after doing some ruby work recently which required reading a lot of undocumented code that could have used some major refactoring, i really began to appreciate java's verbosity. even the most poorly written java leaves behind tons of clues as to what is happening. with ruby, if there is no documentation and no tests, you're SOL.
that said, there are still tons of things about java that really get on my nerves...
only commenting here because zelda is my favorite game ever and i want to go over this list later (like when my daughter is a almost grown up), but if i just bookmark it, it will be lost and i'll forget.
tl;dr - gruber knows exactly what he is doing, which is generating page views. the market for information is greatly surpassed by the market for confirmation
clearly he is a reasonably intelligent guy who puts a lot of thought into his writing. whether or not he really believes everything he posts, i don't know and don't care.
the thing is these type of posts serve a very specific purpose: to activate the apple fan's and generate page clicks.
we live in a world where the way to drive traffic in the tech blogosphere is to post rumors, and predictions about apple (and to some extent, other big tech cos). readers then seek out stories that confirm their pre-existing views--the market for information is greatly surpassed by the market for confirmation (see: fox news). and this works both ways, i imagine that gruber/seigler are getting lots of page views from people are angered by the whole apple fanboy thing, and want to have the satisfying feeling of knowing that gruber/seigler are just two more unthinking fanboys.
sorry. that blog post is just wrong. a "fanboy" is someone who's identity is wrapped up in the products/brands they consume. they are intertwined to the point where an insult to the brand is interpreted as an insult to the self.
it's not an apple specific syndrome. apple fans have just probably been one of the most prominent examples of this coupling of brand to identity.
1. do go see a therapist. seriously. just talking to someone who will listen to you without judgement is healing in itself, but a therapist will also be able to help you set goals and work towards them. and that is not even to mention the depression.
2. see a naturopathic doctor. a lot of people suffer from non-pathologic illness that are not typically diagnosed by by conventional medical doctors. here's some common things:
i could go on. the mind can often be greatly affected by the health of the body.
3. start attending technology users groups. interacting with real people will; give you much more perpsective thatthan reading about the great things that bubble up to the top of HN.
best of luck. know that you are not alone; a lot of us have been in your place. it feels horrible, but it is temporary, so hang in there.
i think his post is actually in agreement with your comment. his point being that things like: reading HN, updating twitter, deleting email, etc is not really "taking a break". it is distracting yourself for a piece of instant gratification.
a real break is taking a walk, or "looking away" as you say; getting away from the screen.
the implications of this article are potentially disturbing, but i can't even muster the energy to get upset by these things anymore. i just have this feeling that the bad guys one; it's over. (or maybe we're just in the empire strikes back phase of things)
honestly, i think the most surprising thing about this article is that it was written for techcrunch, and it contains actual journalism. how refreshing to read something in the tech press that is not just linkbait aimed at activating whichever legion of fanboys.