Spider Strategies | Senior Java/Web Developer | REMOTE (USA) | Full-time, 4-day work week (8-hour days) | https://www.spiderstrategies.com/overview

Spider Strategies is seeking passionate full stack engineers to join our rapidly growing team. We’re the creators of Spider Impact, the leading Balanced Scorecard software in the market. As we expand into the broader business intelligence market and AI, we're looking for talented individuals to help take our company to the next level.

We believe in the importance of work-life balance, which is why we offer a 4-day work week with 8-hour days. This encourages our developers to enjoy full lives outside of work, and allows them to tackle challenging problems with clear heads when they’re on the clock.

Requirements: Java and/or Kotlin (3+ years), JavaScript (3+ years), Test-driven development, SQL, HTML

Our Tech Stack: Our application uses Java and Kotlin to connect a relational database backend to a modern web frontend. We're looking for a full stack developer who can code a complete feature spanning the entire application stack. Don't worry if CSS isn't your strong suit - we have some CSS experts in-house who've got you covered.

Code Quality and Developer Productivity: With 20 years of experience developing our flagship software, we understand the importance of writing code that stands the test of time. We place a big emphasis on code quality, developer productivity, and test-driven development. This includes writing simple software that is easy to understand and maintain. By focusing on simplicity, we ensure that our codebase is more reliable, easier to debug, and can be efficiently extended and adapted as our business grows. You'll be expected to be familiar with industry best practices and participate in code reviews to maintain our high standards of code quality.

To help you stay productive, we provide top-of-the-line equipment, minimize unnecessary meetings and ceremonies, and allow you to work without interruption from the comfort of your home.

You can find more details and apply for the job at https://www.spiderstrategies.com/careers/remote-senior-java-...

Joel Spolsky’s classic on why you shouldn’t rewrite software pops up in my memory on a regular basis: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/04/06/things-you-should-...

I make frequent use of the “rule of 3”. Jeff Atwood had a good post about it: https://blog.codinghorror.com/rule-of-three/

And whenever I think of my old job, I always remember Erik Dietrich’s classic on the Expert Beginner https://daedtech.com/how-developers-stop-learning-rise-of-th...

As someone who is both a “bad writer” and a “petty critic”, I think this is pretty solid advice.

> I personally think, in practice technology like this will only delay getting to net zero, because the existence of this will disincentivize investments in electrification. I recall Sun Tzu's claim that a force completely surrounded will fight fiercely, but if you give a way out, it will look to escape or retreat.

I think you’re misapplying Sun Tzu’s lesson. An attempt to completely and immediately replace the fossil fuel industry will be met with fierce resistance, and thus be more likely to fail. Whereas a more gradual approach (like carbon neutral-ish green hydrogen) gives much of the industry around fossil fuels an opportunity to survive longer, and perhaps gives you a better chance of success.

Is this actually true? Maybe, maybe not. But that would seem to be the implication of Sun Tzu’s strategy.

It’s benefiting the residents who use the improved public transit.

The externality applies to residents who do not take public transit too. The two decisions should not be coupled.

If you want to do a Pigovian tax, do a Pigovian tax properly. If you want to do congestion pricing, make it budget neutral to users. If you want transfer payments, do that and call it that.

I love scifi art from this era. La Vie Électrique (1890) had some killer illustrations. I highlighted some of my favorites here:

https://sundry.jerryorr.com/2023/10/28/la-vie-electrique

these are pretty cool! thanks!

> If you find yourself having trouble focusing on a task or you’re procrastinating about something, stop working on it immediately. This is your subconscious telling you something is wrong.

Absolutely, and it's one of the benefits of having years of experience writing software. Sometimes my instincts tell me something is off, even if I can't yet identify exactly what it is. Coming back to the problem later with a fresh perspective can do wonders.

> “The legislature is doing a bill, they are trying to protect our meat,” DeSantis said, alluding to the effort. “And we’re gonna have meat in Florida; we’re not gonna do that fake meat — that doesn’t work.”

How does someone like this get to be governor?

I'm probably stating the obvious, but eBay is a good bet for a lot of this stuff. Maybe just list a bunch of it, and if it doesn't sell in the limited timeframe you have, then you get rid of it through some other means.

That is a fascinating collection of stuff! I hope you're able to find a home for it.

Edit: there are also lots of retro arcade enthusiast groups out there. I don't know where you live, but I'd search for groups like that near you. This seems like something that would be a treasure trove for them.

Thanks for the tip that’s a good idea I’ll see if there’s any retro arcade groups or meetups and see if they want any of this. I’d love to give it away to a group like that.

I’m not too keen on selling this stuff on eBay due to my limited timeframe.

> the more complex and unique your problems are, the more it makes sense to roll your own.

Of course, everyone thinks their problems are complex and unique.

How many data points do you need to uniquely represent every person in earth? I bet its a smaller number then the number of constraints and requirements in your system.