
Updating Your Utility Belt - BIackSwan
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/2013/10/updating-your-utility-belt.html
======
jkat
"every self-respecting geek has one"

I realize Jeff's just being...poetic, but really it's just an excuse to buy
toys. Spend your money on what makes you happy. If more gadgets, or that 6th
purse, or 20th pair of shoes does that, great. If you want to define [part of]
yourself by your possessions, do that. But don't judge others by the lack of
theirs.

~~~
btilly
I am not so sure.

I draw a joke distinction between a geek and a nerd like this. A geek is
someone who loves technology and toys. A nerd is someone who gets utterly
obsessed by a particular topic.

I usually bring this up when explaining to a fellow programmer that I'm a nerd
but not a geek. Which fact I then demonstrate by pulling out my flip phone.

If they proceed to doubt that I am a nerd, I'll then offer to explain
something esoteric. A good example is the differences between the Riemann
integral, the Lebesgue integral, and the Generalized Riemann integral. And why
if the last had been discovered earlier, we might not have needed to develop
Lebesgue integration at all!

~~~
arrrg
Seems like irrelevant categorizing that doesn’t make much sense and isn’t very
useful. Who cares what you are in terms of dumb categories like that?

~~~
derefr
Because you can be one without the other, and people frequently assume that
because you're one, it means that you're the other--and predict your actions
based on that (for example, by buying you stupid geek toys when you are merely
a nerd.)

~~~
arrrg
So, why not eschew those categories altogether and reject them outright?

It seems to me they are too, well, mushy to be really useful.

~~~
derefr
I don't understand what you're saying. The reason it is useful to make this
distinction, is to explain to people that _don 't_ see the distinction (and
thus assume that, for example, someone who likes math watches Firefly; or that
someone who collects MTG cards will be able to fix their computer), that in
fact there _is_ a practical difference between the two categories, and that
they should keep them in mind so as to not offend people that aren't both by
assuming they have traits of a group they don't.

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freddigbjk
I used to respect Jeff a lot, partly because of his stackoverflow fame.
However, these days I find him annoying, as he has just become part of the
"noise" we all find unproductive. This post just strengthens my point, where
he buys useless bling to show off and everyone applauds him for being a
materialistic prat.

I'll probably get downvoted but I've just had enough of this 'utility belt'
bull.

~~~
cocoflunchy
He's been doing this post since 2005, so I don't think much has changed.

Plus you can buy the entirety of his 'useless bling' for $35, and it seems
pretty obvious to me that he actually uses these tools on a daily basis.

The only thing I didn't really like were the affiliate links without
disclaimer... but it's not that big a deal.

------
flatline
I really miss carrying a knife, but since 9/11 it has been almost impossible
to actually, you know, go anywhere. I have had multiple times when I simply
forgot to ditch it before going out and wasn't able to get into places,
particularly museums. Having one attached to my keychain? I'd never remember
to take it off.

Plus, carrying that thing around in your jeans pocket looks uncomfortable, I
can barely manage a wad of keys.

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cma
"And there's also a nail file, on the other side of the screwdriver, but what
is this obsession with nail files on multi-tools? Who are these people filing
their nails all the damn time? I've never filed my nails once in my entire
life! Can anyone mansplain this to me?"

Jagged, unfiled nails are viewed by women (accurately) as a major sign of
sexual inexperience/ineptitude...

~~~
EdwardDiego
> Jagged, unfiled nails are viewed by women (accurately) as a major sign of
> sexual inexperience/ineptitude...

Holy sweeping generalisation Batman. However, as I'm not even one woman, let
alone all women, I won't speak on their behalf.

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twodayslate
This is just one giant amazon affiliate link.

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dangrossman
My "everyday carry" is the remote fob for my car, my phone, my license and two
credit cards. I have no need for anything Jeff considers essential, including
keys -- HomeLink in my car opens the garage door to get in and out.

Some day my phone will be able to pay for my purchases (not everywhere has NFC
terminals yet) and start my car. The only thing that doesn't seem to be on the
horizon is ID. I suppose I would leave the license in my car, but I'd worry
about being hassled by police, who don't like to hear you have no ID when they
ask for some.

