No link, as this is a scratch my own itch thing for now, but I'm working on a personal 'hub' web app that is part UX/UI experiment, and part a way to integrate various tools I've created over the years to ease various pain points in my life.
Some of this has to do with solving the problem of the deluge of information I consume, through psychological 'intervention' as well as some way to store all this stuff and make it easy to filter and find the useful bits.
Some of it is journalling-related, and vaguely in the Quantified Self area.
A significant portion is about finding ways to actually use this amazing, powerful computer that I have in my pocket for things that actually, quantifiably, provably improve my life (and hopefully, eventually, that of others). This is mostly in the direction of autism-related issues, anxiety, maintaining social connections, and so on. Applying the (relatively) well-supported lessons from psychology to the bafflingly advanced technology that is part of my daily life, and that of most people around me.
Mostly it's a vanity project though, that I can currently afford indulging in. I figure that after years of working and making money off building stuff I don't care about much, it's time to let my more creative side express itself in ways that might prove useful somehow. I'm not an painter, or a musician, or a poet, but I can code, I love to code (when it's on my own terms), and I'm still amazed that for less than five bucks I can have a server running that does whatever I want it to do, and as a 'full-stack developer', that's quite a lot!
Part of me wants to work on things that are more directly beneficial to others, but 1) I have enough 'runway' to do that too, eventually, and 2) I've grown weary of always trying to make sure that what I do is 'useful' by some measure that doesn't quite feel like it originates from within. Many of the best things I've done started out as scratches to personal itches, so perhaps it's okay to 'indulge' for now.
I'd argue very few people make their own path. While anecdotal, looking at those around me, most 'paths' people go down are a result of external forces that have been internalized over time.
Hell, even look at myself, very few of my choices were a result of just my own thinking, convictions, and/or discipline, and those that I do consider my own can partially be explained by my genetic makeup. But I don't want to reduce this argument too far.
My point is that the path we go down is mostly followed 'by default' and not a result of our own individual actions and choices. And I find that those who've had the most fortuitous defaults tend to ascribe them to their 'selves' more than others do. I think this is incorrect, and even if it's not, the more ethical position is to assume it is incorrect.
To my embarrassment, I didn't really know much about Doug Engelbart until Brett Victor brought him up in one of his excellent talks (Inventing on Principle). I quite like his eulogy: http://worrydream.com/Engelbart/
I'd say it's akin to me building a high-speed car that randomly stops braking, severely endangering whoever uses it. As long as it's just me and other high-speed car enthusiasts playing around with it, that's fine.
But if I package it up as a DIY package, ready for the real world, and lots of people start building/using my faulty car, I would consider it quite important to add a huge disclaimer.
Wow. It's quite possible to make more than 60K in Berlin (in Euro's) while paying around 400-500 for an apartment. Crazy how much difference there is between cities.
I'm curious... at a rate of $29, do you only get HNers that work from outside Western Europe or the US? In Holland I gather the 'average' rate is 50 euro, and that's for 'simple' front-end work. RoR or Drupal work can net you more.
Think that's it. I just looked at Yoleo Reader (https://yoleoreader.com/) and realized that the clean look of that is exactly what I want/need, and what I miss with NewsBlur.
I got a premium NewsBlur account primarily because it was the only non-google reader with good keyboard support. And I kind of like the attempt to add social and commenting features.
But I might move away if I can get a cleaner UI with full google reader-style keyboard support.
This problem could be solved with a 'minimal' skin, perhaps?
It's not, and that's a good point. But it sounds more logical to me. Could you give some reasons why people with 'mental illness' would gravitate towards centers?
(mind, I'm asking this with the assumption that mental illness is much broader than just homeless schizophrenics, so to speak. I can definitely see why they might gravitate towards heavily populate areas. But they usually don't pay rent.)
You can live in a nice one-room apartment in Berlin for about 390 euro a month, 15 mins away from the hip boroughs by great public transport, and 10 mins by bike. What's the price like in Paris (honest question)?
