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Updating Your Utility Belt

codinghorror.com

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Re: Updating Your Utility Belt

#21

Post by dangrossman »

PilateDeGuerre wrote: post #20
dangrossman wrote: post #10

My "everyday carry" is the remote fob for my car, my phone, my license and two credit cards. I have no need for anything Jeff considers essential, including keys -- HomeLink in my car opens the garage door to get in and out. Some day my phone will be able to pay for my purchases (not everywhere has NFC terminals yet) and start my car. The only thing that doesn't seem to be on the horizon is ID. I suppose I would leav…

What happens when there is a power outage at your home? How do you get in then?

With a hidden key on the property. I think most homeowners have one. Just don't put it in a fake rock near the door or under a mat where it's obvious.

Re: Updating Your Utility Belt

#22

Post by EdwardDiego »

cma wrote: post #13

"And there's also a nail file, on the other side of the screwdriver, but what is this obsession with nail files on multi-tools? Who are these people filing their nails all the damn time? I've never filed my nails once in my entire life! Can anyone mansplain this to me?" Jagged, unfiled nails are viewed by women (accurately) as a major sign of sexual inexperience/ineptitude...

> Jagged, unfiled nails are viewed by women (accurately) as a major sign of sexual inexperience/ineptitude...

Holy sweeping generalisation Batman. However, as I'm not even one woman, let alone all women, I won't speak on their behalf.

Re: Updating Your Utility Belt

#23

Post by dangrossman »

cubix wrote: post #19
pekk wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah. If you need to unlock doors, then you need keys. But you don't need a flashlight all the time unless you are a security guard or something. We might as well be talking about purses.

That's what I thought, until I started carrying one. Now I use it all the time for mundane tasks such as finding something that dropped under my car seat, plugging in an ethernet cable under my desk, rummaging around in the back of a closet, and so on. It really makes life easier, especially as I find my night vision isn't as good as it used to be. LED lights and Li-ion batteries last for ages, so it's hardly an inco…

I find the one built into my cell phone adequate for all of that. It's brighter than the $3 filament bulb flashlights they sell at Wal-Mart, which people considered adequate for decades. I have a real flashlight (uses the same Li-Ion pack as my Bosch cordless screwdriver, 8+ hours continuous use) for something like walking at night; I don't need to carry that all the time as the phone light is plenty for all spontaneous type situations you've mentioned.

Re: Updating Your Utility Belt

#26

Post by cubix »

dangrossman wrote: post #23
cubix wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what I thought, until I started carrying one. Now I use it all the time for mundane tasks such as finding something that dropped under my car seat, plugging in an ethernet cable under my desk, rummaging around in the back of a closet, and so on. It really makes life easier, especially as I find my night vision isn't as good as it used to be. LED lights and Li-ion batteries last for ages, so it's hardly an inco…

I find the one built into my cell phone adequate for all of that. It's brighter than the $3 filament bulb flashlights they sell at Wal-Mart, which people considered adequate for decades. I have a real flashlight (uses the same Li-Ion pack as my Bosch cordless screwdriver, 8+ hours continuous use) for something like walking at night; I don't need to carry that all the time as the phone light is plenty for all spontane…

Well, it's nice to able to light up a room when you need to. But to each his own.

Re: Updating Your Utility Belt

#27

Post by arrrg »

derefr wrote: post #14
arrrg wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like irrelevant categorizing that doesn’t make much sense and isn’t very useful. Who cares what you are in terms of dumb categories like that?

Because you can be one without the other, and people frequently assume that because you're one, it means that you're the other--and predict your actions based on that (for example, by buying you stupid geek toys when you are merely a nerd.)

So, why not eschew those categories altogether and reject them outright?

It seems to me they are too, well, mushy to be really useful.

Re: Updating Your Utility Belt

#28

Post by dangrossman »

jedanbik wrote: post #24

I am genuinely curious: if I carry an iPhone everywhere, why do I need to carry a flashlight, too?

If you ask me, you don't. If you're asking Jeff? He answered that in the article.

> I also flirted with the idea of dropping the standalone flashlight and relying on my smartphone camera flash as a flashlight, but in my testing smartphones make weak flashlights.

Re: Updating Your Utility Belt

#29

Post by PakG1 »

arrrg wrote: post #9
btilly wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not so sure. I draw a joke distinction between a geek and a nerd like this. A geek is someone who loves technology and toys. A nerd is someone who gets utterly obsessed by a particular topic. I usually bring this up when explaining to a fellow programmer that I'm a nerd but not a geek. Which fact I then demonstrate by pulling out my flip phone. If they proceed to doubt that I am a nerd, I'll then offer to explai…

Seems like irrelevant categorizing that doesn’t make much sense and isn’t very useful. Who cares what you are in terms of dumb categories like that?

A nerd is someone who gets utterly obsessed by a particular topic.

I usually bring this up when explaining to a fellow programmer that I'm a nerd but not a geek.

I believe this answers your question. Being a self-proclaimed nerd, btilly clearly does, per his definition.

Re: Updating Your Utility Belt

#30

Post by TheCowboy »

freddigbjk wrote: post #15

I used to respect Jeff a lot, partly because of his stackoverflow fame. However, these days I find him annoying, as he has just become part of the "noise" we all find unproductive. This post just strengthens my point, where he buys useless bling to show off and everyone applauds him for being a materialistic prat. I'll probably get downvoted but I've just had enough of this 'utility belt' bull.

It's just a blog post. It's not like he posted this to personally ruin anybody's day or Hacker News viewing experience.
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