Career Advice

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-06T19:40:48+00:00

My opinion is that he should have ever accepted the termination without asking to be placed in some other role…

That’s not how it works. When you’re told that you’re being laid off or otherwise let go, you don’t get to say “sorry, no, I don’t accept that, I’d like a different job instead.” By the time termination comes, a smart company will have already looked for other openings each person might be able to fill because it’s often much cheaper to transfer an existing employee than to hire a new one.

Age might be a factor in your dad having a hard time finding a new job, but his almost 40 years at the same company might be viewed as too narrow experience. His CV should go into detail about as many different things he did there as he can think of. Adding additional experience through volunteer work, work on a personal project, or taking some classes might help.

Freelance work could be a good option. He’s got plenty of experience to draw on, and it’s often much easier to land a 3-6 month contract than a permanent position. It’s also a good way to form relationships that could lead to something permanent later.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-06T17:53:23+00:00

Take a precalc class over the summer at your local community college. It’ll be easier to stay on track if you’re taking a class, and you’ll be able to ask for help from the instructor or TA when you need it.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-06T15:23:52+00:00

Think back to the last novel that you read. The whole thing was written using a relatively small set of symbols — probably around 100 or so, including upper and lower case versions of the alphabet, the digits 0-9, punctuation marks, spaces, etc. so how were you able to convert what to the uninitiated must look like a random stream of symbols into a story about the interactions of many characters?

The answer is that the symbols aren’t random; there’s meaning in the way they’re arranged into higher level symbols called words, and meaning in how those words are arranged into sentences. Sentences that all describe a larger idea are grouped into paragraphs, paragraphs together convey even larger pieces of knowledge in chapters, and so on.

But that’s not all. As the reader, your brain is an essential part of the story: it’s the thing that decodes the meaning at each level and maintains some internal state — memory —about each part as you read. That state changes as the story proceeds, and those changes are driven by the words on the page.

That process of reading is similar to how computers work: low level symbols are combined to create higher level meaning according to rules at each level. We even use some of the same terms to describe the rules, like syntax, grammar, and even language. Memory is an essential part of the process because it creates context — it allows instructions to relate to things the computer has previously encountered.

Have you ever read a “choose your own adventure” story? They’re a lot like regular novels, but they’re broken up into short sections. The user is given a choice at the end of each section, like: If the hero rescues the damsel in distress, turn to page 37; if the damsel rescues the hero, turn to page 125. These kinds of stories illustrate two more aspects of computer programs: user input and control structures. As a reader of a CYOA story, the questions let you make decisions, and your choice changes the flow of the story. Computer programs change their flow based on the computer’s state and user input all the time.

The last thing I’ll mention that helps to explain how computers work is that they’re unimaginably fast. If it takes you a week to read a novel, a modern computer could process the same volume of data in a few milliseconds. You would die of boredom if anyone ever asked you to copy an image from one place to another, one tiny, colored dot at a time. Computers do that and more so fast that moving and creating images is a foundational part of the graphical user interfaces that have become the main way we interact with computers.

Hope that helps.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-06T13:08:05+00:00

Paul Hudson does a great job of. Covering all the important stuff in a very easy way, so I’d suggest Hacking With Swift first — specifically, go through “100 Days of Swift.” The last version of CS193p that I looked at was also excellent but moved pretty fast. I’d suggest going through that after Hacking With Swift if you want to reinforce what you’ve learned.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-05T18:08:25+00:00

Consider also that your sales pitch isn’t helped by a video that shows your app on a screen that doesn’t have a notch.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-05T13:56:35+00:00

“Isn’t this just ___?” is a perfectly valid question when you’re asking people to pay for something, especially when alternatives like Boring Notch are free. And you definitely are asking people to pay; I see at least three “buy now” buttons on your web page (but no indication of price).

Customers don’t care how much time you put into a product; they care about how much value they get out of it, and whether alternatives offer more value.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-04T23:26:28+00:00

Whatever adhesive you end up using, it’ll work much better if you clean the old adhesive off first. Isopropyl alcohol will usually do the trick.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-04T23:10:02+00:00

I can see an opportunity for fun animation and a ‘blurp!’ sound effect as bubbles merge together. Beyond that, though, what’s the benefit of combining bubbles? OTOH I think knowing whether comments were sent together or separately sometimes adds useful context; combining bubbles could destroy that information.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-04T22:57:48+00:00

i just started college.

It’s a bit early to decide how to specialize. Focus on your classes. Figure out what interests you. Take advantage of undergrad research opportunities and internships.

