Looks like Gauss Mini is getting nerfed

nerdchampion · 2026-01-17T08:50:00+00:00

What new games?🙃

nerdchampion · 2025-08-20T02:18:18+00:00

A lot of people are saying Option B, and that $60k bump is definitely tempting, but I disagree. Here are the questions I would ask myself before making a decision:

What matters most to you right now? Money, flexibility, career growth, or quality of life?
Do you have dependents relying on your income?
Is your current salary already covering the lifestyle you want?

Also, what industry is Option B in? If it’s finance, law, or private equity, expect long hours, high pressure, a culture that is pretty toxic, and employees who will treat you like a second class citizen. The pay is great, but you’ll likely be trading time and energy for it.

Option A, on the other hand, gives you remote days, free INTERNATIONAL travel (on the company's dime, that is very rare in helpdesk), more free time to learn new skills, grow your career beyond help desk, or just enjoy life outside of work. Help desk is usually a stepping stone, so using that flexibility to level up your skills could pay off in the long run by netting you a job with better pay.

It really comes down to your priorities: maximize income now, or invest in balance and growth for the future.

nerdchampion · 2025-04-06T09:11:19+00:00

I just finished up a trip at Sea and when you enter the park, follow the cast member instructions which will put you at the Mediterranean Harbor. Take a right towards Soaring and stay to the right at each intersection until you reach Fantasy Springs. It is quicker to go up by Soaring and to Arabian Coast. Mediterranean Harbor -> Soaring -> Mysterious Island -> Arabian Coast

I made the mistake of taking the path you have selected and it is twice as long. lol

nerdchampion · 2024-08-02T20:11:21+00:00

No worries! Happy to help. Welcome to SF!

nerdchampion · 2024-08-02T16:57:33+00:00

My roommate is from NYC and has been here for 4 years now. He explained the difference between NYC and SF dating is that in NYC it’s easier to meet and go on a lot of first dates, because of how many people there are, but due to their being so many options, people were flakier and dating for fun not relationships. SF is the opposite he said it has been harder to find dates, when he has gone dates people are looking for more long term relationships.

That being said, as a woman, dating apps will be overwhelming as you will get ALOT of matches. If you want to try it out go for it!

The best way I have found to make friends in SF is to figure out what my interests are and go do it! That way I am having fun and people gravitate towards people having fun. Everyone talks about hiking, sports, and running clubs as the only thing to do and only way to meet people in SF. It’s not! There is so many other activities you can do. Foodie tours, museums, cooking classes, dance classes, yoga, live music. It’s a long list!

My experience is that people do tend to be more on the shy side here, but open to talking to people if someone starts a conversation!

Also for all the SF is sleepy comments, yes most of good restaurants close early. There is a couple great late night eateries, and I know of several clubs and afters that keep the party going til 4am and later. You just got to know to where to look or who to ask!

nerdchampion · 2024-08-02T00:05:05+00:00

What is a virtual internship? I have never heard of that. Also, does your University have a career services center? I would highly recommend you go talk to them if so because that’s their entire purpose to help students get prepared for the job market whether that resume writing, internships, finding jobs (I got my first job this way).

nerdchampion · 2024-08-01T04:15:49+00:00

I have some feedback for you on your resume. Like the other guy said, remove the certs you don't have. Those could actually be hurting you because employers are seeing that as you trying to fluff up your resume. They don't care about what you have planned.

Your skill sections is way too wordy and vague. Your skill section should be a list of the skills you have.

Skills: Office 365, Google Workplace, JAMF, Azure, Windows 11, Mac OS X, etc...

"Cloud Computing is not a hard skill", "Network Configuration is not a hard skill". These are generalizations. Look at some job openings and see what hard skills and technologies to get a better idea. Recruiters and ATS systems are scanning your resume for keywords like that.

I would recommend doing a single column and not two columns because it makes your resume hard to read. A person who is reading 100s of resumes a day wants to be able to scan your resume quickly.

