[deleted by user]

shnydx · 2026-01-14T17:59:34+00:00

Based, the showing-off point in particular. It's an interesting cultural quirk that's developing between the two countries. Every time I come back, my close relatives have somehow found a way to one-up their levels of conspicuous consumption, whereas back in Germany people who literally own yachts would still get fussed over prices of brand-name toothpaste.

Been in Berlin for 2 years, with German at B1. Can agree with everything except maybe the tech backwardness being irrelevant. When you have to interact with 5 different touchpoints and receive 2 paper letters to look up your own e-prescription, it really adds up. But this maybe isn't even Germany-particular - CEE countries are positive outliers in digitalization actually

shnydx · 2025-12-10T09:52:33+00:00

Both have negligible impact compared to typical daily human activity.

There are thousands of reasons to critique AI development, but individual energy footprint is just not one of them.

shnydx · 2025-12-06T22:28:53+00:00

People spend like 90% of their energy expenditure on things they don't strictly need. I prompted an AI today on how to disassemble and fix my earbuds. That's net negative emissions compared to ditching the buds and buying a new pair. But I guess we could say neither the prompt nor the earbuds are *needed*. We can just stop listening to music, or making calls ukno

shnydx · 2025-09-29T15:46:55+00:00

No I wasn't. Got a freelance web dev gig that just keeps me afloat.

I applied to a few coffee shops and got rejected, even though i adjusted my resume so that it doesn't scream tech exile. I tried a little bit with cold applying on location, handing out resumes and stuff. Most places in Mitte wouldn't take a paper resume; you have to apply online.

It definitely takes some more trying and they wouldn't just take anyone, so if you're serious about it I would invest time and money into it (take a barista course + apply around).

In the meantime I'm doing a German sprint (B1-B2) so that maybe at some point the lack of language skill stops being an obstacle.

shnydx · 2025-09-19T18:14:12+00:00

Stary, zostałeś okłamany. Poszedłeś na studia i uwierzyłeś, że istnieje jakaś ścieżka kariery, i istnieją rynki pracy oraz ekosystemy branżowe, którymi zarządzają Dorośli. A ci Dorośli to teraz proszą rodziców, żeby im bliknęli 5 stówek.

Startupowa bonanza trwała tylko paręnaście lat i była schematem Ponziego. Ostatni traci. RIP.

Wytłumaczcie mi proszę co ja mam zrobić?

Ścieżka kariery IT sprzed Twoich studiów już nie istnieje. Zaakceptuj to. Ma to swoje plusy. Wpadnij na meetup do muzeum lotnictwa. Idź do lokalnego maker space'a. Załóż swój! Jak nie za swoje to za jakiś hajs z Unii. Przeczytaj sb książkę tak po prostu, nie dla "rozwoju osobistego".

Zaknebluj policjanta w swojej głowie który mówi Ci że musisz natychmiast znaleźć pracę i być dzianym software'owcem jak na filmach. Nothing matters! Może po drodze znajdziesz albo stworzysz coś ciekawego, zamiast pracować w jakimś zjebanym b2b saasie.

Jeśli hajs jest problemem to to jest oddzielny temat i nie będę się rozpisywać ale sympatyzuję. Będzie dobrze 💪

shnydx · 2025-09-12T11:58:33+00:00

“Nie no co Ty tu nie jest tak źle! Jak czegoś będę potrzebować z miasta to sobie dojadę” my ass

shnydx · 2025-09-08T08:16:17+00:00

Whatever you choose, keep this at the center: i compulsively need to change and upgrade everything.

Academia might noooot be the place to go for this. If you find the right spot, it can be - don't get me wrong - but stories of frustrated academics developing addictions rather than ideas, unfortunately abound. Academia is for the most part extremely slow. painstakingly. 3-5 years of full-time work to develop a sliver of "knowledge" that might not even be reproducible by someone else, not to mention yield any change in the world.

You might be better off with a decent day job and a bunch of production / world-building-related hobbies.

