thefastlane's comments

"I can't finish any technical article" ... no offense, but i don't know how you made it through grad school. nonetheless, here you are. :p

you need to kill your video game habit. sell that shit on craigslist and get on with your life. seriously.

you know that you have the capability to do amazing things, but you have to manage yourself and your time, and focus, in order to make it a reality.

see my comment here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12798511

edit: read books. pick random titles from the Oxford Very Short Introductions series.

for those interested, here are the links to the books that were removed:

https://leanpub.com/firefoxosinaction

https://leanpub.com/quickguidefirefoxosdevelopment

https://leanpub.com/buildinggamesforfirefoxos

even if that's true, that's hardly a reason to suppress books on the subject.

everything looks like a market when all you have is a hayekian ideology

... master it instead of C++ or in addition to C++?

figure out who makes the decision on your raise/bonus, and make sure you nurture a positive relationship with that person. usually your boss; maybe a group of managers, etc.

> Dimon volunteered: "Don't send emails after you've had a drink."

good advice for everyone, not just bankers and politicians.

the professional tech landscape is competitive: even with a degree and experience, a job offer will not just fall in your lap. and at the moment, it sounds like you don't have either.

stay in school unless you have (a) a very good rationale for quitting, and (b) a detailed (in writing!) plan for how to get good enough at your craft to the point that you'll land some interviews and score a job offer. be honest with yourself about the discipline this will require, particularly if you're already 'struggling' in the structured learning environment you're in now.

beyond that, remember that the value of a college degree for you as a human being goes far beyond just your career.

edit: you might also do some research on what a typical technical interview involves these days. e.g., it's not unheard of to spend six months prepping for a google interview.

another wapo article hammering home its anti-government ideology. they think that a public agency can and should act, think, and feel just like a for-profit entity operating in a competitive market. that's nonsense.

calling 18F a 'money loser' is just anarchocapitalist newspeak for missing budget projections. yawn.

i appreciate you pointing this out concerning the Fn keys. at the end of the day, though, i want real keys. i'm not a starfleet officer and i don't want to type on a flat screen.

they took away the Esc key and all the Fn keys. Apple's HIG is dead to me now.

take a look at python+flask and clojure+ring+compojure (and other tech too) before throwing your hat in the node ring. going with a more general-purpose language might serve you better down the road. javascript will limit you to web dev essentially -- which you want to do now, but what about 5 years from now, etc

one could argue that it's useful to have a grasp of relational databases (and SQL) in general. taking the longview, mongo is more of a niche technology.

i've noticed that if coworkers tend exhibit a high level of emotion in their voices during their conversations, that's very distracting -- e.g., some people seem to just have a pattern of vocalizing stress or confusion in their tone of speech, either to each other, or on the phone etc.

it took me a long time to identify exactly what was bugging me (besides it obviously being noisy), but then it dawned on me, and now i pay close attention to it -- being able to cateogrize it, and then compartmentalize it away, helps a lot i think.

moving to an off-site coffee shop on occasion has made all the difference, despite being an equal or greater amount of noise.

still would prefer an office, obviously.

i don't have book suggestions, but a few thoughts:

first, the usual:

- get more sleep

- cut sugar

- cut alcohol

- cut web surfing

second, some great ideas on how to manage time/tasks in these articles:

https://theweek.com/articles/444385/how-most-productive-pers...

http://calnewport.com/blog/2015/11/03/spend-more-time-managi...

http://calnewport.com/blog/2014/08/08/deep-habits-plan-your-...

https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2007/10/18/the-art-of-the-f...

http://calnewport.com/blog/2013/12/21/deep-habits-the-import...

third, read books (5 hours/wk is a good goal if bookrading not already in your schedule) -- make a book list and read actual books (if you're not already) - great fiction, science, philosophy, etc. and reread the ones that resonate with you.

curious what you mean by 'complaint ideology' ?

any response at all following an interview puts a company at above average these days.

that said, my experiences with google have been way above average. probably one of the few companies where i genuinely enjoyed interviewing (i usually hate interviews). follow-ups were very informative as well. sounds like you got a flaky recruiter.

> 'If Harvard, Stanford, etc., converted to corporations'...

let's acknowledge that this is a completely absurd notion.

but for fun, let's say it did happen: this would be the end of harvard's good reputation, i guarantee it.

- faculty protests

- widespread shut-the-campus-down student protests, no doubt

- alumni uproar like no other

- kiss donations goodbye -- nobody ever donated a million dollars to Univ of Phoenix or General Assembly...

- research funding elibility in limbo at the very least

- research coming out of the institution would no longer be taken seriously (i sure wouldn't)

- etc

i would never send my children to a for-profit institute that, by definition, did not have interests aligned with my family's or society's, and i'm sure many others wouldn't either. it is not about reputation. i would rather they go to the tiniest po-dunk state college than attend a for-profit of any kind.

you're not very specific, but a couple thoughts i'll share:

1) So important to be intentional about your time, and your energy. Start planning your day: http://calnewport.com/blog/2013/12/21/deep-habits-the-import...

2) first and foremost, take this opportunity to find/create more challenging projects for yourself in your current role. additionally, start planning/preparing for how you can move to position with more responsiblity and interesting work -- either within your own group, or elsewhere in the firm, or by seeking a job offer elsewhere.

3) if what you really mean is brain fog or lack of focus, these are the main areas to tackle: - cut all web surfing (this gets back to being intentional about your time, and also resetting your dopamine mechanism -- web surfing is our equivalent of rats pressing hte lever over and over for a treat -- totally useless) - cut sugar - get adequate sleep

4) if you are just not feeling software development (or whatever your current work is), it's possible you want to explore a change of role altogether. i have less to say about that, but worth doing some reflection in the evenings -- perhaps with some pen and paper, or by taking some walks and being alone with your thoughts -- to explore this.

and with that, I should follow my own advice and log off HN. :)

just put everyone in a big bullpen, and make sure everyone sits as close together as possible for maximum collaboration -- that's basically what deep focus is, right? bonus points if you're right next to a heavily traffricked walkway, which will foster 'drive-by testing', or something. another CTO was telling me about drive-by whatever-it-was at the CTO conference in Hawaii that I attended last week. good stuff.