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11th grade

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Re: 11th grade

#51
post #49
post #11

Currently in 11th grade. Can highly relate. I've been working on a few startups for a couple years, exited a few things (not for a lot), working in PHP and now Rails, and it's far more exciting than hs. http://markbao.com (old, somewhat crappy stuff there, new stuff http://files.markbao.com/newstuff.jpg ) I'm not thinking about dropping out, though. The risk is too great to just drop out and work on startups. I'm try…

A website is not a startup. A startup company can have its main business revolve around a website, but you seem to have confused the issue. You have played coder with some websites, but where is the revenue? the marketing? all the non-fun things? p.s. Poolify -- you have to change the name. Poo-la-fi is how I read it.

I pretty much finished AOD before I figured out that it wasn't revolutionary or anything (and in that area, pretty much have to revolutionize to win.)

Poolify was an experiment.

It's a process, still figuring things out. My newest does have plans for the aforementioned.

Re: 11th grade

#52
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a spectrum running from Bill Watterson to Jim Davis, and I'm entitled to my opinion about where Randall Munroe falls on it. :P

Oh come on, Jim Davis at the bottom? Garfield may be terrible, but have you ever read Marmaduke?

You fail to account for ironic value.

Re: 11th grade

#53
post #15

Ugh. Why is it that self-professed "nerds" are always so blatantly anti-intellectual? It's such short-sighted nonsense; nothing but pandering to the immaturity of every 16-year-old throughout history who day-dreamed his way through the classes that he didn't like, and justified it by whining: "when am I gonna have to use this?" You know what? Sometimes you have to learn things that you don't think you'll "use in real…

Why is it that self-professed "nerds" are always so blatantly anti-intellectual?

Anti-intellectual is the wrong term. Anti-system or anti-academia would be better. The nerds you refer to generally believe strongly in learning and becoming smarter (indeed, knowledge and intelligence are measures by which many nerds brag) but not so strongly in the system of academia, "qualifications" and systems of education.

Re: 11th grade

#54
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm looking over your stuff at http://markbao.com/ ... it looks like you're more concerned with appearing to be an entrepeneur than with the work itself and product quality. These sites are simply fluff. Also, I'm not sure how you can really create quality small business collaboration tools without having been in the working world. Just an observation. Making $10B is not a very admirable life goal: http://markbao.com…

Thanks for the feedback. > These sites are simply fluff. The sites on there are pretty old, which is why I linked a newer list (incl http://ramamia.com ) The third isn't an open site, fourth and fifth just experiments. > Also, I'm not sure how you can really create quality small business collaboration tools without having been in the working world. Just an observation. You're right, though I'm not really saying AOD i…

>It's a goal and an aspiration, that I'd like to meet.

I see nothing wrong with this aspiration. I wish the best.

Re: 11th grade

#55
post #15

Ugh. Why is it that self-professed "nerds" are always so blatantly anti-intellectual? It's such short-sighted nonsense; nothing but pandering to the immaturity of every 16-year-old throughout history who day-dreamed his way through the classes that he didn't like, and justified it by whining: "when am I gonna have to use this?" You know what? Sometimes you have to learn things that you don't think you'll "use in real…

I definitely agree with the point that some drudgery (with benefits that aren't immediately obvious) is necessary in schools, but the state of public education in the US is pretty bad, and in many cases this cartoon is spot on.

Re: 11th grade

#56
Wow. I'm in the UK, and the main reaction I'm getting from reading all these comments is "Wow, is US education really that bad?"

Seriously, High School is 1300 hours of 'busy work'? Or just memorising lists of facts?

The equivalent period of my education in the UK could in no way be described in this way.

It's not really this bad, is it? It's just people dissing studying things they don't want to study, right?

Re: 11th grade

#57
On a completely unrelated note: I thought Perl was a girl, haha.

(I actually build a AIM bot in Perl when I was in High School, so don't judge me -- I can be nerdy too)

Re: 11th grade

#58
post #48
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I was an idiot. Back then, I didn't have the perspective to know what was important and what was unimportant... And what makes you think the people designing your high school curriculum knew any better or that teaching you important things was even their goal? I think with a little guidance from well educated people I could have spent my high school years learning a hell of a lot more important things than my schoo…

"And what makes you think the people designing your high school curriculum knew any better or that teaching you important things was even their goal?" I don't think they knew for sure , but they had a hell of a lot better idea about what was important than I did, at the time. And in retrospect, they weren't too far off. Most people who teach and design high school curricula are incredibly dedicated people, who want y…

http://www.textbookleague.org/103feyn.htm

Re: 11th grade

#59
post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No Mark. Take advantage of college to do things you'll never have the chance to if you lock yourself into a software-only world. Show up for lectures on music theory, astrophysics, history. Try to learn a foreign language that works completely differently from English, like Chinese. You can audit most of these courses without signing up for them: just show up and never ask for permission unless it is a small course w…

I know what you're getting at. Although I agree that it's very important to find extracurricular and extracareerular interests as well (and I am seeking other interest areas), I'm (although this must sound naïve) certain that entrepreneurship and business is my passion and thus I set it as my focus. I find drive, excitement and motivation in nothing else than startups. I think college will be a great and eye-opening…

Yeah, don't drop out. I'm you (in terms if your passion) three years ahead. I'm 21 and nearly finished with University, and I was similar to you in High School in the fact that I was writing software, having fun with small-scale start-ups and projects, and had businesses begging me to drop out so I could work for them full-time.

What's different? Not too much. I now have corporations begging me to drop out and work full time, and some really cool jobs lined up for when I'm done. The biggest tip I can give you is this: don't fuck up. You will at some point think that you are awesome and you can drop out of college - don't. Also, if you focus too much on work, business and software without an equal amount of partying and social activity with it, you will feel empty and eventually burn out - a lot of self-management is required here, because if this happens you either persevere in a depressed state, or take a break for a few weeks as you should.

While I'm certainly not "old" yet I've been told myself thousands of times by trusted people both in my family and in the world of work that I'm way too young to take things too seriously. When I'd take this at face value I would think they just didn't understand my passion, my craving to do this fun, exhilarating work. It wasn't until the Christmas party of one of the companies I worked that I understood, as me as my boss spoke for ages in a completely plastered state. There are things out there that are fun, exciting and new that you simply haven't experienced yet, and you couldn't understand how enjoyable they are without at least giving them a shot. This is akin to deciding which programming language is best after only trying one.

Luckily for me, I have been maintaining a balance - or rather, been threatened by my girlfriend of 3 years to maintain a balance "or else", however I can see how easy it would be to grow up too young and miss out on so much. There is no other time in our lives where we have the opportunity to learn, travel or try new things with such little holding us back in terms of responsibility or finances, so we must do these things too!

Don't quit HS/College early, and keep your passion; but the number one rule is maintain balance. Anyone who will hire you now based on your knowledge, work ethic and passion will absolutely hire you 3 years down the track, full-time. Any smart employer would. You will get tempting offers over the period in which you study, but you need to put yourself first, and have not only the degree you get from college, but the experience.

Also, protip: People will complement you over the next few years, over and over again. You will feel on top of the world, and then you will begin to feel superior. Don't. Most of the time this is a test, and you need to stay modest.

Re: 11th grade

#60
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a spectrum running from Bill Watterson to Jim Davis, and I'm entitled to my opinion about where Randall Munroe falls on it. :P

Oh come on, Jim Davis at the bottom? Garfield may be terrible, but have you ever read Marmaduke?

For those who haven't seen them:

http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/

http://marmadukeexplained.blogspot.com/

Great arguments for transformative fair use if you ever need them.

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