wanderer's recent activity

  1. Comment on What was your first programming language, what languages do you know now, and what tips do you have for those trying to learn any of those? in ~comp

    wanderer
    Link Parent
    Went straight into compilers and low level code. Tried to create a programming language. Stuff like that. He's not that great at it but likes to skip basics and jump straight into the advanced...

    Glad to hear your kid is learning to program! Out of curiosity, what is s/he learning?

    Went straight into compilers and low level code. Tried to create a programming language. Stuff like that. He's not that great at it but likes to skip basics and jump straight into the advanced stuff. Seeing as it's a hobby thing I'm not trying to discourage it; although he'd probably learn a lot more if he took his time with more basic things.

    For projects that I worked on, I remember starting off with basic calculators, minecraft mods, and other simple projects I could do in an afternoon that were manageable for me & were interesting enough.

    Woah, I never even considered modding. Thank you! This might be exactly what allows him to build "real" useful things. He's dabbled in making his own games but was quickly overwhelmed with the scope/scale of complexity there. People really underestimate how hard games are to make.

    Second part, my parents were definitely a good source of motivation too. My dad was a software developer earlier in his career so he was more than happy to explain and help me along with my learning which was pretty great.

    That's very reassuring. I'm a software developer as well and have had many long rambling sessions where I explained how stuff works. He enjoys listening and I enjoy rambling so it works out perfectly :D

    what is something that you personally enjoy (be it video games, math puzzles, books, etc) that you could create something new/inspired without having to learn something entirely new? I like video games so one of my projects I did was space invaders, and then later went on to code a card game.

    I will pass this on. Thank you!

    Sorry for the long winded post. Recently woke up so my brain is in chatty mode.

    I really appreciate it and enjoyed the read.

    1 vote

  2. Comment on What are some of your favorite "easy reads"? in ~books

    wanderer
    Link Parent
    A big part of sci-fi for me is the escapism part. I tend to favor that from a young age because I had a troubled childhood. Even today escapist activities like video games and certain types of...

    A big part of sci-fi for me is the escapism part. I tend to favor that from a young age because I had a troubled childhood. Even today escapist activities like video games and certain types of books provide a lot fulfillment and inspiration for me.

    Project Hail Mary is a very easy read. I often read these books while doing something else like building some furniture, doing house chores, going on walks, repairing something, or even writing mindless boilerplate code. I guess that's another thing I like about them :D

    1 vote

  3. Comment on Star Citizen 3.19.1 ... actually mostly works?! in ~games

    wanderer
    Link Parent
    Sure! Bring down a Comm Array on a planet like Hurston or microTech. Then travel to security bunkers without a mission on the hunt for loot. The stakes are higher (no comm array) because you might...
    • Exemplary

    Sure!

    1. Bring down a Comm Array on a planet like Hurston or microTech. Then travel to security bunkers without a mission on the hunt for loot. The stakes are higher (no comm array) because you might run into players doing missions. You can choose to either interact with them and make friends or attack them and be the bad guy. Every lawful bunker has a "boss" type character with really cool armor that you can loot. Along the way you'll find rare weapons such as Railguns, Animus missile launchers, F55 LMGs, etc. Which you can then...

    2. Sell rare weapons to other players. Come up with a strategy to do this as safely as possible. There are players who have built up a "customer" base that they regularly sell rare weapons too. You can sell a Railgun for 100-150k aUEC to a player. Getting started is a little difficult because everyone you sell to will be considered high risk. As you do it more and more you'll make friends/customers that will continue to buy from you.

    3. Complete all the race tracks. This is non-obvious because the feature is very new but it's also very well done. With a little practice you can get Platinum rating on every race track. If you get Platinum on the last couple tracks you'll be making like 10k aUEC per race. Each race is only a few minutes so you can pull 200k+ per hour depending on how fast you are. If you enjoy racing then it's a no brainer b/c you're doing something you enjoy and getting paid well for it.

