aquilax

I am not the sort of person who worries a lot about their career growth. I never was a manager and I was always happy to just quietly hack on interesting problems. If you can find the right corners to work in, Google is a pretty great place for that kind of attitude. Tech Notes: Leaving Google

Python is the second-best language for everything.

New repository: aquilax/temporal-api - Go implementation of ECMAScript's Temporal API

“Don’t write clever code.” Why not? “Because it’s hard to understand.” Clever vs Insightful Code • Hillel Wayne

You need to go to shit-ton of schools to be able to make simple decisions. Otherwise you'll start to invent all kinds of over-complicated solutions. Clever vs. Insightful Code | Hacker News

When people grow tired, they call it wisdom Why Russians do not smile (2002) | Hacker News

Be conservative in what you send, be liberal in what you accept Why Russians do not smile (2002) | Hacker News

I'm envious of people who are good at being bad. It's a skill that lets you choose how to develop yourself. The Mental Benefits of Being Terrible at Something | Hacker News

New repository: aquilax/csvdelta - Command line tool to calculate delta values between subsequent rows in csv

Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities “Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities”… | (Roughly) Daily

Good developers know how things work. Great developers know why things work. - Steve Souders, High Performance Browser Networking Forewords Observing my cellphone switch towers

Ignorance isn't a sin, but refusing to learn is. I choose to sin and remain ignorant. I can't be bothered. Quotes from Vincenzo | thyQuotes

1 OBSERVER, 58 IDENTIFIERS, 84 SPECIES, 129 OBSERVATIONS --The World

New repository: aquilax/psql2csv - psql output table to csv convertor

A relationship is planting roots in someone's heart. -I'm not a Robot KDrama lines on Twitter: "A relationship is planting roots in someone's heart. -I'm not a Robot" / Twitter

when your work is done, forget it Ask HN: Those who quit their jobs to travel the world, how did it go? | Hacker News

I see solitude not as an escape from the world but as an escape from a peopled world... All by Myself | Hacker News

A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. The Last Message Sent on AIM

It’s easier to be prolific. On Writing More | Hacker News

Barriers to entry are invisible. They are invisible to people on the inside and most frequently invisible to people who have a hand in creating those barriers. Go is not an easy language | Hacker News

Salary is a negotiation between parties. Looked at soberly, you're the business, your employer is your customer, and the salary they pay you is really the price you charge for your services. “Location-Based Pay” – Who are we to complain? | Hacker News

New repository: aquilax/ziglings - null

Be curious, not judgmental. Walt Whitman - Wikiquote

Banks are like mobile phone operators: they'd rather nobody has anything good than they and their competitors share something good. Why is there no “pay me directly” standard? – Terence Eden’s Blog

The advice about interviewing being exhausting is spot-on. Recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates is a very different type of work than most of us engineering types enjoy. Until you’ve developed a thick skin, it can also be emotionally draining to reject candidate after candidate. I'm an interviewer at my company and burnt out | Hacker News

New repository: aquilax/mdexec - Executes commands in a markdown file and embeds the result

Don't save what is left after spending; spend what is left after saving. - Warren Buffett Warren Buffett’s Best Money Advice | Work + Money

History is what we choose to remember “History is what we choose to remember”*… | (Roughly) Daily

Ninety percent of everything is crap. Sturgeon’s law 90% of everything is crap – Mike Crittenden

HR is not your friend and your company is not your family. HR is not your friend, and other things I think you should know | Hacker News

Rule #1 of business: You can generate revenue to infinity, but you can only cut costs to zero. Ask HN: Is frugality underrated in startups? | Hacker News

If you are leading and or managing a team, one of the most important things you need to know are how do people want their feedback. My experience is that it varies from person to person (I suspect that there are many more than two camps :-)) and as such it is unlikely that you can meet that need in group feedback. Toxic positivity does more harm than good | Hacker News

A woman who lost her husband is called a widow. A man who lost his wife is called a widower. And a kid who lost his parent is called an orphan. But there’s no word for a parent who lost their kid. 16 Worth Remembering Quotes from “Hi Bye, Mama!” - Annyeong Oppa

Sadly I believe the world managed to make us feel guilty when we're not doing something that makes someone else rich I logged my activities at 15-minute intervals for the whole year | Hacker News

New repository: aquilax/zadachko - Math template test generator.