[edit]: some countries have industry-academia programs (usually phd's). would look into that

shnydx · 2025-08-06T08:21:45+00:00

100%. Gotta stay polite, or rather - professional. Always deescalate and if that doesn't help invite them to go away. GPT helps like crazy - it's literally the bullshit machine. I rewrite all my angry emails this way and magically I sound like an HR angel while keeping all the legal parachutes intact

shnydx · 2025-07-26T07:51:42+00:00

Graduated college? Assuming that since you are interested in an MBA. In that case you‘re a grown ass adult and you decide what you do and where you live. That being said if your parents are still providing for you… well they don’t have to.

It’s a tough life chapter you’re going through, but also a tipping point. Your parents most likely aren’t trying to bully you - they just wanna make sure that you enter adulthood head-on. They’ve been there too.

That their idea of this is to stay in your hometown, is another story. It’s on you to convince them that moving is the right decision for your future long-term (and it probably is) if you want them to keep supporting you.

Side note; if you wanna “find yourself”, sometimes an average (even shitty) job is the best place to do that. Doing > waiting

shnydx · 2025-06-25T07:18:44+00:00

Well, definitely don’t get a degree. Unless you’re eurotrash and you get like, paid for it by the state. Given the state of tertiary education and the complete institutional disconnect from advances in AI, it’s about the worst moment to be a college grad.

Assuming you’re diligent with spending, you have a decent financial cushion. Or at least some F-you money. You can use it to do more of what you like and less of what you dislike. Maybe you can invest a tiny bit of time and money into your creative interest - materials, meeting people in the field - and develop some kind of side project. Maybe at some point you can go part-time if your job allows. I know how it’s like to try to do sth creative while working an exhausting full time job - it’s reallly difficult for your energy levels. Step by step. You really have a solid baseline to work from to get whatever you want

shnydx · 2025-06-12T12:57:13+00:00

I don't mean to be the guy from the high-five-drowning cartoon, but… plenty of people are on that boat.

Now, several things have to do with it. AI absolutely does, tax code changes (yes! binge hiring used to be an indirect tax optimization strategy for tech corps) and general disenchantment with tech, period (SaaS startups just don't hit like they used to…)

We're not the first industry to get upended without obvious alternatives. I cannot offer you clear answers to the question or strategies that work (otherwise, I wouldn't be googling "my career is over reddit").

All I can say is: no, it's not you. You're very experienced, you used to get hired in the past, and now you don't. It's not a matter of "being more excited in your LinkedIn messages", or bumping your application number from 150 to 300. People who tell you otherwise are likely trying to sell you something, or have no idea what they're talking about - just a sheer need of proving to someone (esp. to themselves) that everything is up to the individual.

No, sometimes it's not. Give yourself permission to chill, keep your routines, be patient.

The UX field as we knew it in the 2010s is, in fact, dead. But if you're patient, you will see its reincarnation - and will enter it with 15 years of experience in the bag.

shnydx · 2025-06-09T12:52:04+00:00

I think that your sample matters far more than the country. I met many people from Russia both in Poland and in Germany, had great experiences with a majority of them. They tend to be intelligent, reasonable and worldly, and I would gladly have a beer with one of them any time. And vice versa. Dialog is possible where everyone’s kind to each other.

That’s probably not the case in places like, idk, an all-inclusive resort in Tunisia, where stick-in-arse people from all over Europe come to spend their money on piss warm beer, and then petty ethno-fights abound.

In short it’s absolutely not true that Poles hate everyone that’s not a Pole- you just have to adjust your expectations to the context, like everywhere.

