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Issue #133 - September 19, 2021
Here are the top threads of the week, happy reading!
1. Ask HN: Do you still miss your RIM BlackBerry?
Top comment by awinter-py
I could type 55 wpm on the keyboard. Every time I use a screen keyboard I feel like I lose 10 IQ points. I can use a physical keyboard without looking, but the screen keyboard takes twice as long and consumes my full attention if I want any speed.
The blackberry felt like an extension of my brain on the internet. Touchscreen devices feel like an extension of the internet in my brain + eyes, not as nice.
I used my blackberry bold for years, then for months more after the battery swelled, until the charging port finally stopped working
2. Ask HN: What is your strongest contrarian opinion?
Top comment by softwaredoug
Is this contrarian?
Immigration should be massively increased in the US. The surest way for the US and west to grow its international influence, economy, and live up to its values is through immigration. It’s not a zero sum game: immigrants create jobs for everyone. They increase many forms of diversity and expose us to may PoVs. Multiculturalism works, as exhibited by the higher social capital in major cities compared to the ethnically homogenous rural areas. The West would increase its economic competitiveness with other powers (ie China) that are less likely to increase immigration. This will strengthen the security and influence of western powers, giving them also a worldly outlook compared to those with much less immigration.
Faux immigration like H1B and other guest worker visas cruelly create a second class workforce. It would be more humane to allow more actual immigration.
It’s an obvious policy win, I wish more people would vocally support radically increased immigration.
3. Ask HN: How do I get fit and healthy as a software engineer?
Top comment by mytimetoshine
Yo!
My time to shine. I'm a partner in a gym. I'm fit. I'm a full time software developer. People think I'm an athlete.
You're trying too hard. You need to develop a habit to get fit.
Consistency > intensity. Sooooo! Here is my tip.
Go to the gym. Win the day by doing really easy stuff. Everything should be easy. Then finish your session before you are tired or sore. Go get food. A shake is perfect. You need to win.
Do this 3x a week until you really enjoy going to the gym. Typically this is a month or so. You can get it going faster if you're doing this with a buddy.
I cannot stress this enough. Consistency is so much more important than intensity that it just isn't important to even think about intensity.
Thinking you will be fit by the end of the year is also a mistake. Fitness is a long term problem. Start now. Be consistent. A few years from now you'll be in a room and notice that you're fittest person in the room. Or you'll help someone move and you'll get tapped to move the heavy stuff, because obviously you'll do the heavy stuff.
People will claim "you're just fit". You'll know you're weak compared to other people. The game will just keep going.
If you want a program, you can't beat starting strength (no affiliation): https://startingstrength.com/get-started
For running. You're running too hard. Just run slower. I'm serious. Run so slow you feel like you're not running. Do 5km twice a week to start (Or even just walk 5km twice a week!). It builds from there if you just keep doing it.
When you're starting, just be weak and slow. You're putting the pressure on yourself and it wont pay off. Be consistent at all costs.
Good luck man.
4. Ask HN: Graduating CS soon, how do I find a job?
Top comment by ansy
Bigger, name brand tech companies have way more applicants than they can accept so they have a crude recruiter funnel that is tossing out resumes for any reason they can find. They're literally trying to turn thousands of resumes from hundreds of schools into curated packets of dozens of candidates. But recruiters don't know a thing about software engineering. At best they can keyword match a few buzzwords they got from some VP of engineering who hasn't actually coded anything in 20 years (if ever). If you don't have the right 3-4 signals (school and program prestige, internship number and prestige, GPA) it's in the bin you go. The actual front line hiring managers won't even see your resume.
Try applying to smaller companies. Smaller companies aren't going to land the candidate from a top 10 school who already interned at multiple Fortune 500 companies. But small shops need to hire talent too. They're digging deeper and they have to read the resumes more closely. There isn't much of an HR department, and the hiring manager might be sifting through the raw resumes themselves.
If you still want to land a big company job, you're going to need to bypass the HR filter by finding a direct line to the hiring managers. Maybe you have some friends or alumni you've met who are at the company and can refer you directly to a team. You can meet these people at networking events, recruiting fairs, or other social activities. Creativity, determination, and luck play a big factor.
5. Ask HN: Advice on bringing community broadband to Los Alamos?
Top comment by johngalt
Former network engineer that went into management. My email is in profile if you would like more candid guidance than I can give on a public forum.
1. Not realistic, but not outside of normal for an management infrastructure/ops position. What you are writing is what you hope for, but sometimes it sends a red flag to potential applicants. The worry many high level people have is that they will be turned into the 'do everything' person. Trim a few of the less directly related requirements off of the description (e.g. Microsoft certification).
2. Yes... but also No. There are a lot of people who push through their careers collecting credentials and turning it another rung on the ladder. Chances are you will get a rosy candidate at some point, who will put in two years of aggressively spending your budget to inflate their resume and then move on. Not that a majority of people are this way, but the filters are set in such a way that this is what you are likely to end up with.
