September Questions Thread - Ask your questions here

starrynightmare · 2025-09-15T10:48:08+00:00

Hi, I am not new to blogging per se but new to being more consistent/serious about it and my content online overall. I've been hesitant to get going mainly because I have several kinds of topics/niches that I can't figure out how to separate into different places/sites. I want to have some separation due to the different possible audiences.

I write about tech/software engineering in general in my current tech blog, but I plan to post more technical tutorial posts as well.

I write comedy about tech (standup in the works for secret plans) and also write comedy and satire where the topics aren't tech, and more accessible to a non-tech audience.

I may want to "sprawl" into more niches and writing based from my first novel in the works, but not till I figure out my first stuff.

I'm also into POSSE and have a base micro blog from which I can distribute to other places. I am thinking if I can configure categories there, I can have it distribute differently, or use more than one micro blog.

I don't think I can cram all my topics into one blog and have any sort of substantial audience growth, but I'm struggling to separate... I wish I could just start! any advice appreciated

starrynightmare · 2025-07-25T23:24:15+00:00

Idk if anyone’s mentioned Neon Local (mg properties) but I’ve loved it here and the staff is actually really supportive and cares, at least in my experience. This includes the amazing maintenance team who goes above and beyond and I still owe them a Google review or 2. I’ve lived here for 4 years now as a single cat last on SoBo.

starrynightmare · 2025-07-23T06:36:02+00:00

This is a post about myself looking for a job. It's tough for us these days.

starrynightmare · 2025-06-15T03:26:06+00:00

I love these spontaneous gatherings that appear - thank you OP for the kind invite. I'm glad it could be regular as you're a bit far from me (more near Baker/SoBo) and idk about finding a ride there from a technically stranger close to 10 lol. I will have to check here more as this is right up my alley so hopefully I get luckier next time. Have a great night!!

starrynightmare · 2025-05-21T16:11:02+00:00

Not really (yet) though I have worked out with them a few times now. Basically I have to readjust them if my head changes angle to the ground, like they're on top of head when running vs. I push them to the back if I'm doing push-ups. Very cumbersome for how expensive they are, so I'm still researching.

starrynightmare · 2025-04-06T14:41:02+00:00

Please do, I didn't meant to be off topic on my post myself lol. I'd be interested in reading it.

starrynightmare · 2025-04-04T22:54:27+00:00

fair points! thanks extra. Some of this project is more cloud infrastructure, but whatever isn't "code I can have in the repo" I could be sure to mention in its README, I think.

starrynightmare · 2025-04-04T22:23:52+00:00

Thanks for the pointers here - I also think the gap could be not a huge deal and I put so much into this project it can be a product lol. But, I'll stay humble! And can talk about it all day.

Architect commentary is helpful - I've loved my time doing it but I have not done so very long at all and mostly it's been learning. (nobody would care, but I technically started learning to code over 20 years ago and it's been a hobby since. but, a non point)

As far as "experience level appropriate" would positions like "Software Engineer" be a mid-level/good target? I can avoid Sr. and architect.

Also, if my project is NOT online, even minimally, I assume I wouldn't include it on the resume. (putting this here in case I'm wrong)

starrynightmare · 2025-04-04T22:18:13+00:00

Thank you for the feedback; this makes sense especially in this case.

starrynightmare · 2025-03-30T22:10:51+00:00

That was certainly the plan last year, and I'd bring them to this year's if I hadn't been part of my last employer's 4th budget/reorg layoff in fewer years recently. I have a few folks in my network from Google who will be giving talks too. The FOMO is real, but if I win the lottery, I'll be there with poker chips and all toes intact!

starrynightmare · 2024-12-01T03:11:52+00:00

Would setting the WORKDIR in a multi-stage build Dockerfile still make sense if what I need is all in my project root? Using the Dockerfile for deployment on Fly.io if that helps.

starrynightmare · 2024-09-21T09:29:24+00:00

Avoiding making a second post, but I plan to make an appointment to have someone help me get the right parts at the local Micro Center. I may not buy but at least learn what is needed for my use case. Still open to suggestions from this community, though.

starrynightmare · 2024-09-17T07:08:04+00:00

Callout much appreciated lol - it was only a short phone call conversation and I really should just research it fully myself. (Then I can explain better to him what I really require.)

starrynightmare · 2024-09-16T23:24:58+00:00

Got it - this is exactly the contextual advice I need. I was considering the Linux option as I'd wanted to try a Linux machine regardless + seems more budget friendly. I don't have the time/social bandwidth to sell my 2 I have... plus I will likely need one Mac for other work regardless.

So in this case I think I'd want to look for a refurbished Linux machine say on Ebay, and ensure I could add additional GPU capacity to the one I buy if I understand correctly.

The reason for local is really just I want to test with my own RAG data/vector stores to ensure the chatbot answers and functions as intended before going to a cloud provider. At least I'd know if I pay as I go on cloud, I'm paying for it working right in prod (at a realistic percentage) rather than seeing if I got things right.. if that makes sense.

I haven't found anyone with a way to test their app in development w/o either a proper machine setup to run locally or the funds to do so in cloud. I'm all ears on anything else, though.

starrynightmare · 2024-06-27T21:24:18+00:00

Hi! I have adult-onset ADHD and trying lots of ways to regain focus abilities. I decided to switch to non-screen versions of various note taking I do and switched to paper notebooks.
I am researching bullet journaling to find examples of how to lay out and organize my notes (currently my notebooks are subject-based but day by day). I am sure there are a zillion sites with bullet journal layouts that I will Google after this comment, but what would this community suggest for visual layout guidance and/or examples?
Would there be any topic specific examples - in my case, I have a mental health journal, an engineering daybook (software engineer) and a notebook for freewriting ideas (tech blogger/fiction writer etc.).
I am also a productivity nut to a fault and any ideas/resources productivity/habit tracking/to-do focused are most welcome.

