hbien

Unfortunately for both of us, 9% of zero is zero :(

Working for a company you believe in is one good reason. 800,000 reasons is 799,999 more.

I've been using vim (now neovim) for almost 20 years now.

In terms of efficiency/productivity/time saved, my guess is that it's not worth it.

In terms of happiness, I love it. I live in vim+tmux+bash. My setup is extremely personalized. If anything annoys me about my day-to-day activities, I can just change it. It can be a time sink, but I enjoy it.

Ty for the benefit of the doubt and seeing the best in others :)

> at the end of the day, we're trying to exchange useful products for money

If you're just trying to make money, then you shouldn't call yourself a hacker.

I hate gatekeeping like this.

For anyone who needs to hear it: you don't need to be a starving artist. You are not a sell-out for wanting to exchange useful products for money. You can call yourself a hacker.

:wq

I really like:

Non Designer's Design Book - for higher level guidelines on design

Refactoring UI - for tactical suggestions on UIs

Some other books: Bootstrapping Design and Design for Hackers

ah, are these are "standalone" or static binaries with no dependencies then? I think end users may need to have the crystal runtime installed as a dependency.

Great job! How were you able to do a stand-alone binary for Mac? I was able to for Linux via their Alpine/MUSL image, but never figured out how to for Mac.

I've had my car broken into twice in SF. Everyone's response to this is always "you can't leave valuable things in your car". Both times, my car was empty. Nothing was stolen. I have never left anything valuable in my car -- visible or hidden, trunk or otherwise. Not sure why people keep giving me this advice.

I always keep a roll of duct tape and some cardboard in the car now. I tape up my quarter glass (the smallest of the rear windows that thieves love to break) and cover it with cardboard, to make it look like its already been broken into. I also leave my back seat down w/ a clear view into the empty trunk. That's the only thing that works.

It's not in the official binary releases yet. You'll have to compile your own Crystal via `make interpreter=1` to use it. Instructions here: https://crystal-lang.org/install/from_sources/

The author linked to this article to explain it: https://medium.com/@dan_manges/the-modular-monolith-rails-ar...

----

From the article:

We don’t have an app/ directory in our Rails project. All of our code is either in gems/ or engines/.

Gems contain Ruby code that does not depend on Rails. We use ActiveSupport, but we do not use ActiveRecord or ActionPack. The gems are all stateless.

Engines contain Ruby code that does depend on Rails. Persistence happens at this layer through ActiveRecord. API and Web interfaces are exposed at this layer through ActionPack.

Boutique: https://useboutique.com

It's a self-hosted app for digital sales and newsletters. I can upload files, sell them, send broadcast/drip emails, handle bounces/spam so far. Still a work in progress.

Thyme: https://hughbien.com/thyme

It runs a pomodoro timer in your Tmux status bar.

It's not ideal but reasonable. I lived in Campbell and took the VTA for 2 years: http://www.vta.org/routes/rt902 -- it's about 1.25 hours one way. I used the time to catch up on reading.

I'd suggest living somewhere along the green line so you don't have to do any transfers: http://www.vta.org/routes/rt902. Campbell/San Jose are going to be cheaper than Sunnyvale/Mountain View.

You may also consider using the Caltrain instead. It's faster and cleaner. But there are less frequent trains and stops are more spread apart: http://www.caltrain.com/stations/systemmap.html -- the Mtn View station is a main one which most bullet trains stop at. Rent will be cheaper between Redwood City <-> San Bruno and Santa Clara <-> Tamien. Be careful going south of San Jose Diridon though, that's the final stop for many trains.

Can you find something in-between? E.g. try to find a part-time job, so you can earn just enough without dipping into savings. Then spend that extra time on your side projects.

I don't think it's strictly for books.

I'll start:

* Start Small, Stay Small - guide for starting your own software business with zero outside funding, specifically for hackers (http://www.startupbook.net/)

* Authority - guide for self publishing (http://nathanbarry.com/authority/)

* Pomodoro Technique Illustrated - the only productivity hack that stuck with me (http://pragprog.com/audio_books/snfocus/pomodoro-technique-i...)

* The Power of Habit - pomodoros and habits are the two most important tactics I use to make progress on my side projects (http://www.audible.com/pd/Science-Technology/The-Power-of-Ha...)

People are quick to call other authors' work worthless. Patio11's piece you just read was very valuable to me, but it doesn't have a timestamp on it -- did you think it was worthless? Patio11 calls TechCrunch pink slime. He may find it worthless, but it's valuable to others.

