I was expecting a lot of ambitious projects would be mentioned, but it seems as if a lot of HN wants the same as me.
I would Unplug.
Take the kids camping, explore a national park for a couple weeks and let nature do it's thing. Take the guitar, leave the tablet. Try to catch some fish, which I have never done.
Read a couple books that have been put off for too long. Maybe some Heinlein or Asimovs foundation series (which I seem to have never gotten around to reading). Definitely some Alan watts.
I would also try some of that legal cannabis I keep reading about.
Hey, if you want to do the fishing thing, it doesn't take a month or a national park. Just thought I'd chime in with a simple recipe that will catch you fish about 99 days out of 100:
Buy a "cane pole" (they sell non-bamboo versions these days). Tie on a hook, bobber, etc. Get some live bait--you can usually buy worms where you buy your fishing pole.
Ask the guy who sells you your pole a good place to fish, if you don't know of a pond or lake nearby.
Go to the lake, and the way you use a cane pole is you swing it out. No casting or fussing with lines and reels etc. When the bobber gets tugged on, you lift up. It's almost like cheating, you just pull fish out of the water!
I started fishing this way when I was 3. I would start any kid the same way.
If you go the other route--artificial lures, casting reels, etc--you'll get skunked a lot. Getting skunked fishing beats a day of work, but it's not great for youngsters' morale.
I'm with ya there. I would Unplug. I'd sit and stare at the wall. I go for a walk. I'd do nothing. (I'd quote Office Space here if I could remember exactly what Peter said) Fishing... sit and do nothing.
I know this is true because I was only given one month. It would be different if it was indefinite. Having a solid limit, and just a month, is not bad. Having nothing in front of me for the rest of my life would be different.
Nothing. The value of doing nothing can far outweigh the value of doing something. Consider taking the time to just live before you go back to whatever grind you’re always on in a month. :)
TL;DR: mostly technical debt of things I manage in my private life (server, laptop, family's laptop, my phone).
I would do things that need doing for a long time:
- I have an old server on its last legs running Windows 7 (yes, not even Windows Server or anything) with services which I'd like to migrate to my newer Linux server;
- I'd check and reconfigure some backups, and setup automatic backups for devices that don't have it yet (my own laptop and my grandma's new laptop);
- I'd reinstall my phone which is running Cyanogenmod based on Android 4.4, but it's a lot of work to reconfigure everything (considering how many custom settings I have to firewall apps, disallow most autostarts and wakelocks, deny most broadcast events to apps such as those from the Google framework, etc.);
- and finally a hobby project: I'd finish calendar software that I'm writing (I can't find open source, collaborative, self-hostable calendar software) and finally have friends and family be able to just look in my calendar instead of going back and forth, and my girlfriend be able to edit in it and I in hers, etc.
As someone in their mid 30s, with a wife, kids, and friends (if you have the funds):
* Replace your server with Dropbox and/or a VM outside the home (I use Dropbox @ $100/year and a Digital Ocean VM)
* Switch to Backblaze or another backup service of your choice instead of self-managed backups (I use Time Machine with my 2013 MBA)
* Put your calendar software away for now, use Google Cal or Fastmail (depending on funds and level of Goog wariness, I still use Google Cal because laziness, but have a paid Fastmail account to support them)
I'm not saying anything you outlined doesn't have value (I think it all does!), I enjoy learning more Python by contributing to open source digital archivalist projects. But automate those mundane tasks and go spend time with your girlfriend, your grandmother, and the rest of your family.
"Technical debt" will expand to fill the free time you allow it to, and time is the ultimate non-renewable resource. Spend that time making memories with those you love instead. One day they'll all be gone; no one lays on their death bed wishing they had tweaked that one last backup script, or tried that additional custom rom on their mobile device. They wish they had spent more time with loved ones [1].
I would search for nice enumerations of graphs, hash functions, types and functions. I doubt I would make any progress in a month or perhaps ever.
