last_one_in

Today I'm carrying on looking for a literary agent to represent me for my young adult speculative fiction. Long after human civ collapsed, crows have evolved to speak and are undergoing their own industrial revolution when they discover an asteroid heading towards earth. My 10 year old read it for the first time yesterday and loved it. That's made it all worth it already even if it doesn't get published.

Tonight is a meeting of a local group growing hemp locally, processing and spinning by hand to make an item of clothing locally and sustainably between us all.

Just spent the weekend at a wing chin gathering with some incredible people. They showed me so much I need at least 2 weeks to think about it all.

Apart from that I’m starting college to study therapy and counselling soon so I'm trying to read up to be a bit prepared.

FFS, can humans not just keep creating plastic crap that'll ruin the planet. Make your own wooden spoon and you have a beautiful object created with your own hands.

Woah. Do you have any pictures or videos? I'd love to find out more.

Awesome! It's much easier to get into than people think. It's well worth learning how to make decent tongs, it's one of my favourite things to make, especially if you learn to punch the holes and rivet by hand.

I'm learning how to use a power hammer in work. It can save a lot of time but I love hand forging.

I haven't done much experimentation with handles. I've been rescuing bits from my firewood for handles so far :-) I also like curving the tang round to make a handle, which people call a "blacksmith knife".

Sorry, I've got a long way to go before they're sellable! I'm just setting up a forge at a friend's farm to do more forging at weekends. There are a few people who want to learn and I've got a list of techniques from Forged In Fire that I want to try out.

I tried being self employed for 3 years but didn't make enough money to live on. Now I'm full time employed. I don't forge that much, lots more time doing cutting, welding, grinding. I love it.

Great article! I'm a dev turned blacksmith, currently getting back into bladesmithing. Working on my perfect kitchen knife. Here's my first attempt (San mai, mild steel with recycled spring steel edge) : https://www.reddit.com/r/ukblade_blacksmiths/comments/1g5v6s...

From the description: "Two dummies are impaled on poles. You have slap the hips and smack the bum in time to the music. Its probably the worlds first mannequin based guitar hero game and possibly the last (are you watching Japan). Do say: "how novel, funny and interesting". "

Thanks! I also wrote Tiny Solar System which is kind of KSP for 5 year olds. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2116950/Tiny_Solar_System...

Spacewar! (there's an exclamation mark in the name) inspired me to write a modern one player version with gameplay more like the amazing (and free) Waves (https://store.steampowered.com/app/107600/Waves/). It bombed and sold about 9 copies! Here's the Steam page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2434510/Gravity_Waves/

I'm throwing this out there but maybe it'll catch someone's attention.

I'm not your usual coder. I've been programming since the age of 10. I'm 52. I've also worked in forestry, farming, construction and I'm a trained blacksmith. Currently I'm programming CNC and converting vans into campers.

I released a game last year on Steam after a break from programming: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2116950/Tiny_Solar_System...

I made #1 spot on Hacker News last year for this silly site: https://weighoff.net/ (my favourite question: https://www.weighoff.net/?option1=William%20Shatner&option2=...)

I'm releasing a new game this month: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2434510/Gravity_Waves/ built in just over a month. #solodev. I did everything but the music. While also working in non-IT full-time. Follow https://twitter.com/marsupial_pouch for updates.

I'm curious if there's interesting dev work out there that I might be suited for.

Thanks for your time.

Location: Dorset, UK Remote: only Willing to relocate: no Technologies: C#/Unity right now, also Java, Go, JS, SQL, etc etc, right back to 6502 assembler Résumé/CV: on request Email: My name is james (all lowercase) and I can be contacted at rootdev.com

Hmmm, interesting. Not sure if it would be much use for balloons but if you could make vacuum sections for walls then you could make super insulated walls.

Have more money coming in than going out. Escape from the city back to the country.

Great feedback. Not offended at all. And you write wonderfully, with compassion and passion.

Yes, you're right. Life throws some terrible things but a lot of those things will occur regardless of whether you're at a desk or out on adventures. I have had some hard times.

I'm a recovering alcoholic. I burned out big style at about 29 and quit drinking about a year later. There've been some rough times. I don't have a super rich family but they are supportive. I've relied on friends for couches. I've lived in tents and hammocks in the woods. Never exactly homeless but just lacking a home. The scheme, WWOOF, I worked on meant I could live for very little money.

Your healthcare point is excellent. I've lived in the UK and Canada, both of which have similar healthcare systems. The US system is just unbelievable (literally) to Europeans.