The Visitor The coming of a person is, in fact, a tremendous feat. Because he comes with his past and present and with his future. Because a person’s whole life comes with him. Since it is so easily broken the heart that comes along would have been broken ― a heart whose layers the wind will likely be able to trace, if my heart could mimic that wind it can become a hospitable place. That poem in ‘Because This Is My First Life’ – 반짝반짝 한국어

When you want someone, you don't say that you need that someone. Tell them "I want to be the person you need". "Ssanggabpocha" Episode #1.5 (TV Episode 2020) - IMDb

People don't want to be educated, they want to be entertained. The Parity Of Zero

That is why we like noise and activity so much. That is why imprisonment is such a horrific punishment. That is why the pleasure of being alone is incomprehensible. That is, in fact, the main joy of the condition of kingship, because people are constantly trying to amuse kings and provide them with all sorts of distraction.—The king is surrounded by people whose only thought is to entertain him and prevent him from thinking about himself. King though he may be, he is unhappy if he thinks about it All problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone (2014) | Hacker News

We cannot rule those who want nothing Bimilui Soop (TV Series 2017– ) - Trivia - IMDb

But then I moved. Moved to the big city, a place filled with people themselves big on compliments. My upbringing had left me underprepared for these changes. Even something as simple as receiving praise was complicated. There certainly were times when my soul would be lit up with joy. But other times, my feelings were murkier. The compliment left me feeling weirdly uncomfortable. How to Compliment | Less Penguiny

My relationship to compliments in those days was simple: I didn’t give any and I didn’t receive any either. Talking openly about feelings - or heaven forbid - giving praise - simply wasn’t the norm. This was especially so with the older generation, people like my granddad. How to Compliment | Less Penguiny

To assume you’re below average is to admit you’re still learning. I assume I’m below average | Derek Sivers

Money makes people happier than psychotherapy. 52 things I learned in 2020. This year I edited another book, worked… | by Tom Whitwell | Fluxx Studio Notes | Dec, 2020 | Medium

Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking, just as the man who spends too much time in the theater is tempted to be content with living vicariously instead of living his own life. Follow Your Curiosity. Read Your Ass Off | Hacker News

Enjoy ​your ​life ​your ​way

Being misunderstood is a great temporary moat. I could write a book on this, but suffice it to say, I didn't have confidence in my own vision until I took the time to really look at others and realized that the main difference between me and the average idiot was that I had bothered to look at the ideas of other idiots at all. It was like their entire ontology had become an ant farm. It was the moment I realized, I am a super-idiot. I only half joke, because becoming a super-idiot liberated me from the perfectionism and the addiction to approval that caused a stultifying and primal narcissistic fear of criticism. If you are struggling with this, take it from someone on the other side of it: It's ok, you're an idiot. The Strength of Being Misunderstood | Hacker News

Well, that's what this series is going to be about. How, what you think the universe is and how you react to that, in everything you do, depends on what you know. And when that knowledge changes, for you, the universe changes.And that is as true for the whole of society as it is for the individual. We all are what we all know today. What we knew yesterday was different. And so were we. The day the Universe changed

We’re the skate witches and we don’t take NO crap from NO one. Skate Witches: The true story | Dangerous Minds

I've lived with me long enough to know that he needs two reasons to do a thing, one reason is never enough. #110: 2021 Yearly Themes - YouTube

Somebody apparently once went up the the great philosopher Wittgenstein and said “What a lot of morons people back in the Middle Ages must have been to have looked every morning at what’s going on behind me now, the dawn, and to have thought that what they were seeing was the sun going around the Earth, when as every schoolkid knows the Earth goes around the sun and it doesn’t take too many brains to understand that.” To which Wittgenstein replied, “Yeah, but I wonder what it would have looked like if the Sun had been going around the Earth.” Point being, of course, is that it would have looked exactly the same. swans on tea » You See What Your Knowledge Tells You You’re Seeing