Well, how much easier is it to 'connect' in other settings? Do you connect more significantly with colleagues? random people you meet at clubs, bars, or other types of social events?
I'd say the 'connection' problem is equally real outside of meetups, and more an issue of post-college life:
First, there is almost no institutional 'mingling' (outside of work anyways). Second, we stop having the massive amounts of free time that we used to have in school and/or college to goof around with others. And third, we have less energy and often more responsibilities in the bit of free time we have left.
Add to that perhaps a general increase in weariness, 'emotional scarring', and decrease in energy and decreased need for socializing (for some of us anyways), and the whole concept of 'connecting' with new people in a post-education, full-time work life (for you AND them) becomes a serious challenge...
I've always straddled the line between both worlds. Obsessively programming as a kid/teenager, then studying communications and psychology, and now a web developer. And there is so much space, generally speaking, between the two worlds that any connection is a Very Good Thing.
Perhaps hackers tend to be a little more structured and in-crowd, or downright strangers to most of the world. I'm not sure. Or perhaps hackers can easily be distracted by any type of problem, no matter how trivial, no how much it benefits others over them, or no matter how insignificant it is. I think the latter is true very often.
The hackers I do know tend to be, generally speaking, wonderfully excited by problems presented to them, and have a childlike exuberance solving them. They are 'moral' individuals, but often seem to be unburdened by 'grander scheme' questions.
My uncle, for example, had a really important job but got paid relatively little. He was just... happy and never bothered to ask for a raise.
I've been trying to think of ways to 'prod' hackers to solve these problems that are 'bigger' in a way, but often still relatively trivial to solve.
In my experience most 'hackers' I meet fall in two camps concerning 'moral causes': 1) too shy / world-strange to even find a cause to fight for, or 2) too obsessed with and paralyzed by a kind of perfection that keeps them from diluting their views to make some practical change.
I've often wondered what my place is in this, and if I can contribute in connecting these hackers, often very skilled and capable, with something 'bigger' to fight for or work towards.
Instead, most talent around me works on silly apps and the next big startup (some restaurant finder, no doubt).
(I'm not being condescending, by the way. I feel that it is not my job to judge people for their choices. But personally I want to do something that I consider worthwhile in some 'grander scheme', and it frustrates me to see talent wasted, but only wasted from my personal point of view)
How does this compare to Compund.js (http://compoundjs.com/)? I've only given it a cursory glance but it seems to be under active development, and similar in it's inspiration, no?
Some of this has to do with solving the problem of the deluge of information I consume, through psychological 'intervention' as well as some way to store all this stuff and make it easy to filter and find the useful bits.
Some of it is journalling-related, and vaguely in the Quantified Self area.
A significant portion is about finding ways to actually use this amazing, powerful computer that I have in my pocket for things that actually, quantifiably, provably improve my life (and hopefully, eventually, that of others). This is mostly in the direction of autism-related issues, anxiety, maintaining social connections, and so on. Applying the (relatively) well-supported lessons from psychology to the bafflingly advanced technology that is part of my daily life, and that of most people around me.
Mostly it's a vanity project though, that I can currently afford indulging in. I figure that after years of working and making money off building stuff I don't care about much, it's time to let my more creative side express itself in ways that might prove useful somehow. I'm not an painter, or a musician, or a poet, but I can code, I love to code (when it's on my own terms), and I'm still amazed that for less than five bucks I can have a server running that does whatever I want it to do, and as a 'full-stack developer', that's quite a lot!
Part of me wants to work on things that are more directly beneficial to others, but 1) I have enough 'runway' to do that too, eventually, and 2) I've grown weary of always trying to make sure that what I do is 'useful' by some measure that doesn't quite feel like it originates from within. Many of the best things I've done started out as scratches to personal itches, so perhaps it's okay to 'indulge' for now.