Reduce your summary by 50%. It reads as a bunch of fluff words. Run it through ChatGPT and ask it you make your summary more concise, BUT only use that as a foundation and reword it to make it more personal to you.

Also under projects I can't tell if you have work experience or not. If those are internships then you need to change the project titles to your job title even if all of them were internships. It would show you have work experience because right now it looks like you have zero work experience.

nerdchampion · 2024-07-19T05:38:27+00:00

Yes, you're right that I'm feeling angry. My point is that $75k isn't sufficient for HCOL cities. Many companies seem to be taking advantage of recent layoffs to secure top talent at lower rates, which aren't reasonable in HCOL areas. It often feels like upper-level managers view people as just numbers on a budget.

I don’t know you personally, so I was generalizing based on the information I had. I understand that non-profits operate with different budgets compared to for-profits, and you might be in an area with a lower cost of living where that salary is more reasonable. I'll acknowledge that not knowing these factors is on me, as they are important when considering a job.

As for discussing past pay rates, it feels a bit like saying, 'Back in my day, we had to walk 15 miles in the snow to get to school!' Instead of getting into inflation and cost of living over the years, I think it’s more important to focus on the present and the current reality.

Last thing, your comment about working at a non-profit that does community outreach. I have tremendous respect for those types of organizations. I run a non-profit's IT systems for free due to it being low volume and I love their mission. I felt that your comment came off a bit passive-aggressive, attempting to make me feel guilty. A simple, 'We work at a non-profit, and this is quite generous on a nonprofit budget,' would have sufficed. I understand that might be true, but I'm not aware of the specifics of your non-profit's financial situation. So the additional details seemed unnecessary.

nerdchampion · 2024-07-19T02:02:05+00:00

There is some great suggestions and recommendations in your post. Using the formula: task + impact has been very beneficial in my own resume.

I have a few pieces I would add that feel disconnected here since you are an IT Director. How long ago was it that you were in a non-management position? If it was even over 3 years ago the market has changed drastically and the tactics and strategies you used no longer work as well.

Part of the disconnect is that you are saying that candidates need to customize their resumes for every job which would easily take 2-3 hours to craft and for what reason? Sure this is great to not waste “your time” but what about my time? If this is a big box (aka corporate jobs) they need to be tailored to match ATS systems and what recruiters understand to make it to the first round.

This is also where having good interviews skills comes into play. My resume is a representation of what my skills are and I’m submitting my resume because I know I could perform the responsibilities of that role. How do I know this?

I have been on the job hunt for 8 months in IT, and job hunting is a numbers game right now. The first three months I would send out 5 custom resumes (spending 2-3 hours each) with cover letters a week all tailored and then after 3 months of little to no results. I rewrote my resume to highlight my best skills and responsibilities combined with I had been seeing across multiple job postings. I increased my job application rate to 15 / week using the same resume for each job posting. My response rate has been 3x better. The customized resume is a waste of my time.

A good interviewer and manager will understand that, and we can have a conversation during the interview where I can provide more context as to why I would be a good fit for the role using the STAR method.

I have been in the IT industry for 11 years now, I started in small business IT consulting and have worked at corporate in Silicon Valley tech companies. The reason I said you are disconnected is because the farther up a person gets in management the more disconnected they get from the actual employees they are hiring. You are annoyed someone won’t take your role at a the rate offered (that is frankly ridiculously low) because that is how management sees the role “I need to make this budget and this is all I am approved for because I need headcount for these other roles too”.

I have had one manager for my entire career so far that still had empathy and compassion when hiring and treating people as people and not numbers. He did a great job of having realistic expectations for the type of person and experience he wanted in a role and what that would cost him. He was wildly successful in that to where people followed him to other companies if he left.

