wababa's recent activity
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
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Comment on No more alarm clocks in ~life
wababa Link ParentThe first thing that came to mind when writing this was how hard doing this would be with kids. I'm sure I'll need to rethink everything around sleep if/when kids happens to me!The first thing that came to mind when writing this was how hard doing this would be with kids. I'm sure I'll need to rethink everything around sleep if/when kids happens to me!
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Comment on No more alarm clocks in ~life
wababa Link ParentI'm curious to know with you and @sparksbet what would happen if you went a week without an alarm clock and just let sleep happen. It could be that: Your bodies need tons and tons of sleep, and...I'm curious to know with you and @sparksbet what would happen if you went a week without an alarm clock and just let sleep happen. It could be that:
- Your bodies need tons and tons of sleep, and giving into that might be worth it (although I recognize ~12 hour sleep cycles is a massive time investment)
- You two are deep in sleep debt and wouldn't require that much sleep if you get into a good rhythm
- Something else is going on
@sparksbet mentioned that they're on medication which could make this experiment not worth doing, but I do feel that trying a natural sleep pattern for those who feel they can sleep too much might be worthwhile.
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No more alarm clocks
I’ve completely eliminated the alarm clock from my morning routine for about six months. The biggest impacts it's had on my life are: I’ve become a morning person. I wake up feeling great and feel...
I’ve completely eliminated the alarm clock from my morning routine for about six months. The biggest impacts it's had on my life are:
- I’ve become a morning person.
- I wake up feeling great and feel less sleepy during the day.
Becoming a morning person is a necessary side effect of not using an alarm clock because it requires the body to naturally wake up early enough for work, school, or other regular obligations. Although I’ve historically enjoyed staying up late, the brutal truth is that all humans require a certain amount of sleep, and this can't be consistently fought without an alarm clock.
The best part about eliminating alarm clocks from my life is how it has affected my day. It’s not a hidden secret that good sleep habits translate to:
- Better mood
- Increased energy levels
- Clearer mind
- Improved overall health
I can confidently say I really do feel all these benefits. In the end, it's not to any real surprise. The alarm clock interupts one of the most important cycles of your body, and so it only makes sense to leave sleep alone so it can do what it needs to do.
How I Transitioned to Natural Sleep
Once I decided to try this experiment, I created a simple plan to implement it. Before this life change, my sleep schedule was from around 1 am to 8 am. So, the first thing I did was set an alarm for the target time I wanted to naturally wake up, in my case, 7 am.
The first night resulted in 6 hours of sleep (1 am to 7 am). My body needs more than that, so by the time 11 pm rolled around, I was ready to fall asleep. It was initially tough to sleep earlier than normal, as I felt there was still time to do things, but I let my body dictate my actions and went to bed without an alarm.
That night, I slept for about 9 hours due to sleep debt. I missed my 7 am target, but it wasn’t a big deal. After that, with my body reset, I simply aimed to continue to sleep around 11 pm, meaning I was in bed by 10:30 pm. The pressure of needing to naturally wake up before work was enough motivation to forgo the later hours of the night and continue heading to bed early.
Now, I’ve settled into a great rhythm of going to bed around 10-10:30 pm and waking up around 6:30 am. What’s great is discovering how much sleep my body naturally needs (8-8.5 hours). No more trying to "hack" my body with things like miserable polyphasic sleep experiments. I know what my body needs, I succumb to it, and I’m rewarded the next day.
Some Caveats
What worked for me won’t necessarily work for everyone. Each person and their situation is unique, so results will obviously vary. Some unique factors for me are:
- I’ve always been able to fall asleep quickly, which might be due to consistent sleep deprivation, regular exercise, or both.
- My only dependent is a dog, and she doesn’t mind sleeping in a bit in the morning.
- I always sleep with white noise, which helps block out sounds that would normally wake me up during the night.
- My work schedule is consistently 9 am to 5 pm.
