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I program on the subway

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Re: I program on the subway

#191

Post by timpera »

stasge wrote: post #142
burningChrome wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A buddy of mine had the same thing. He started taking the light rail into downtown and purposefully parked at one of the early stops instead of taking the bus in. He said he would sit and code on his side projects for around the same amount of time. In the span of a year, he knocked out several small mobile apps and several social media plugins. He said the benefit was being able to spend more time with his family at…

My commute to work is quite long but there is no "sitting" in Tokyo's trains in mornings/evenings so I program on a smartphone. Yes, it's not impossible but it takes time to get used to it.

Would you mind sharing a bit more about how you make it work? Do you have an app? or are you just using the notepad on your phone?

Re: I program on the subway

#192

Post by roryirvine »

ktzar wrote: post #51

I developed a big chunk of my Scumm games decompiler in London's central line. I was lucky (or unlucky) enough to go far enough each day to always hand an empty seat and enjoy 30 minutes of me time each way. All on a Chromebook with crostini. Cheap, long battery life and decent keyboard.

My experience of the central line couldn't have been more different - commuting between Bethnal Green and Holborn, often having to wait 20-25 mins on the platform, letting a dozen trains go by before finally managing to squeeze on, followed by 9 minutes crouching under someone's armpit.

No chance of reading my phone or Kindle, let alone using a laptop!

Re: I program on the subway

#193

Post by avidiax »

schoen wrote: post #189
komali2 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, wouldn't it just result in the side of the laptop being ripped off?

The lock and lock attachment are supposedly rated for several hundred pounds of force. There are probably people who can break it by hand (especially if they practice applying the force at just the right angle or something) but a casual "grab and run" is not going to do it.

Must by highly device dependent. I've never seen a laptop that had more than some thin sheet metal as reinforcement for the lock slot.

Check the Youtube video in my comment above.

Re: I program on the subway

#194

Post by ibejoeb »

goosejuice wrote: post #187
ibejoeb wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actual events. Are you looking for examples? Off the cuff, in the past 2 years we've had 2 high-profile incidents: Jordan Williams and Daniel Penny.

Successful interventions don't lead to death.

Right on. I see what kind of thread you're going for, so I'm out.

Re: I program on the subway

#195

Post by goosejuice »

ibejoeb wrote: post #194
goosejuice wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Successful interventions don't lead to death.

Right on. I see what kind of thread you're going for, so I'm out.

I mean why would you call that successful?

Are you aware of any law enforcement agencies that would risk loss of life for material objects? Even in the case of harm prevention, it's a failure if the perp dies. That's still seen as a policy or op failure.

Re: I program on the subway

#196

Post by mnky9800n »

bitmasher9 wrote: post #32
ziofill wrote: post #11

When I was living in Paris I had a 20 min ride from home to work each day. I picked up the habit to read during those 40 total minutes and I was going through books like I had never been able to, because while 40 min is not a lot, it’s about 150h per year. One easily underestimates the power of consistency.

I read many books a year by reading for 20-30 minutes per night before sleeping. A habit with multiple benefits (winding down and reading or commuting and reading) is very powerful for getting the most value out of your time.

I stopped because I would feel sleepy and also feel like I didn’t get what I was reading and would forget the book. I suppose that’s something of a champagne problem.

Re: I program on the subway

#197

Post by mnky9800n »

prinny_ wrote: post #80
ziofill wrote: post #11

When I was living in Paris I had a 20 min ride from home to work each day. I picked up the habit to read during those 40 total minutes and I was going through books like I had never been able to, because while 40 min is not a lot, it’s about 150h per year. One easily underestimates the power of consistency.

I also used to read my commute but stopped it after I finished "for whom the bell tolls". I was so moved that I ended up crying in the bus and I would have liked to experience that feeling in the privacy of my home rather in the morning bus with 9 hours still on the clock.

I read the road by Cormac McCarthy on the train. That was a mistake.

Re: I program on the subway

#198

Post by mnky9800n »

sedatk wrote: post #174

What I miss about my long commutes on public transportation in early 2000’s was the serenity of doing absolutely nothing. It was essentially forced meditation, and it helped me a lot in reorganizing my thoughts. I had moved next to the office later, and noticed that I’d really missed those meditative hours. I saved maybe 1.5 hours of commute every day but my net productivity had declined. I don’t think it would be as…

I go to the coffee shop without my phone and the freeing sensation is unreal

Re: I program on the subway

#199

Post by lukax »

17 years ago I went to a summer vacation with my family (still a teenager). That meant 10 days without any internet connectivity. I just got my first laptop and I was allowed to take it with me. I was reverse engineering MSN Messenger's user to user and profile picture exchange protocol from TCP dumps. MSN Messenger did not use any encryption. Before I went to the vacation I recorded a bunch of sessions with Wireshark (maybe it was still Ethereal back then). Then for 10 days I was just trying to figure out from the dumps how the binary protocol worked and was writing the code without any way to test it. When I came back I just had to fix some minor bugs and it worked. Fun times.

Re: I program on the subway

#200

Post by prattmic »

hollerith wrote: post #100
prattmic wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 2. Cell service has, at the same time, become ubiquitous in subway tunnels. Not in New York, unfortunately. All of the stations have cell service, and one tunnel (14th Street L train tunnel under the East River), but everywhere else has no service between stations. It’s an annoying limitation that most cities seem to have fixed by now.

If I rode there I'd consider that a feature, not a limitation.

I do get through lots of books this way!
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