Yep. On a keyboard with 8 thumb cluster keys per side, and custom 35g switches to lower the force needed to actuate, that helped a lot, but still not enough to be pain-free. Unfortunately once the damage is done on certain joints you can only do so much short of not using those fingers at all. 30 years of hammering keys pretty hard eventually catch up to you.
You should try 20g springs, they are really good for typing. I also removed the keycaps and replaced them with small pieces of band-aid on top of the switch stems which also helped. Also dictating plain text like comments and typing only for correcting errors in dictation and for short actions is better. It's easier to press a button rather than say a lengthy command, because vocal cords can also be damaged by speaking too much.
Where have you been able to find ultralight springs available to consumers? I was looking into this last week and the 10-20g ones were only available straight from the factory in South Korea with shipping costing $200... I was happy to get them and swap them out, but that shipping pricetag was too much of a highway robbery.
Would appreciate any advice here :)
And, intrigued about the idea of not using key switches at all. Are there any aftermarket alternatives available online for "keycaps" that are better at softening the impact on the finger, something softer and bouncier perhaps? Seems like something people would have experimented with.
Here is an interesting discussion about low-weight springs old.reddit.com/r/MechanicalKeyboards/comments/ojk0em/experiences\_with\_very\_low\_weight\_8\_to\_25g\_spring/. It has a link to rndkbd.com /products /sprit-springs?variant=43822770782442, where I purchased my springs. They have a full range starting from 12g, but they are currently out of stock. You can ask about the next restock on their Discord server.
One thing I discovered about lightweight springs is that lubing the switch doesn't work at all, it just stops resetting. I also think that with traditional MX-style switches going with weight less than 20g might not work out well because even with 20g springs some of my keys are not resetting properly, they remain stuck when I lift my finger, and I get "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"s instead of just "a" for example.
As for removing keycaps, my keyboard looks like this: m.youtube.com/watch?v=647FeK3\_Bek, except I left the spacebar keycap on, and I have a small piece of adhesive plaster tape on top of the plastic parts that resembles a plus sign "+" on every switch to increase friction. But I don't think removing keycaps works for switches box type switches with stems that look like [+]. I also had to open the space bar switch and add a little aluminum foil ring inside where the spring is located because it consistently wouldn’t reset.
Lightweight springs also slightly reduce the key travel distance, and the actuation point becomes very high, practically no actuation point. It produces a keystroke the moment you touch it. This is now possible with harder springs too with the advent of Hall effect keyboards, but the lightest spring available for that type of keyboard is 28g, which is a bit too heavy.
Thanks for sharing all that, appreciated. I had looked at that particular store last month and they were sold out of the lighter springs, but I'll check with them again to see if that's changing. And great point around switches being stuck with the lighter springs, definitely something I'll have to watch out for if I ever get that far.
I've also enjoyed Topre switches in the past, I remember those feeling pretty light as well, although I can't quite recall how my injured joints worked with them, that was in the healthy days.
Big fan of my Dygma Defy and I've been using WisprFlow super heavily this last year, but the immediacy of typing is still hard to beat. But yeah, I hope the voice tools keep getting better, they've been a real life-saver so far and fortunately I'm a very fast talker.
I do the vast majority of my work on xilinx and it's easiest to just use the built in simulator. It's free and supports vhdl and verilog. Most support just one. For lattice and microchip work I use what the tool provides which is usually a cut down modelsim or something
The other commentator mentioned Verilator (which is indispensable in larger designs) but you may also want to grab Icarus Verilog too. It's a FOSS simulator and, unlike Verilator, is 2-bit and so it handles X ("don't care") and Z ("high impedance") signals. It's ridiculously slow compared to Verilator but the greater fidelity can be valuable depending on what you're trying to do.
Verilator is very good. It's faster than anything else, and it is free. The downsides are it won't stimulate encrypted IP blocks. And it doesn't do mixed language sim, so vhdl is no bueno.
Language learning apps are an Eternal September tarpit for well-meaning developers. The economics an the pedagogy are fundamentally in tension in this space, and it’s crowded to say the least. Work in it out of love for building, not because you expect to make real income.