One final note: I still use alarm clocks for special occasions, such as early morning flights. Although I could probably wake up naturally for them, without an alarm set, I would probably wake up in the middle of the night stressed about the possibility of missing my flight.
Try It Out
This change has been significant enough in my life that I frequently recommend it to friends. I now honestly believe that the alarm clock is the single worst thing the wider population willingly inflicts on themselves. If you’re willing to eliminate the morning alarm clock from your life, I would love to hear how it goes. Good luck!
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
wababa Link ParentYeah I like that a lot! The more the backend thinks it's directly connected to the frontend the better imoYeah I like that a lot! The more the backend thinks it's directly connected to the frontend the better imo
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
wababa LinkI went to Yosemite to continue exercising my new birding hobby! Here are my favorite pictures from the trip: https://ibb.co/album/r2JKCD Stellar Jay Chipmunk Red-breasted Brewers BlackbirdI went to Yosemite to continue exercising my new birding hobby! Here are my favorite pictures from the trip:
https://ibb.co/album/r2JKCD- Stellar Jay
- Chipmunk
- Red-breasted
- Brewers Blackbird
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
wababa (edited )Link ParentYeah! Here is some example code: render([ { type: "title", content: "Welcome", subtitle: "This is my website!", }, { id: "message-to-user", type: "text", content: "Let's get started", }, { type:...Yeah! Here is some example code:
render([ { type: "title", content: "Welcome", subtitle: "This is my website!", }, { id: "message-to-user", type: "text", content: "Let's get started", }, { type: "button", content: "Press me!", onclick: () => { update({ "message-to-user": { content: "You clicked the button!" } }) }, } ])As you can see, building UI is done completely via JSON. I did this because I'm not a huge fan of how XML is formatted and it's way easier to manipulate JSON.
The UI is created using existing building blocks like "title" and "text" (and some more). These translate to various HTML elements with minimal styling around them. I did this so I could create UIs really quickly, it's basically a "component library" that ships with the framework. If I were to officially release it to the public, I would probably allow custom blocks to be created, but right now it limits me to only create super simple UIs, which follows the framework's philosophy of "Simple UI code = Simple UIs = Simple UI tests".
The last thing worth pointing out is that updates to the UI are done manually with the
updatefunction. I really wanted the programmer to control when the UI updates (which is very different from frameworks like React). I think this works really well with small, simple UIs, but probably will quickly run into problems with complicated UIs (something I'm avoiding in the first place with these projects). The update function takes in a format that makes it easy for a backend to update the UI to encourage dumb frontends while still preserving single-paged apps. I took inspiration for this from the HTMX project. You can still update things via the frontend like in the example, but ideally, a user action triggers an API endpoint that returns not data but updates to portions of the UI based on the new data. -
Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
wababa LinkI'm making my own frontend Javascript framework (happily adding on to the many that already exist). I've been in the web development world long enough that I feel I can make something better for...I'm making my own frontend Javascript framework (happily adding on to the many that already exist). I've been in the web development world long enough that I feel I can make something better for my small side-projects, which I frequently make. It's been fun thinking from ground zero, deciding on what to keep from vanilla Javascript vs what to abstract away. One thing I find enjoyable about it is that I can limit its capabilities and reduce upfront work because I'm making it for myself. My basic strategy has been to build in new features when the need arises while developing a side-project.
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Comment on Advice on a first time visit to Oahu, Hawaii in ~travel
wababa LinkThis is my favorite hike when I'm back on the island. https://www.alltrails.com/trail/hawaii/oahu/waimano-falls-trail?u=i Out-and-back with a waterfall at the end that you can jump into. Very muddy!This is my favorite hike when I'm back on the island.
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/hawaii/oahu/waimano-falls-trail?u=iOut-and-back with a waterfall at the end that you can jump into. Very muddy!
