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The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

simpleprogrammer.com

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Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#221

Post by nostrademons »

swah wrote: post #217
nostrademons wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's perfectly fine for you to hire older developers, particularly if you're writing reporting software for a utility grid monitoring company. A younger developer probably isn't going to want to do that job anyway. The reason we have a market economy in the first place is so that people can find the work the matches their interests and abilities best, and then get paid well for doing it to the best of their abilities…

Why a younger developer wouldn't want to write reporting software for a grid monitoring company? Sounds more interesting than webapps.

I don't think there's anything stopping them if they really do. The grandparent poster is talking about people who think they "above" the work. Someone who really wants to do the work isn't going to act like they're above it, and is probably going to do just fine at it. That's the system working as intended.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#222

Post by mkr-hn »

GrinningFool wrote: post #204
georgemcbay wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's pretty terrifying. Seems like a good candidate for an "internet of things" solution in the future, eg. a baby seat with a weight sensor, thermometer and 3G data connection (or optionally, some tie in to OnStar, Sync or just the alarm system on a modern bluetooth-capable car) that could alert you and/or automatically pull down the electric windows in a panic mode. Granted, you'd have to be careful to ensure you…

From the article above: --- or years, Fennell has been lobbying for a law requiring back-seat sensors in new cars, sensors that would sound an alarm if a child's weight remained in the seat after the ignition is turned off. Last year, she almost succeeded. The 2008 Cameron Gulbransen Kids' Transportation Safety Act -- which requires safety improvements in power windows and in rear visibility, and protections against…

I like having a chime tell me when I leave the keys in or forget to turn the lights off. A baby alarm seems to be much more valuable.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#223

Post by GrinningFool »

mkr-hn wrote: post #222
GrinningFool wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article above: --- or years, Fennell has been lobbying for a law requiring back-seat sensors in new cars, sensors that would sound an alarm if a child's weight remained in the seat after the ignition is turned off. Last year, she almost succeeded. The 2008 Cameron Gulbransen Kids' Transportation Safety Act -- which requires safety improvements in power windows and in rear visibility, and protections against…

I like having a chime tell me when I leave the keys in or forget to turn the lights off. A baby alarm seems to be much more valuable.

Agreed, but I think the problem is that not enough people will see that value to make it a viable product. People accept that they may forget their keys in the ignition - but they fundamentally do not accept that they could make a mistake this catastrophic.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#224

Post by mkr-hn »

GrinningFool wrote: post #223
mkr-hn wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like having a chime tell me when I leave the keys in or forget to turn the lights off. A baby alarm seems to be much more valuable.

Agreed, but I think the problem is that not enough people will see that value to make it a viable product. People accept that they may forget their keys in the ignition - but they fundamentally do not accept that they could make a mistake this catastrophic.

It's just a matter of marketing. They can show ads with people who've made the mistake and emphasize how ordinary and responsible they are otherwise.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#225

Post by Helianthus »

solistice wrote: post #220
Helianthus wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

solistice gave you advice that runs the danger of telling you to work harder at burning yourself out. Given that I'm also giving advice, take that with a grain of salt. "Make small changes," he suggests. If you're really on the burnout train, your life is out of control because of your internal pressure to work. You want to be overworking yourself. Some of that internal pressure is because of external pressure that y…

Oooops, my bad. Should have focused more on the balance aspect really. I get what you mean by the internal pressure to work thing. You get anxious when you're not working, and that anxiety starts to nag on your psyche. I've gotten some good results with redefining work for myself, from "what breaks me" to "what compounds for results", but it isn't the perfect solution to the problem. Then, I subdivide mentally betwee…

Oh, I never saw this until now.

I thought your response was great; I wanted to complement what you wrote, not replace it or criticize it.

Re: The Hacker News Generation (Afraid of Hard Work)

#226

Post by smellf »

Iftheshoefits wrote: post #163
smellf wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. The guy is railing against the emerging twitterati culture of folks who bounce from one gig to the next, blurting about the trendiest new Javascript library and spewing garbage code that someone else then gets to maintain.

I don't know. I've had a "new every two" experience over the last decade, and I still use "old" languages (C, C++, Fortran, even some Ada). I'm in my mid-30s, and my view is that the kind of person you're talking about isn't restricted to any "emerging twitterati" culture. "Fad followers" exist in every age demographic. Also, my "new every two" experiences give me a lot more breadth of experience than some poor "life…

That's a good point. Newer isn't always better, but sometimes it is.
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