wundumguy's recent activity
-
Comment on Is AI actually useful for anyone here? in ~tech
-
Comment on Is AI actually useful for anyone here? in ~tech
wundumguy LinkAI has been massively helpful for me both personally and professionally. I really like AI, but I dislike when others use it to be lazy. Garbage in, garbage out. I think those that WANT to like AI...AI has been massively helpful for me both personally and professionally. I really like AI, but I dislike when others use it to be lazy. Garbage in, garbage out. I think those that WANT to like AI but don't get value out of it can use some advice on how to use it better. Here's a couple examples that I like.
Job searching example
As an example for how it's useful for me personally, it's been massively helpful for job searching. Using Claude, I started a new chat and attached my resume. I enabled "Web Search," "Research," and "Extended Thinking" modes and described to it the ideal job I'm looking for, types of companies I like, and job titles. It asked a few clarifying questions, then it searched hundreds of sites for job openings and the like, and delivered a report of companies with job openings worth applying to. It listed several companies I had not already considered, which was very helpful.
Now I'm using it for interview preparation. In Claude, I've created a project, attached my resume and a prompt that says "Give deep dives on companies and products specified by the user. Find the company's competitors, their health, an understanding of their culture, their strategy, their customer base, and potential for future plans (eg IPO, acquisition, privatize, etc.)" etc.
When I have an interview with a company, I'll create a new chat within this project, turn on Web Search, Research, and Extended Thinking modes, and attach a PDF of the LinkedIn profile of the person I'll be speaking to. This gives me a comprehensive report on the company with speaking points that emphasize my strengths and fit for the role. With the other person's LinkedIn profile, I can generate sample interview questions that they may ask based on their background. I've used this generated report as context for ChatGPT to have a back-and-forth with its voice chat to have a realistic mock interview.
This story doesn't have a happy ending yet as I'm still on the market, but this has been massively beneficial in helping me prepare for interviews and understand a company's position in the market.
Professional use case example
I'm a product manager in software. I've attached my Claude to an Atlassian MCP server which gives it access to Confluence and Jira. At my company, we have an "Epic template" which helps create thorough specifications for engineering to work on projects and features. I attach that as context, and I attach a prompt for more context that describes my company, what its products do, how they fit together, and my products specifically. I'll start creating the epic once I have a fully formed idea of what I expect it to look like after conversations with customers, engineering, and other stakeholders.
Then, I describe to Claude the epic I want to create in detail. Sometimes I do this with voice. I've spoken for up to nine minutes before with a stream of consciousness about the feature including its value, its architecture, its downstream impacts, its dependencies, the scope of the effort, etc. Then I ask Claude to output an Epic in the specified format. I tell it to send this draft to Jira and give me the link. I'll then click the link to review the Jira, correct errors, add things it missed, delete stuff that's unnecessary, add background info, and publish it when I'm satisfied with it. I may only be satisfied with it after getting other stakeholders to review it.
-
Comment on What are your goto cocktails? in ~food
wundumguy LinkI stopped drinking and surprisingly quickly found my alternative. I've had mocktails that are good but it's a challenge to not finish them in less than two minutes. I wanted something that's easy...I stopped drinking and surprisingly quickly found my alternative. I've had mocktails that are good but it's a challenge to not finish them in less than two minutes. I wanted something that's easy to make without a bunch of cocktail-making gear, and something without a lot of calories.
1 can zero sugar ginger ale
1 splash cranberry juice
1oz DHOS bittersweet aperitifPour the juice/aperitif over ice, add the ginger ale, stir. The cranberry juice and aperitif total about 30 calories and it's delicious but tart enough to make me sip it slowly.
I'm still hunting for a good old fashioned replacement, but I don't have much hope there.
-
Comment on How do you feel about your PTO? in ~life
wundumguy Link ParentI love "unlimited PTO" talk. My current company has unlimited PTO. My last company had generous PTO, and the one before that had standard PTO but with a weird twist. My current unlimited PTO...I love "unlimited PTO" talk. My current company has unlimited PTO. My last company had generous PTO, and the one before that had standard PTO but with a weird twist.