The truth is just have an audience/subject in mind and cater towards that. Writing a technical article that depends on current state of technology? Put a timestamp on it. Writing evergreen advice about salary negotiation? No need to put a timestamp on it.

I freelanced in the Bay Area for ~1.5 years, mostly Rails/Backbone. I wasn't good because I was never more than a coder-for-hire -- but the pay was still more than enough.

(1) Yes, companies in SF/Berkeley are looking for freelance JavaScript/iOS developers. Especially if you've worked with Backbone/Angular/Ember/Node/whatever popular framework used today. You'll never have to take on Wordpress type jobs if you don't want to.

(2) My personal experience is companies prefer full-time contracts over part-time contracts. They want 40 hours/week freelancers but if they can't find them, will settle for whatever you can provide.

(3) If you can't tap into your own network to find these contracts, subcontract through a recruiter or agency. Being able to work on-site is a HUGE bonus, you'll get a contract in no time (although they'll take a cut of your pay)

I didn't see it until you mentioned it, but now I can't unsee it.

Welcome to San Jose!

I assume you'll have a car, because public transportation is awful here. I won't mention too many SF attractions but I definitely recommend you head up there at least one weekend.

Here are some of my absolute favorite places to eat:

  * korean food? -> Jang Su Jang or Omogari
  * vietnamese food? -> Tofoo Com Chay (vegetarian), Ca Mau, practically any Pho place in SJ
  * mexican food -> La Victoria
  * burgers/fries -> In n Out is a must if it's unavailable where you live, St John's Bar & Grill
  * indian food -> Gulzaar Halaal
  * falafel -> Falafel's Drive In
  * pizza -> Pieology (build your own pizza)
  * donuts -> Psycho Donuts (crazy donuts, people from Portland often tell me that they had it first)

  * Computer History Museum is a must
  * checkout meetup.com for your favorite technologies, one of the advantages of living here is that there are so many to choose from for almost every niche technology
  * Hacker Dojo throws events every day
  * BioCurious, like Hacker Dojo but with an emphasis on bio-hacking (their "hello world" project is transferring Jelly fish DNA into bacteria to make the bacteria glow!)
  * TechShop, like Hacker Dojo but more oriented towards hardware/electronics.  There's one in Downtown San Jose
  * (cheated, this is in SF) California Academy of Science throws NightLife every Thursday night -- it's science + alcohol + music
  * (cheated again, sorry!) Nerd Nite happens once a month, awesome talks on very niche topics

  * check out Campbell's Boogie on the Bayou, May 17/18th -- http://www.downtowncampbell.com/events.php
  * downtown San Jose, Mountain View, Palo Alto have good places to grab a drink.  Singlebarrel in San Jose or Steinsbeer in Mountain View or Old Pro in Palo Alto
  * some coffeehouses frequented by developers: Coupa Cafe, Red Rock, any Philz
  * try out some Boba drinks if you haven't had them before!
  * Stanford's Art Museum is free (if you plan on going, I'm a big fan of Ike's Sandwiches located on campus)
  * San Jose has the Tech Museum and Museum of Art

Here are some resources:

Podcasts:

* http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/

* http://productpeople.tv/

* http://bootstrapped.fm/

* http://casjam.com/category/podcast/

* http://www.chasingproduct.com/

* http://www.bootstrappedwithkids.com/

* http://www.kalzumeus.com/category/podcasts/

* more here: http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/episodes/episode-104-p...

Books:

* http://www.rachelandrew.co.uk/books/the-profitable-side-proj...

* http://www.startupbook.net/

My favorite articles and talks:

* https://training.kalzumeus.com/newsletters/archive/do-not-en...

* http://youtu.be/0CDXJ6bMkMY (DHH @ Startup School 2008 on making money online)

* http://vimeo.com/92087769 (Nathan Barry @ Pioneer Nation on growing his business)

My advice is to:

(1) Make it a habit to work on your small online service every day -- or one full day per week -- and stick to the schedule. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

(2) Subscribe to one or two podcasts. They're great learning/motivational tools. Listening to other people talk about building a small business will help reinforce your work habits. Don't overdo it, though! Your goal is to build something, not to continually consume and never produce. I know I gave you a huge list, just pick the one you like best!

You can hook your Kindle to your O'Reilly account, so purchased books will be sent directly to it.

