sandwichbop

The other day I was going through the library stacks and came across "Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Gödel" by Rebecca Goldstein and was really drawn into it, was a great read but it was something I never seen suggested anywhere. The book came out in 2005 and off the old due date slip, it was only ever checked out 7 times which made me think, what other good books have you read that fell beneath the radar? How did you find the book in the first place?

I believe that understanding economics is pretty essential in tech. I see a lot of career struggles where it helps understanding fundamentals with depth, to foresee how trends are working past present future and how you can stay a step ahead. I did a degree in econ and CS, and during my undergrad I remember trying to get my CS friends to gawk at FRED data or BLS reports with me, but they never were really interested, especially when in their opinion, there were more pressing matters to attend to like gaming. So, I wonder, how did you learn about economics? Was it out of necessity or curiosity? Did you learn via book recommendations or some youtube channel? What pushed you to really learn about economics beyond what the average techie would know?

I see a lot of energy around RISC-V but I never see anything similar for OpenPOWER, on paper it seems like the dream machine with actual performance like the Talos Workstations albeit a bit expensive but this sounds incredible https://www.raptorcs.com/content/TL2PA1/intro.html >Designed with a fully owner-controlled CPU domain, you can audit and modify any portion of the open source firmware on the Talos™ II mainboard, all the way down to the CPU microcode.

is there something I'm missing? why does no one seem to care about OpenPOWER

Curious to hear about your unconventional tech predictions for the next year. It's challenging to keep track of every innovative trend, especially with the potential for unexpected breakthroughs. My focus has been on AI, particularly since 2018, and I was amazed by the rapid advancements in transformer technology. I kept telling everyone I knew that this was going to be huge, but it felt like the boy who cried wolf until it actually happened. What insights do you have for those willing to heed a 'cry for wolf' in the tech landscape? What do you think will be the next big thing in 2024?

An essential skill is the ability to work under pressure. I can handle that, but only if I feel consistently well-rested; otherwise, I get headaches and heart palpitation, and I can't manage.

I have been trying to develop a methodology to get as much rest as possible. Sleep is the best solution, but it's often elusive or inconsistent despite my best efforts, and I can't depend on it to feel fully rested every day.

My current approach is first sleeping as much as I can, taking naps when I can. Otherwise, meditate for around 10 minutes, stretch, light exercise, cool showers, eat low glycemic index foods, avoid drugs (weed, alcohol, nicotine), dry eye drops.

It feels like an oxymoron, but there must be a way to feel well-rested even during times of high stress? It feels backward to go for a Monster or Redbull and crash at the expense of your health instead of developing a system for consistent energy.

What can a developer do to avoid feeling tired and promote a sense of restfulness in the short and long term?

What do you personally do to maintain yourself for consistent output of work in different or unexpected contexts?

I came across someone selling CS resume templates on social media. I checked it out, and for $39 (that is currently 25% on sale), you get access to a fill-in-the-blanks google doc along with some different themes of the same doc.

The sale site made it sound like the resume put you on a sure path to getting a FAANG job. I know many will pay for the idea of an easy jumpstart to their dream job, but I know others out there are new to tech, overwhelmed with learning, maybe even short on funds, and out desperation spend money on this since it was the first person they came across, and they want to believe this is it.

Maybe we can't do much about that, but what if we make resume-making more accessible/approachable? I know you can make an AST-friendly resume for free. Checking in on the "Who wants to be hired?" threads provide real resumes you could look through for inspiration, to guide yourself. There are so many discord communities out there just for SWE career prep that help people out, but I guess the problem is reach—not getting to the newcomers where the other influencers are.

Are there any popular FOSS resume generator? How can we improve awareness for people trying to make a resume for free?

(I learned to create my resume after adapting a free investment banking resume[1] and tailored it to CS and then rewrote it in LaTeX, but I know I'm not a good example. Hoping HN has better strategies for new developers and that they might come across this post in the future)

[1] https://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/free-investment-banking-resume-template/

I saw a skit where a salesperson asks for a raise, but the boss asks them, "Did you design, code, and implement the features that you're selling?" Later an engineer asked for a raise, and likewise, the boss asked them, "Did you sell the product? Did you do the marketing?"

Technical skills are essential to building an MVP, but you still need to get the product out in the market to be successful.

If you're an already established company, it makes sense to have some dedicated in-house marketing team, but what about when you're starting? Ideally, you get a friend who's good at sales, most likely a marketing major to help out, maybe become a cofounder. But there's no harm in learning how to do more things yourself.

How can you learn about marketing to support the work you do as a developer? Where do you learn what you need to best prepare your projects for success?

Is there a way to learn how to do marketing basics yourself besides going to business school for X years?

(I'm going to try and look through my University's course listings for their marketing major and try and skim the syllabuses for books to read, tho I know this isn't very time effective).

I was reading a verge article [1], and this stood out to me.

> But in STEM fields, directory structure remains crucially important. Astronomers, for example, may work with hundreds of thousands of files in the same format — which can be unwieldy to scale to a searchable system, Plavchan says.

Anecdotally, I've found searchable systems to be lukewarm. Search engines like Google are good for out-of-the-blue questions, but when looking within local files or data inside programs, search systems struggle to get what I need quickly. If I remember a specific file name, Spotlight search on macOS usually tells me what I need, while the default search on Windows does more or less the same. But these search systems never really help me find things in-depth, perhaps some mathematical formula embedded somewhere in a PDF file compiled from LaTeX. Or these search systems are not as forgiving when I'm trying to look for something that isn't text-based, like pictures or 3D assets.

Search is complex, so what can I do to depend less on these built-in systems? How can I make things more searchable in general? What methodological approach can be adopted to make searching for something, regardless of context, better?

Mindful folder structures, tagging files, consistent naming, and associating content to regular text as much as I can is a start, but I wonder if there's more that I'm failing to do.

[1] https://www.theverge.com/22684730/students-file-folder-directory-structure-education-gen-z