NiagaraThistle

Joined 7 years ago

Karma
276
Submissions
118
Member since
Aug 28
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Recent submissions

Comment · 2 years ago
You just summarized the last 35 years of my life.
Comment · 2 years ago
I love this!

I've been building something similar for far too long - and it is far too buggy still - for Europe-only travel.

Good luck with this. I know how hard it can be doing this sort of thing between job, life, family, and dreaming of your next trip :)

Comment · 2 years ago
Just got back from 12 days in Germany to follow Scotland in the UEFA Euros - team was a bitter disappointment, experience was once in a life time.

Having to use my phone for everything from buying/selling my match tickets on stubhub, match tickets on the UEFA app, Deutsche Bahn train ticket on an app, online QR code attraction entry ticket, audio walking tours, restaurant menus (much less of these thank god), and more, made me VERY anxious every day.

If my phone's battery died through the day (which it did FAR too often), or if i lost my phone, i was completely screwed and would not have access to my overpriced match tickets nor my much needed train ticket.

I felt like a luddite carrying a paper guidebook so I didn't have to really on my phone for maps and location/attraction details, but I don't know how else I would have managed.

Luckily my mobile plan allowed international data so I didn't have to roam.

Our reliance on our phones is frightening, and every company locking us into their apps for 'basic' information/tickets is bothersome. I get it from the business point of view (and the 'let's save the trees' perspective too), but from a traveler's point of view it is very cumbersome and overly complicated to have to not only juggle all the apps, but also focus on maintaining the battery and connectivity of your device so you don't lose access to must-have important documents.

I sorely miss the days BEFORE ubiquitous internet, connectivity, and mobile devices. Maybe I am a Luddite.

Comment · 2 years ago
God I hate these interviews.

I'm 45, focus on Web development, have worked in-house on teams building ecomm carts/solutions for multi-million dollar per ear local companies, in design agencies focusing on custom $100k or templated $5k Wordpress websites, and have freelanced for everything in-between.

During COVID lockdown, I got burnt out at my existing employer, resigned, and took several months of. When I started looking for work again, one potential employer was a Wordpress 'freelance' company that gave me a LC test as a second round interview.

I BOMBED - like a 27%. I've been building sites and web applications for 15+ years and had zero idea what I was even being asked in any of the 3 questions on the 'test'. The company ended the interview process and advised I study Leet Code for 1 month and come back to re-test since my experience was outstanding for what they were looking for.

I did and got an even WORSE score: 13%. I spent way to much time on trying to cram useless (for my daily work) programming techniques to pass a useless interview test when I was told I had the experience they wanted - I've built custom WP solutions/themes/plugins since wordpress first rolled out.

TLDR: With 15+ years experieince in Web development, I still couldn't score higher than a 27% on a LeetCode test and got halted in the interview process for a position I was told I was WELL qualified for.

LeetCode tests for non-overly-technical positions is awful.

Comment · 2 years ago
Isn't Pieter Levels using AI to build is therapistAI app with pretty good results?

I'm sure it's not perfect, but from what I've seen and heard about it, it seems to be a good springboard for basic "therapy" but not REAL prescribed therapy of course.

Sounds like it is helpful as an entry level to 'therapy' and is only getting better.

Arguably maybe it's because Peter is not using ChatGPT for his model AI.

Comment · 2 years ago
Wow. I was just telling 2 co-workers this week that I keep a "How the F" file on my machine. It is not exactly what the author describes, but it's very similar and includes all the "how th f do i do this thing again?" every time I run into a problem when I'm new to a team.

I don't bring it to management's attention like the author suggests, but it gives me a perspective on what sticking points the team and company have that I need to work through over time.

Comment · 2 years ago
i love my iphone 12 mini for this very reason. It's still small enough to fit 'mostly' comfortably in my pocket, even a shirt pocket. I hate how large most phones are now and everyone i know that sees my phone makes fun of me/it. I just don't get why (or how) one uses such huge devices as their phones now.
Comment · 2 years ago
Do developers really build basic websites / pages WITHOUT pure CSS when it's an option?

I know there are times when you need to do something CSS can't (and shouldn't do of course. But I mean when the 'thing' is design/style only, aren't we all already using only CSS for those things? Or am I just so old I still practice the separation of concerns and no one else is.

Also, while kudos to the OP for doing this, this is exactly a time when using CSS to do this is incorrect and using vanilla Javascript IS the right decision, as this is a behavior and not a style issue.

NB4: Yes I do code sloppy when time dictates, but I still seperate my HTML, CSS, and JS as the norm, not the exception.

Comment · 2 years ago
What do you mean it "isn't accepting" that you spent all the days since September 16 in the Scehngen Zone?

Is it not accurately calculating that you no longer have days available to your (assumed) 90 in the 180-day window?

Is it giving an error that "you must input a number of 90 or less" and that the "earliest entry date must be within 180 days"?

If that is the case, this is one of those edge cases I need to fix - if anyone has already blown through all their days allowed within the preceding 180 day period.

1. Thanks so much for even looking at it! 2. If you can clarify what issue you are running into, i can fix it.

Thanks!