The Italian morning caffè ritual is already extremely fast: the barista works at the speed of light and the coffee you get is pretty standard, but in exchange you get a moment to rub shoulders "al banco" with others like you about to go into work, or elders just getting out of the house, a mother taking her kid to school, a policeman taking a break. You say hi to the same few people you've been seeing at the establishment for years. It's familiar and heartwarming.
It's a sprinkling of human connection as you start your day. A small homage to the tradition of coffee culture. Your grandparents did it, your parents did it, you did it, your kids will do it, etc. You rejoice in knowing that, as everything else changes around you, maybe this one minuscule secular ritual will stand the test of time and provide a symbolic sense of continuity with the past.
The wonderful feeling of walking into YOUR café, giving that special look to the barista, a smile, and he darts off at 100 km/h to make YOUR coffee (long, short, espresso, mochaccino) while he was already making a thousand others. In 3 seconds he already has YOUR favorite croissant in his hand, the water. “The usual?” You nod, smiling. A greeting glance to the regulars “of your hour.” Breakfast, you pay, you smile.
If you have two minutes, you skim the newspaper while eating your croissant, because that’s just what you do, even if you already skimmed the news in a rush on the toilet on your phone.
It’s a happy and friendly way to start the active part of the day.
To feel like you’re part of your community.
I love it — no vending machine or Starbucks can ever match it.
Despite worries about creeping prices, coffee in Italy averages around €1.20 for an espresso or €1.50 for a cappuccino [1]. Way different than in a major American city.
With little growth and hiring happening outside of firms betting the farm on AI—and getting the funding to stay alive and play the lottery—what is a random tech employee supposed to do here?
It seems like right now the most rational move to stay in the industry is to milk the AI wave as much as possible, learn all of the tools, get a big brand name on one's resume, and then land somewhere still-alive once the AI music stops? But ultimately if nothing outside of AI is growing, it's one big game of musical chairs and even that might not save you?
That “rational move” has always been a good move, regardless of AI. This is a boom/bust industry, and the next boom will come in a few years. While we’re at it, if you’re making engineer money, you should be targeting retirement at 50. I’m not saying you have to do that, but it sure helps to have that option.
I think maybe that was implied, considering the topic of conversation and website we’re on.
That said if you’re making $250k+ a year and not on track to retire by 50, seriously please open a retirement calculator and figure out what you need to do to get there.
There are a whole lot of people here who work in the tech industry but aren't working in SV. There are even a decent number who aren't in the tech industry at all.
I regularly frequent HN, and even comment from time to time, but I don't work in tech nor do I make bank. I'm a cashier at a gas station. Lol. I'm lucky if I make $16000 a year after taxes.
Tax rates, cost of living differences, etc depending where you are in the world don't always make this a good salary.
Generally outside SV:
- If you are making $250+ it is at least middle management (not tech work) AND
- Only in zones where cost of living is eating this up (e.g. UK/Europe/Australia/etc can get to this equilvalent salary but costs for example for rent, food, tax, etc are much higher).
In most countries SWE is above average pay, but it isn't life changing and it still unfortunately has the boom/bust cycles.
I've met some very good engineers who have built some great large scale solutions who are on less than this salary often in non tech firms being outside of the SV area due to personal reasons (e.g. can't move due to family, too old to do the interview dance SWE has become these days, etc).
... if you're making $250+k/yr as an individual in your 20s, yes. If you've just hit that at age 40+, maybe you're just looking at a comfortable 60-67ish retirement. The US medical system gives you exposure to well into the five figures of risk per year on top of at least high-four-figures in premiums per year (at age 50). Each extra year puts an early retirement without crazy money behind it at serious risk, because your expenses could suddenly and unavoidably shoot up by tens of thousands per year for several years on end.
We're probably around $1,200 for groceries and related (cleaning stuff, mostly) in our house, but we're a family of five. Yeah I'd say $2k is nuts for just two people, even today.
