ok_coo

I play some native games on a M4 Max using Steam, with good performance.

Baldurs Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Crimson Desert, No mans sky, Darkest Dungeon 1,2, Warhammer Rogue Trader, and a few other CRPGs. Crossover Mac is also an option for Windows games.

If you’re a hardcore gamer, the Mac isn’t going to cut it but it’s a lot better now than it used to be.

I use Gemini, and rarely ChatGPT (usually once or twice a day). I ask very narrow, pointed questions about something specific I would like an answer to. I typically will verify that the solution is good/accurate because I've been burned in the past by receiving what I'd characterize as a bad solution or "wrong" answer.

I think it's useful tool, but whenever I have a LLM attempt to develop an entire feature for me, the solution becomes to a pain to maintain (because I don't have the mental model around it or the solution has subtle issues).

Maybe people who are really deep into using AI are using Claude? Perhaps it's way better, I don't know.

I'm glad they've been able to do this, looks like a huge improvement for HD2 on PC.

I've been on PS5 since launch and aside from Baldur's Gate 3, it's been the best game this gen IMO.

The negativity I see towards the game (especially on Youtube) is weird. Some of the critiques seem legit but a lot of feels like rage bait, which appears to be a lot of YT videos around gaming lately.

Anyway, a big improvement for a great game. Seems like less of an incentive now to uninstall if you only play now and then.

iO

I’m 48, started as a web dev at age 30. I’ve been at a non-profit for quite awhile so not big tech and not big tech $ but I like my job and coworkers.

LinkedIn does this and it’s gross.

I’ve unsubscribed from at least 3-4 different types of emails from them already.

Typically 0.5 to 6 (max) in a single workday unless there's something urgent that needs fixing.

I also have meetings during the day, learning I want to do, etc., that takes up my 8 hrs/day.

I rarely max out all of my hours in a day purely programming unless there's crunch happening for a feature release, which is not a good sign. If I'm in crunch mode more bugs than usual are being created.

I program less time now when I first started. I am more efficient and I take more time to think of the proper solution before I even start.

If I were job searching, I'd probably be doing a lot more programming and learning to brush up before any interviews. I am not interview-ready. lol

I heavily agree. It’s something I had at my first office job. I had no email address, no messaging app, everything came through my PM or manager. Ive never been as productive as that job. Straight to work with no distractions and had clear goals.

Can we stop seeing their job postings on HN every other day now?

I don’t know how you don’t get blacklisted after something like this.

I'd personally be OK with hybrid or (near) full-time back in the office if housing wasn't so expensive near cities.

WFH has worked well for me but I can tell some of my coworkers really need to go back into the office now and then to help them focus. lol

Remember EverQuest?

Maybe I'm just old, and I don't get it, but I feel like EQ was way more addictive than Fortnite and explicitly developed to be so. The intermittent reward structure, the social aspect of it, etc.

Like someone else said, the OG of hardcore engagement maximization. I guess I don't have too much to add to the discussion but I think games have become _less_ addictive over time. Social media seems to have taken over in that regard.

Chicago is a good choice but a lot of people wouldn't be able to tolerate the winter.

It can be brutal to get through. The bonus on the other side of it is that the summers are amazing with all of the public beaches and summer events going on.

You can’t have affairs and avoid your family if you’re WFH.

Remember, a fine (typically insufficient) is just a measured cost of doing business.

How many times is it going to take for them to actually take this seriously?

The Stadia closure sealed it for me. Such amazing tech for what it was, completely unable to see the long-term and stay dedicated to a tech that's obviously going to have increasing adoption into the future. Handed over that entire market to MS without a fight. It even had a perfect release window during COVID when everyone was home and wasn't able to find PS5 or Xbox to buy.

Everything around that product was a summary of how Google handles things now. I can't take any new product release seriously from them anymore.

If it helps, an ex-coworker reconnecting with me to discuss job opportunities would be fine with me. It wouldn't bother me. We both know we're talking about jobs, maybe we were good acquaintances, maybe not.

I guess what I'm getting at is that I wouldn't be offended if an old coworker contacted me about a job after not hearing from them for years. We're all busy and have many priorities in our lives. It's kind of understood that we can't keep up with everyone.

Because a "guild" sounds more appealing to nerds?

I wish I was joking but a union sounds like blue-collar work while a guild sounds like something cool from D&D and medieval fantasy.