3. Other comments will say 'pay more', but it will be difficult to meet market rates for this skillset when working with local governments. If you can't get approval to raise the comp, instead try to split this role up into a team. Governments won't pay one highly skilled person 250k, but they will pay four people 80k, and one manager 120k.
4. Politically? Find someone with pull, and make sure that it's 'their idea'. Something that they can put on their win list.
Procedurally? Don't boil the ocean. Handle it iteratively. Start with commercial areas and new housing developments. White-glove your initial smaller install and it will create the broad demand from the community to expand it.
Love what you are doing. Hope this helps.
6. Ask HN: Neurological Effects of Computer Programming?
Top comment by qq4
I know that when I get into a "flow state" while programming I tell my spouse to have patience with the way I reason/talk for the next few hours. Best way I can describe how I feel is the Tetris effect turned up to 11.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetris_effect
7. Ask HN: Any successful transitions from a tech/IT career to working in the arts?
Top comment by analog31
I have a tech career, but am a working jazz musician on the side. I have a couple of thoughts about this.
First, ignore the economic implications. The reason is simply that the economics of an arts career are a known known. Nobody goes into those careers blindly. You won't either. Perhaps the only widespread misconception is that there's a tier of artists below the superstar level, who can earn a living at it. There isn't. At the second tier, you're already competing with day-jobbers like me for $100 gigs.
Second, consider the skill level of first tier artists and how they got to that level. This varies from field to field and might help you choose a field where you have a realistic chance of getting a job aside from the economics (sociology), or don't (classical violin performance). To clarify the comparison:
Classical violinists are already playing at close to a professional level before they start college. At your age (assuming you're older than 8), you don't have a chance at making your hands do those things, or mastering skills such as sight-reading. I started playing music at age 8.
On the other hand, sociologists start college with a fairly general skill set but no particular expertise in sociology. A friend of mine went to grad school in sociology after a masters degree in classical guitar performance. Between the requirement for a graduate degree, and the lack of interest from anybody else, the job market is still overcrowded and underpaid, but not to the same level as music.
Consider as an alternative working yourself up to a very high skill level as a dedicated amateur. There are people in my area who do things like write books about the local history and culture, that sell 50 copies. Or, they work up and perform obscure musical styles that are not commercially viable. There's a guy who specializes in baroque keyboard music, and even the local pro's go to his performances.
8. Ask HN: How do you take notes throughout your work day?
Top comment by OnACoffeeBreak
One single text file per year named journal
There's no specific format (no tags, for example). There is just a new heading for each work day: "## Sep 13, 2021 Mon". I also don't go crazy with Markdown syntax. I very rarely render the Markdown. It's mostly bullet lists, code blocks and links to other files. My text editor allows me to click the links without rendering Markdown.
The file is located in a directory called work_journal. Content that is linked from journal
I do have a few other files that are project or tech-specific: tech_xyz.md, project_xyz.md, but those are edited infrequently and, once created, mostly used for reference. I also have a few temporary files called scratchpad.md and commit.md. Scratchpad is for quick pastes from logs and need to be massaged between systems and commit.md is a running edit of the Git commit message for stuff I'm working on.
The major downside is that the file is really only editable on one PC. I don't trust the enterprise sync solution I have available to me, and I certainly don't want this kind of info in the cloud. Thankfully it is very rare that I have a need to edit the file from another computer.
9. Ask HN: Have you found it difficult to get quality technical content on YouTube?
Top comment by ddtaylor
Most content creators on YT want to grow their channel which is mostly at odds with covering complex topics in depth too much. Some channels, like Veritasium, do a decent job of taking complex subjects and presenting them to a wider audience - although many mathematicians and physicists do take issue sometimes.
A pattern you'll often find on YT is similar to how Intel and other manufacturing companies do the "Tick" and "Tock" pattern. They'll release a difficult to research, complex and time consuming video, followed by a few easier to produce videos with a lower cost of entry knowledge wise to pay the bills.
Tom7 is an interesting exception to this rule. He puts out about one video per year, but they're all very very well done. But, they're also tongue-in-cheek and he's not _really_ trying to teach you anything - but you'll probably learn something in the process!
10. Ask HN: Why is the touchpad on MacBooks still ahead of other manufacturers?
Top comment by ksec
Correct me if I am wrong. I think all current Windows Laptop are trackpad with physical clicks.
Apple's Trackpad has been using Force Touch ( haptic engine ) since 2015. But I remember correctly my MacBook Air trackpad before Force Touch were excellent too.
It is one of those things where people "thinks" they are doing comparison when they are not. You often see enthusiast and nerds doing so called spec comparison. When in reality they missed out so many things. Better Keyboard, Better Trackpad etc.
The PC / Hardware industry has been operating at negative margin, with their source of profits coming from hardware branding rebate, software preinstalled, Data collection and selling etc. It was only the recent years did Gaming / E-Sports gave them another market to play with. And no one seems to enough incentives or resources to being a much better trackpad. That is why Microsoft had to step in and make their own Surface Line. Without some sort of quality assurance, the market will always be a race to the bottom.