I ran out of money (down to my last 300 quid) and returned to IT about 8 years ago. I started right back at the bottom and worked my way up. I lasted 5 years and burnt out again.

I guess I went too far in the "go crazy and run off live in the woods!!!" direction. I guess my main point (if I had one after rambling this much) is don't let your soul die at a desk.

I've always wanted to try some kind of blacksmithing! I'M SO JEALOUS!

Do it. If you have a backyard then you can throw together a simple charcoal forge with an air blower. My youtube channel has an ancient video of making tongs. One of the best things to learn, making your own tools. Just remember: "Got it hot and hit it". That's all the advice you need. And PPE. Eye and ear protection. Always.

Otherwise find a local blacksmith and do a weekend. You will not regret it.

That, man, right there. Those are the moments you remember. I had jobs where I sat at a desk for a year and nothing remarkable stands out. Then there are small memories which are just epic. For me it's moments like that which make my life feel complete.

Drop stuff that doesn't work. I started programming as a kid. 40 years ago. I wrote a game with a friend while we were at school. It made us a tiny amount of money for 3 years work. I dropped out of programming (several times now). I travelled, close to home, and working in return for food and accomadation (with a scheme called WWOOF). I've done farm work, forestry, woodworking, butchery, construction, blacksmithing. At the moment I'm trying to make a living turning wool from friend's sheep into yarn and hats. Honestly. I accidentally came up with a game and put it online last week cos I thought the idea was funny and interesting, like Randall Monroe's "What If?" (which I was listening to on audiobook before I got the idea). Chances are I just blew a hundred pounds on hosting and domains but maybe, just maybe, it'll bring some money in somehow. otherwise I'll just keep on crocheting. Or some other thing. Don't be one thing. Do shit that you love. Last year I tried making and selling homemade excavator toys (here's an early prototype: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5gQZs8edzs&ab_channel=James...). Fuck about. Just don't sit at a desk trying to build the next big thing cos there are thousands of others doing the same. Find what's unique and special about you, even if it's something small. And run with it. Are you boring? What's the craziest story you can tell about yourself?

2 and 3 now implemented. Just gone live. Hopefully working :-) Check the about page too.

OP here. Haha. That's sums it up perfectly. I don't mind coming across as stupid.

OP Here, Considering how much I've played it, it still doesn't surprise me at all when I'm wrong. Glad you enjoyed it.

Yeah, things did get hectic. Still pretty busy today. The support and feedback from here was amazing though. I didn't expect that. It really helped me get through. And takeaway food. I literally posted to HN just as I was about to go shopping cos I didn't have any food - I didn't make it, still haven't!

Oooo, I like that. That's really clear.

OP here. It all came out right in the end! The server was bought to it's knees. Sysadmin thought I (as a very new customer) was up to something bad (my email address is james@rootdev.com and he feared I was a bad actor) and froze my account. The webserver didn't know what to serve and decided the best bet was to serve the first thing (alphabetically) that it could find (some insurance company beginning with the letter A). Now on a different server. And got to meet my lovely sysadmin who put everything right straight away (who wasn't even pissed off at me). What a day.

OP here. Awwww, I love how much great positive feedback this is getting. I literally have tears in my eyes.

OP here. I was absolutely frazzled creating data to chuck into it. Yeah, I think the shuttle data should be correct for shuttle, external tank and boosters. And fuel. A whole lot of fuel. See robocat's answer.

OP here. Glad to have helped expand your knowledge.

OP here. Thanks! Will be testing with my 6 year old later. He actually hasn't seen it yet. Yeah, I agree. I wanted something that everyone can read and where the physical size of the number on the screen gives a great idea of the size (in terms of order of magnitude). Alignment is a great idea. I'll have a think about that one.

Wow. That's quite wrong. I was out by at least 1.861674e+22 gorillas. Thanks! Fixed now.

No way! I got the weight of a caffeine molecule right! I am so proud of myself right now. Thanks! I've got water as 3e-26 but that doesn't seem right. Water molecule x10 lighter than caffeine molecule?

"The fuel weighed almost 20 times more than the Shuttle" - makes me want to go play KSP.

Yep, I think I've got the fully loaded shuttle + external tank + boosters weight.

Thanks a lot!

I watched that with my kids a couple of weeks ago. Definitely one of the inspirations. Also been listening to the "What If?" audiobook and Randall Monroe is never afraid to think about things like 80,000 gorillas.

I added a share results button. Thanks everyone for such amazing support yesterday. Much appreciated. Thanks for feedback on the weights. I think there are definitely some mistakes in there. I'll be checking them this morning. After I finish my coffee!