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sakerbos

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My name’s Shaun and I’m a Frontend/Product Engineer based in Brisbane, Australia (previously Cape Town, South Africa ).

I pivoted from rocks to code

Early on in my career as a Geologist, I was buried under an avalanche of manual processes, something was at fault, it was a bore and it wasn't very Gneiss

I knew there had to be a better way. So I taught myself how to code. All of a sudden I had superpowers, automating processes left, right and center, with some staff not even knowing what to do with their time anymore, I was the schist

It wasn’t enough; I wanted more superpowers. So I spent the next 6 months studying coding after hours, much to my wife and dog’s dismay - not only because I had less availability but because they were forced to look at all the things I had built, “See how I just made that text turn red!”

But eventually I did it! I got my first job as a real live web developer, making websites on the internet! Although even that wouldn’t quench my insatiable thirst for automation…

Shortly thereafter, during a chance encounter with my wife’s employer’s neighbour, I discovered the many gross inefficiencies lurking in the medical industry. This encounter led to me spearheading the development of a mobile app for one of South Africa’s largest hospital networks, Mediclinic, which they used to replace paper at hundreds of sporting events across the country, streamlining operations and saving the planet, #winning

My journey has been fuelled by a passion for automation and shaped by three guiding principles: simplicity, practicality and fun, that I have brought to every endeavour. Fast forward 8 years and many projects later, in the words of Pinocchio, I shout from the rooftops, “I’m a real boy!”

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed my Geology puns

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Discovery Coding 1 year ago

There's a time and place for everything.

I find that this style of programming is super useful in the technical design phase. During development I prefer to have a plan in place.

Hey guys, I'm Shaun :wave:

  Location: Brisbane, Australia
  Remote: Yes
  Willing to relocate: No (we've just moved here from South Africa :))
  Technologies: React, React-Native, Typescript, Node.js, Firebase
  Résumé/CV: https://sakerbos.notion.site/Shaun-Saker-s-Resume-0cff4c4bd3d046ffbb92705f947fed0d?pvs=4
  Email: sakershaun@gmail.com
I'm a self-starter and ex-Geologist. I've spent the last 8+ years building startups, mostly on the frontend but quite happy doing full-stack. Looking for something fresh and interesting! Give me a shout if you see a good fit.

PS: Links to my latest projects in my resume if you're interested :)

Ooh I felt the same after moving to Australia from South Africa. We found that the veggies tasted blander in general and I have no idea why. Keen to plant some heirloom tomatoes in the spring.

Yeah fair enough. I actually found the massive navigation history annoying too, I'd just forgotten about it until now. I think I have a solution to replace the navigation history with local state so we should still be able to navigate between board versions, will see. Appreciate the feedback :)

Thank you! Yes this had actually become a problem for us but it weirdly ended up adding an interesting new dynamic to the game. So much so that we'd actively try and hide our resources from each other and had to try to keep track of each other's resources in our heads (the irony in adding a digital calculator only to increase cognitive load is very real). But yeah, I can imagine not everyone would want to play like this and a compact summary could solve that issue. I shall see what I can do :)

Are you on Android by any chance? if so, I think that would be Android's weird browser bar hiding behaviour when you get to the bottom of the page, or just something weird I overlooked. Could probs add some padding to avoid that which I shall do, thanks!

That's a really good point, the idea of chasing 'balance' could just become another stress point. The aim with Calmulate is more about finding ways to minimize stress and boost productivity, hoping that a sense of balance naturally follows. Have you found any specific practices or tools effective in reducing stress or improving your productivity, without adding to the pile of worries?

Thanks for your feedback. I quite enjoy walking myself, it's food for the soul. I actually love the idea of using the movement ring on your watch as a daily goal, it's super simple. Have you ever thought, ‘Hmm, it’d be cool if my watch could also do this…’ or are you all set with the way things are?