1. Find a nice numbering system for graphs. (Rooted trees already have a nice numbering system called Matula numbers. I rediscovered this independently but haven’t made any progress on graphs.)
2. I want to label every possible hash function with an integer.
3. I want to label every possible type(that can be expressed in a programming language) with an integer.
4. I want to label every possible function that can be expressed in a programming language with an integer. This might be somewhat related to #2 and #3.
I don’t care about arbitrary mappings to integers. The mapping has to be “nice”, preserving some of the properties of the underlying system it is mapping. It needs to be one to one, and cover every possible element. I don’t know how to decribe it in general, but I get a good feeling when I see it. For example, I would be surprised if a nicer mapping between integers and trees than Matula numbers was found.
> 3. I want to label every possible type(that can be expressed in a programming language) with an integer.
Let me know if you manage to do this, the serialization application for this is boss.
If it were a month of free time to work on anything I wanted, I'd spend the time working on learning various new technologies that I really haven't had the time to get started on.
If it were a month where I truly didn't have to worry any damn thing, I'd pack my luggage, jump on the Harley, turn off the GPS, pick a direction, and just go. No particular destination, other than back here in 30 days..
I'd ride until I felt like stopping, find some random, relatively small town, and spend a few days there. Check out the little hole-in-the-wall dive bars, hang out with the locals, and, after a few days, jump back on the bike and pick another direction.
I've done this on a smaller scale, but never for a whole month. It's incredibly relaxing and stress free and a great way to spend time. You can meet some really cool people from all walks of life, too.
In my experience, the only mutually interesting topic is for them to spend time with their parent. If whatever you're doing is interesting to them and you spend time with them doing it, they'll remember it for the rest of their lives.
I helped one of my sons learn some basic electronics and he showed a lot of skill with it, but he soon lost interest when I tried to turn it over to him to explore. He didn't seem interested in pursuing the topic as much as spend time with me. Nowadays it's mostly talking about the software projects he's implementing and how best to architect or design his code. He gets annoyed when I become too pedantic, so mostly it's asking questions and validating (and guiding) his choices.
I've had a challenge doing activities with my oldest, as our interests hardly match up, and I wasn't able to keep the interest (I'm stubborn and self-centered). Mostly I have to listen--I'm not sure whether he enjoys me listening, but he keeps doing it when the opportunity presents itself.
My youngest--I'm at a loss. He's high-functioning autistic and plays games most of the time. He's smart and witty, so he enjoys the nuances of conversation and actually doing things with the family. He often doesn't care what we're doing, just that we're doing it together.
We do some activities (plays, musical performances, etc.) as a family (most of the time minus the eldest, as he works, etc.), and they remember and appreciate and are fond of those times when they think on them. It may not be that they were necessarily interested in them, but the fact we enjoyed the time together is what counts.
Which is to say that trying to find a mutually interesting topic is futile--they all have their distinct interests and you can't change that. But what you can do is spend time with them, pursuing their interests. It takes a ton of energy and effort, but they will appreciate it and hopefully take the same habits into their own families.
Edit: I guess it somewhat depends on the definition of "free time." Summer with kids? Road trip! School year with kids staying local? Other items. School year with kids on the road somehow? Japan to ski and learn. Sail the Caribbean and homeschool.
I’d go on an expedition. Himalayas in April or November. Alaska in the Arctic summer. Or South America in their summer. In 2016, I had a month long sabbatical and spent it in Nepal, which was worth every minute.
- Find a server for cheap that I can virtualize GPU access
Ideally >5TB HDDs, 512GB SSD cache, >64GB of RAM, cores on cores
- Virtualize the system that I use to Steam Stream my games
- Setup an at-home virtualized data analysis lab
Python + Pandas + SciPy + Matplotlib + Mongo/SQL
- Obtain some cool data sets and look at them
- Setup a website and post informed conclusions from the data sets
[+] [-] keeringplastik|8 years ago|reply
I would Unplug.