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Comment on What are some of your favourite, lesser-known mobile apps? in ~tech
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Comment on Noah Kahan - All My Love (2022) in ~music
wababa LinkI saw him live recently. The set sounded heavier than the recorded versions of his songs and I loved it!I saw him live recently. The set sounded heavier than the recorded versions of his songs and I loved it!
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Comment on The NFL season opener is also the kickoff for the biggest gambling season ever in ~sports.american_football
wababa LinkWhen it comes to legalized gambling, I always wonder how much more money is flowing through the system compared to black market gambling. When it’s legalized, you can keep track of the...When it comes to legalized gambling, I always wonder how much more money is flowing through the system compared to black market gambling. When it’s legalized, you can keep track of the transactions that are happening, but with black markets you can’t. Though ease of access does mean more gamblers, do safety measures, if there are any, prevent people from burning through cash faster than in a rule-free black market system?
It also seems hard to come to the conclusion that legalizing gambling causes an influx of gambling problems. There are more gamblers now, but how do you balance increased taxable gambling and the benefits it provides with the outcome of gambling addiction. It would make sense to me that with more taxes comes more publically funded sources of addiction help which theoretically makes it easier for addicts compared to a black market only gambling system.
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
wababa LinkI’m into birding now and am taking pictures of the different birds I’m seeing. I’m trying my best to have the images look good, beyond just snapping them for identification and logging purposes. I...I’m into birding now and am taking pictures of the different birds I’m seeing. I’m trying my best to have the images look good, beyond just snapping them for identification and logging purposes. I got one picture this weekend that I think came out pretty nice! This is a Red Tailed Hawk that was kind enough to pose for me:
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Comment on What creative projects have you been working on? in ~creative
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Comment on The dating app Coffee Meets Bagel has been down for three days now in ~tech
wababa Link3 days is crazy… I can’t imagine what it’s like working there right now… super curious to find out what happened. What could even cause 3 days of outage.3 days is crazy… I can’t imagine what it’s like working there right now… super curious to find out what happened. What could even cause 3 days of outage.
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Comment on Sign up to get Cody for free in ~comp
wababa Link ParentTJ DeVeries works at sourcegraph so I’m sure it’ll come soon. I’m excited for it.TJ DeVeries works at sourcegraph so I’m sure it’ll come soon. I’m excited for it.
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Comment on Looking for beta testers for my Tildes.net iOS app! in ~tildes
wababa LinkAugust 28th 2023 Update: Revamped feed items Collapsed comments are preserved Reply text is preserved if you close the text editor but stay on the post viewAugust 28th 2023 Update:
- Revamped feed items
- Collapsed comments are preserved
- Reply text is preserved if you close the text editor but stay on the post view
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Comment on Sign up to get Cody for free in ~comp
wababa LinkI started using Cody at work. It’s far from perfect, but it is a step better than just using ChatGPT for code hints because of the code graph context. I’m pretty excited to see how it will improve.I started using Cody at work. It’s far from perfect, but it is a step better than just using ChatGPT for code hints because of the code graph context. I’m pretty excited to see how it will improve.
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Comment on What did you do this week (and weekend)? in ~talk
wababa LinkI’ve been looking into getting into birding. The more I learn about it, the more it feels like finding Pokémon in real life. Plus it’s another reason to get outside and travel, while also helping...I’ve been looking into getting into birding. The more I learn about it, the more it feels like finding Pokémon in real life. Plus it’s another reason to get outside and travel, while also helping the scientific community with bird logs. I’m hoping to go around my area this weekend with my camera to capture some birds to start my log!
The Laws of Human Nature - Robert Greene: A fascinating book on human nature and why people react in certain ways. It has changed my perspective greatly in how I view others and analyze my actions. There's some over-simplifications in the book but in general I feel that it is pretty accurate.
Ghost Town Living: Mining for Purpose and Chasing Dreams at the Edge of Death Valley - Brent Underwood: I watch Brent's YouTube channel on his journey restoring Cerro Gordo so it's cool to get more of a backstory to what's going on over there.