Blackstrat

Many good ideas here. At 71, I've taken up two new hobbies: ham radio and Goju-ryu karate, both of which afford an immersive experience and can divert me for hours.

Your stance is ideological not factual. Don't waste anymore of my time pretending that you know what's going on.

So you deny Zelenskyy is a dictator? Or that Obama greenlighted Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014? Or that Zelenskyy has stolen or funneled back to his western cronies, billions of dollars? Or that he had the Bidens in his back pocket? Or that Zelenskyy suspended elections in 2022 and declared martial law? Do your homework before accusing me of being out of touch. Backing Zelenskyy allows democrats and other gullible people to keep beating the Trump-Putin canard. And that is laughable.

Trump should have called for Zelenskyy to be replaced ages ago.

I don't mind long novels. I finished Lonesome Dove earlier this year and it's extremely good. The Count of Monte Cristo was last year and I didn't particularly care for it. In fact, I thought it was one of the most overrated books I've read. My question is about Neal Stephenson. He gets a lot of recommendations here. Some years ago, I read Snow Crash and it was obviously pretty dated by then. My real question is what is the best entry point into Stephenson's longer fiction and any secrets to reading it. That is, he tends to digress a bit. Any recommendations?

I finished Stoner about 6 weeks ago. It was excellent and if you let it, it would make you think. Haven't tried Williams' Augustus yet but it's on the list soon.

LinkedIn has degraded considerably since the Microsoft acquisition. It’s hardly better than Facebook now. I dropped my premium subscription several years ago. I can get Trump sucks memes anywhere. It’s harder to find and cultivate business contacts.

Apparently, you missed my opening statement. It depends on the OP's goals. But, by no means is my advice "last century". Many here approach their careers as if FAANG and technology was all there is. It's not. Tuition is unquestionably an issue. Nonetheless, it should be viewed as an investment. And no, Coursa is generally not an adequate substitute for an actual education. It's a way to familiarize oneself with a topic but by no means is it comparable to the typical university treatment. It's fine to believe that "it's different this time or today". It's not. History has shown repeatedly that it repeats. And contrary to what many think and hype, the current "AI" trends are not going to replace the need for human thinking. And if you believe it is, then why go to college at all?

Depends on your goals and much of the advice that you'll receive will revolve around maximizing the college experience. This is certainly important. However, as a hiring manager for several decades, one of the things that routinely frustrated me was a stream of candidates from very good schools that were totally ignorant of basic business practices. Most graduates will not work for FAANG companies upon graduation. They will go into industry. And yes, right now AI/vibe coding is all the rage. The issue becomes what value does one bring to the company. I've seen this play out many times over the decades. So my suggestion is to burn a couple of electives on things like accounting and business management. Learn to write well and speak well in front of any audience. When you interview with an insurance company after graduation, for example, the hiring manager isn't going to be overwhelmed with your ability to write a compiler or even necessarily your vibe coding skills. They will likely be impressed more by your presentation skills, your ability to grasp business concepts, etc. Enjoy college, but don't become so rigidly engaged with technical topics that you limit your future opportunities.

Why is it too many? Books are an experience that no digital medium can’t replicate or even imitate. Plus one owns their books in perpetuity, unlike digital that is merely licensed and ephemeral.

If they are actually interested in the profession, and not just the money, find a smaller company in the area that’s hiring for a less specialized role, one a generalist has a chance of performing, eg a customer support role somewhere that maintains some development efforts. Even this will be difficult if the last ten years or so hasn’t afforded them some basic people and business skills. In other words, regardless of the role, they have to bring something to the job. Assuming they do and can get hired, then it’s about learning that business, technical space, etc. It will be a lot of work regardless. Is FAANG a possibility? Yes, perhaps, but not a probable one. However, there thousands of commercial companies uilding and deploying interesting projects and paying very good salaries.

I'll stand by my comments. There is a perception here that the Trump administration is historically dangerous and we've never seen anything like it. That's not factually defensible. Now in my 70s, I've seen presidents come and go and frankly the vast majority of them have left a lot to be desired. All presidents have engaged in activities that at best could be considered extralegal, particularly when viewed from the "other side". Realistically, Trump has done less damage to the country than Biden for example. Or more correctly Biden's team. The decline of western democracies stems from being unwilling to stand up for the very values that made those countries successful, massive immigration from Mexico and the Middle East, unwillingness to reject radical Islam, calling for the elimination of police, etc (the list is lengthy) are all reflections of a lack of civic courage on the part of elected officials the world over. France, Spain, Great Britain, Germany, as well as the US have all surrendered much of their culture to immigration. And the results aren't favorable to traditional Western countries. So yes, most are in decline. And attempts to halt the decline, as some of Trump's policies are directed, are met with scorn and derision, claims of fascism, etc. Such claims are historically inaccurate.

As expected, communism is alive and well here. I find the lack of historical perspective here to be a serious indictment of the educational system.

Turn off CNN , FoxNews, MSNBC or wherever you’re getting your hyperbolic reaction. You have much more to be concerned with, such as the DSA takeover of the Democratic Party and the alignment with antisemitism than anything Trump dreams up.