My current unlimited PTO matches your experience. I was hesitant with it, because studies show that employees usually take LESS time off. However, if you KNOW that's what happens and make a conscious effort to take time off, you'll probably be alright. That said, the time-off behavior comes from the top down. My boss in particular took a straight month off last year. In turn, I took off looks it up 31 days throughout the year (that's in addition to holidays). That's pretty good!
At my previous company with generous PTO, I took a normal amount of time off I guess. The best part is after I departed, I got a full paycheck's worth of PTO to cash out (80 hours). That's the biggest thing about my current job with unlimited PTO; I haven't "earned" any PTO that I'm entitled to. So I'm going to use as much as I can.
The company I worked at previously with "standard" PTO was something like 3 weeks a year with a week of sick leave. Strangely, one day we get an email from HR saying "hey everybody we're going to pay out your PTO and now you just gotta track it separately." Once again I got 80-ish hours' worth of extra pay in my next paycheck, and from that point on you had to coordinate PTO with your boss. Your boss was supposed to track your usage and slap down anything that exceeded what you're "supposed" to get, but in reality it became a quasi-unlimited-PTO. It was poorly enforced and I didn't mind it, but I left shortly afterwards so I don't know how that worked long term.
-
Comment on What do you like about your job? in ~talk
wundumguy LinkI told my boss there's three things that I consider the "legs" of the "stool" that I like about my job. If one of the legs is missing, or one of the legs are too short, then the stool falls over...I told my boss there's three things that I consider the "legs" of the "stool" that I like about my job. If one of the legs is missing, or one of the legs are too short, then the stool falls over and I'm unhappy with my job. These legs are equal lengths.
- The pay - I'm paid well and that needs to continue being the case
- The boss - I like my boss and our relationship needs to stay strong
- The product - I like the things I'm working on.
I need to reconsider this and evolve it a little, because lately I'm thinking this may not be enough. For example, I like the product, but not necessarily enough of the people working on it. I like my boss, but I don't spend enough time with him. In my mind, that makes those two legs of the stool a little shorter, but not short enough to topple over yet.
-
Comment on Woman sues US fertility clinic, saying she gave birth to another patient’s baby in ~health
wundumguy LinkMy wife and I were worried an article like this could be written about us. We did IVF and successfully had a healthy baby boy with the same skin color, but he didn't look like either of us....My wife and I were worried an article like this could be written about us. We did IVF and successfully had a healthy baby boy with the same skin color, but he didn't look like either of us. Friends and family would claim, "he looks like mom!" or "he looks like dad!" without ever really sounding convinced. We very seriously considered the possibility that an embryo mixup occurred, but if it did, we would keep him no matter what because we love him.
After several years, I drunkenly ordered an AncestryDNA testing kid (Black Friday deal!). Without telling my wife (she'd freak out), I had my kid spit in a tube before daycare and shipped the package to the lab to get analyzed. After several weeks, we got the results back. He's definitely ours. My wife thought the situation was hilarious, and relieving.
That this woman got her baby taken away is a tragedy. I know it was the wrong embryo, I know it's not the same DNA, but this woman grew the baby with her body with the intention all along of keeping "her" baby. That Murray (the woman in the article) now has to undergo all the invasive IVF treatments again if she wants another child (without guaranteed success!) is crazy. That the "donor" couple got a free surrogate is wild. Many couples anonymously donate extra embryos all time, and I'm shocked the donor couple claimed the baby.
-
Comment on The ideal candidate will be punched in the stomach in ~health.mental
wundumguy LinkI normally don't read these long articles because I usually have something better to do. But today, my job is slow, so I read it all. And then I started to relate to it. Clearly, "getting punched...I normally don't read these long articles because I usually have something better to do. But today, my job is slow, so I read it all. And then I started to relate to it. Clearly, "getting punched in the stomach" is a metaphor for doing something you don't enjoy at your job, but it worked so well in regards to explaining physical issues that arise from doing work you despise.