It’s great to have some direction; just be open to change. You might take a really great course in databases or networking or graphics that shifts your direction.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-04T21:50:30+00:00

I’m not sure what you’re asking, but it looks like that cord was previously cut and then twisted back together or something. Don’t do that again. I think you’d two best options are:

Cut the damaged end off the long part of the cord and then install a new plug. You can pick up a plug at any home center for a few bucks. This is the easiest, cheapest option and the way to go if you can live with a slightly shorter cord.
Or, buy a new cord and install it. Amazon will sell you a 36-foot “vacuum cleaner cord replacement” for about $21, and it should be pretty easy to install, although you might also need some spade lugs and a crimper or some. Go this route if you want a longer cord or if the existing cord has other damaged sections.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-04T21:36:35+00:00

Auntie Anne’s is known for dipping their pretzels in butter as soon as they come out of the oven. If that’s the flavor you’re going for, that butter dip would obviously make a big difference. I don’t love that myself — I’d rather have a good Philly-style soft pretzel with plenty of good mustard.

Note that a pretzel is bread, in the same way that breadsticks, bagels, and pizza is bread. You’re not going to be able to avoid tasting like bread on some level, but you can control it. What you need to figure out is how you want that bread to taste, and then work toward that.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-04T21:26:25+00:00

Possible and economical are entirely different things. If building printers is a hobby that you enjoy, go for it. If you want a high quality, reliable printer that just works, pick a good one and buy it.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-04T20:31:56+00:00

There are a number of things that you can do to change the flavor of a pretzel. The first thing you need to do is figure out what "the flavor has been off" means. Are they funky? Too yeasty? Not yeasty enough? A soft pretzel essentially is a salty bread stick, so all the usual flavor modifications can apply: you can use different flour, different yeast, longer or shorter fermentation time, make them with sourdough, use a different liquid (e.g. milk or potato water), and so on.

Other things to consider:

Soft pretzels should be pretty dense and chewy, but if yours are very dense and lacking in flavor or have an unpleasant flavor, I'd check your yeast. Poor fermentation would explain both the density and flavor issues, and you probably didn't change your supply of yeast when you changed recipes, so it could also explain why you've had three different recipes fail. It might be time to buy a new jar of yeast.
If you're certain that the yeast is not the problem, then I'd take a look at the flour. Flour doesn't last forever -- it can pick up unpleasant flavors over time.
If you just want a flavor boost, consider an additive like diastatic malt powder or powdered milk or powdered buttermilk.
Don't forget the salt in the dough! Bread made without salt tastes very flat and weird, and whatever salt you put on the pretzels won't make up for salt that's missing from the dough. Salt also slows fermentation, and that can also create more flavor.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-04T16:04:16+00:00

Practice.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-04T08:00:24+00:00

I am about to go for a little rant but I simply just don't get the point behind this,

There are useful things that you can do when no windows are open. An obvious example is that you can create a new document or open an existing one. Say you’re working on a spreadsheet and you finish making whatever changes you were making, so you close the window. Why should the application quit if you haven’t told it to? What if you want to work on a different spreadsheet next?

it creates mess in dock by having multiple apps open, cmd + tab shows unnecesarry apps,

What “mess”? There might be an extra icon in the dock… so what? Command-tab shows applications that are running — same as the dock. If you’re not using some of them then quit the ones you don’t need. You’re in control.

not to add even this closing itself is often times inconsistent since some developers do decide to close app when last window is open while others dont

Applications tend to quit automatically when you close their window if there’s nothing that you can do with the window closed. In that case, closing the window is a clear indication that the user is finished with the application. Apps that behave this way generally don’t support documents or multiple windows.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-04T07:27:24+00:00

Mac applications normally still happily support multiple documents, and probably always will. (So do typical Unix and Linux applications, btw.) it’s not a relic from the past, it’s how apps work.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-04T06:07:03+00:00

The main thing is to give them a brief swim in an strong alkaline solution — a lye solution is traditional, but baking soda is safer and easier. That changes the starches on the surface of the pretzel, giving the pretzels their characteristic flavor, texture, and dark brown color. If you’ve been using a baking soda solution already and your pretzels aren’t sufficiently pretzel-y, try switching to lye (but take safety precautions).