Comment · 2 years ago
TLDR: Love your kid.

Read and sing to your kid - even if you are an awful singer. I read and sang lullabys to both my kids from when they were weeks old. THey didn't understand, but the memory is worth it, and I continued to so nightly until they were 7 or 8...or until they repeatedly said "Daaaaad! I'm too old for lullabys and bedtime stories." Then just read one more :)

Spend ALL the time with your kid - the time FLIES and one day you'll look at your 14 year as he mouths off to you and wonder how just moments ago you were cuddling with him as you were trying to put him to sleep in his crib.

I'm a night owl, so i never suffered from 'sleepless' nights like so many people complain about. Once my son's could take formula (ie when my wife wasn't necessary for the feeding), those were my favorite times: my wife could stay asleep and I could just grab a bottle and sit up every few hours through the night and feed them. Just me and either of my kids. Cherish those moments.

It is no exaggeration when a parent or grandparent tells you "Enjoy this moment because they fly by and before you know it they are grown." 15 years from now you'll wish for the sleepless nights when you were holding your baby trying to soothe them back to sleep.

"Lead by example" - You try to teach your kids the things they should know and to be better than you. Sometimes that means doing things better than you did (ie teaching them from mistakes or bad habits you might have), but kids are perceptive and will "learn it by WATCHING you". "Do as I say, not as I do" is less effective than leading by example. BE the man you want your son to be or your daughter to end up with. It's very difficult to backtrack on this when you realize you've been the wrong example.

Around 10 or 11, they will stop needing you as much or seeing you as their only hero. Take full advantage of the years before this to be the hero you want them to have and remember.

Teenage boys will rebel against their father and test boundaries. If you've set god boundaries and led by good examples and taught them good fundamentals, they'll circle back once they realize who they are and that you have always loved them - even during the arguments.

Be careful with criticism - even when trying to be helpful and constructive. They have a funny way of remembering constructive criticism as "negativity" :)

Overflow with praise for them - when deserved. Reign it in - but give it - when it's less so. They'll know that when you say something, you mean it.

When they're older sometimes you have to be "the bad guy" to help them learn right from wrong. Stand your ground if you know you are right, but always let them know you love them and are willing to talk about whatever dilemma they are going through.

End of the day: Love them the best that you can and tell them that every single day.

Comment · 2 years ago
I like to tip based on the local minumum wage (or on the higher end if the service was exceptional, my own wage) and how long I have sat at the table for.

So if the minimum wage was $10/hour and I have sat at the table for 45 minutes, then the tip is $7.50. I don't feel i should be paying the servers wages directly, but at least this seems like a fair rate to me for doing the portion of that hours work.

Comment · 2 years ago
All of my pet projects can be found as real tools or services elsewhere, but I built them for myself (or in the case of Eurotripr) as a hope to monetize one day.

- Book tracker to track books I want to read (for self, with kids) and will randomly suggest a book from the list i should read next if I am unsure. It tracks my progress through reading the HUNDREDS of books I add to my reading list and estimates how long it will be until I am through with my list...far too long.

- Soccer Score 'pickem' game to play with friends during world cup, Euros, and multiple leagues. I don't like Fantasy sports b/c too much time/attention, and I can just add the leagues we follow only.

- Eurotripr: a tool to plan trips to Europe and track current average costs in european countries and cities for planing purposes.

- an "Intrview status tracker" to help me create interviews with other travelers for my Eurotripr project. I can email an invite to a traveler I want to interview and from a bank of over 150 questions it generates a simplified interview of 10-15 questions, tracks the interviewees progress, notifies me when they have submitted the 'completed' interview, let's me know what percent of the questions they answered. I can provide feedback and request further detail for the responses from interviewees. Plus it will track the status of each interview request: declined, in progress, completed, published. So at a glance I can see how many pending interviews I have to stay on top of or publish.

- A cycling tool that provides a basic 6-8 week cycling plan to get me from 0 miles to riding a century by the end of the plan. I had plans tot try to monetize this with a stripe checkout and if you finish the century (100 mile) ride and don't miss more than 2 rides per week during th plan, you are not charged your money, but shiny object syndrome got in my way.

Comment · 3 years ago
I find NORMAL ChatGPT a good programming Rubber Duck and use it often.
Comment · 3 years ago
I don't recall the guy's name. I don't even know what to google to find a link for you, but several years ago I came across an article of a man who did something similar to what you are talking about but as a Chat Bot (it was well before ChatGPT was public).

He did a large number of interviews with his dying father over the course of a year. Then he transposed all the questions and answer from those interviews into a database (i think). And built a Chat bot that used natural language to 'talk' with him after his father passed away to preserve his father in a virtual way. THe bot could answer random questions (not the interview questions) and form answers in the 'voice' and 'tone' of his dad bases on the hundreds or thousands of questions he'd asked in those interviews. It could create new answers based on all that data as if the father was texting his son.

I know that the article (or series of articles) I read about this was pretty detailed in how the man went about this. I'm sorry I can't recall where I read this.

I am sure there is a way to do something much more in depth now that ChatGPT is as robust as it is.

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