This is a list of guidelines that might be useful on your next project
You should use an arduino for your project, or just a bare AVR if you want to; PIC would work too.
You can use python to write code that will be used by millions of people
Analog electronics are cool.
Hey, neat facebook clone!
Cassandra is a pretty good way of storing data, so are MySQL, CouchDB, mongoDB, Redis, Postgresql, MSSQL, DB2, riak, and that custom datastore you’ve been meaning to write.
Vi and Emacs have both been used to write the software that is delivering packets to you right now. You should use one of them if you want to.
Perl, PHP, and Ruby on Rails are all good choices.
Hey, cool reddit clone!
Sometimes, using tables for layouts is okay, but it’s also alright if you hate them.
Apache is a good webserver.
Nginx is a good webserver too.
Objects that update twitter are just plain fun.
Learning how to use an oscilloscope is a good idea if you want to be able to analyze signals.
This framework and that framework can both be used to make websites.
People that are self-taught are the best. People who have Master’s degrees, Bachelor’s degrees, or PhDs are also the best.
Hacker news isn’t always right.
It’s okay if you want to use wordpress.
You should always ignore hackaday comments, unless you want to read them.
Owning a lot of parts doesn’t make you a good hacker.
Linux is a good operating system for doing things, so are OSX, Windows, and BSD.
Blinking LED t-shirts are amazing!
Business intelligence software is cool, but if you don’t like writing it, you shouldn’t.
Hey, you, good job on that rocket-powered autonomous flying thing that bakes bread and brews coffee and shoots flames and cures cancer; keep it up.
You aren’t the best coder in the room.
If you’ve ever written computer software, that means you’re a real programmer.
You are not the worst coder in the room.
You don’t need a datacenter full of machines to serve up a lot of pages, but if you have a datacenter full of machines, you can probably serve up a lot of pages.
Some people are just dickheads, ignore them and keep hacking.
It’s not the end of the world if you’re not good at design, you should team up with a designer. You should also learn more about design if you want to.
Hey, you at your kitchen table with the soldering iron, good job on that.
It’s not the end of the world if you’re not good at coding, you should team up with a coder. You should also learn more about coding if you want to.
Everybody in the world should learn how to use a laser cutter.
Paper, wood, aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber, this plastic, that plastic, cotton, steel, stone, concrete, clay, chocolate, sand, and glass are all materials that can be used to make things.
You should make it wireless, unless you don’t want to.
Nobody should ever write any type of authentication sytem ever.
It’s probably not the end of the world if you’re not using bycrpt, but you should use it anyway.
You’re a better hacker today than you were a year ago. This is a natural law. The only way you won’t get better is if you stop, so don’t do that unless you feel like stopping.
You should always open source your projects, except when you don’t want to.
If somebody asks you a question about something, help them, unless you’re an asshole, in which case, direct them to someone that isn’t. Also, relax.
Hey, you, building that thingamabob…cool thingamabob. Keep at it.
(Unless you don’t want to).
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I got into software about 15 years ago because it was fun; I think a lot of us did. Never lose sight of that, and never think that because you’re not using the latest/greatest bleeding edge bit-flipper, that it means you’re doing it “wrong”.
(This blog post was inspired by this: http://surlybikes.com/blog/post/some_answers_to_just_about_any_bike_forum_post_ive_ever_read – which is about bicycles. Bicycles are good and I love them. Someday, a Surly Long Haul Trucker.)