For a long while we managed to stay around $500-600 but that was before COVID inflation. I dunno how the official inflation rate's as low as it is, we don't buy much that'd be considered "luxury" level (we're not buying caviar, say, and rarely even get stuff like the grass-fed "fancy" butter [actually yellow instead of white, tastes like something rather than just having texture but no flavor] instead of the cheapest available) and I'm pretty sure we buy a lot less meat per person than the US average, but if we fill up a cart now it's like $250-$300. I've hit $150 on small shopping trips where I didn't even fully fill one of the smaller, short carts.
$2.3k, northern va area, family of 3, not fancy anything. data centers have spiked electricity bills, food is insane of course. this does not include once—a-week dinner out or take out
Money has lost about about 10% per year in value for the past 5 years. It used to take like a million dollars to retire, but now it's like double that. In addition, nobody really knows how long they might live or how bad inflation could get. Imagine retiring at 50 only to be wiped out, and maybe still on the hook to pay for your own expenses for another 50 years, plus whoever you have in your life who counts on you.
2 millions to retire? Without owning a house? You must be kidding, unless you plan to live only until 60 or move to the cheapest place in the country. Also keep in mind that most health problems start after 50.
To be fair, if you believe all the usual assumptions, then you can expect to earn 5% on that money. That would turn into $100k annually which is enough to live just about anywhere. Now, if you retire on time, I think this may also be tax free. So it's not that crazy, except for the unknowable inflation part of the puzzle. If inflation is also 5%, then your effective loss is 5% per year, so you'd be down nearly 100% after 20 years. Housing costs are crazy, but if you don't need to work then you can easily move to a cheaper place to save money.
Rent? Ever heard of equity? If you make 250k you can afford a nice condo. Right away that blows a huge hole in your math.
Also $1k month on bills? Groceries too?
Judging by your inflated costs for everything, and ann idea that a house (versus more modest accommodations) is what the goal is, you’ve got Lifestyle creep. And, things certainly get a lot easier when your spouse also works.
Renting can be much better financially than buying.
Edit: all % numbers are per year
Consider the case of condos in cities. If you were to buy outright, you effectively get a return by not paying rent (i.e. paying yourself rent). Rent is usually ~5% of the condo cost. HOA + property taxes is 2-3% so subtract that from the rent return i.e. net return 2-3% (5-2/3%). The rest of the return is appreciation from the underlying real estate prices. I am excluding maintenance costs because they are negligible in condos.
On the other hand, if you rent and put the entire amount (that you would have paid to buy the condo), you get ~10% per year. To break even between the two scenarios, you would need real estate prices to grow 7-8% (2-3% + 8-7% = 10%).
Beyond this, there are psychological reasons to buy vs rent. Buying - ability to customize the space, peace of mind because of perceived stability etc. Renting - flexibility, peace of mind because of no long-term obligations etc.
A mortgage is an interpolation of the two cases at the cost of the interest one pays. It is noteworthy, at least in the US, that for most people, this is the only time they can borrow several hundreds of thousands at relatively low costs.
I’ve been trying for the last decade boomer. Housing keeps going up and my salary keeps staying the same. It’s to the point where a 30 year mortgage will take me to 80 years old. Where a down payment would cost me a decade of saving and nothing but saving. No life, no food, no other bills.
I’m not a boomer and the core conditional of this whole thread is that you make $250k a year. If you’re making $250k and you still think what you just said, you are completely incorrect.
Well, interest rates are high right now, but you’d be surprised at how little down payment you need for purchasing a house or a condo. If you’re a tech worker with a stable career making that kind of money, most underwriters will just give you the loan.
I think people commonly underestimate how accessible this stuff is
It’s easy to make a 40 year forecast spreadsheet for retirement, including housing costs, property, taxes, maintenance. Include vacation, budget, food, general cost of living.
So you oblige yourself to an enormous long-term loan at high-interest, burn PMI on it because you have too little equity, secured against an overpriced-for-quality home whose value may already be at peak or plataeu, fixing yourself to one location, while all signs warn that you may be laid off at any time and facing a long period of unemployment.
I knew a lot of people who did almost exactly that ~18 years ago. It didn't go well for them.
