Updating Your Utility Belt

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2013/10/updating-your-utility-belt.html

by BIackSwan • 13 years ago

37 43 13 years ago

jkat• 13 years ago

"every self-respecting geek has one"

I realize Jeff's just being...poetic, but really it's just an excuse to buy toys. Spend your money on what makes you happy. If more gadgets, or that 6th purse, or 20th pair of shoes does that, great. If you want to define [part of] yourself by your possessions, do that. But don't judge others by the lack of theirs.

chadwickthebold• 13 years ago

But then people wouldn't click on his amazon referral links maybe?

pekk• 13 years ago

Yeah. If you need to unlock doors, then you need keys. But you don't need a flashlight all the time unless you are a security guard or something.

We might as well be talking about purses.

cubix2• 13 years ago

That's what I thought, until I started carrying one. Now I use it all the time for mundane tasks such as finding something that dropped under my car seat, plugging in an ethernet cable under my desk, rummaging around in the back of a closet, and so on. It really makes life easier, especially as I find my night vision isn't as good as it used to be. LED lights and Li-ion batteries last for ages, so it's hardly an inconvenience.

btilly3• 13 years ago

I am not so sure.

I draw a joke distinction between a geek and a nerd like this. A geek is someone who loves technology and toys. A nerd is someone who gets utterly obsessed by a particular topic.

I usually bring this up when explaining to a fellow programmer that I'm a nerd but not a geek. Which fact I then demonstrate by pulling out my flip phone.

If they proceed to doubt that I am a nerd, I'll then offer to explain something esoteric. A good example is the differences between the Riemann integral, the Lebesgue integral, and the Generalized Riemann integral. And why if the last had been discovered earlier, we might not have needed to develop Lebesgue integration at all!

arrrg2• 13 years ago

Seems like irrelevant categorizing that doesn’t make much sense and isn’t very useful. Who cares what you are in terms of dumb categories like that?

mkmkmmmmm• 13 years ago

Do fellow programmers tend to back away slowly? :)

Both words seem to be used to describe people that like specific categories of things but are unpopular or awkward. I refuse to be labeled with either regardless of any fine distinction in meaning. To me, what you are describing is like, "no I'm a douche, not an asshole." (I think you are neither, just an analogy.)

leeoniya• 13 years ago

i've owned many Fenix lights over the years and many more custom LED lights before this. (any CPF members remember Arc LSH-Ps?, rare-binned Luxeon stars and low dome optics :)

my current EDC (every day carry) is a Fenix LD01 - it's amazing what a single lithium AAA can deliver with current regulation circuitry (pun)

http://www.fenixlight.com/ProductMore.aspx?id=50&tid=10&cid=...

interestingly, i also carry a pocket USB3 SSD since all my apps are portable/truecrypt and i need those low latency 4k random writes.

http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-Flash-Drive-SDCZ80-032...

K2h• 13 years ago

I have had the light for a few years and really like it. I have both the single mode version and 3 mode version and like the 3 mode a little more. the tradeoff is that the head is slightly longer and the high isn't quite as as bright. the extended runtime and practical use of low output is what I use most.

http://www.amazon.com/Light-Version-80-lumen-Keychain-Flashl...

sgdesign• 13 years ago

When I was into martial arts I used to hang out with guys who would carry around knives or kubotans everywhere. Funny to see that programmers also have their own "everyday carry"… although I have to admit to being skeptical of the actual real-world usefulness of either one.

dangrossman4• 13 years ago

My "everyday carry" is the remote fob for my car, my phone, my license and two credit cards. I have no need for anything Jeff considers essential, including keys -- HomeLink in my car opens the garage door to get in and out.

Some day my phone will be able to pay for my purchases (not everywhere has NFC terminals yet) and start my car. The only thing that doesn't seem to be on the horizon is ID. I suppose I would leave the license in my car, but I'd worry about being hassled by police, who don't like to hear you have no ID when they ask for some.

PilateDeGuerre• 13 years ago

What happens when there is a power outage at your home? How do you get in then?

dangrossman4• 13 years ago

With a hidden key on the property. I think most homeowners have one. Just don't put it in a fake rock near the door or under a mat where it's obvious.

tdfx• 13 years ago

You can get a phone case for carrying your license and credit cards. One less separate item.

flatline• 13 years ago

I really miss carrying a knife, but since 9/11 it has been almost impossible to actually, you know, go anywhere. I have had multiple times when I simply forgot to ditch it before going out and wasn't able to get into places, particularly museums. Having one attached to my keychain? I'd never remember to take it off.

Plus, carrying that thing around in your jeans pocket looks uncomfortable, I can barely manage a wad of keys.

cma• 13 years ago

"And there's also a nail file, on the other side of the screwdriver, but what is this obsession with nail files on multi-tools? Who are these people filing their nails all the damn time? I've never filed my nails once in my entire life! Can anyone mansplain this to me?"

