
Joel Spolsky is (semi-)retired - jonasvp
https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2019/12/05/so-hows-that-retirement-thing-going-anyway/
======
Clubber
For those that don't know, Joel wrote many really good software development
related articles/blogs in the early to mid aughts. The archives can be found
on his site. I'd recommend anyone read them who works on a software
development team in any capacity (management, dev, DBA, QA, etc).

~~~
chrisbennet
My favorite Joel article is: "Whaddaya Mean, You Can’t Find Programmers?"

[https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/06/15/whaddaya-mean-
you-...](https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2000/06/15/whaddaya-mean-you-cant-
find-programmers/)

"Now, let’s review some microeconomics. In a free market, it is almost
axiomatic that the market always clears. That’s a technical term that means
that when somebody tries to sell something, if they are willing to accept the
market price, they will be able to sell it, and when somebody wants to buy
something, if they are willing to pay the market price, they will be able to
buy it. It’s just a matter of both sides accepting the market price."

~~~
toasterlovin
The fact that different professions earn different amounts of money is, in
fact, an indicator that the higher paying professions have a shortage of
people able to perform the work. Working conditions and pay for programmers
are incredible and would be a life changing improvement for most people. That
the profession hasn’t been flooded with talent is a strong indicator that
there isn’t enough talent out there.

~~~
Znafon
> The fact that different professions earn different amounts of money is, in
> fact, an indicator that the higher paying professions have a shortage of
> people able to perform the work.

If we have 2000 people, we need 1000 doctors and 1000 secretary and it takes 8
years of training to be the former and 1 year for the later, won't doctors be
paid more even without shortage to take into account risks and length of
studies?

~~~
rileymat2
No, but the length of study and risk will generally cause the shortage at a
particular wage.

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sgt101
The HASH write up sounds awful like multi-agent simulation. I've recently had
to return to looking at these things and in a "oh my god I need to do some MAS
work" type panic I was relieved and gratified to find the the GAMA platform -
so far I'm impressed.

[https://github.com/gama-platform/gama/releases](https://github.com/gama-
platform/gama/releases)

wonder what HASH will add to this kind of thing?

~~~
DavidWilkinson
David from HASH here. I know that panic all too well...

GAMA is great -- and we're big fans of the team! They've done an awesome job
raising the profile, and improving perceptions, of ABM/MAS-type modeling.

We're approaching things in a rather different manner, with a specific view to
decreasing the time and complexity involved in building real-world (versus
toy) models. We'll be drip-feeding invites (and more info) in the coming days.

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ScottFree
Dupe:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21723223](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21723223)

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zabzonk
Given the plug-hole that StackOverflow is currently spiralling down, I really
think adult leadership from someone like Joel is sorely needed. But I can see
why he would not want to bother with it.

------
GnarfGnarf
Did Picasso retire? Did Pablo Casals retire? No. They painted or played till
their dying breath.

Real programmers never retire. They just lose their bits.

Joel is a real programmer.

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azhenley
The article's actual title is: "So, how’s that retirement thing going,
anyway?"

~~~
wglb
When you see something like this, mail hn@ycombinator.com and they will fix
it.

------
fit2rule
Hey Joel - check out the MagicShifter - it does everything you want to do,
plus more .. like MIDI! Paint your own POV pics!

[http://magicshifter.net/](http://magicshifter.net/)

sources:
[https://github.com/magicshifter/MS3000](https://github.com/magicshifter/MS3000)

You can solder a long strip of LED's (we had up to 500) and address the whole
thing over a handy Wifi interface .. the MS3000 provides its own web-based
programming/config interface too.

We added an Arpeggiator, and MIDI too (rtpMIDI as well as hard MIDI), because
why not, and this means you can sync the LED strip to your drum machine with
ease, Joel .. ;)

(EDIT: douchebaggery--)

~~~
jgrahamc
This looks cool.

But "Everything Joels' trying to do with LED's, we already did with the
MagicShifter" can read very negatively. Don't underestimate the joy of doing
something yourself and making it happen.

Such as me making a version of "Simon" in an Altoids can:
[https://blog.jgc.org/2012/05/simonoids-its-simon-in-
altoids-...](https://blog.jgc.org/2012/05/simonoids-its-simon-in-altoids-
can.html)