That being said, you'll still have to enter in your payment information whereas with Amazon is one or two clicks.

Nice! I did something similar. I worked ~20 hours/week for a year, also took an extended 2 month vacation. I'm back to full-time now, but here's how I did it:

1. I had 6 month emergency savings. I figured the worst thing that could happen was having to job hunt and return to normal FTE. The job market felt safe to me.

2. I did this by freelancing. I could not find any ~20 hour part-time job for developers.

3. It's not difficult to start at $50/hour and move your way up as a developer.

4. I eventually moved to a day rate. Instead of working ~4 hour days, I worked 2-3 days per week. This helped deal with my goal lifestyle (only wanted to answer client calls while I was in the office, preferred batched work instead of 1-2 hours here and there, etc...)

5. My living expenses weren't extravagant. Probably low considering I'm in the Bay Area. Even at 20 hours/week, I made sure the math worked out and that I'd still have a solid buffer just in case.

It immediately made me much happier. I started spending afternoons jogging around the local lake, playing video games, spending more time with parents/grandparents, working on side projects. It felt like the opposite of burnout. Of course, there were still problems:

1. Explaining to friends/family. There was a lot of criticism about how I was wasting money, being lazy, or being irresponsible. Worse was the constant "did you find a job yet?" question. At the end of the day, if you're financially sustaining yourself/family and not assuming too much risk -- you're not being irresponsible!

2. From the clients I've had experience with, most preferred full time contracts. It was a little more difficult finding 20 hours or less per week.

3. Droughts suck. I had a ~1 month drought that doubled my vacation length. Saying "No" to a full-time request means they'll find someone else who can work full time.

Hope this helps anyone else considering the jump.

The company I'm with operates on 3 remotes day per week. It's a terrific balance for me. The on-site days are spent pair programming, sprint demos, meetings, and being social. The remote days are distraction free work.

Have you considered taking on freelance/contract work? I worked on remote contracts for one year at ~20 hours/week. It covered expenses while I got to work on my own products, travel, spend time with family, and relax. It was an amazing experience.

Some places I'd start looking are:

(1) http://letsworkshop.com - terrific resource for freelance gigs

(2) http://weworkremotely.com - very high signal

(3) Recruiters - most deal with full time employment, but they usually have some clients that want contractors. Some firms even offer subcontracting arrangements (they take a % of your rate, but even then it's usually much more than $25/hour)

(4) Old co-workers/bosses - usually the best way to get contracts since you have a connection

(5) http://hnhiring.me - HN posts every month

The first one or two contracts might be difficult to find. After that, referrals start kicking in. Plus you might find a client who requires long-term part-time work (that's what happened for me).

I'd like to also recommend this book. For people who think the $10k/year figure is only possible in cheap places to live, the author lives in SF Bay Area. Here's some more details: http://earlyretirementextreme.com/how-i-live-on-7000-per-yea...

I googled for a bit, but couldn't find an apology from this author. I do remember a different author writing a similar post, followed by an apology and removal though. I don't think it's the same author.

(edit: here's the apology we were thinking of http://schacon.github.io/bitbucket.html)

(3) is how I ended up building a solid base of subcontracting opportunities. I built a good relationship with two recruiters. When I don't have any work lined up, these recruiters usually have plenty of options. I'm happy for work during dry periods, recruiters are happy because they get a %, clients are happy to have work done.

(1) Past employers - previous bosses already know the quality of your work and may have work for you

(2) Past coworkers - they've worked with you and can usually recommend you for contracts/gigs

(3) Recruiters - get spammed on LinkedIn for full time opportunities? Ask if they have any contract gigs available. Most recruiters only deal with full time jobs, but some of their clients need contract work

(4) Agencies - find agencies doing similar work and ask if they have any subcontracting opportunities available. You'll get a lower rate and your client won't really be yours, but you can focus on your craft instead of marketing

(5) Gig boards - you'll usually have to compete with a lot of other applicants (craigslist, hnhiring.me, letsworkshop.com, giggin.com)

(6) Presentations (long term) - join local meetups/groups as a presenter. Give free valuable information. Use one slide to let attendees know you're freelancing/conracting/consulting

(7) Blogging, Mailing Lists, Podcast (very long term) - Continuously drip valuable information. Let your audience know you're available for hire

(8) Guest blog/podcast/interview - "borrow" an audience that would enjoy learning from your expertise. You'll usually get a bio section or segment to advertise yourself