mars's recent activity
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Comment on Any Tildes android app? in ~tildes
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Comment on What wiring decisions do you wish you made when building a house? in ~hobbies
mars Link ParentThe previous homeowner of my place did this and OMG it's amazing to have a utility closet with water heater, furnace, and coax+ethernet all in one place. They also ran ethernet behind the walls so...The previous homeowner of my place did this and OMG it's amazing to have a utility closet with water heater, furnace, and coax+ethernet all in one place. They also ran ethernet behind the walls so that both levels have direct connections for wireless access points that can then run into a router sitting in that closest alongside the cable modem. I used Powerline adapters in my previous place to do something similar but there's no comparison in the low levels of latency running across my home network now.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
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Comment on I gave Lemmy, Kbin, and Beehaw a chance. I think I'll be sticking with Tildes. in ~tech
mars Link ParentPersonally, I see this as "a feature, not a bug" of Lemmy. The Reddit equivalent in my mental model is that instances are akin to r/CasualConversation: A smaller community of users who...With the federated replacements, you'll never get the concentration you need for that. There'll be a sub for games on each instance. It's basically required, since each instance can de-federate each other, and each instance has different moderation standards.
Personally, I see this as "a feature, not a bug" of Lemmy. The Reddit equivalent in my mental model is that instances are akin to r/CasualConversation: A smaller community of users who self-administrate and self-moderate who are interested in discussing random topics with each other. The tools of Lemmy help to block other groups that your instance aren't interested in connecting with (i.e. defederation). If people aren't looking for that and are in search of that "generic anonymous blob" of discussion, then there are alternatives to Lemmy that centralize the community aspects (like Tildes here).
I will say though: The feeling of discussion here on Tildes, where a group of users who have shared interests to minimize asshole-like behaviour (e.g. here's a recent post where the general consensus is that maintaining an invite-only model will maintain the culture) is exactly what Lemmy was built for. It has shared principles, it's just different in implementation details. Yes, there's a steeper learning curve in order to get the tools to optimize that experience. Yes, there's a gap in federation-wide moderation. The rough edges can be smoothed over over time, just like how current Tildes groups aren't fully-baked either :)
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Comment on What gaming rumor just won't die? in ~games
mars Link ParentMost Steam users have probably heard the Gabe Newell quote: "Piracy is not a pricing issue. It's a service issue." I'm in the same age bracket as yourself, with a similar history of piracy, and...Most Steam users have probably heard the Gabe Newell quote: "Piracy is not a pricing issue. It's a service issue."
I'm in the same age bracket as yourself, with a similar history of piracy, and this quote completely encapsulates my own viewpoint on the morality of piracy.
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Comment on How do you feel about eBooks and eBook readers? in ~books
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Comment on Email, calendar, todo, chat ... How are you keeping it all straight? in ~life
mars Link ParentI know a lot of friends and coworkers who use a personal Kanban board in Trello for keeping on top of this in a way that doesn't introduce too much cognitive overhead from the process itself:...Personal kanban is another good approach for pulling agile mindsets into personal productivity.
I know a lot of friends and coworkers who use a personal Kanban board in Trello for keeping on top of this in a way that doesn't introduce too much cognitive overhead from the process itself:
- Three columns: TODO, In-progress, and Done
- Stack-rank your TODO column according to your own prioritization framework, plan and pull tasks from the top
- New tasks and reprioritization can happen at any time, iterate on how you absorb that into your framework
- Figure out your personal tripwires for when your workload is unsustainable (e.g. too many items entering TODO than leaving) and build mechanisms to address them (e.g. know when to say "no" or how to remove TODO items from your list as "not right now")
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Comment on What are some noteworthy games that aren't available through traditional/common means? in ~games
mars Link ParentYES! That's a great recommendation that I totally forgot to also mention. I've played Project Highrise before and really like the modern conveniences and the shift in gameplay loop from SimTower...YES! That's a great recommendation that I totally forgot to also mention. I've played Project Highrise before and really like the modern conveniences and the shift in gameplay loop from SimTower and Yoot Tower. I'll have to fire it up again soon!
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Comment on Why doesn't Tildes display a user's social score or karma on their profile page? in ~tildes
mars LinkThis isn't a direct answer and is more tangentially related, but if anyone hasn't yet read these docs on the philosophy of Tildes I'd suggest having a look:This isn't a direct answer and is more tangentially related, but if anyone hasn't yet read these docs on the philosophy of Tildes I'd suggest having a look:
These pages cover the main philosophies behind Tildes: why it exists, how it will operate, and what drives the decisions behind its implementation.