I'm in a weird place where I don't love my work, it pays extraordinarily well, and I can do it just fine. But without that "fulfillment" piece, I'm not as happy as I feel I should be. I used to think "the dream" was getting paid like Bighead in Silicon Valley for doing nothing, but yet each job I get usually ends up that way and I eventually drift into ennui and dissatisfaction. A new job, thus far, doesn't seem to do it for me. I don't know how to fix this cycle.
I thought it was interesting that the narrator in the story mentions a spouse exactly once in regards to getting benefits after quitting.
-
Building games with LLMs to help my kid learn math
9 votes -
Comment on How multitasking drains your brain - a neurologist discusses in ~health.mental
wundumguy Link ParentStop multitasking! Get back to reading the article buddy!I still need to finish reading the article...
Stop multitasking! Get back to reading the article buddy!
-
Comment on This could be the beginning of the end for fire insurance in California in ~finance
wundumguy Link ParentToday, insurance companies just aren't working with high risk communities; you just can't buy insurance from them anymore! I like the idea of an insurance company offering you $X to rebuild your...insurance companies need to work with high risk communities
Today, insurance companies just aren't working with high risk communities; you just can't buy insurance from them anymore!
I like the idea of an insurance company offering you $X to rebuild your house where it was, or >$X to build somewhere else. That would incentivize people to rebuild somewhere less fire prone.
-
Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food
wundumguy Link ParentFunny you use the word "willpower," because the book I read to help me quit didn't require willpower at all. Instead of "giving up" alcohol, I'm gaining the benefits of nondrinkingFunny you use the word "willpower," because the book I read to help me quit didn't require willpower at all. Instead of "giving up" alcohol, I'm gaining the benefits of nondrinking
-
Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food
wundumguy Link ParentI love mixing flavors with the sodastream! And honestly there's too many benefits to quitting alcohol to really call it "hard"I love mixing flavors with the sodastream! And honestly there's too many benefits to quitting alcohol to really call it "hard"
-
Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food
wundumguy LinkOne thing I've STOPPED drinking is alcohol. Instead I've been drinking lots of fizzy water, Soda stream concoctions, coffee, and energy drinks. It's not a New Year's Resolution or Dry January...One thing I've STOPPED drinking is alcohol. Instead I've been drinking lots of fizzy water, Soda stream concoctions, coffee, and energy drinks.
It's not a New Year's Resolution or Dry January thing, I just needed to stop before it became a real problem
-
Comment on Oatly loses right to call its drinks ‘milk’ in landmark UK ruling – lexical dispute with trade body Dairy UK argued slogan ‘Post Milk Generation’ was misleading to consumers in ~food
wundumguy LinkOK just call it "oatmilk" and get away with it like Subway gets away with a <12-inch "footlong."OK just call it "oatmilk" and get away with it like Subway gets away with a <12-inch "footlong."
-
Comment on What’s your “I didn’t know I needed that” item? in ~life
-
Comment on We built our house for LAN parties in ~games
wundumguy Link ParentI've been thinking about this comment today. I think it's natural and evolutionary to envy someone who has more than us. And that's okay! It's partially what drives us to work harder and do more...I've been thinking about this comment today. I think it's natural and evolutionary to envy someone who has more than us. And that's okay! It's partially what drives us to work harder and do more to better our station.
But it's also important to be thankful for what we have, because chances are, if you have a roof over your head and food in your fridge, you're in a pretty good spot. There will always be the hedonistic treadmill, and we need to find ways to avoid running on it.
I'm grateful you're able to change your perspective before you wrote this comment, and like others said, you should really be proud of yourself to be in that kind of headspace.
-
Comment on We built our house for LAN parties in ~games
-
Comment on We built our house for LAN parties in ~games
-
We built our house for LAN parties
64 votes -
Comment on New gaming PCs - price sanity check and recommendations? in ~games
wundumguy Link ParentCame here to say this. From what I've read, target the "Outstanding" level, which aims to stay just under the inflection point where high-end price gouging sets inCame here to say this. From what I've read, target the "Outstanding" level, which aims to stay just under the inflection point where high-end price gouging sets in
Two different licenses