Jagged, unfiled nails are viewed by women (accurately) as a major sign of sexual inexperience/ineptitude...

EdwardDiego• 13 years ago

Jagged, unfiled nails are viewed by women (accurately) as a major sign of sexual inexperience/ineptitude...

Holy sweeping generalisation Batman. However, as I'm not even one woman, let alone all women, I won't speak on their behalf.

freddigbjk• 13 years ago

I used to respect Jeff a lot, partly because of his stackoverflow fame. However, these days I find him annoying, as he has just become part of the "noise" we all find unproductive. This post just strengthens my point, where he buys useless bling to show off and everyone applauds him for being a materialistic prat.

I'll probably get downvoted but I've just had enough of this 'utility belt' bull.

cocoflunchy• 13 years ago

He's been doing this post since 2005, so I don't think much has changed.

Plus you can buy the entirety of his 'useless bling' for $35, and it seems pretty obvious to me that he actually uses these tools on a daily basis.

The only thing I didn't really like were the affiliate links without disclaimer... but it's not that big a deal.

TheCowboy• 13 years ago

It's just a blog post. It's not like he posted this to personally ruin anybody's day or Hacker News viewing experience.

runjake• 13 years ago

It's just a post on his personal website. He's not forcing you to read it. You're the one turning it into "noise". You're the one letting it make you unproductive. It's not his job to be your nanny, frankly.

twodayslate• 13 years ago

This is just one giant amazon affiliate link.

jedanbik• 13 years ago

I am genuinely curious: if I carry an iPhone everywhere, why do I need to carry a flashlight, too?

dangrossman4• 13 years ago

If you ask me, you don't. If you're asking Jeff? He answered that in the article.

I also flirted with the idea of dropping the standalone flashlight and relying on my smartphone camera flash as a flashlight, but in my testing smartphones make weak flashlights.

ck2• 13 years ago

Haitz's law is interesting. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitz%27s_law

Is it possible to calculate the theoretical maximum number of photons that can be produced from a fixed small electron source?

Just curious how close we are to maximum theoretical efficiency. 50% ? 80% ?

RBerenguel• 13 years ago

Recently updated my utility rack. Now it's full of heel irons, welt irons and a few flat irons. I'm a moonlighter shoemaker, and I don't spend zilch on (not sure how to define these things!) "techno tools." My most recent advanced gadget-related purchases have been:

* A set of 18 shoemaking tools, second hand. Currently cleaning and restoring each one * Macbook Air (a needed update to my Early 2008 White Macbook) * Portable HD (I needed a few extra GB) * Circular slide rule (because I always wanted one and it's a beautiful little and cheap geek gadget)

That's it. I'd never think of spending money on a combo tool: I have a beautiful workshop where I have one of each of these tools (or many of them) in perfect condition. Also, I'm of the opinion that a good tool should do one job perfectly (except emacs, that's it.) This is why I have a dumbphone and and iPod Touch. Actually my dumbphone doubles as flashlight, which is pretty cool because I'd never remember where my flashlight is.

zbruhnke2• 13 years ago

I am the only one who read this article and immediately thought "Did he really have to worry that someone would try to make copies of his keys from a photo"??

Makes you kind of sad that people have to fear other people's cruel intentions so much

skyebook• 13 years ago

Would you leave a password or IP address unscrambled in a blog post? It doesn't seem unreasonable to obfuscate that which can be used against you, whether or not anyone actually will.

I did wonder why not just take the keys out of the photo, but my guess is that it serves to show how bulky/not-bulky the stuff is.

zbruhnke2• 13 years ago

it was not meant to be a knock on jeff at all, in fact I was impressed he thought of that, it was more of an observation, upon first seeing it I actually took a second look and had a thought about whether or not that's actually what he was doing

Todd• 13 years ago

Anyone know the story behind the engraving on the side of his Leatherman Squirt? It must be significant, because he also added it to his updated Squirt.

e28eta• 13 years ago

My guess was a Pulp Fiction reference.

miahi• 13 years ago

Maybe it just goes with the wallet[1].

[1] http://www.bmfwallets.com/

uchi• 13 years ago

I used to have an old Linux professor that taught class on the weekends. He was a network engineer at his day job and there was never a day where I didn't see him with his fisherman's vest. Every pocket was occupied with some weird gadget, and his zipper had a keychain bottle opener. He had a single pocket entirely dedicated to candy bars and always made sure it was properly stocked. The man practically never left his house without his emergency candy rations, and as far as I could tell he didn't have diabetes or anything.

I guess you never know when a candy bar might come in handy.

Updating Your Utility Belt

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