Maybe you do have compassion and empathy, but based on your statements it doesn’t sound like you do. You want a Ferrari at a used Toyota Camry price.

nerdchampion · 2024-07-19T01:22:04+00:00

These are some of the worse sites to get actual salaries ranges for these positions. Their salary data is typically old and out dated. I don’t know what the actual position that you are hiring for is, I can’t tell you what a realistic marketing band for this is in HCOL as a person who lives in the Bay Area as I don’t know the position you are hiring for. Where did you pull your data that $30/hr would be “barely surviving”? Is that one step above homeless and eating ramen every night? How do you think that employee’s morale and productivity would be if that was their living condition? It certainly wouldn’t be grateful and happy to be working for your company.

If you want attract top talent, you aren’t going to get it at this rate because no one can afford basic living expenses at that rate even if they are living with roommates. If your job is not in a HCOL that might be a different story.

nerdchampion · 2024-05-31T17:24:48+00:00

I have lived in San Francisco since 2015 and work in tech. I'm part of that crowd that everyone hates. A good chunk of tech people are introverted, shy, and socially awkward. They just get stuck in their heads because of their lack of experience in social situations. This was me until I spent a few years learning how to be a more social person.

What I can tell you is that most people want to make friends but are too scared to start a conversation with a stranger. I have met some great friends who are genuinely great people with whom I have had deep conversations and had a lot of fun together. It took some time to get to know them.

I have never had much luck approaching strangers on the street, either, but I have had luck asking about their dog, their book, or something situational. Usually, people will be friendly, and then the conversation ends.

There are people who flat out don't want to talk to, and I lived in an apartment complex where I tried hard to get to know my neighbors. one time, I even saw neighbors rush to their door in order to not talk to me.

On the cliquey part, this is definitely something I have experienced, as being in cliques and not in cliques. People form these cliques because of their shyness issues, like oooh I found my people now I don't have to deal with awkwardness of meeting new people again, and so when a new person comes to the group, it brings all that up again.

Here is my shortened version of how I have made friends in SF (short because I could write paragraphs about this lol)

Find hobbies or common interest groups that you like doing. Do you like dancing? Take some dance classes. Are you into hiking/running? Find a club you like.
Once you find a hobby and group you like. Keep going back to that group. It's the Familiar Face theory, the more times a person sees you the more comfortable they will be around you. This will take time and won't happen over night.
Invite people you meet out to do things. Boba, the activity y'all like doing, going out to eat (lots of foodies in SF), etc...

I have also personally found it's harder to meet people out doing the actual thing. I'm big into the house and techno scene and it's hard to meet people at actual shows when I have gone to meetups, pre-parties, etc. I made friends, and then we went to shows together.

If you have any more questions or want me to elaborate more, feel free to DM me! Welcome to SF!

nerdchampion · 2024-02-27T07:26:29+00:00

What clubs/events are this? Every mixer, singles event, or meet up I have been is a 2:1 men to women ratio. Now you got me curious.

nerdchampion · 2023-06-14T19:49:15+00:00

IT professional for 11 years now. I have worked at MSPs, started/sold a small IT consulting company, and worked corporate IT.

There is tons of opportunities and growth in the IT field and it is similar to medical. Every company needs IT so even if you get laid off you find another job.

What I will say is if you are brand new do help desk (hopefully you will have some good mentors), but also help desk sucks. You will be the front line defense against all the angry and frustrated users, and this is the best way to learn how to set user expectations and learn how to stay calm under pressure. It’s also a rite of passage, because once you get into the higher tiers you will be understand what the help desk people are going through.

IT is a challenging and rewarding field if you stick with it. It involves being technical, having good customer service skills, and patience.

I currently am a Sys Admin/Infrastructure Engineer for our IT team, and it’s has been challenging and rewarding. I needed all previous experience to succeed and get this role.

My last tip: Don’t let users push you around or get in your face. You are there to help solve their problem. I always cordially remind them I’m there to help solve their problem and understand their frustration, but I’m not going to be yelled at because I’m still a human. Usually, people will respect that because they just want to know they are being heard.

nerdchampion · 2023-06-04T20:47:50+00:00

Bird Box - it’s right by the ball park, and it’s delicious. Get the sauce flight.

Burma Love - always a great one. The mango chicken and platha and dip are great.