Take the kids camping, explore a national park for a couple weeks and let nature do it's thing. Take the guitar, leave the tablet. Try to catch some fish, which I have never done.
Read a couple books that have been put off for too long. Maybe some Heinlein or Asimovs foundation series (which I seem to have never gotten around to reading). Definitely some Alan watts.
I would also try some of that legal cannabis I keep reading about.
Also: Take a nap every day.
[+] [-] mod|8 years ago|reply
Buy a "cane pole" (they sell non-bamboo versions these days). Tie on a hook, bobber, etc. Get some live bait--you can usually buy worms where you buy your fishing pole.
Ask the guy who sells you your pole a good place to fish, if you don't know of a pond or lake nearby.
Go to the lake, and the way you use a cane pole is you swing it out. No casting or fussing with lines and reels etc. When the bobber gets tugged on, you lift up. It's almost like cheating, you just pull fish out of the water!
I started fishing this way when I was 3. I would start any kid the same way.
If you go the other route--artificial lures, casting reels, etc--you'll get skunked a lot. Getting skunked fishing beats a day of work, but it's not great for youngsters' morale.
[+] [-] blakesterz|8 years ago|reply
I know this is true because I was only given one month. It would be different if it was indefinite. Having a solid limit, and just a month, is not bad. Having nothing in front of me for the rest of my life would be different.
[+] [-] traviswingo|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] house9-2|8 years ago|reply
This might be the most profound thing I have ever read on HN :)
[+] [-] the-dude|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lucb1e|8 years ago|reply
I would do things that need doing for a long time:
- I have an old server on its last legs running Windows 7 (yes, not even Windows Server or anything) with services which I'd like to migrate to my newer Linux server;
- I'd check and reconfigure some backups, and setup automatic backups for devices that don't have it yet (my own laptop and my grandma's new laptop);
- I'd reinstall my phone which is running Cyanogenmod based on Android 4.4, but it's a lot of work to reconfigure everything (considering how many custom settings I have to firewall apps, disallow most autostarts and wakelocks, deny most broadcast events to apps such as those from the Google framework, etc.);
- and finally a hobby project: I'd finish calendar software that I'm writing (I can't find open source, collaborative, self-hostable calendar software) and finally have friends and family be able to just look in my calendar instead of going back and forth, and my girlfriend be able to edit in it and I in hers, etc.
[+] [-] toomuchtodo|8 years ago|reply
* Replace your server with Dropbox and/or a VM outside the home (I use Dropbox @ $100/year and a Digital Ocean VM)
* Switch to Backblaze or another backup service of your choice instead of self-managed backups (I use Time Machine with my 2013 MBA)
* Put your calendar software away for now, use Google Cal or Fastmail (depending on funds and level of Goog wariness, I still use Google Cal because laziness, but have a paid Fastmail account to support them)
I'm not saying anything you outlined doesn't have value (I think it all does!), I enjoy learning more Python by contributing to open source digital archivalist projects. But automate those mundane tasks and go spend time with your girlfriend, your grandmother, and the rest of your family.
"Technical debt" will expand to fill the free time you allow it to, and time is the ultimate non-renewable resource. Spend that time making memories with those you love instead. One day they'll all be gone; no one lays on their death bed wishing they had tweaked that one last backup script, or tried that additional custom rom on their mobile device. They wish they had spent more time with loved ones [1].
[1] http://www.bronnieware.com/blog/regrets-of-the-dying
[+] [-] gravypod|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sagebird|8 years ago|reply
1. Find a nice numbering system for graphs. (Rooted trees already have a nice numbering system called Matula numbers. I rediscovered this independently but haven’t made any progress on graphs.)
2. I want to label every possible hash function with an integer.
3. I want to label every possible type(that can be expressed in a programming language) with an integer.
4. I want to label every possible function that can be expressed in a programming language with an integer. This might be somewhat related to #2 and #3.