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Comment on What are some noteworthy games that aren't available through traditional/common means? in ~games
mars Link ParentYou're definitely not the only one! 😄 SimTower is such a core memory for me that a while back I made sure to get DOSBox working on my PC in order to play SimTower and Yoot Tower. Still pull them...You're definitely not the only one! 😄
SimTower is such a core memory for me that a while back I made sure to get DOSBox working on my PC in order to play SimTower and Yoot Tower. Still pull them up from time to time.
I still remember a couple hidden tips from SimTower: You could try to build something in the bottom left corner of B9 and it would double your starting funds from "buried treasure". Or when placing your very first ground-floor lobby you could hold shift and control keys to build a 2 or 3 storey lobby. Good times 😁
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Comment on A "low-risk" AMA thread for everyone in ~talk
mars Link ParentTRIUMF, a leading subatomic physics lab, home of the world's largest cyclotron particle accelerator, and entry point of the Rabbit line that Tom Scott made a video about, holds public tours. I've......cool science places that actually do public tours that we may not think are open to the public? In particular: Vancouver...
TRIUMF, a leading subatomic physics lab, home of the world's largest cyclotron particle accelerator, and entry point of the Rabbit line that Tom Scott made a video about, holds public tours. I've been, it's a pretty neat place.
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Comment on A "low-risk" AMA thread for everyone in ~talk
mars Link ParentThanks for your questions! Project Managers tend to be high-level planners and constantly thinking of how to optimize the internal (and often despised) feedback loop of "project status". They need...Thanks for your questions!
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Project Managers tend to be high-level planners and constantly thinking of how to optimize the internal (and often despised) feedback loop of "project status". They need to be able to interface with all stakeholders and teams lending their efforts to a project's ultimate success. This means they tend to be highly organized generalists: Able to nimbly connect with engineering teams doing the work, then distill and synthesize outcomes that have been reached into a format that non-technical teams can make use of. A hypothetical example might be: Eng just made this new feature available on the staging env, that gives Product Marketing the chance to test drive and start building out the copy for how we're telling our customers about this. Support will also need to know what's expected functionality and what is probably a bug, so let's make sure that dependency is worked in and sequenced appropriately... etc
Unfortunately I'm not aware of any formal courses, but a good skill-testing exercise is to map out a current or recently completed project on a calendar and think about all of those intersection points: When does someone need something from someone else? What other dependencies are linked there? What's the "critical path", and what happens if things take longer than expected? Are there any creative solutions to avoid blockages, or to ensure that everyone has the right level of working context for their dependencies? (That last question is where I see really good Project Managers shine :D) -
I always advise folks to figure out a systematic way of processing all of the potential inputs that are pulling on your attention. That way things are both out of your head, and entered into a system that you can determine how to improve and iterate on. For example, a starting point might be:
At the beginning of each day I will review my task list (use whatever tool makes sense for you: Pen+paper, Asana, Trello, your Notes app, etc) and move anything up that is more urgent than the others.
From the list, create a filtered short-list of the tasks I will aim to get done that day.
Looking next at my calendar, when will I have the time to get those things done? (Maybe revise my short-list if I don't have capacity)
Book time in my calendar to focus on my key tasks and get them done
At the end of the day, review: Did I accomplish what I wanted to? Why or why not? Anything to note down for tomorrow?
Repeat, reflect, rewrite as needed :)
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Comment on A "low-risk" AMA thread for everyone in ~talk
mars Link ParentAt its loosest definition: Agile development is simply incorporating principles that overlap with the manifesto that bears its name (The Manifesto for Agile Software Development). This generally...At its loosest definition: Agile development is simply incorporating principles that overlap with the manifesto that bears its name (The Manifesto for Agile Software Development). This generally reflects in behaviours like: Ship to your customers often, create a tight feedback loop to understand how your customers use your software, iterate quickly based on your customers' feedback, track your progress and performance.
Scrum and Kanban are two popular frameworks that development teams may adopt in order to start working in an Agile-like way, if they have no idea what systems and processes they need to support themselves. Unfortunately the proliferation of these frameworks (especially Scrum) have diluted a lot of modern software development into following the checklists that they're given, instead of actually understanding and living by Agile principles. In fact, a lot of it directly violates a fundamental, primary Agile belief: "Individuals and interactions over processes and tools"
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Comment on A "low-risk" AMA thread for everyone in ~talk
mars Link ParentWell my transition into management was pretty straightforward (more than other devs that I have supported through the transition after me). As a software dev we are always interested in...Well my transition into management was pretty straightforward (more than other devs that I have supported through the transition after me). As a software dev we are always interested in efficiencies and scaling, and when this thinking is turned inwards towards ourselves and our teams it is natural to think about how can we become better, more efficient devs and teams of devs. I always leaned towards solving the people and process parts of this equation: Mentoring others to help level up their performance; facilitating discussion and iterative improvements to our team's processes; and helping everyone understand what we're consciously optimizing for and how to flag when we see opportunity or risk.