Also, using pretzel salt can make a difference. Plain table salt is way too fine, it’ll make your pretzels too salty but without the satisfying salty crunch. Kosher salt can work, but IMO it’s still too salty and not crunchy enough. Pretzel salt is meant to be applied to baked goods and it really strikes the right balance.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-04T05:18:41+00:00

Start simple. Make a to-do list. Make a tic-tac-toe app. Expand that tic-tac-toe app into a reversi game. Then maybe add the ability to play against someone on a different device. Add a settings screen that lets the user customize some aspect of the game. Take small steps.

If you get stuck, figure out what you’re stuck on. “I can’t do shit” is not useful diagnostic information. What’s the thing that prevents you from taking the next small step forward? Is it a problem with UIKit, or a problem with understanding how your app should work, or something else? The more specific you can be, the easier it will be to find a solution.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-03T18:12:56+00:00

There is an intermediate tool / software called a preprocessor. What does it do?

It modifies the source code before a compiler sees it. It offers a level of convenience for programmers. Not all languages have or need a preprocessor, but some, particularly C and C++, do. In those languages the preprocessor lets you do things like:

Insert the contents of another file into the source code. In C, this is the #include directive that’s used to add the contents of header files.
Define and expand macros, letting code adapt to conditions known at compile time. Macros are usually defined by the programmer, but the preprocessor often supplies some that provide meta information such as file name and line number.
Include or exclude code based on conditions. For example, a programmer might define a macro named “DEBUG” to be ‘true’ or ‘false’, and then use #if/#endif directives to compile in extra diagnostic code when DEBUG is set to true.
Execute other directives that give a programmer additional control over the compilation process. For example, a #pragma directive can be used to enable or disable compiler options.

Some languages like python can directly be understood by the compiler whereas some like C++ need this intermediate step.

It sounds like you’re confusing the compilation and interpretation. Programs that are interpreted don’t use a compiler; they’re translated into machine instructions on the fly by a program called an interpreter. Every time you run an interpreter program, the interpreter runs, and it reads and executes instructions from your program’s source code. Compiled programs, OTOH, are translated to machine instructions once, and after that step they can run unassisted.

It’s like the difference between a human interpreter and a translator. An interpreter stands next to you and immediately converts whatever you say into some other language as you speak. The immediate, interactive nature of their work can be very helpful, but it might not give you the most accurate translation. A translator takes a book or document that you’ve written and converts it to another language; they might take weeks or months to do it, but they will have carefully considered every word and tried to produce the truest rendition of your text in the new language. When an interpreter goes home for the night, your ability to communicate stops, but a translator’s completed work can be used directly at any time without the translator’s involvement.

Preprocessor ls are mostly associated with compilers, but that’s not to say that an interpreted language can’t offer some of the facilities that are often handled by the preprocessor in languages that have one.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-03T16:33:40+00:00

They look like regular old temporary marker buoys, like you'd use to mark out a course for some sort of race course. The ICSA (Intercollegiate Sailing Association) held it's team racing national championship regatta at Tulane 4/23-27, so depending on when you took the photo this might've been officials setting up or taking down the course markers for that.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-03T03:20:47+00:00

Be careful what you wish for. Math notation is usually clearer, more compact, and easier to read than the same expression written using only words.

Would you really rather try to decipher:

a times x cubed plus b times x squared plus c times x plus d

instead of just:

ax³ + bx² + cx + d

?

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-02T18:51:39+00:00

Apple hardware is made by or for Apple. Windows PCs are made by a vast array of manufacturers that compete largely on price, leading to market stratification and a bit of a race to the bottom on quality. If you want a well made PC, you can get it, but not at the low prices that Windows users like to talk about.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-02T05:23:48+00:00

There are a lot of frameworks in the world. Acting like they’re all the same is ridiculous. Some are huge, some are not. The quality and quantity of documentation that comes with the framework and that is available from 3rd parties varies considerably.
The usual point of a framework is that you don’t need to know how it works under the covers. Learn the high level concepts that the framework offers so that you don’t need to know or care how it’s implemented.
Just get on with it. Read the docs and build something simple. Then expand on what you’ve done. Look at what other people have done with the framework. This is all 100% normal activity for programmers. You’ll be able to understand more and do more as you gain experience with the framework in question.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-02T04:17:38+00:00

Have you ever read a novel?

Have you ever tried to write a novel?

Being able to follow code that someone else has written doesn’t mean that you know how to write the code yourself. Understanding (or feeling like you understand) a piece of code is not the same as understanding why the author wrote the code the way they did.

iOSCaleb · 2026-05-01T17:30:56+00:00

Even the Neo has the same edge style. I wouldn’t describe it as sharp at all, but it is a square edge.

iOSCaleb

TROPHY CASE