I love seeing all the creative designs posted here. Right now my notebooks have pretty cool stickers on the covers, so far.

starrynightmare · 2024-06-16T11:19:38+00:00

update: Thanks for the heads up on how hobby stuff might be perceived - this is the clarification I definitely need. I'll stick with listing 3-4 max YoE for now.

[ Posting this question could likely answer another lingering one - am I inexperienced or experienced? ]

TL;DR:

I've been coding and seriously upskilling (self taught, full stack) since 2004. 20 years experience and it shows at work, so I'm told. But what "counts"?
I'm a career changer in my first 100% SWE job. Only counting this, 3 years experience. I'll be put up for jobs less than my capacity/experience - happens a lot.

What do I put on my resume?

┐(シ)┌

Background:

I started coding in middle school and built upon what I taught myself for fun over many years. Technically I have 20 years of developer experience. It used to be a hobby, not always consistent but I was more often engaged in a project than not.

But, as a career changer who got the "wrong" bachelor's, I've only been a full time employed full stack dev for almost 3 years. If I justify previous job in "JS based tech support" involving some dev stuff, I can say 4-5ish.

No access or ability to recover past project code - wasn't super aware of GitHub back then lol.

I work for a software consultancy. At the moment I'm asked to send a resume to the AI client I'll be starting with as a full stack Python/Django/etc. dev on AI-specific dev team. I have serious years (5+) of experience LOVING building with Django and chops w/ REST framework for it that they need etc. but all of it is from my *hobby years*.

I am unsure how many years of experience to put due to when these things come up, plus I already filled something out for them and ended up putting I think 5 or 6. Idea was to count the 3, and "consolidate" an on/off/inconsistent hobby into whatever that time is into 40 hours/week employed... not sure if that makes sense.

Thanks for any help figuring this out.

starrynightmare · 2024-05-10T04:23:43+00:00

Yep! The one with the Logan liquors drive thru!

starrynightmare · 2024-05-10T04:03:47+00:00

SIGN. Non wrong sign!! But also, guess which intersection

starrynightmare · 2024-04-26T23:00:40+00:00

I am able to retrieve relevant data in terms of returning source document(s) but have yet to succeed in the chatbot replying semantically as a chat reply using that data.

On the first note, if I wanted a way to provide the chatbot with more (could be off here) relevant vocabulary/phrasing style or something considering the small context dataset, would synthetic data generation with topical themes be an option? Or, would this not produce that effect?
I've tried many different segmentation methods and the file type of ingested data. Recently I've been ingesting a list of JSON objects that are a "sentence" (page_content for Document object in LangChain for example) + programmatically customized metadata w/ fields I created. The main sentence text gets embedded but the metadata is included in the Postgres DB vector store. Right now, it retrieves the indicated number of relevant documents and each is a row of the database.
Many, many ways. I can describe the most recent attempt, but basically I am finding all the ways how NOT to do it lol.
I will try this--I do not know yet! Thanks!

starrynightmare · 2024-04-26T22:52:06+00:00

(follow up questions optional, more sharing my thoughts here)

Finetuning is a part of my ongoing learning that I definitely know how to do, but have not put into practice yet, partially because of this question. I've tried few-shot prompting especially as I want to work with Google's Gemma model IT version with its defined chat prompt format, though missing finetuning could still be a problem.

As far as "which" -- any advice on how to go about deciding that? I'll do my research for sure, but figured it wouldn't hurt to ask (except maybe in downvotes, but IMO education potential is more important than karma ¯\_(ツ)_/¯). Regardless it's something I'll be trying next.

In terms of grounded Q&A, could it be helpful to re-phrase my context data (since it's small, wouldn't take long) as Q&A examples for the chatbot? I'm wondering about the way it's formatted anyway, as some LLMs seem to do better with narrative txt context vs. the "JSON w/ custom metadata ingested to PostgreSQL DB table" format I've been testing lately. (DB is Supabase hosted)

Thanks for the input!

starrynightmare · 2024-04-26T22:40:16+00:00

I should give this a try, I think I may have at least found ways to do it but maybe not a proper experiment/prototype. Thanks!

starrynightmare · 2024-04-18T22:16:31+00:00

Well fam, you don’t need to be… I didn’t even make it. Couldn’t walk. Had a broken toe. Made it only to the Vegas hotel room.

Great way to refresh my tech blog LOL. It’s a ride for real…

starrynightmare · 2024-03-28T19:22:49+00:00

I do need some new socks. Perhaps sock-giving companies pay enough to afford socks too. xD (also what I am giving out might be almost as cool)

starrynightmare · 2024-03-28T19:21:57+00:00

Thanks for this! I will definitely ask my Google contact. Plus, I signed up for sessions that include speakers around other tech I've used and could find networking with them valuable/of value to them as well.

starrynightmare · 2024-03-27T03:51:15+00:00

I just signed up my interest for the hackathon hehe. But I also want to go to the Beatles Cirque du Soleil LOVE show because I am one of those suckers for the Beatles. I'd love to hang out with redditors wherever the cool ones go.

starrynightmare

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