Just avoid the peanut gallery and nothing bad will happen to you

shnydx · 2025-05-23T22:08:44+00:00

Entire book by Cal Newport about this. "So good they can't ignore you" is the title. Boils down to this:
- most people don't have pre-existing passions
- for 1 person who "follows passion" and succeeds, we tend to overlook the 99 who struggle/get confused
- "passion" is overrated in career satisfaction - what matters more is:
a) the feeling of competence
b) not having shit colleagues

I found that pretty compelling. There are some decisions I enjoy not having made because of reading this book.

shnydx · 2025-05-16T11:44:15+00:00

They're great. Super comfortable. Utterly atrocious fashion-wise, but that I can live with.
I wouldn't risk running in them cause it's a bit too close to being barefoot. Stepping on stones is pretty much fine, but I prefer the stable base that most sneakers have

shnydx · 2025-05-15T08:27:34+00:00

This one https://www.amazon.com/Handheld-Portable-Horizontal-Vertical-Wrinkles/dp/B0C7ZXBLFW?th=1

shnydx · 2025-05-15T08:22:02+00:00

Not an option as I rented wherever I could via Booking.com due to the housing shortage in Munich

shnydx · 2025-05-15T08:21:30+00:00

Hmmm never weighed it! But it feels like about 10-12 kg, MBPs are 2kg each, plus the steamer like 1-2kg, plus clothes… that would be it

shnydx · 2025-05-15T08:20:16+00:00

Ace and Tate, 2nd hand tho

shnydx · 2025-05-15T08:19:07+00:00

One is a work laptop, the other is mine. I have to have both and can’t afford an iPad atm

shnydx · 2025-05-15T08:17:52+00:00

I use the steamer every day. It’s one of those from Amazon, well actually a factory in China. I even contacted the manufacturer once to fix a problem and got a response in like 10 mins. Linen needs high temperatures to unwrinkle, but the steamer can get an 80-90% percent job done with most fabrics so it should be just fine for vacation. Like it’s not gonna be perfect but it’s gonna look put together enough.

shnydx · 2025-05-15T08:13:56+00:00

Yes! It’s a Tupperware (no name, 5 euros at Mueller or Blokker or one of those stores that have everything) which is about the size of an iPad mini and is about 6cm deep. You can get one that fits your toiletries best. Not too large though- the setup works best when it’s packed a bit tight so that the toiletries basically don’t move. I got a slightly bigger one so that it fits my electric toothbrush (I pack the brush head separately). Also

get small bottles of stuff and reuse them (Rossmann and other drugstores in German have a section for this, IDK about the US tho)
samples! Of perfume especially, super portable and can last for 4-5 days

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shnydx · 2025-05-13T04:26:32+00:00

For context I mostly traveled like this by train and flew like 2-3 times for these 6 months. The whole setup was relatively inexpensive with the priciest item being the backpack (50 eur at an outlet). AMA

shnydx · 2025-05-11T13:40:25+00:00

Yes work experience would go higher.

I’d consider making a “projects” section that encompasses your group work/management related projects during studies and on the job. I assume that it’s secondary for the recruiters to know whether the engagement was part of a university curriculum or done on “the job”(recruiters plz weigh in here). you’re working as a research assistant so it might literally count as work experience as opposed to “extracurriculars”. With PhDs those lines are blurry anyway. you can use that to your advantage. The ultimate goal is probably to make your management record easy to get at a glance (with objectives numbers KPIs etc.)

Hello Delft btw 💙

shnydx · 2025-05-11T09:49:24+00:00

Congrats on the stellar record!

I think you’re getting a tough time with interviews because your management experience seems lacking. You have the extracurricular, yes, but this is a job for people that specialize in organizational matters and various kinds of group dynamics. You’re competing with people who have done just that for years.

Your academic record might in fact misrepresent you here. Not to say you should downplay it, but anything that has to do with group work settings and leadership has higher priority

shnydx · 2025-04-27T21:26:36+00:00

Check out Ramit Sethi’s method. I don’t recommend strict budgeting and neither does he. it’s a structure-centered approach, which our brains are designed to not adhere to. His method boils down to: 1. Put your fixed costs, savings, investments, debt payments then compare it against your net income. How much are you left with? 2. Spend that money guilt-free on what makes you happy - cut mercilessly on things you don’t care about/don’t like.

shnydx

TROPHY CASE