There’s a standard way to understand the relative danger of any activity. "A micromort is a unit of risk defined as one-in-a-million chance of death " Risk: micromorts, microCOVIDs, and skydiving (Interconnected)

There’s a standard way to understand the relative danger of any activity. "A micromort is a unit of risk defined as one-in-a-million chance of death " Risk: micromorts, microCOVIDs, and skydiving (Interconnected)

There’s a standard way to understand the relative danger of any activity. "A micromort is a unit of risk defined as one-in-a-million chance of death " Risk: micromorts, microCOVIDs, and skydiving (Interconnected)

It doesn't take long before the high performers on those teams get sick of picking up the slack. The high performers move on to companies that care, while the team's output continues to decline as everyone pushes the boundaries of how little work they can get away with. Eventually management wonders why certain teams have so many people but so little output, "restructuring" occurs to trim the slackers, and the hiring cycle starts again to build the teams back up. What changes when you work outside an office? | Hacker News

Western culture has a very unhealthy attitude towards sleep in general. There is only one socially accepted sleep pattern: Eight hours a night, in one block, starting at between 10pm and 11pm and ending between 6am and 7am. This "early-bird" rhythm is celebrated in to the point of fetishisation and held up as the goal to which all productive adults must aspire. To behave otherwise is to be lazy, slothful, and not putting forward your all It’s Time to Stop Nap-Shaming | Hacker News

Whenever I feel like going off my diet, I just go to my happy place. The snack drawer. You Can’t Out-Train Your Diet — Believe Me | by J.J. Pryor | BeingWell | Nov, 2020 | Medium

I applaud this, but I also advise against this for your career. Unless the change you're making has immediate and significant business benefits, from a PM/EM perspective you're 1) wasting time 2) potentially introducing bugs. The correct move is to wait until the org is so bogged down with tech debt that meaningful progress cannot be made, then switch companies/teams. Always leave the code better than you found it | Hacker News

Insisting that your company with 200+ employees will only hire people who will work themselves to the bone without any mention of how those people will be properly compensated is wild corporate propaganda. Hire people who give a shit | Hacker News

New repository: aquilax/hugo-task-management - Using Hugo as a task management system

Halving requirements is the same as doubling capacity. - Nigel Calder Hundred Rabbits — off the grid

Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all “Nothing is less productive than to make more efficient what should not be done at all”*… | (Roughly) Daily

The benefits of the stochastic life are clear. It is quicker and cheaper than almost any other system. The results are guaranteed to be fair (across the population). And it is impossible to cheat or influence. Living the Stochastic Life – Terence Eden’s Blog

Pornography and prostitution are popular because they arrive at sexual end goals, or a reasonable facsimile, with more clarity and lower costs than in the mating market. Uncanny Vulvas – DIANAVERSE

If there's one phenomenon that marks the modern era more than any other, it's the replacement of the relational with the transactional. The rise of platonic co-parenting | Hacker News

No amount of belief makes something a fact this isn't happiness™ (“No amount of belief makes something a fact.” ―...), Peteski

To paraprashe Mr. Engelbart: it's a failed tool if you use it exactly the same way the day you bought it and a year after. Re-Thinking the Desktop OS | Hacker News

I dread package upgrades because it can instantly turn into an all-hands-on-deck emergency, and these are just the stand-alone packages, not all the ones I mentioned above. Webpack 5 | Hacker News

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away”*… | (Roughly) Daily

There is a palpable difference between the universe described by many religions and the universe described by science. The former is all built from concepts rooted in human society such as father, son, judgment, commandment, obedience, sacrifice, punishment etc. The latter is built from eerie ideas such as force field, wavefunction, observable, reference frame, superposition etc. The former feels small, ordinary, familiar and manmade. The latter feels like we're fumbling for words to describe something that fundamentally transcends ordinary human experience. 100k Stars | Hacker News

