My version of this was a 10-week discrete RF circuits course in graduate school. We had to build a fully functional GHz transceiver out of small FR4 PCBs (< quarter wavelength) and throw-away leaded BJT transistors. Neither were suitable for GHz circuits, so the course was hard by design. I learned so much and developed an intuition for electromagnetics that I still carry 20 years later.
From my experience on this, the single biggest determining factor on one's opinion is whether you have kids (I have elementary-age kids). We have to work like mad to limit screens, but it is an uphill battle. Their schools use them, their music teachers use them, their after-school tutoring (Kumon) uses them, and so on.
I have a vivid memory of my son's 6th birthday. At his school, kids would sit in a circle and get to ask questions to the birthday kid. One of the questions he got was: "Who is your favorite Youtuber?" His heart sank when he said he wasn't allowed to watch it, and the other kids were kind of shocked.
I second that. 3b1b is fantastic for developing a more intuitive understanding of mathematics. In my experience, having that intuition makes all the difference.
Chipset developers like Silicon Labs* are developing very advanced but approachable security capabilities into their latest products (secure boot, secure debug, physical protection (DPA countermeasure, anti-tamper), key management, key storage, crypto engine, etc.)*.
The tools are there now to address this, and this should go a long way toward actually securing the application, the data, the IP, and overall simplify lifecycle management.
On the flip side, winters are great! The best time of year is Mar/Apr and Oct/Nov. Absolutely gorgeous. There's a reason why SXSW and ACL are scheduled at those times...
I am from Texas and currently live in Austin, but I also had the opportunity to live in many places in the world (Bay Area, China, Singapore, and Norway) spread out over a decade.
As much as I have admired and enjoyed many of those places, I always knew I would come back to Austin. The quality of life you get here, all things considered, simply cannot be beat.
After I graduated from school in the Bay Area (circa 2005), I recommended to many friends in high-tech to move to Austin. Most said no, for many reasons. Fast forward to today, and many of those individuals have made the move or are thinking to do so at this point. It is for the same reasons: cost of living, raising a family, space to build, etc. I welcome their arrival and hope they take the time to learn about the city and what makes it special.
I lived in Shenzhen from 2007-2011 and can confirm that large amounts of recyclables were shipped to China. Open-air facilities hired pickers to go through the material and pull out whatever they could before disposing of the remainder (by who knows what means).
This all happened within eyesight of my condo building.
You might check out the EFR32BG22 from Silicon Labs. It has alot of great security functions, including a dedicated security core with secure boot, secure debug, and unique ID.
I have all the respect in the world for what Mr. Musk has accomplished, but it has come at an amazing cost to the people around him.
He is worshiped from afar but reviled by many the closer you get to his inner circle. Go read "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future."
The question I always ask myself with the people who move mountains is what cost did that progress come at? What would someone's spouse, kids, friends, etc. say about the person?
I highly recommend reading Never Split the Difference, by Chris Voss. The book offers a different take to negotiation, written by a former FBI negotiator.
In his words, he could never split the difference in a hostage negotiation. When you enter the process understanding this, you do things differently.