    4. Solo mining, but with a twist. Most solo miners do it in a Prospector because that's what that ship is built for. The MOLE is built for multi-crew mining but it's extremely effective as a solo mining ship as well. Mining was recently rebalanced in 3.19 and has way more depth than it had before. Basically with the MOLE you get 3 mining heads and you can configure each mining for a specific type of rock! You can also bring mining gadgets (attached in EVA, which is super cool) and alternate mining modules that you can replace in the field. You'll make great money and, if you enjoy mining, it'll be a lot of fun. Is it the most credits/hour? Definitely not, but fun is the goal!

    5. Scavenging. Not salvaging, but scavenging. There's no mission to take. What you do here is you find hot spots where a lot of ships tend to get destroyed. There are PvP hot spots like Ghost Hollow, Jumptown (when the event is active), and many others. There are also places where ships tend to crash a lot like Port Olisar. Go to these locations and sift through the debris to find goodies. You'll find rare subscriber armor, ships components that sell for large amounts of money, rare weapons, etc.

    20 votes

  4. Comment on What was your first programming language, what languages do you know now, and what tips do you have for those trying to learn any of those? in ~comp

    wanderer
    Link Parent
    Thank you for this! He's actually shown some interest in leetcode challenges - maybe we'll dig into that.

    Thank you for this! He's actually shown some interest in leetcode challenges - maybe we'll dig into that.

  5. Comment on What are some of your favorite "easy reads"? in ~books

    wanderer
    Link
    "Competency Porn"! I enjoy sci-fi. Recent ones I've absolutely loved are Bobiverse series and Project Hail Mary.

    "Competency Porn"!

    It's the thrill of watching bright, talented people plan, banter, and work together to solve problems. It's not just "characters being good at a thing," particularly if that thing is fighting—otherwise, the term would apply to virtually all fiction—but specifically about using cleverness and hard work. Though the term mostly applies to realistic dramas, there's an element of Wish-Fulfillment to it, as characters in a competence porn series rarely have to deal with serious infighting, dead-end ideas, Vast Bureaucracy and the other difficulties that affect real-life groups. As a result, competence porn is overwhelmingly featured in works on the idealistic end of the Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism.

    I enjoy sci-fi. Recent ones I've absolutely loved are Bobiverse series and Project Hail Mary.

    9 votes

  6. Comment on Creatives, how do you feel about the impact of artificial intelligence on the future of art, illustration and design? in ~creative

    wanderer
    Link Parent
    The thought I keep coming back to is that in order for AI to work you need people to create things. Would it be possible to get Andy Warhol without Andy Warhol ever existing to train on? My...

    The thought I keep coming back to is that in order for AI to work you need people to create things. Would it be possible to get Andy Warhol without Andy Warhol ever existing to train on? My position is no.

    12 votes

  7. Comment on Star Citizen 3.19.1 ... actually mostly works?! in ~games

    wanderer
    Link
    SC is my main game. I play 4-5 times per week for hours at a time. I keep coming back to it because it offers me enjoyment that no other game can. Getting to that point requires months though. I...

    SC is my main game. I play 4-5 times per week for hours at a time. I keep coming back to it because it offers me enjoyment that no other game can. Getting to that point requires months though. I tried to get my friend into it and without my help there's no way he'd be able to stick to it. He'd just get frustrated and leave. But I was able to show him some awesome non-obvious gameplay loops and now he's hooked.

    That said I don't think it'll last. Crashes are pretty rare for me - maybe one crash every couple weeks. But the amount of bugs are numerous. Yes they can be worked around which is how I'm able to make it my main game. Buuuut... I don't think the stability is going to last. SC is going to be in a constant state of instability for at least another year IMO. But I just keep coming back! There's nothing like it.

    10 votes

  8. Comment on What was your first programming language, what languages do you know now, and what tips do you have for those trying to learn any of those? in ~comp

    wanderer
    Link Parent
    That's awesome! I have a kid in middle school who's learning how to program now. What kind of projects did you work on back then? What kept you motivated? He loves to code but I feel like he's...

    I self taught in middle school, and did them in parallel

    That's awesome! I have a kid in middle school who's learning how to program now.

    What kind of projects did you work on back then? What kept you motivated? He loves to code but I feel like he's struggling with practical application. These days it seems like every problem has a solution so he ends up just building a much worse version of something that already exists; which may be a demotivator.

    1 vote