When I am angry, frustrated and disappointed or depressed, I think of the pale blue dot every single time. It helps me put things into perspective. Our little knotted lives and our petty concerns are meaningless and inconsequential in grand scheme of things. Just let it go. Enjoy what little time we have here! 100k Stars | Hacker News

Processing TV schedules

Before one studies Zen, mountains are mountains and waters are waters; after a first glimpse into the truth of Zen, mountains are no longer mountains and waters are no longer waters; after enlightenment, mountains are once again mountains and waters once again waters. You're enlightened – now what? | Hacker News

Before enlightenment chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment chop wood, carry water You're enlightened – now what? | Hacker News

New repository: aquilax/grafana-ledger-data-source-php-server - Grafana server wrapper for ledger data

Look into problems, you'll find solutions. Look into solutions, you'll find problems. Ask HN: How do I learn to write better code? | Hacker News

Probably career suicidal (never admit it in your application) but honestly the thing I've found helps is just not caring about work at all. It's like the equivalent to acceptance in grief. Get the day done, look forward to the weekend, when you book time off make sure to book the following Monday. I'll do the job as best I can for as long as I'm paid but if you think I'm here for any reason other than money to pay the bills you're completely delusional. Survey: The average worker experiences career burnout – by the age of 32 | Hacker News

My wife has heard all of my jokes and all of my excuses. She now criticizes the former and laughs at the latter, instead of the other way around. Ask HN: What is it like to be old? What advice would you give to younger people? | Hacker News

📚 Finished reading The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz

📚 Finished reading The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers by Ben Horowitz

📚 Finished reading The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey to Mastery by Andy Hunt

📚 Finished reading The Pragmatic Programmer: Your Journey to Mastery by Andy Hunt

Jugaad is an attitude towards delivery which originated in India and consists of three simple tenets: Humility: use whatever works without prejudice Openness: keep your options open Frugality: small expenses keep regrets small Jugaad takes agile to the extreme – George's Techblog

New repository: aquilax/newsferry - Modular RSS/Atom Feed aggregator prototype

trust is the use of any assumptions about the behavior of other people Trust Models

Sometimes the things you create grow way beyond your capacity to handle and become soul crushing endeavors that bear little resemblance to the early years of adventure, fulfillment and satisfaction in serving others, and the wise thing to do would be to step aside and preserve your sanity and peace of mind. Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page? | Hacker News

📚 Finished reading The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

📚 Finished reading The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene

The contradiction in management is that you must somehow know what's going on, but it is not helpful to interfere constantly. Managing Teams Through Interfaces | Hacker News

I've found "efficiency as the opposite of stability" a very powerful concept to think about - even though it's fairly simple, it seems to be almost a fundamental law. Efficiency is dangerous and slowing down makes life better | Hacker News

📚 Finished reading Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss

📚 Finished reading Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss

Your developer won’t get hit by a bus. They’ll get hired by Netflix! Your developer won’t get hit by a bus. They’ll get hired by Netflix!

Nearly everything is really interesting if you go into it deeply enough Richard Feynman's Perspective of Life | Hacker News

Each generation thinks it invented sex Robert A. Heinlein - Wikiquote

Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do “Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do”*… | (Roughly) Daily

Since you cannot go back in time to change the past, forgiveness is about giving up the hope of a different or better yesterday. It relates to forgiving actions that were taken, that gave you the feelings of loss of control over your happiness. It’s about acknowledging those things that another did or said that caused pain and making the decision that you are not going to let that hurt or control you anymore. Forgiveness can be very empowering. It can give you the chance to be free of another person’s emotional control. It has nothing to do with the other person. As was said before, it is something that is for you and you alone." Why forgiving someone else is about you | Hacker News

I call it "performative productivity" since it's actually a performance. We Don’t Need to Work So Much (2015) | Hacker News

Wonder if we have a working system already

Despite the authors best attempts, the truth peeks out in the article: merit is often a necessary, but not sufficient cause for success. Not sufficient, particularly, for extraordinary success. A belief in meritocracy is not only false: it’s bad for you | Hacker News