~~~
PilateDeGuerre
What happens when there is a power outage at your home? How do you get in
then?

~~~
dangrossman
With a hidden key on the property. I think most homeowners have one. Just
don't put it in a fake rock near the door or under a mat where it's obvious.

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RBerenguel
Recently updated my utility rack. Now it's full of heel irons, welt irons and
a few flat irons. I'm a moonlighter shoemaker, and I don't spend zilch on (not
sure how to define these things!) "techno tools." My most recent advanced
gadget-related purchases have been:

* A set of 18 shoemaking tools, second hand. Currently cleaning and restoring each one * Macbook Air (a needed update to my Early 2008 White Macbook) * Portable HD (I needed a few extra GB) * Circular slide rule (because I always wanted one and it's a beautiful little and cheap geek gadget)

That's it. I'd never think of spending money on a combo tool: I have a
beautiful workshop where I have one of each of these tools (or many of them)
in perfect condition. Also, I'm of the opinion that a good tool should do one
job perfectly (except emacs, that's it.) This is why I have a dumbphone and
and iPod Touch. Actually my dumbphone doubles as flashlight, which is pretty
cool because I'd never remember where my flashlight is.

------
uchi
I used to have an old Linux professor that taught class on the weekends. He
was a network engineer at his day job and there was never a day where I didn't
see him with his fisherman's vest. Every pocket was occupied with some weird
gadget, and his zipper had a keychain bottle opener. He had a single pocket
entirely dedicated to candy bars and always made sure it was properly stocked.
The man practically never left his house without his emergency candy rations,
and as far as I could tell he didn't have diabetes or anything.

I guess you never know when a candy bar might come in handy.

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K2h
I have had the light for a few years and really like it. I have both the
single mode version and 3 mode version and like the 3 mode a little more. the
tradeoff is that the head is slightly longer and the high isn't quite as as
bright. the extended runtime and practical use of low output is what I use
most.

[http://www.amazon.com/Light-Version-80-lumen-Keychain-
Flashl...](http://www.amazon.com/Light-Version-80-lumen-Keychain-
Flashlight/dp/B003BM5GQ2/)

------
ck2
Haitz's law is interesting.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitz%27s_law](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitz%27s_law)

Is it possible to calculate the theoretical maximum number of photons that can
be produced from a fixed small electron source?

Just curious how close we are to maximum theoretical efficiency. 50% ? 80% ?

------
leeoniya
i've owned many Fenix lights over the years and many more custom LED lights
before this. (any CPF members remember Arc LSH-Ps?, rare-binned Luxeon stars
and low dome optics :)

my current EDC (every day carry) is a Fenix LD01 - it's amazing what a single
lithium AAA can deliver with current regulation circuitry (pun)

[http://www.fenixlight.com/ProductMore.aspx?id=50&tid=10&cid=...](http://www.fenixlight.com/ProductMore.aspx?id=50&tid=10&cid=1)

interestingly, i also carry a pocket USB3 SSD since all my apps are
portable/truecrypt and i need those low latency 4k random writes.

[http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-Flash-Drive-
SDCZ80-032...](http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Extreme-Flash-Drive-
SDCZ80-032G-AFFP/dp/B008AF384W)

------
sgdesign
When I was into martial arts I used to hang out with guys who would carry
around knives or kubotans everywhere. Funny to see that programmers also have
their own "everyday carry"… although I have to admit to being skeptical of the
actual real-world usefulness of either one.

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zbruhnke
I am the only one who read this article and immediately thought "Did he really
have to worry that someone would try to make copies of his keys from a
photo"??

Makes you kind of sad that people have to fear other people's cruel intentions
so much

~~~
skyebook
Would you leave a password or IP address unscrambled in a blog post? It
doesn't seem unreasonable to obfuscate that which can be used against you,
whether or not _anyone actually will_.

I did wonder why not just take the keys out of the photo, but my guess is that
it serves to show how bulky/not-bulky the stuff is.

~~~
zbruhnke
it was not meant to be a knock on jeff at all, in fact I was impressed he
thought of that, it was more of an observation, upon first seeing it I
actually took a second look and had a thought about whether or not that's
actually what he was doing

------
Todd
Anyone know the story behind the engraving on the side of his Leatherman
Squirt? It must be significant, because he also added it to his updated
Squirt.

~~~
miahi
Maybe it just goes with the wallet[1].

[1] [http://www.bmfwallets.com/](http://www.bmfwallets.com/)

------
jedanbik
I am genuinely curious: if I carry an iPhone everywhere, why do I need to
carry a flashlight, too?

~~~
dangrossman
If you ask me, you don't. If you're asking Jeff? He answered that in the
article.

> I also flirted with the idea of dropping the standalone flashlight and
> relying on my smartphone camera flash as a flashlight, but in my testing
> smartphones make weak flashlights.

