Ask HN: How do hackers make friends?

I never interacted much with others in CS courses until my last year. I took Japanese, though... you are forced to talk to others in language courses, and have plenty of opportunities for fun (mistranslations, lots of confusion, etc). Figure out which language department is the most fun in your school and give a 101 course a go. It lead to me studying in Japan for a year, which was some of the best times I had in college.

Start a club. Run an event. Get yourself in a position of power, you might even become popular, but you still mightn't find any friends. Do outreach for an organization of some sort. Run stories for the college newspaper and interview people. Try to get press privileges.

(disclaimer) This is not for everybody (disclaimer)

If you walk alone on a street you probably don't interact with other people, but if you walk the same street with a medium-sized or small dog this is a very different history. Is very curious but a lot of small talk is generated with other people, even strangers, specially with other dog owners. If our dog looks well cared, not specially dangerous, healthy and happy a lot of people will hang around to touch him, and will talk with you.

A dog is not a toy, is a responsability, with expensive vet bills, food, maybe the urge to bark "hello world" in the middle of the night, and needs two walks each day, (even if you wake-up sunday morning after a party with a big headache). But if you feel alone and depressed and you can have one in your house a good dog is a powerful antidote for both, one of the best antidotes of the whole world in my opinion.

Every owner of a dog need to deal with the cleaning of dog faeces. This means to carry with you a plastic bag and a pair of gloves every time you exit your home. Don't forget this. Travels and hotels can require also some special measures.

A more easier option that could fit better for you is a ferret.

Advantages: don't make much noise, needs only about an hour of attention/day, You can have it safely in a cage in your house, they sleep most of the day whereas you work in the computer

Problems: can bite when angry but the main problem is the odour. They smell, specially in the mating's season. The problem is much avoided if the odour glands are extirpated. If you have only a female you need to assure either to breed or to sterilize her (The ferret females can die by "lack of sex", sounds funny but is very sad to see). Ask in the pet shop.

Ferrets feel the urge to explore any hole in the floor, (including WC's) or any crevice in a wall. Don't permit this, you can lost your pet. Use an harness to stop the small livingstone.

They steal and hide also any thing that they found interesting for a further review, from potatos to plastic caps. Under the beds, etc.

See also: http://www.seniorlink.co.nz/interests/pets/ferret.shtml

Cats: I say ferrets and not cats because you can walk a ferret in the park with a harness, but if you walk a cat you will be a little more in the weird side, with the spider, snakes, cricket and lizard's owners. Cats are cool and a great theme of conversation; You can atract all girls in a mile if you have a small kitten in your hand (is a scientific fact), but this kitten will grow, escape and do some nasty things with your curtains some day. Different advantages and problems.

Any small mammal, like a fancy mouse, can make you feel better and help you to generate a conversation. But they are rarely carried or seen outdoors.

Just remember that you need to implicate and care any pet, and this can lead to some troubles or discomfort in your life. There is not a thing like "the perfect pet" (maybe fishes?).