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I program on the subway

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Re: I program on the subway

#201

Post by macNchz »

yjftsjthsd-h wrote: post #119
macNchz wrote: post #54

I recently bought a GPD MicroPC 2, a 7” laptop with a real keyboard. It runs Linux just fine, and it has been a fun experience of having a “real” computer with me much more often than I otherwise would. My version of programming on the subway has been programming on a park bench—it fits in a jacket pocket, or even the back pocket of some of my pants. The keyboard is tiny but easy enough to use with thumbs, or, with s…

> GPD MicroPC 2, a 7” laptop with a real keyboard Is it actually decent for typing on? I'm perennially tempted, but I'm somewhat skeptical of a small keyboard vs touch typing.

It's surprisingly good! I wouldn't want to type on it all day long, but it works pretty well for me. I just did a cold typing test, not having typed on it in a few days, and got 55wpm touch typing the normal way, and 40wpm with thumbs. On a regular keyboard I can type >100wpm, so it's clearly not quite there, but I much prefer it to a smartphone keyboard, and I can be much more accurate on it without any sort of autocorrect.

Re: I program on the subway

#202

Post by Mawr »

goosejuice wrote: post #195
ibejoeb wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Random passerby are not law enforcement professionals, they're untrained and therefore can't be held to such standards.

The case of Daniel Penny cited above is straightforward: "Neely boarded the car Penny was riding and reportedly began threatening passengers. After the train had left the station, Penny approached Neely from behind to apply the chokehold, and maintained it in a sitting position until Neely went limp a few minutes after the train had reached the next stop."

That's exactly what a successfully stopped threat looks like. That the threatening person ended up dying is unfortunate, but they did ultimately bring that upon themselves. They were free to stop being a threat to others at any time.

But then I don't know what you're trying to imply with the loss of life to protect material objects comment. Seems like an attempt to troll, because nobody is talking about that.

Re: I program on the subway

#203

Post by goosejuice »

Mawr wrote: post #202
goosejuice wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Random passerby are not law enforcement professionals, they're untrained and therefore can't be held to such standards. The case of Daniel Penny cited above is straightforward: "Neely boarded the car Penny was riding and reportedly began threatening passengers. After the train had left the station, Penny approached Neely from behind to apply the chokehold, and maintained it in a sitting position until Neely went limp…

> But then I don't know what you're trying to imply with the loss of life to protect material objects comment. Seems like an attempt to troll, because nobody is talking about that.

From the thread (edited for clarity):

-> I've seen a phone jacking in this exact scenario and nobody moved to stop the guy running. Nobody on the train can help cause the doors have closed, and nobody on the platform has any idea anything just happened, or if they do the guy is well gone before they can put two and two together.

-> I'm not worried about the laptop. Pretty much everyone knows that any valuable laptop is a tracking device anyway. You should be worried about getting actually robbed, or even being attacked for no reason, while you're not paying attention.

-> 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.

Theft -> examples of loss of life during "successful interventions".

> That's exactly what a successfully stopped threat looks like.

We might be getting caught up on how to define successful here. If by successful you mean that the outcome was legal then I agree, and would say the outcomes of these trials were likely the appropriate outcome.

But if by successful you mean the best outcome, which is what I take it to mean, then I disagree. A successful intervention would be one where no-one was injured. I've spent years riding trains in Chicago where there's a pretty regular cohort of individuals suffering from various mental illness. I even lived in a building that partially served as a half-way house for such individuals. I've seen people do what Jordan Neely was claimed to do a couple dozen times without altercation. I've also seen people assaulted and knifes get pulled. There are ways to de-escalate a situation that doesn't result in a lethal outcome. That should be the definition of successful here.

> Random passerby are not law enforcement professionals, they're untrained and therefore can't be held to such standards.

The standard is the law. Vigilantism doesn't get a pass on the law just because it was good natured. Perhaps the law gives good natured people caution, but the alternative is much worse. "Legal hell" as it was put, is appropriate when involved in the death of an individual. That's just a consequence of living in a society that values human life.

Re: I program on the subway

#204

Post by schoen »

avidiax wrote: post #193
schoen wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Huh, that's not so encouraging! :-(

Re: I program on the subway

#205

Post by goosejuice »

afavour wrote: post #73
komali2 wrote: post #22

> they would have to do it at a station, where they could immediately get off the train. I think, though, that this would be risky, given that subway stops generally have a lot of people getting on/off the train in the first place. I've seen a phone jacking in this exact scenario and nobody moved to stop the guy running. Nobody on the train can help cause the doors have closed, and nobody on the platform has any idea…

I also code on the subway from time to time and this does occur to me. But there are locations in an NYC subway car you can sit that would make it very difficult for someone to grab your laptop and exit the train before the doors close. It's still a risk but it's not uncommon to see people with all kinds of valuable items (e.g. shopping bags from premium fashion stores) out in the open on the subway. Crazy to think b…

A CS professor of mine had his laptop lifted on the train home right out of his lap. It does happen.

Re: I program on the subway

#206

Post by bitmasher9 »

bbkane wrote: post #78
bitmasher9 wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Until the book gets really good and you have to keep reading past your bedtime to learn what happens (or maybe that's just me)

This happens to me about once a year. I’m much more likely to stay up later than planned while doing other activities such as watching tv, coding, talking, social media, or spending time with my partner.

Re: I program on the subway

#207

Post by saagarjha »

fragmede wrote: post #182
saagarjha wrote: post #14

I used to do work on Caltrain, which used to be like 3 hours of my commute and didn't have any internet, so I would carefully plan what I could do beforehand. My code deploys to a machine that's very different from my laptop, but I had a Docker container set up to cross compile things and loaded up the docs beforehand, so as long as I planned out what I wanted to do. These days Caltrain is faster and has occasionally…

https://a.co/d/1lCU1ha for mobile triple head.

I appreciate the suggestion but this is more than twice the weight of my laptop and I would much rather have light than big screen :)

Re: I program on the subway

#208

Post by gozzoo »

mnky9800n wrote: post #198
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

aren't such places too busy for meditation?

Re: I program on the subway

#209

Post by sedatk »

gozzoo wrote: post #208
mnky9800n wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

aren't such places too busy for meditation?

For quite meditation types, perhaps, but mindfulness meditation, for example, doesn't require stripping away nuisance, but acknowledging it while keeping a mindful state instead.

Re: I program on the subway

#210

Post by gozzoo »

sedatk wrote: post #209
gozzoo wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

aren't such places too busy for meditation?

For quite meditation types, perhaps, but mindfulness meditation, for example, doesn't require stripping away nuisance, but acknowledging it while keeping a mindful state instead.

Yes, but I suppose there shoudln't bee too many things happening in order to acknolege them, preferebly only the things in you mind.

I've been trying somithing similar, but more active - beach walks in the in the early eavning. there are still people there but not too many. my goal was to acknoledge everything and enjoy the moment. i was not quite successfull though, it was still too much for me to acheive tranquility :)

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