And then it turned out that staying flexible as a renter and setting aside cash set me up to buy after a correction instead of before. That part went very well for me.
Be careful with the assumption coded into your "forecast spreadsheet"
Well yes, there are tradeoffs. On the other hand, go ahead and burn 3k a month on rent.
There is no one size fits all solution but i’m surprised at how many people here are inadvertently revealing to me that they haven’t even tried evaluating.
For example, you saying there’s nothing “affordable” when the baseline assumption is an income of $250k? Can tell you haven’t looked at what’s in your price range. Alright, good luck I guess!
I mentioned Lifestyle creep before but what is with everyone’s fried brains?
A small condo in a nice neighborhood in Santa Clara is below $500k. Yes, that’s a lot, and you certainly can get more bang for your buck if you’re willing to do a little commuting.
Btw a $1m house is accessible if you make $250k yr, although to be honest, I would highly recommend against it
The question I originally responded to was "why would you rent and save for a house at the same time?"
I said "because you need to have a downpayment".
You reply "downpayments aren't that high".
Unless you're getting loans zero down, you literally still need to save to have your downpayment. While you're renting.
So where is my brain fried?
Even on a $500k condo, you're putting 10% down, you still need to have that saved up. Noticeably more, in fact, because I'm sure you'd agree "lemme sink every saved cent I have into my house downpayment" wouldn't be wise.
First, you can get a zero down loan at that income level. Wouldn’t recommend it but I can tell you haven’t seriously explored home loans if you don’t know this.
Second, if you make $250k a year and you’re struggling to put $10k, or hell, even $50k down… you need to make a budget because damn
> you literally still need to save to have your downpayment. While you're renting.
Just so you know, I did it. I bought a condo a 20 minute train ride from sf, making quite a bit less than 250k.
I did it at $180k a year by moving into a studio in oakland, and that was overkill tbh. Saved $1.5k a month and biennial vacations were to New York and Vegas instead of France and Japan. Such a sacrifice /s. Now imagine how easy it’d be with an extra $70k (about the average annual salary).
The best advice i can make to you, if you really are making above 200k a year, is to make a budget spreadsheet.
A majority of software engineers don't make enough money to retire at 50. People who have retired so young tend to be very lucky in both employment and their investments. Most probably stayed unmarried, inherited significant amounts of money, and/or married into even more money. It also helps to be lucky enough to start with a $100k+ job at age 23 and never have any bad luck to set you back. I've met people who check some/all of these boxes, and even they seem to not be retiring at 50.
Unless you're churning your own butter and manufacturing your own solar panels, isn't retirement inherently living off other people regardless of income?
Isn't getting wages in a wealthy country so that you can afford a multiple of work hours from poorly-paid people elsewhere inherently living off other people?
you want to live off another people to some degree. single farmer can feed hundreds - there is no need for everyone to do everything. which of course raises societal fairness and trust issues
This. People act like we’ve gotten $200k+ for more than a decade. Most of us haven’t. It wasn’t until 10 year into my career that I hit $100k so this is boomer math that doesn’t account for inflation of everything.
> what is a random tech employee supposed to do here?
My plan as someone who was thinking of leaving tech anyway (remote work is not for me, and practically any new tech job I get will be at least as remote as this one has become if not more so, and I want to program not manage programmers, artificial or otherwise) is to stay where I am pushing through to the other side if possible and if not, I'll find myself redundant. At that point I'll end up on a lower wage doing something else from the ground up, but if LLMs are going to be what we are told they are programming will become a minimum wage job for most anyway. Either way, sticking where I am for now, tightening the purse strings a bit, saving as much as I can, is the best course of action.
If you're a tech employee in a large company with lucrative compensation, you should be aggressively reducing your expenses and banking your excess so you can weather what might be long period of unemployment and can adapt more smoothly to employment at more modest compensation when you manage to get back in.
Unless you're working very obviously outside the blast radius of an AI-bubble correction (you'd know if you were) or are a very high-value VIP (again, you'd know), you should assume you'll be spending some time without a job within the next few years. Possibly a long time.
