Being a good Dad and husband has given me the greatest satisfaction over my 40 odd years. Even though I fell into it with very little planning or foresight.
My parents were always good with tech, we always had the latest PC at home. As they now enter their 80s their patience / resilience has evaporated to nothing. If it doesn’t work immediately the get stressed and give up (or ask me).
I’m not sure as developers how you get round that.
I don't disagree with anything you say but try telling my 16 year old daughter she need to jettison any form of social media and go with the nerd crowd.
As a parent I agree parental reponsiblity is absolute but I haven't seen a workable solution reguarding social media.
I can't realistically monitor what my children are looking 24/7, like I can't listen to every conversation that they have.
I could ban all social media / phones but how is that going to prepare them for life in a world where social media is all encompassing? Plus they likely would be ostracized by their peers.
[I'm talking here about older children, teenagers. We also have a 5 year old and it's pretty easy with him, he doesn't have access to any form of social media.]
I was lucky to be given/earnt some money before I was 21. Basically enough at the time to buy a mid range new car. I invested it into an Index Fund and didn't spend any of it, even when later I'd had 4 kids and times were tougher. 25 years later it has quadrupled in size and by the time I retire I am hopeful it will fund my entire retirement.
Appricate the power you have in your youth.
"Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world."
There was a BBC Four documentary about his archive. I think in that it reported that he was one of the first people in the UK to own a VHS device with the facility to record.
UK TV comedian Bob Monkhouse was another obsessive VHS archivist. He amassed a collection of 35k tapes and saved some recordings of UK TV shows which were previously thought to have been lost by the BBC.
> Work on a passion project, even just 30 minutes a day. It compounds.
I need to do this. I know my project (just a passion, not a side hussle or for income). Tell myself I need to. Then daily life gets in the way. 10 years or more.
Drax seems like a dinosaur which we should be doing without. It's situated where it is because of the easy access to the huge coal fields that fired it previously. Now the wood it burns is imported from overseas. Surely this is not sustainable or environmentally friendly?
I've got a range of software which I know exactly how to use. I can focus on creativity and productivity, not learning how to use a new tool before I can produce anything of value.
I remember I bought a book, Instant HTML Programmers Reference by Wrox, in 1998 and I poured over every page, used it so much the cover then all the pages fell out - very little online HTML reference at the time. Seeing the cover design now still gives me a strange sentimental feeling.
The key point here is the credibility part. The Nigerian prince has no credibility. If you are approaching someone looking to solve a problem and you demonstrate competance via an extensive Github profile / blog your chances of a response are enormously increased I'd have thought.