I don’t care about arbitrary mappings to integers. The mapping has to be “nice”, preserving some of the properties of the underlying system it is mapping. It needs to be one to one, and cover every possible element. I don’t know how to decribe it in general, but I get a good feeling when I see it. For example, I would be surprised if a nicer mapping between integers and trees than Matula numbers was found.
[+] [-] leksak|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Ocerge|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] msie|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] toomuchtodo|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] zwischenzug|8 years ago|reply
I end up tinkering with the things I'm interested in, and roaming London, going to places I've never been to in 40 years.
It can be incredibly productive. I even published a book as a result: https://leanpub.com/learnbashthehardway
What I have found 'hard' is doing nothing. I find walking helps with managing stress, as it's activity but not cerebral.
[+] [-] borplk|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] compactness|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] xor_null|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jlgaddis|8 years ago|reply
If it were a month where I truly didn't have to worry any damn thing, I'd pack my luggage, jump on the Harley, turn off the GPS, pick a direction, and just go. No particular destination, other than back here in 30 days..
I'd ride until I felt like stopping, find some random, relatively small town, and spend a few days there. Check out the little hole-in-the-wall dive bars, hang out with the locals, and, after a few days, jump back on the bike and pick another direction.
I've done this on a smaller scale, but never for a whole month. It's incredibly relaxing and stress free and a great way to spend time. You can meet some really cool people from all walks of life, too.
[+] [-] foxhop|8 years ago|reply
I would likely spend it trying to teach my kids as much as I can through play, experimentation, discussion, and research.
The problem is, we would likely have to find a mutually interesting topic for a 6 year old, a 10 year old, and myself to keep engagement up.
[+] [-] euvitudo|8 years ago|reply
I helped one of my sons learn some basic electronics and he showed a lot of skill with it, but he soon lost interest when I tried to turn it over to him to explore. He didn't seem interested in pursuing the topic as much as spend time with me. Nowadays it's mostly talking about the software projects he's implementing and how best to architect or design his code. He gets annoyed when I become too pedantic, so mostly it's asking questions and validating (and guiding) his choices.
I've had a challenge doing activities with my oldest, as our interests hardly match up, and I wasn't able to keep the interest (I'm stubborn and self-centered). Mostly I have to listen--I'm not sure whether he enjoys me listening, but he keeps doing it when the opportunity presents itself.
My youngest--I'm at a loss. He's high-functioning autistic and plays games most of the time. He's smart and witty, so he enjoys the nuances of conversation and actually doing things with the family. He often doesn't care what we're doing, just that we're doing it together.
We do some activities (plays, musical performances, etc.) as a family (most of the time minus the eldest, as he works, etc.), and they remember and appreciate and are fond of those times when they think on them. It may not be that they were necessarily interested in them, but the fact we enjoyed the time together is what counts.
Which is to say that trying to find a mutually interesting topic is futile--they all have their distinct interests and you can't change that. But what you can do is spend time with them, pursuing their interests. It takes a ton of energy and effort, but they will appreciate it and hopefully take the same habits into their own families.
[+] [-] matchmike1313|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TYPE_FASTER|8 years ago|reply
Organize photos. Scan all physical photos.
Read.
Ride my bike.
Organize.
Write code.
Edit: I guess it somewhat depends on the definition of "free time." Summer with kids? Road trip! School year with kids staying local? Other items. School year with kids on the road somehow? Japan to ski and learn. Sail the Caribbean and homeschool.
[+] [-] leoharsha2|8 years ago|reply
Apart from that, NOTHING.
[+] [-] scottshapiro|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] leongr|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aliencat|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] gravypod|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] efferifick|8 years ago|reply
one free month and no money? => read!
[+] [-] vidanay|8 years ago|reply
OK, I might need a year instead of a month.
[+] [-] JDiculous|8 years ago|reply