While I agree with this perspective, these companies go out of their way to market to their employees to make the job their whole identity. They are not blameless.

Agreed, I see plenty of tech jobs in the public and non-profit sectors.

Problem is that they're not paying what would be considered acceptable to a big tech worker.

I saw a 20-something on TikTok saying that she feels like her compensation should be ~500K/year. That's a rate at our org where you're talking about multiple exec salaries combined. It's not based in reality for the vast majority of the country. This feels a bit like golden handcuffs.

If it helps, Laravel feels like the Rails of the PHP community.

I've used it to build ~5 websites and it's been very solid. The docs are pretty good and it does most of what you need out of the box. Especially the 8+ versions of Laravel. If there's something you need that's not included in the framework itself, it's likely there's a well-maintained community package.

Just my 2c.

The org I work at has existed for over a hundred years. It's probably not going away for the foreseeable future. The work, my coworkers, the perks and work environment (low stress) are all great. The only thing that's not at a high-level is the compensation.

Sometimes I think about getting a new job for a pay bump, but I'm not sure I could compete at a "real" tech company anyway, I'm just a regular/average dev and I almost left the field entirely after I burned out from my previous job.

So, that said, I might end up a lifer (already in my 40s). I love my job but I know the circumstances can change at any point if I get a new boss or the work climate changes.

I don't think I'd want to stay until retirement at a regular ol' company or corporation where I'm making someone else rich.

Just my 2c.

TikTok?

TikTok is a behemoth and it really kicked off during the COVID lockdown when people had nothing better to do. It's the latest, and best optimized, social media algo dopamine hit. (I sometimes regret downloading it but it's too late now :P )

Unless it's straight up banned, it'll take over for the other platforms.

I slacked off more in the office, got up from my desk more, walked around more. When I was actually at my desk, I would browse random websites more than I do at home.

There are too many distractions in the office and not enough private offices to work in, for the people who require deep concentration to work. I don't see that changing anytime soon because a private office (with a door) is seen as a perk/privilege for managers who are mostly stuck in meetings anyway, and not for those who need to be able to concentrate.

Android and Chrome... so it looks like around 2008-2009?

No hate to any of the engineers there, but honestly, it would be a net positive for society.

The level of vitriol, hate, and performative outrage has reached up to the gods on Twitter. The valuable signal that comes out has long been overwhelmed by the noise.

There are other platforms that largely fulfill the same purpose.

It's a funny thing. I thought that I would have regrets playing World of Warcraft for years of my life, but looking back, I really enjoyed my time playing it even when it felt a little monotonous. I played from 2005-2007 pretty hardcore. No regrets.

I think you would have enjoyed either path you took. I've second-guessed some of my past choices and I'm not sure I would be happier than I am now, or a better person.

Yes, but also, we used to have to develop around IE6. StackOverflow wasn't a thing. I recall debugging IE6 display issues for days as a junior. It was horrible.

That's not to say the web doesn't currently have issues, it does. I just think it's healthy to be careful of embracing the past too hard.

I will often ask them to do/assist in, the thing they think is missing or needs to be done. Sometimes this actually works and you can work positively together, often not though.

Typically, asking them to do any additional work gets met with silence and a few days/weeks of being left along by this person. i.e. minimizing future interactions.

Time for me to advocate again for people to use Common Crawl. Please don't slam peoples' websites, look for alternatives before scraping. There are probably other, better options. APIs, data set downloads, etc.

https://commoncrawl.org/

The key part is you can't get too high. You just need a little bit, along with some good coffee. Unless if you're a heavy smoker and then you probably already know what you're doing.

I don't think this works for everyone but THC can help me focus in small amounts. The coffee (caffeine) is just there to keep you energized and going. I will also drink lots of water along with it. For me, caffeine actually makes me less focuses and more prone to anxiety, so it's for more of an energy kick.

Further down the this thread, there's mention of making you "dumber." Yes, that can happen if you take too much. I have messed up trying this method before on a weekend and wasn't able to figure out my own code so I just relaxed for a bit and came back later.

I like to say it's akin to some sort of alchemy. Need to find the right mixture for you and environment to work in.

The hippie speedball makes me ultra-productive, but unfortunately employers (well, mine) are probably not cool with me being high on Zoom calls. :/

I just wanted to chime in and say that, for some people, THC+caffeine in the right settings can give you a nice hyper-focus. I wish I could use the combo more often.