laurieg
Joined 12 years ago
Karma
3,536
Submissions
553
Member since
Nov 28
Software engineer based in Fukuoka, Japan.
View on Hacker NewsRecent submissions
Comment · 1 month ago
Learning a second language is a fantastic way to feel many aspects of being a child again. Having to deal with frustration. Understanding a situation but not be able to fully take part. Being able to communicate but only with the blunt instrument of the words you know.
Comment · 3 months ago
Remote: Yes (my current time zone is UTC+9)
Willing to relocate: Yes (currently based in Fukuoka, Japan with full permission to work)
Technologies: Javascript/Typescript, Svelte, SvelteKit, Vue, Nuxt, React, Next.js, ThreeJs, WebGPU, CSS, Tailwind, PostgreSQL, Firebase, Pocketbase, Supabase, Playwright, Google Cloud, AWS, Ruby on Rails
Email: laurie.in.{the country I live in}@gmail.com
Hi, I'm Laurie Griffiths. I'm a senior full stack engineer with over 10 years of experience. I am based in Fukuoka, Japan with permission to work in Japan or the UK. I'm a native English speaker and I speak Japanese.
I have experience with a variety of modern and older web stacks. Recently I have enjoyed using SvelteKit to produce performant, accessible websites with great developer experience. I also am a proponent of automated testing and have implemented CI/CD in multiple legacy codebases to allow large-scale refactors and updates without fear.
Also, I produced the game engine and IDE that runs the successful History Mysteries series of escape room board games: https://historymysteries.club/
I am currently contracting and looking for new opportunities, either full-time or contract.
Comment · 3 months ago
Study a reasonable amount. Make good flashcards[1] and incorporate memorization into your routine.
Try things out. Literally anything. Sports, music, arts, tech. It is so much easier to try out a wide range of things in college.
Find time to reflect. No one here can give you a blueprint for a good life so take some time to think about all the things you are doing, your studies, the company you keep and if these align with your values.
Actually do things. Lots of people sit around talking about their big ideas. Only a small fraction actually do something. It's much easier to poke holes and criticize what other people have done and much harder to stick your neck out and do something.
Comment · 3 months ago
Remote: Yes (my current time zone is UTC+9)
Willing to relocate: Yes (currently based in Fukuoka, Japan with full permission to work. British passport holder)
Technologies: Javascript/Typescript, Svelte, SvelteKit, Vue, Nuxt, React, Next.js, ThreeJs, WebGPU, CSS, Tailwind, PostgreSQL, Firebase, Pocketbase, Supabase, Playwright, Google Cloud, AWS, Ruby on Rails
Email: laurie.in.{the country I live in}@gmail.com
Hi, I'm Laurie Griffiths. I'm a senior full stack engineer with over 10 years of experience. I am based in Fukuoka, Japan with permission to work in Japan or the UK. I'm a native English speaker and I speak Japanese.
I have experience with a variety of modern and older web stacks. Recently I have enjoyed using SvelteKit to produce performant, accessible websites with great developer experience. I also am a proponent of automated testing and have implemented CI/CD in multiple legacy codebases to allow large-scale refactors and updates without fear.
Also, I produced the game engine and IDE that runs the History Mysteries series of escape room board games: https://historymysteries.club/
I am currently contracting and looking for new opportunities, either full-time or contract.
Comment · 4 months ago
This kind of comment could be written about almost anything and is fundamentally un-interesting. You chose to write "weirdo" instead of "screwball" or "bozo" and probably think the more modern "weirdo" captures your intent the best. I'm sure the original authors had a similar thought.
Comment · 4 months ago
That sounds like a the ear training I have done but even after a couple of decades I don't have any real ability to tell the difference between intervals. For example, I listen to a musical interval and try singing up the major scale to match it but everything matches a fifth (in my internal melody). More recently I found the Sonofield app an interesting idea for learning the intervals but wasn't able to gain any consistency.
I remember many years ago in my music lessons being shocked that some people can hear multiple notes played simultaneously. I've never found much material on learning this skill.
Comment · 4 months ago
I wonder if there's a bit of survivorship bias with this one. I've never been able to learn relative pitch after trying quite a lot of different methods, ear training app and playing a couple of musical instruments. If you're in a music school then perhaps your baseline musical ability is already relatively high?
Comment · 4 months ago
Here's how I was taught verb conjugation.
First, we learnt verbs in the -masu form. Nomimasu, tabemasu and so on.
Then we learnt this song (to the tune of Clementine)
chi ri i tte mi ni bi nde kiite giite
It's a quick mneumonic to help you go from the polite verb to the "te-form" ending. I hummed it in my head while working out the conjugation before it became natural and "obvious".
Comment · 5 months ago
According to amnesty international [0] you'd be put in solitary confinement and restrained with your hands handcuffed to a belt. From the report "Handcuffs
are not removed at any time, even during mealtimes, or when the prisoner needs to sleep or use the toilet."
[0] https://www.amnesty.org/fr/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/asa220...
Comment · 6 months ago
Japan is importing record numbers of workers. Most convenience stores and supermarkets in my town (far from Tokyo) are staffed by 'language school students' (an you can work 28 hours a week on a student visa). Agreements [1] between Japan and other countries to bring more workers are making headlines. At the same time, it's getting harder and harder to stay.
Permanent residency applications are being judged incredibly strictly. Citizenship applications need 10 years of continuous residence up from 5. Business manager visas have gone from needing 5m yen of capital to 30m yen.
It seems pretty clear that the goal is to get workers in for some productive years but make the path for staying difficult. I guess that's one way to solve an aging population problem.
To put things in perspective, Japan is an island and has entry and exit controls on the borders, so it is estimated that 0.05% of the population is illegal immigrants (people not leaving when their visa runs out). And the police can and do stop visible minorities to confirm their residence status on the spot. It is compulsory to carry identification documents if you are a foreigner. (There are questions about the legality of this but it is common and widely practiced).
[1] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/10/27/india-valua...
Comment · 6 months ago
Relatively small clerical errors causing people to get permanent residency applications denied is becoming a trope. The ones I have heard:
- Client company address changed 4 years ago and the paperwork wasn't filed within 2 weeks.
- A late pension payment 2 years ago.
- Pension and health insurance were paid on time, but the date stamp on the physical payment slips was smudged and so "did not prove" that it was paid on time.
- City hall workers didn't send out health insurance slips in time, applicant (through no fault of their own) couldn't pay by the deadline.
This level of strictness is affecting people's lives, ability to make plans, get mortgages etc.
To add to this, permanent residency application times are now very long. After you complete your application some people are waiting nearly 2 years to get a response. There is a lot of vagueness about what happens if the rules change during your application period.
Comment · 6 months ago
We had an interview scheduled at the start of February which you cancelled with 30 minutes notice stating you had filled the position. Since then, the position has been posted online and to HackerNews hiring threads.
Perhaps there has been a communication mix up here?
(also, when I tried to sign up to your service it was impossible to actually log in)
Comment · 7 months ago
We had an interview scheduled at the start of February which you cancelled with 30 minutes notice stating you had filled the position. Since then, the position has been posted online and posted to HackerNews hiring threads.
Perhaps there has been a communication mix up here?
Comment · 7 months ago
I saw a casual lecture given by Tony Hoare as a teenager. The atmosphere was warm and welcoming, even if I didn't fully understand all of the content. I remember he was very kind and answered my simple questions politely.