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Excellent! 
Real programmers use butterflies
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About 10 years ago I was doing one day a week freelance fixing up a local school's admin system. The IT teacher introduced me to one young 13-yo lad who was keen to learn. I spent my lunch breaks tutoring him at a level way above the rest of his IT class; he was a quick learner and enthusiastic. A couple of weeks ago I checked him on LinkedIn. On leaving school he setup a couple of startups, one working with management of cloud-based security, before getting a developer role with a company building a P2P networking tool for youngsters suffering mental health issues; then a senior engineer role with a predictive marketing company, also involved in the hiring process for his employer.
Sometimes the "rush" can be delayed by quite a few years!
(Not that I can take all the credit for his success - he was the sort of lad who would make it, whatever his circumstances)
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Not an addiction so much as a desire to know things. I have learned so much since I stopped working, and am always interested in new stuff. The only problem is that my brain is slower these days, and it takes longer for things to sink in, and it needs to be repeated so many times.
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The older I get the more inquisitive I get, I'm constantly learning new things.
Is it an addiction...yes. next thing you'll be trying to get your fridge to talk to your toaster.
I'm not sure how many cookies it makes to be happy, but so far it's not 27.
JaxCoder.com
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It's true though! 
Real programmers use butterflies
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I do feel wasted the day I do not read/watch something new... And it not all for programming at all...
"The only place where Success comes before Work is in the dictionary." Vidal Sassoon, 1928 - 2012
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One of the interesting things I have found after becoming really old is there is so much one could learn that you can be rather selective about what you choose to learn. Unfortunately I don't have the time to learn everything I want to.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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Not at first, but eventually, I found out what my aptitudes. They had been expressing themselves since, well, always - but it was accepting what they were and what they weren't that took a while.
They more or less fit well with the latin phrase:Quote: Aut viam inveniam aut faciam - Hannibal
It has two faces: you can find someone more proficient than I but you will not easily find someone who's better at solving your problems. Basically a lifetime stream of inventions (whether as inventive solutions or actual physical objects). The 'Necessity is the mother of invention' thing does play into it but it isn't always necessity - or maybe better put - it becomes a personal necessity . . .
. . . and that's the greatest fun. Coding is fun, but it's somewhat indirect. By the time my fingers start their dance on the keyboard they're following a path already worked out and still evolving. Putting imagination into practice - relaxing; absorbing - playing!
Learning new things is a part. Reusing old things in new ways is a part. I'm not even sure there's truly a difference.
Something possibly explained when someone tells me I "think outside of the box" and all I can think of as a suitable reply is "what box" ?
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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W∴ Balboos, GHB wrote: when someone tells me I "think outside of the box" and all I can think of as a suitable reply is "what box" ?
I can understand that. I have a gift in that area as well but in part because I cheat. I went mad. It helps.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Let me feed you a new obsessive imperative:
The parser parser. Maybe the wrong name for it but my posts on CP ofttimes reflect the need.
The spell checker within most browsers is a parser (no?). The problem is that it will mess with words and change them to other words (or put first char on a new line to UC when it's not appropriate and without even asking).
I sometimes look at my posts a little later and sigh about the corrected spelling of the (now) wrong word.
So we need a parser to parse the parsed.
Or, maybe it's time - your Opus Magnum - akin to "one ring to rule them all" and you make "THE ÜBER-PARSER".
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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A parser wouldn't be what you'd use to implement a spell checker unless you were doing weird context sensitive spelling matches. If spellcheckers did that, they'd actually correct using the right words. However, context sensitive parsing is slow and painful and involves things like grammar rewriting on the fly so you can't create optimized tables from it. It's all terribly resource intensive, not really "real-time" (to use the term loosely).
There might be better ways to do it using machine learning though. It's a bit outside my wheelhouse but I think the idea of using it here is sound. You'd also need a way to report bad corrections and for people to actually do it, I think. Again, it's not my area of expertise.
Real programmers use butterflies
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Rolling back a bit further into our branch of the thread.
Gone "Mad", have you?
I've been "different" for a long time - peering out at the world from behind my eyes. There is one realization you may wish to consider.
"Normal" is defined by those with the power to do so - basically, the people who "run the world". The world's in pretty bad shape - so, not being considered normal is a clear indication I'm not amongst those who've messed things up.
Overall, the above has a single message - if you haven't already, EMBRACE THE MADNESS. Take comfort in it as a loyal companion.
| Ravings en masse^ |
|---|
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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W∴ Balboos, GHB wrote: "Normal" is defined by those with the power to do so
Channeling Foucault are we? After my own heart, you are. I've been okay with being different for a long time.
And yes, I'm quite mad. Got the certificate and everything.
I've always been comfortable with being weird. Being crazy is a different story - some days are better than others, but that's life. On the other hand, because of it I've seen some things nobody else will. I take the good where I can find it.
Real programmers use butterflies
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I had to google Foucault.
My own self-image has been more akin to some unholy admixture of Kurt Vonnegut and Voltaire.
= posted in "The Best of All Possible Lounges" . . . or not. And so it goes.
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Good company. At risk of dipping my toes in the political, Voltaire has been particularly apropos these days. 
Real programmers use butterflies
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I think Machiavelli is more predictive - it worked nearly half a millennium ago when he wrote "The Prince" - and it obviously still works today.
Perhaps it's comforting to know that
(1) the good old days weren't so good
(2) tech notwithstanding, people haven't gotten any smarter
| Ravings en masse^ |
|---|
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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yeah, i can get behind that.
Real programmers use butterflies
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honey the codewitch wrote: It's all very fun, but now I worry I'm going to get lost in it to the expense of everything else.
There's an "everything else" you have to worry about?
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In seriousness I used to live like there wasn't. But that's no way to live, either - getting sucked down every rabbit hole I find is endlessly fascinating, but what about social relationships for example?
Real programmers use butterflies
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I still like to learn, but I have changed a bit my priorities when I got the kids.
I still try to learn tech for my job and private.
But I now spend a lot of more time playing with the kids and handicrafting for them or for the house, since I do a lot of basic furniture on my own.
My next big tech project will be the automation of my future new house, for what I have a lot of ideas. I will give some of the parts to companies (but I will still learn a bit before to be able to manage a bit or to avoid getting fooled), but I will do some (specially the security parts) myself.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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I'd like to work in a R&D role, or somewhere where my job was to try out new tech, etc. instead of just writing business software. I guess there's a thrill in working with something new / different and it also satisfies curiosity.
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I don't think it goes away (if you've got the time!). Back in my middle 50's I started working on devices that did all kinds of audio processing (audio control units for 911 call taker stations). All kinds of tone generation/detection, digital filters, AGC, etc. It was exciting times for me learning a new area of embedded systems. It would have easier though if I could have remembered more of the math I'd learned back in college (in the 70's).
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In the past, I have had some deadend jobs without much learning. During those times, I took on new learning experiences building a water-cooled computer one time and a 504 hp engine that got me 30 mpg another. When I cannot learn on the job, I am so driven to learn that a new project will always pop up.
Now I am getting older and slower, and money is tight. Projects for learning are often slow and meticulous things that don't drain brain or wallet.
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early on in my career I learned everything I could get my hands on, now much further down the road I'm a little more careful on what I want to learn and balance it with home life.
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If there is a supernatural way that can gives the information exactly what will happen in your future of your life time, all the major and minor events and the details of each incidents and exact timeline.
Will you choose to know it? Do you want to know it?
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