This is super cool. Are you guys hiring remote engineers in Europe? I am an electrical engineer turned developer. I would love to be able to work on something that merges both to some extent.
I just switched to Linux because Windows is _really_ bad lately.
I recommend Linux Mint. It has the windows feel for sure. I am not exaggerating when I say it works better than Windows.
I didn’t customize anything. Just installed it and connected to WiFi.
Key things to consider:
- installing apps sometimes isn’t as easy as running an exe. But really you get the gist of .deb and .AppImage files really fast.
- I don’t game but I’ve heard GPU drivers just work these days.
- I am a heavy excel user. LibreOffice isn’t even close. However, for basic stuff it is usable. Excel is too bloated these days anyway so it is a pleasure to work with something that runs fast. YMMV.
Recently switched to Linux Mint from Windows and it has not only been good. It has been cathartic. I enjoy computers again! I am self-hosting some services, what an absolute joy.
I’ve been using Windows my entire life. In the past, I tried Linux without much success, switching back within a few weeks. However, Microsoft’s software is just beyond bad these days. Simple actions take seconds, the UI/UX feels designed to make you waste time, and the fundamentals of what an OS should do feel broken. It’s hard to overstate how bad quality has gotten.
This motivated me to move to Linux and installed Mint in my personal laptop. I keep telling my friends how much better it is and I am not really a Linux fanboy or power user. It’s such a pleasure to boot into Mint when compared to Windows. I am still forced to use Windows every day at work, so I get to compare it every day. Linux wins in every aspect.
My one complaint about the Linux ecosystem is how bad the Office applications are. Libre office spreadsheets are terrible when compared to Excel. However, excel is slowly morphing into an unusable bloated behemoth. Google Sheets is what I use for my personal needs these days.
This experience has been an eye opener. Going forward I will setup automatic donations to free software projects.
I really hope that Microsoft fucks it up so bad that big orgs/governments start migrating to open source software.
Credit cards offer rewards which are really beneficial to people that properly use them.
In my country, credit cards are safer because they offer better fraud protection mechanisms than debit cards.
Credit cards make it easier to spend money in foreign currencies. I’ve faced issues when trying to pay with a local currency debit card abroad, but I never have faced that issue with a cc. Then, I can just pay my credit card with local currency.
Most of these issues are solvable for sure. But as of today, credit cards are way more reliable than debit cards. At least for me.
I think credit cards do have very valid use cases today.
I have found that it’s way more effective to reward good behavior than to punish bad behavior.
Rewarding good behavior takes more effort than punishment though. It requires more patience because you don’t immediately see the results of your actions. Over time, they add up.
And I totally understand this. I have gotten angry at my dog , and I have shouted at her. However, after some reflection, the situation is always caused by some fault of my own. After all, I am the highly intelligent being, and I should know better. But it’s easier to shout than to critically examine your own behavior.
But hey, we can totally disagree on this. I think that hitting beings (either animals or humans) is not correct. Clearly, you think otherwise. You’re entitled to your opinion. Even if I think it is not morally correct.
I would encourage you to think about whether that’s a belief you acquired by your own means or just something you believe because you were hit yourself.
Have you consistently tried to discipline with positive reinforcement? Have you found it to be ineffective? Have you consulted with professionals? Maybe you have. Maybe not.
Sometimes we do things just because that’s how we grew up and not really because we believe in them. That’s how we end up in these never ending violence cycles. But it only takes one brave, and introspective, person to stop :)
I don’t have kids. However, this same concept can be applied, and verified, with dogs.
I have made it a rule to never deceive my dog, and she trusts me because it. If I pick up her water bowl to refill and clean it while she is in the middle of drinking, I make it a point to always give it back with fresh water. I have several water bowls around the house , and the one in my room only gets refilled when I see she is actively drinking from it.
She sees this removal of something she wants (and needs) as a good thing, because I have never deceived her. I always give it back.
If I say we are going for a walk or I grab the leash, we go for a walk. I try to not do things that she would interpret as something not intended. For example, grabbing the leash and not taking her out.
With dogs you become really mindful of your actions. They learn so many of your subtle non-verbal cues, that you start to notice how much your body speaks.
I often think about this, and it has been a valuable learning experience. If I ever decide to have kids, I will make sure that what I communicate (either verbally or non-verbally) is congruent with my actions. I believe that this, is the surest way to build trust.
Death's End, the third book in the Remembrance of Earth’s Past series.
The book has so many great concepts and touches upon many of the fundamental questions of life itself. I fully recommend it if you’re into space sci fi.
I bought an Intel i7 like 2 years ago. My takeaways:
- I would rather buy a MacBook now, the whole ecosystem is nicer. This is not Framework’s fault, Apple’s ecosystem just works and at some point you just want stuff that works. I absolutely love the AirPods and there’s always some minor annoyances when pairing with the laptop.
- The removable port adapters are nice but not that useful in reality. I occasionally change the charging port to the other side to make charging easier in different spaces. The HDMI adapter sometimes needs to be removed and reinserted which sucks.
- The build quality is good enough. I wouldn’t expect any less from any laptop at that price point.
