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mikecaron | 6 years ago | on: Playdate – A New Handheld Gaming System

I played with arcade.makecode.com at MS Build this year and made a Taco vs. Burgers side scroller on the MeowBit. My kids love it! My daughters and I are coding up something with a duck right now and it's uber fun! Thanks for making that platform!!

mikecaron | 11 years ago | on: Ask HN: Programmers Above 50, Is It Possible to Have a Career Past Your 50s?

This said, I'm thinking that it's probably better to just list the last 5-10 years of experience and drop the older stuff. Though, when listing education, it's probably difficult to list your education without saying when you graduated (there by indicating your age).

I'm 38 and I'm reading these things, getting a little worried, though I'm a very quick learner and trying my best to stay on top of what's going on (it's getting harder, things move so quickly!).

mikecaron | 11 years ago | on: How to kill team motivation in 10 simple steps

Self-development can also be encouraged by a company though, by throwing dollars at you. I am often suggesting to go to conferences that my company views as "small" and "not immediately relevant" or that they talk about tech that is "so bleeding edge, it might not be around later".

The value comes from allowing employees to get a little elbow room, think out of the box, grow their skill-set and become more valuable to you. When you show employees that you want them to be better and you'll give them space to do that (and money), they want to stay there.

Why would I, as a husband and father, want to sacrifice very precious vacation time to attend a tech-conference instead of play at a water park with my kids, or invest in my relationship with my wife on a romantic getaway? I wouldn't. But what my company, and several others out there, says by their lack of support for personal development is, "hey, you wanna be a better programmer... great. We'd love that too. Go do it on your own time. That's what we give you vacation for! Not to wind down and unplug and be a great daddy, you kiddin' me?"

The company expresses value for you by letting you have a bit of room to do things you want to.

mikecaron | 12 years ago | on: Ask HN: Software Engineer Salaries in Berlin

Absolutely true. My rent in the early '00s was equivalent to $200 / month for a 3 room apartment. Granted, I had a coal furnace in my bedroom, a tiny gas furnace in my living room and no heat in the kitchen or bathroom (except for a pull-string infra-red heater over the door for when you step out of the bathtub). Everything was cheap from beer to food to clubs to travel. I made half of what I made in the States but I didn't feel it at all.

mikecaron | 12 years ago | on: Why open-office layouts are bad for employees, bosses, and productivity

Heartily agree. At larger companies in the past, I was part of a cube farm. Absolutely hated it, so much noise and interruption. At my current gig, it's a LOT quieter, smaller, friendlier and virtually no phones ringing off the hook. I've left my office with a door to sit in the open area for more social opportunity as I started feeling lonely. I could get in the office and leave after a full day of work without talking to anyone. :(

mikecaron | 12 years ago | on: Why open-office layouts are bad for employees, bosses, and productivity

We have offices for every developer, if they want one. We also have an open space. I used to have an office (still do, it's just empty now). I work in the open space, but it's not typical. There's only two of us that work in this open area, so it's very quiet as we're both developers. I think it's an unusual setup, but being more extraverted, I feel less lonely as I can see when people are going to the lunch room, I can participate in conversations around the pool table, etc. If there were more than 3 people in this area, I'd head back to my office, but for now, it's a great environment. I also have to mention that our open area isn't very large, and the desks are tripods (three workstations to a pod); again, my pod is just me. I'm also surrounded by windows and sunlight, where as my office only had one window.

Not complaining, just sharing a different situation.

mikecaron | 12 years ago | on: Microsoft and Xamarin partner

A huge applause for Miguel, he's been laboring over this for such a long time and it's amazing to see the fruit of his passion and perseverance.

mikecaron | 13 years ago | on: A lot of free ebooks

Why the hell is "The God Delusion" in the mix? That is not a programming book, it's a social commentary about religion.

mikecaron | 13 years ago | on: Did porn warp me forever?

Unfortunately, I don't. But I'm compelled to do my own research... jack up a heroku cluster, run a bunch of image processing across all main-stream porn films... and maybe in 10 years I'll have enough concrete evidence to support John's claims :)

mikecaron | 13 years ago | on: Did porn warp me forever?

I am only saying that my girls are growing up in an increasingly violent society and I want them to be ready to handle people that creep out of the shadows to attack them. I want my girls to be ready if someone deceives them and they find that they are in a very dangerous and unsafe situation.

I also want to educate them as to how to avoid dangerous environments, to be street-wise, to avoid frat parties, how to spot an abuser, how to know when a guy is manipulating them, et al. Education is my primary tool, self-defense and knowledge of how to use weapons is a secondary, but necessary, tool.

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