As I was going through this transition I also had a group of fantastic mentors: Managers beyond my direct lead who had already walked the path and who I could ask all about what their job truly entailed. There were differing levels of formalized training offered by employers, depending on their respective size and maturity. I also consumed a lot of learning resources myself during my own development time. Books like The Manager's Path by Camille Fournier were helpful in understanding just what I would be signing up for as a set of daily expectations.
What you describe reminds me of the Peter principle: "...people in a hierarchy tend to rise to "a level of respective incompetence"". Management in software development (project or people leadership) is no exception to this. We've all seen our share of bad managers who were only promoted because they were outstanding individual contributors and now they no longer understand how to navigate their new role. One critical piece of learning from my journey so far is that now that I am in a position of leadership and responsible for growing the leaders of tomorrow, I have a direct influence in combating this issue within my teams and org by being upfront and clear with those who seek to walk the same path as I have. I will be directly responsible for generations of managers and what their reports think of them long after I'm gone, and that's a huge responsibility I do not take lightly. :)
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Comment on A "low-risk" AMA thread for everyone in ~talk
mars LinkGreat idea @JurisSpecter! IAMA manager of a team of software developers. I've got over a decade of experience in tech, starting as a dev myself before transitioning into management. I've worked...Great idea @JurisSpecter!
IAMA manager of a team of software developers. I've got over a decade of experience in tech, starting as a dev myself before transitioning into management. I've worked for several companies across the spectrum of small startups to large 10k+ orgs.
AMA about tech, the transition from dev to manager, or whatever you'd like my opinion on! :D
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Comment on How do you get a promotion when you work in a remote office? in ~life
mars Link ParentAhh gotcha. Sorry that's my bad for not reading enough into your ask. Meetings are super important now, as you no longer have the implicit benefits that bosses subconsciously leverage to...Ahh gotcha. Sorry that's my bad for not reading enough into your ask.
Meetings are super important now, as you no longer have the implicit benefits that bosses subconsciously leverage to understand what their people are working on (they can't directly observe you except for meetings) so make use of that and present your best self.
- Always have your camera on (if you need to turn off your camera, you probably shouldn't be on the meeting call). This allows at least a minimal amount of your body language to come through, which is very important considering how most of our communication is non-verbal.
- Before you "walk" into your meetings, make sure you know why you're there so that you can demonstrate your value. If you're attending a meeting it's for a reason. Make that reason clearly known and show why you attending the meeting is a good thing for your team, your boss, and your company.
- Look for additional opportunities to add value (e.g. taking notes in meetings, communicating decisions or executive summaries to those who missed the meeting, facilitate meetings if given the chance).
- Minimize distractions (for you and your fellow meeting attendees). Get a good headset / microphone / camera setup. Flipping mute on and off for your microphone should become second nature. Figure out your physical working space (i.e. Minimize noise pollution as much as possible. If you live with others, especially those who also work remotely, figure out how your meetings won't bleed sound over each other.).
Outside of meetings (or if your role doesn't have many of them) you'll need to focus on demonstrating value and growth in a non-physical form factor. "Managing up" basically comes down to ensuring your boss and your boss' boss understand the value that you're bringing to the company and how growth in your capabilities will mean even more value for the company (and reflect well on them too).
- Ask your boss if you can "take something off their plate". This is my number one tactic in "managing up". You simultaneously acknowledge that they have a lot of important work going on, you are saying that you can demonstrate growth by taking on some of that important work, you would like to rise to the challenge of the type of work that the company feels is more traditionally for your boss, and you're ultimately giving your boss an opportunity to have the final say. A good boss will jump at this opportunity to feed you something that aligns with the growth strategy that they have for you. A bad boss will quickly make themselves known here, and you'll have more data on whether or not you want them to stay your boss. Of course it has to be stated: Don't take on too many things and not actually deliver on the important thing you're doing for your boss, that's obviously bad for you.
- Ensure your boss knows what you're delivering. This can take many different forms depending on your job, but most of the time part of your boss' job is ensuring that you have things to do and you're doing them at a sustainable pace. Whether it be a bi-weekly sync meeting, or a weekly email, or simple Slack/IM messages that you're "finishing up A and transitioning over to work on B", this can be an opportunity to increase the points of contact you have with your boss, as well as tie nicely into the previous tip by giving you the chance to ask about your boss' workload.
