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After 180 Websites, I’m Ready to Start the Rest of My Life as a Coder

blog.jenniferdewalt.com

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Re: After 180 Websites, I’m Ready to Start the Rest of My Life as a Coder

#321

Post by reledi »

ceejayoz wrote: post #312
reledi wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey Jennifer, Well done on your journey, very impressive! It's an inspiration for many of us. You replied about the use of "girl" (and I agree, "person" would be best here), but why not reply to petea's original comment where he criticizes you? Every time your blog makes it to front page on HN, I notice you're active in the comment thread but you don't reply to the criticism. Why not? It would quickly put an end to t…

> You don't reply to the criticism. Why not? It would quickly put an end to these type of comments. Well, that's a novel theory on Internet commenting.

Thanks for the input, but not all online communities are the same. HN doesn't have the greatest community, but it's better than most.

The question keeps appearing every time Jennifer's story makes the front page. If it was answered, the answer can be easily linked to any time the question pops up in the future.

Re: After 180 Websites, I’m Ready to Start the Rest of My Life as a Coder

#322

Post by nyan_sandwich »

MartinMcGirk wrote: post #64
GuiA wrote: post #7

This is fantastic. Especially inspiring to me, more than the fact that she learned how to code, is the fact that she dove into something that she had no background in, and after 180 days she came out with a solid understanding of the basics of programming; enough to do stuff on her own (and, combined with her graphic design/illustration skills, probably enough to do freelance webdev or get a junior level position in…

>saving 6 months worth of expenses on a tech salary when you have no dependants is trivial I have no dependants, I am 25 and I would love to be earning the kind of money in my tech job that made saving 6 months worth of expenses "trivial". Where are these jobs and how can I get one?

It's all about expenses. I live in Vancouver, which is widely considered to be unaffordable. I spend $10k/yr.

Step one is to develop a condescending attitude towards people who need to spend money. This will make it unthinkable for you to become such a person. Personal identity is a powerful thing.

The rules are: don't drink, don't drive, live with friends, and budget.

http://nyansandwich.info/cheapskate.html

Re: After 180 Websites, I’m Ready to Start the Rest of My Life as a Coder

#323

Post by dredwerker »

heynairb wrote: post #202
enraged_camel wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are two type of people in life. The first type graduates from college and their learning stops for the most part. They say to themselves, "well, I studied for four years and got a job, now it's finally time to sit back and relax." So they put in their regular 9-5 and then come home and waste their lives away by watching TV shows and playing video games and going out and getting drunk on weekends. Essentially, t…

I disagree with your philosophy. You advocate a lifestyle focusing on success and ambition. I believe that having the qualities of both types of people is ideal. Below is a quote that I found very illustrative of the downfalls of living a life too focused on success: “Man surprised me most about humanity. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And t…

Thats a bit scary that quote :)

Re: After 180 Websites, I’m Ready to Start the Rest of My Life as a Coder

#324

Post by wbl »

Aldo_MX wrote: post #302
joshmn wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just wanted to add a brief, loose third: The third type recognizes their passion and self-educates themselves, often finding formal education diabolical. From the late Jim Rohn, "Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune."[1] [1] http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/jimrohn121282.htm...

> "often finding formal education diabolical" TBH, as a self-educated developer, I perceive formal education as a premature optimization. It's a fact that one needs to develop certain skills and gain insight from the knowledge that reflects the experience of expert people, but it's also a fact that one won't need everything the first moment after graduation. I prefer to research and learn about something the moment I…

The point of an education is not to make money. The point of an education is to cultivate yourself and make yourself a better person. Idiot is the wrong word, but philistine is appropriate.

Re: After 180 Websites, I’m Ready to Start the Rest of My Life as a Coder

#325

Post by asenna »

eyuelt wrote: post #317
nkg wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are 12 types of people in the world, those who don't understand "-ary" at all, but who can increment.

There are 13 types of people in the world. Your assignment is to figure out what they are and turn in a 10-12 page essay describing them by Monday. Class dismissed.