You might get lucky, but it's not really going to be in your control and "milking the AI wave, learning all the tools" isn't going to change your odds much. It really is musical chairs. Whether you lose your job will depend on where you happen to be standing when the music stops. And there are going to be so many other people looking for the same new chair as you, with resumes that look almost exactly like yours, that getting a new job will basically come down to a lottery draw.
If you think the AI stuff is cool, study it and play with it. Otherwise, just save money and start working on the outline for that novel you've been thinking about writing.
Do you think this has something to do with the current US policy of antagonizing most of the Western world?
Tech and software's investment balance sheet comes down to a largely fixed cost of development vs. a large customer base where every customer has little to no additional cost.
If you manage to burn the bridges or at least scare hundreds of millions of those people into exploring alternatives, that really eats into your total target market in the long run.
Idk about interviewing, but there are many benefits to opening fake job listing (gathering a database of people, keeping track of people looking for jobs, etc) which is why people do it. Data is valuable.
It is one trick that allows management to lie to everyone, and to implement downsizing. Fact is that A LOT of US businesses became unsustainable due to the tariffs (which Trump totally did for "US first" and not, I repeat NOT to get an extra tax started for him to spend), the retaliatory tariffs, followed by Trump doing the largest mass-firing in US history, presumably because this is listed in introductory economics textbooks in the chapter "what caused the great depression".
So a LOT of businesses are now in the position that they have to raise prices significantly into the worst market in decades. So they'll get significantly less revenue and they'll have to go into overdrive on saving money. That means no hiring, layoffs, price hikes, shrinkflation, ... the whole thing. They have to do a lot less with a lot less.
How does management respond to this? Well, management generally isn't competent. Their only job is to negotiate, and now that will really be put to the test. The smarter ones know that negotiation doesn't even matter under these circumstances (since it's a fixed pie being divided: someone has to lose). So they're maximizing their runway and getting out. And first, of course, they lie. They tell people even inside companies that they're hiring, even to the point of having interviews. They post job postings, because that's part of doing covert layoffs: they replace full time employees by temporary ones, even interns. They wait with price hikes until they're through inventory. They notice they've signed long-term contracts with Walmart that they cannot fulfill. And so on. So they lie to maintain their reputation for after the crisis (so on their next interview they can believably claim "I could have saved the company, but I found a better opportunity ...").
So I bet we'll be seeing a LOT of managers, especially higher up, suddenly decide they need to find a new job, and when it turns out that doesn't work, take a 2-3 year excuse to take a break.
As for replacing these people with AI: they're not spending ... and AI is expensive. Sure there's startups using AI, but larger companies are just firing people and not replacing them. Certainly they don't see the current period as a good time to change ... anything.
Governments should be "countering the crisis" and hire, according to economics textbooks, and increase social spending with the savings from the decade past ... except ... there are no savings from the decade past. So governments are firing, laying off, saving on healthcare, and so on and so forth. The US obviously has everyone's attention but the UK is doing the same (frankly, worse) and so is the EU.
Trump will be the most desperate manager of all, doing anything and everything he can to delay this from happening until the midterm elections in November, like lowering interest rates. But the thing everyone needs to remember about interest rates: they only lower for a good reason. The problem for Trump is ... either he delays this to beyond November or he becomes a "lame-duck" president, unable to do anything.
Two things: (1) Trump doesn't control the prime lending rate (and that's not the interest rate, either); and, (2) he's rapidly headed to lame duck status, already.
Unfortunately "lame duck" status doesn't mean nearly as much under today's radical Republican model of governance.
Namely, where the President does things unconstitutionally and illegally, like creating new taxes on Americans, refusing to execute laws saying money must be spent achieving a goal, ordering the persecution of opponents, etc.
Meanwhile, the new conservative majority of the Supreme Court refuses to act claiming impeachment is literally the only remedy, and a small minority of Republican legislators prevent impeachment from occurring.
Do you have a thesis for why that might be happening? Ageism? Overqualification? The next generation of hiring managers not knowing what to do with you? Past experience being deemed irrelevant to modern SWE problems? Is it all just a bad market? Your profile strikes me as the last one that would struggle with landing a gig.
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