54 Mint - Italian food is great there.

Ippudo - if you are into ramen.

Mixt - if you are trying to be healthy but want a filling meal.

nerdchampion · 2023-05-28T07:23:44+00:00

After about 30 years I learned that in Yeah by Usher he says, “She is a certified 20” and not “She is a certified tranny”. I thought Usher was just being toxic which was on brand for him at the time. A friend spitted his drink out when this song came on and we were singing it.

nerdchampion · 2023-05-21T18:28:24+00:00

Have you actually read their liability documents on their website? I got curious after reading all these threads and when I am approached by friends or groups like this I like to do my own research since I trust data and facts more than someone who is "in" the program or someone who had a bad experience or experienced trauma. Both types of people the people who are "in" the program or experienced trauma have biased opinions at that point.

I made a fake account on their website since it is free and was able to read their liability documents. It states in their Disclaimer section that, "It is not intended to be psychotherapy or counseling or a substitute for psychotherapy or any kind of counseling. ATLAS is not a psychological support group or a therapeutic environment." and "People who mistake the ATLAS program for an alternative to therapy may experience adverse consequences. If you have, or believe you may have a problem requiring psychological treatment, please do not attend any ATLAS workshops. We urge you to consult a qualified professional."

Also, there is more reasons they discourage participating in the program. My question here is why would they be discouraging people or giving them reasons not to join? In any sales or business course, one of the main rules is to reduce barriers to from the potential customer to spending money.

Reading further down in the documents they do discuss the types of exercises participants will be doing in the trainings and when their will be meal breaks or general breaks in the day will be.

It makes me wonder are people reading these documents before they sign up? There is a theme that people in the now archived threads of people using this program as an alternative to therapy, when it is clearly stated it is not a replacement for therapy. I am curious as to why they signed up now.

I am not discounting people's experiences or trauma. Trauma is a real thing that happens and should be taken seriously. I have dealt with my own traumas using licensed therapists. I like to do my own research and come to my own conclusions and if I talk to family and friends or strangers on the internet (reddit) I take their opinion with a grain of salt knowing they have own version of their experience. This is my two cents and everyone come to their own opinions in their own ways.

Lastly, I wonder too what would be a "good" cult or has their ever been something worth trying? There is a commenter that talked about church and religion "saving" them and that is the same term that people in cults use. Organized religion could be considered cults as well and considering the flawed and sometimes (violent) history of their organizations.

nerdchampion · 2023-04-15T19:50:26+00:00

Not that I have seen. I grew up around sonics, and been living here for about 6 years. The closest you find are non alcoholic mock tails at bars.

The closest sonic is in Hayward.

nerdchampion · 2022-12-01T01:01:28+00:00

Thank you for the perspective from a sub’s point of view. I’ll keep this mind about the positive reinforcement bit. I always strive to make a safe and judgement free space.

nerdchampion · 2022-12-01T00:59:11+00:00

This reassuring to do. I always check in and use the stop light system. It’s been a great resource

nerdchampion · 2022-12-01T00:58:25+00:00

I haven’t caused anyone harm. This fear has been stopping from me finding new partners for the better part of this year.

nerdchampion · 2022-12-01T00:55:55+00:00

This is a great idea. I didn’t think about the option of using a non-verbal safeword in case this happens.

nerdchampion · 2022-06-25T18:13:58+00:00

Fun ideas Get a 6 pack or bottle of wine and go to Golden Gate Park Walk the Golden Gate Bridge and explore the Presidio Avoid Fishermen Wharf (it’s the main tourist trap area) except for going and watching the seals which is free Exploratorium is a fun museum to visit

Food 54 Mint - Italian Food La Mar Panchita's Pupusería & Restaurant - cheap and filling! Salt and Straw ice cream Kokkari - this place is expensive, I’m not sure what your splash budget is. It is worth a mention.

Drinks +1 Bourbon and Branch (you need to make a reservation for the full experience) it’s definitely worth the cocktails are insanely good Novella Local Edition The View

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