Hah! I am one of you guys but for a moment, just zoom out from the conversation a bit and look at it from the perspective of someone not like us(hackers/geeks). One of those classic Penny - Sheldon conversations.

Re: After 180 Websites, I’m Ready to Start the Rest of My Life as a Coder

#326

Post by RyanZAG »

telephonetemp wrote: post #264
RyanZAG wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no conspiracy, 42Floors just shares the HN blog post links internally and gets people to upvote them. You only need a few quick upvotes to hit the front page, and having a few 42Floors employees vote up 42Floors content is more than enough. The 42Floors blogposts are generally good quality too, so nobody has any reason to flag them, and they're generally on topic and somewhat interesting, like this one.

Wouldn't this count as a voting ring?

I guess it would, but I don't know how you'd get around it. If I were to post something on HN that was of interest to friend A, then sending him a link to the HN comments seems like the natural thing to do. Friend A would then probably upvote that article. So I've just created a mini-voting ring.

I'm pretty sure any company featured on HN (eg RethinkDB or any other) would send a link to the comments on HN if their product was being discussed here, and most employees would then upvote it.

It is a voting ring, but it's probably not done maliciously and it's just how HN works, I guess.

Re: After 180 Websites, I’m Ready to Start the Rest of My Life as a Coder

#327

Post by reledi »

breadbox wrote: post #304
reledi wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hey Jennifer, Well done on your journey, very impressive! It's an inspiration for many of us. You replied about the use of "girl" (and I agree, "person" would be best here), but why not reply to petea's original comment where he criticizes you? Every time your blog makes it to front page on HN, I notice you're active in the comment thread but you don't reply to the criticism. Why not? It would quickly put an end to t…

What does she possibly have to gain by responding to such crticism? Regardless of the situation, her best move is to ignore it and move on with her life.

Alternatively, what does she have to lose by responding to the criticism and then moving on with her life?

While her accomplishment is very inspirational, it can also act as a disincentive to many who feel discouraged or stupid after having failed on much simpler beginner tasks. This can change depending on her answer to the criticism.

BTW this project is now a significant part of her life. It got a lot of attention and most people will know her because of the accomplishment. It'll be difficult to quickly move on from it - I'm sure the project will pop up in conversation with her, years from now, along with the same questions.

Whether she responds to the criticism or not, it's been exciting seeing her make progress and complete her goal. I wish her all the best.

Re: After 180 Websites, I’m Ready to Start the Rest of My Life as a Coder

#328

Post by eulerphi »

eli_gottlieb wrote: post #315
wtvanhest wrote: post #309

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You took what you wanted out of the OP's comment. Their comment is putting everyone in two buckets, 1 that sits around and watches TV when they get home from work, and 1 that works on personal development in their free time. What they want to use that personal development is up to them. They could use it to start a non-profit, or learn a new hobby or learn a new skill. But... sitting around watching TV until bed cert…

Of course watching TV isn't ambitious! But here's the thing: the "watch TV/self-development" dichotomy exists and keeps existing at every level of actual achievement. There are people who think that lawyers, doctors, and software engineers are underachievers for not becoming CEOs, after all. Lawyers, doctors, and software engineers tend to think people working old-fashioned 9-5 jobs instead of high-level professions…

Interesting how the human economy of ambition is scaled. Thanks for your insightful post.

Re: After 180 Websites, I’m Ready to Start the Rest of My Life as a Coder

#330

Post by bored »

ars_technician wrote: post #222
ritchiea wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The phrase "not a coder" at the end of the comment signals snark pretty heavily. Suggesting that someone who spent the last 180 days coding should not be a coder is a very rude and dismissive. The OP could have easily praised her marketing savvy without suggesting she should not be a coder.

>The OP could have easily praised her marketing savvy without suggesting she should not be a coder. If someone is training to become a janitor and they have excellent marketing skills, it would not be rude to say he/she/it should not be a janitor and should be a marketer instead. You are trying so desperately to be offended by something that doesn't have to be offensive.

Nailed it
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