- I believe the main selling point was that you could switch parts easily. However, I don’t see myself performing any major upgrade like changing the mobo/cpu. Those upgrades are fairly expensive. Also, I don’t see myself building stuff with a spare mobo/cpu.
- Given the previous point, I wouldn’t say this laptop is going to last me longer than any other high quality laptop. I have a Sony VAIO that is still working after more than a decade. I expect the same of this laptop and I expect the same of any high end laptop.
- speakers suck.
Overall I think the concept is really nice and I am glad that I supported the company. However, I think that making conventional laptops more repairable is good enough. Full modularity is a cool concept but it does seem to have a lot of drawbacks. Give me the ability to easily change the hard drive, the RAM, the battery, the keyboard/trackpad and that is sufficient for me. Maybe the screen.
If you are really environmentally conscious I would say you can achieve something similar by buying a high end device, using it 5-8 years, and then sell it/gift it when you need to upgrade.
There’s also the argument that a perfectly good laptop can end in a trash bin because of a faulty port or something minor. But honestly, I have never had that happen. Either I’m just lucky or electronics at this price point are generally well built. Given that you did a bit of research before buying.
I haven’t read the article but Bartosz articles are so good and enjoyable to read that I get excited whenever I see a new one pop up. I have already set some time aside tonight to read it with care.
Bartosz if you are reading this: thank you so much for these articles. You truly are an inspiration and I can only hope one day I get to be as good a communicator as you are.
While I do agree with the author’s general proposition to create an environment that fosters creativity and “ambition”, it seems very shortsighted.
Quoting from the article:
> …from employees who fastidiously guard their work-life balance, from friends who say they need a vacation…
Isn’t technology supposed to meaningfully improve our lives? I don’t think wealth creation is the end game for a society. That is a rather depressing ultimate goal.
It may be that the lack of “European ambition” is just a result of a larger cultural phenomena where there is more value placed in happiness and wellbeing rather than wealth. And, at least in my eyes, this is a noble culture to have.
By all means, promote a healthy environment to be ambitious. But not at the expense of those who “fastidiously” guard their work-life balance (or other social protections that the rest of the world dreams of having).
Many things that bring us enjoyment are not profitable at all. And they were never intended to be :).
Honest question, not trying to be confrontational, just curious every time I see these kind of posts/anecdotes.
It seems to me that finding a job in tech is easier than finding a job in any other professional field (e.g. chemical engineering). I am an electrical engineer myself and it was easier to get a job that paid better doing programming than in EE. Specially for the effort you have to put in.
How is it that HN complains so much about the whole process? Are people only applying to big tech companies or hot startups hoping to get the compensation they have been getting for the past n years?
There must be plenty of tech jobs in non tech industries doing normal, “boring” work like dba or maintaining legacy systems.
I mean, those kind of jobs still pay enough to live a normal, decent life. They might not be exciting but work is work. Although that is my take, coming from a 3rd world country and all.
Or am I just delusional and the “boring” jobs(that pay less but still enough) are nonexistent?
I am not from the US so I really don’t know how the market looks outside of the FAAANG/startup bubble. Heck, last time I checked even the US government needed tech folks. It feels that there are jobs out there but the jobs don’t match people’s expectation. But I could be really wrong.
Hey this looks pretty awesome. Currently I work in LATAM for international corporations and it is also hard for us, developers, to find a good fit. Dealing with Latin American agencies is always a pain, it seems Astro might attract companies that care more about their people and building quality, long term relationships. What are you doing to treat candidates like human beings? How do developers join your roster?
This post really resonates with me, specially this line
> Just keep in mind the cost you’re paying, and be extremely cautious if you ever find yourself resenting your downtime.
Currently this is happening to me. Downtime is not an enjoyable experience anymore, the pandemic has just made it worse since I am not even forced to have social interactions. I have feelings of guilt whenever I am not working. And just like the author mentions, it is a hard habit to break. What is worse, I am in my mid twenties; I cannot imagine how hard/impossible it is to break that habit when you have been at it for 30 years.
Reading your website I've understood that your customers need to send you a complete set of architectural plans and you use your software to generate the MEP plans. Currently I work in the construction field and I can already see some reluctance to send the architectural plans to a third party. How do you plan on addressing this? Some(most, at least around here) companies already have in house MEP consultants(and they would still need them to validate your designs, as per local laws).
Since your designs are mostly being made by algorithms without much need of human intervention, why not provide it as a SaaS? Allow the firms to generate their own designs while also allowing their in house consultants to validate the designs.
That being said I am really excited for your project and I wish you the best of luck. This is something I've being dreaming of for ages.
The problem is that the things you mentioned(car with cash, helping kids, community projects, etc) are average. And there is nothing wrong with it, I know. It is not about trying the best you can be, in fact most people self-improve themselves and they indeed live a fulfilling life, yet they are still average. I am not saying I can't become the next Ive or Gates(We all have dreams and aspirations. Just because something is highly unlikely it doesn't mean it can't happen), I am saying that realistically speaking I probably won't. And it is totally OK, yet I seem to have an issue with it.