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Game Programmer Quits Job To Sell Street Food, Doubles Salary

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Re: Game Programmer Quits Job To Sell Street Food, Doubles Salary

#121

Post by pnathan »

LekkoscPiwa wrote: post #39
nrb wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or, the engineers and developers make the hardware and software that is inevitably replacing all human labor in agriculture.

An IT startup dealing with agriculture could be successful. There are these companies like the one that produces water purification systems and chemicals in China that are just pure gold to invest in. (Chinese have horrible, horrible water quality even for the purposes of agriculture). As China is becoming richer and richer doing basic stuff like this may turn out to be much better place to be than spending years com…

Climate Corp in Seattle does ag insurance with Clojure. Pretty cool people.

Re: Game Programmer Quits Job To Sell Street Food, Doubles Salary

#122

Post by im3w1l »

alex_c wrote: post #24
Ygg2 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that even with all that they are better than a game programmer is really sad. Game programmers are the equivalent of children workers in a sweatshop.

Why is that really sad? More people need food than games. More people want to make games than sell street food. The food business is brutally hard work, and I have a lot of respect for anyone doing it (well). There's no a priori reason why game programmers should be rewarded more than street food vendors.

It is sad because it is too close for comfort. It could happen to me. It also sets a bad price anchor for programmers.

Re: Game Programmer Quits Job To Sell Street Food, Doubles Salary

#123

Post by sliverstorm »

dubfan wrote: post #100
vecinu wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To add to this, has anyone actually tested the diesel engine to make sure it meet all emission standards? How safe are the fumes to be burned around cities? Remember when we found out lead in gas was unsafe to be inhaled from exhaust pipes?

From Wikipedia: "Biodiesel is the only alternative fuel to have successfully completed the Health Effects Testing requirements (Tier I and Tier II) of the Clean Air Act (1990)." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_biodie... Either way the tetraethyl lead situation was completely different. It was very clear early on that the stuff was extremely toxic. Lead was already known to be toxic, and workers…

Slow down there.

Biodiesel is meant to be used in standard diesel engines and is thus distinct from the vegetable and waste oils...

Re: Game Programmer Quits Job To Sell Street Food, Doubles Salary

#124

Post by marvin »

TDL wrote: post #85
shawn-furyan wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly, and if your monetary stream is inconsistent, then 3-6 months should really be considered insufficient. You're shouldn't be regularly be eating into your emergency fund.

Totally agree. I would say closer to a year, but some would disagree. Less than 6 months is not enough, especially for freelance/consulting types.

Hell, make it at least a year. If you can't plan this far ahead, either your expenses are too high or you're doing something that is not sustainable. At least a year should be a long-term goal if you're doing something which is at all exposed to random acts of God.

Re: Game Programmer Quits Job To Sell Street Food, Doubles Salary

#125

Post by vacri »

IanCal wrote: post #29
lrobb wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like the parable of the mexican fisherman: An executive from America was standing at the pier of a Mexican village, taking a much needed vacation. It was his first in more than 10 years. He noticed a small boat docked with just one fisherman on board. Inside the small boat were several large yellow fin tuna. The executive complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took…

The fisherman laughed, and a few years later there was a shortage of fish, and his family suffered having not built up any reserves of money or assets. The parable of the fisherman is basically the Ant and the Grasshopper told up until some time before winter. Exaggerated obviously, but then parables always are, that's why they are almost useless.

You forgot to mention the embezzlement that wiped the businessman out after all those years of hard work.

Re: Game Programmer Quits Job To Sell Street Food, Doubles Salary

#126

Post by TheCoelacanth »

LekkoscPiwa wrote: post #27

The average age of the US farmer is 58. In Japan it is 68. There is less and less land available for agriculture. Less and less fresh water (agriculture uses 90% of fresh water in the US). The weather gets worse by the year to produce food. On the other hand there are more and more people in the world. So supply is diminishing while demand is high. That's why food is more and more expensive almost every quarter. All…

If by farmer, you mean someone who works on a farm, but doesn't own it, it's laughable to suggest that they will ever be making a lot of money.

If by farmer you mean someone with millions of dollars of capital invested in farmland, it's not accurate to compare them to a run of the mill software developer. As with all industries in a capitalist economy, the people with the capital are the ones making most of the money.

Re: Game Programmer Quits Job To Sell Street Food, Doubles Salary

#127

Post by rhizome »

dmlorenzetti wrote: post #109
parfe wrote: post #62

I really dislike these type of stories. Basically saying "Investor buys lotto ticket; outperforms DJIA by 5 billion percent." Or a more realistic example, the stories that flow when gas prices spike. Like the person with the diesel engine running off waste grease from restaurants. It's nice this person found a profitable niche but the concept itself doesn't lend itself to even linear growth.

Also annoying: the focus on money. The article basically says he wrecked his body working punishing hours, so he quit, found a girlfriend, started collaborating with her on a mutual goal, and plans to get married. Headline says "he doubled his salary!" If he doesn't care whether he's on the path to linear growth, why should we?

Nerd moves in with girlfriend, doubles household income!

Re: Game Programmer Quits Job To Sell Street Food, Doubles Salary

#128

Post by nilkn »

Ygg2 wrote: post #18
Spooky23 wrote: post #4

This is just the upside of running your own business. Summer food trucks have been a fixture in my city for decades around the state capitol. Some folks make a great living doing it. My favorite was an older couple operating a small hotdog stand... they made a ridiculously delicious meatsauce and basically worked a 35 hour week in the summer in the Northeast, and a similar schedule for a couple of months down South.…

The fact that even with all that they are better than a game programmer is really sad. Game programmers are the equivalent of children workers in a sweatshop.

It's not all bad. Valve compensates its programmers the same as Google and Facebook, sometimes better. I believe their revenue per employee exceeds that even of Apple (but don't quote me on that).

Re: Game Programmer Quits Job To Sell Street Food, Doubles Salary

#129

Post by sliverstorm »

Mikeb85 wrote: post #73
parfe wrote: post #62

I really dislike these type of stories. Basically saying "Investor buys lotto ticket; outperforms DJIA by 5 billion percent." Or a more realistic example, the stories that flow when gas prices spike. Like the person with the diesel engine running off waste grease from restaurants. It's nice this person found a profitable niche but the concept itself doesn't lend itself to even linear growth.

Obviously if an investor was that bad, they shouldn't be an investor. Running a diesel engine off waste oil is a great idea, more people should be doing it. And no, food businesses don't scale well, but that's ok, because if you're efficient, and your food is good, you can make a decent living for your whole life.

Running a diesel engine off waste oil is a great idea, more people should be doing it.

I'm not really a fan of running diesel cars off waste oil.

To be clear, when I say "not really a fan" I mean I hate with a passion. In my experience, driving behind a vehicle running on waste oil is an absolutely foul experience. It doesn't just smell like fetid garbage, it tastes like it too.

Re: Game Programmer Quits Job To Sell Street Food, Doubles Salary

#130

Post by sliverstorm »

parfe wrote: post #112
vecinu wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To add to this, has anyone actually tested the diesel engine to make sure it meet all emission standards? How safe are the fumes to be burned around cities? Remember when we found out lead in gas was unsafe to be inhaled from exhaust pipes?

Unfun fact, the person who invented tetraethyl lead gasoline additive also invented chlorofluorocarbons. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Midgley,_Jr .

Why is it unfun? Is he evil for inventing things that later turned out to be harmful?
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