- Let your boss know when you have good ideas. I think a lot of people end up not trusting their boss with their best ideas for how to make their work easier, probably due to some misguided thinking that their job will somehow become harder. The truth is that for the majority of the time, even with only mildly competent bosses, an idea which will improve your productivity (and subsequently all of your peers' productivity) will only make your life easier, and further reinforce the value you bring to your organization. Whether it be a different video conferencing tool, a better workflow to hand work over to others in the remote work environment, or a quick suggestion that you set up your home office with better ergonomics and you think others would benefit from a similar strategy, all will (hopefully) be viewed by your boss as you actively contributing to finding generalizable solutions to shared problems, which is a huge value-add for your job.
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Comment on How do you get a promotion when you work in a remote office? in ~life
mars LinkSome general tips here that are agnostic of a colocated vs distributed working environment: Know what role you would be promoted to Simple stuff yes, but many times people just expect a promo...Some general tips here that are agnostic of a colocated vs distributed working environment:
- Know what role you would be promoted to
Simple stuff yes, but many times people just expect a promo without even knowing what they would be actually doing in that new role. You usually don't get a promo and end up doing the exact same thing that you're currently doing. You get a promo because you've demonstrated an accumulation or deepening of some core competencies that map over well to a new role that the company would benefit from you taking on. You want more money for doing the same thing? Ask for a raise, not a promo.
- Get an understanding of the promo role
Does your employer hire other people to do the role you want to be promoted into? Chances are pretty high that you or your manager can get your hands on a job description or internal write-up of the role and its qualifications. If this isn't available then skip up a level and ask a potential or current manager of someone in this role how they would describe it and its qualifications. "If you had to hire someone into this role, how would you know you've made the right hire?" You'll need this data for the last step: Build your case.
- Build your case
Similar to what @skybrian mentioned, gather data. This usually takes two forms: Concrete things you've done and feedback from others about concrete things you've done. This data has to be tailor fitted to the qualifications and requirements of the new promo role. How have you already demonstrated that you're a fit for this role? I like to ask others who are looking for a promo: If you were interviewed for this new role, how would you sell yourself? Concrete examples are key. Feedback from peers, managers, or reports will align as long as you understand the perceptions others have of you and you haven't been a dick.
- Don't be a dick
Similar to what @Gaywallet said, a lot of the time a promo will come along much more easily to those who are friendly to their managers, peers, and reports. Now I don't believe this means to brownnose your way through your whole organization, but to be aware that in many cases perception becomes reality. The one-off time you were frustrated by traffic or your in-laws visiting, and that caused you to be short with a colleague's question or a receptionist's call will stick with you and them and become that person's reality of who you are until contradictory evidence is presented. Always be professional.
As for "staying on your boss' radar", a good boss will notice your growth in capabilities or promising qualities you have that you may never have realized yourself. They'll be bending over backwards to try and give you more opportunities for you to further develop your capabilities and grow your career. However not every boss is a good one, and for those of you with bad or incompetent ones you may find yourself having to do more work on the steps above if you have the ambition to broaden your careers.
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Comment on TV Tuesdays Free Talk in ~tv
mars LinkAnyone watching Westworld? The new season has got me hooked. So many reminders of the first season, with many questions and intriguing ideas.Anyone watching Westworld? The new season has got me hooked. So many reminders of the first season, with many questions and intriguing ideas.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~games
mars Link ParentCheers, thanks for the info! At the moment probably looking towards either the Steam release + quality-of-life mods + gamepad, or the Switch release.Cheers, thanks for the info!
At the moment probably looking towards either the Steam release + quality-of-life mods + gamepad, or the Switch release.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~games
mars Link ParentI'm fine with emulation, although I do prefer a physical controller. I'm mainly concerned with quality-of-life upgrades that have come along with later ports, so I'm willing to forgo exact,...I'm fine with emulation, although I do prefer a physical controller. I'm mainly concerned with quality-of-life upgrades that have come along with later ports, so I'm willing to forgo exact, authentic gameplay.
Looking at maybe going with the Steam release, then adding QoL mods, and playing with a USB-based gamepad. Physical portability might be a real benefit though, so I might start looking at the Switch release too.
Well part of it could be that the main philosophy of Tildes, documented here, specifically calls out that the "main mobile interface" is the web (even though apps via API are a supported option):
Personally I don't really care either way. If an app is a low-friction adoption vector for some, then developers should feel empowered to unlock that for those users. What I think most folks are upset by when they push back is an expressed sense of entitlement: That Tildes needs an app and they won't use it until someone provides it for them. That a web browser just isn't "good enough". etc