absorb large amounts of the written word, and the ability to write clearly, simply and coherently about subjects both simple and complicated. Being good at reading is a force multiplier in everything academic I have ever done, and continues to be a huge advantage in both learning and simply doing my job, and in so much o…

Do you have any tips on getting better at this (eg writing explanatory pieces on technical issues) apart from simply doing it over and over again?

I really enjoyed "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker. It's meant to be an accessible guide for the common writer.

(I have an English degree, so I can at least say his advice rings true and hits a lot of important points.)

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#573

Post by fiveFeet » Mon, Oct 08, 2018, 2:31 PM UTC

Touch typing - got me interested in programming

Python - made programming enjoyable

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#574

Post by Bakary » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 1:48 PM UTC

kakaorka wrote: post #270

fazilakhtar wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cooking, and ironing are my go to relaxing activities in the evenings. Hit two birds with one stone.

I’m rather the opposite when it comes to ironing, I can never get myself to do it while not hating it. Do you have any tips for how to make it more bearable?

Have one item in the bathroom when you shower. The steam can remove the wrinkles depending on the conditions.

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#575

Post by Bakary » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 1:50 PM UTC

neya wrote: post #20

I'm going to say something out of the blue - Building speakers. Building speakers look complex from the outside, but are pretty rewarding once you know the basics (Thiele parameters, enclosure design and tuning). You can put together your own speaker with just a couple of parts from eBay or anywhere else on the internet really and sometimes can end up with really high quality boxes that can outperform much more expen…

I recommend reading the book The Invisibility Cloak by Ge Fei

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#576

Post by daninus14 » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 7:31 PM UTC

dominotw wrote: post #304

songzme wrote: post #247

Learning how to smile. I would spend time in front of the mirror practicing my smile for different situations. During interviews I would force myself to smile. It helped get rid of some nervousness. When I get stuck on a problem I would smile stupidly and usually the interviewer would help me out. When I feel like conversations are getting heated I would take a step back and smile, it helps me direct the conversion t…

Wow. Amazing advice. I was feeling shitty and nervous now and tried a bit of forced smiling. Changed my mood for sure.

Me too! :D !! :D

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#577

Post by pnloyd » Wed, Oct 10, 2018, 2:54 AM UTC

dominotw wrote: post #499

pnloyd wrote: post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean.. if it's really that bad you can always walk back and forth in the pool. I really do that sometimes.

yeah not a bad idead. i need to find plantar fasciitis sleves that are waterproof. I am too young for this shit :( .

Me too.

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#578

Post by nithishdivakar » Thu, Oct 11, 2018, 12:46 AM UTC

A few things. - A habit of reading: Took a while but, whenever I am traveling, I am reading stuff. Books, articles you name it. But strictly no social media. BTW, Pocket is a great app for this. - Learning vim: Writing code faster has really paid off. I have reached a point where I don't remember the vim key bindings. But my hand does. So things are pretty fast. - Learning emacs org mode: All the writing and planning activities have become much simpler. Highly recommend it.

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#579

Post by vertline3 » Thu, Oct 11, 2018, 5:08 AM UTC

cirgue wrote: post #569

vertline3 wrote: post #501

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do I make myself want to do something? Serious question

Connecting the future outcome you want with your present experience. Running when it’s 40 and rainy sucks to start, but after your warmed up and for the rest of the day you will be glad to have done so. Starting definitely sucks, but if you’re convinced enough in the present that the future state is worth it, you will want to run and you will want to push through it. That’s a skill that can be cultivated.

Thank you for your reply!