I'm happy with Migadu with a custom domain: https://www.migadu.com/

> My productivity app for the past 12 years has been a single .txt file

Better if it's encrypted. I use Encryptpad[0] to store such notes.

[0] https://evpo.net/encryptpad/

> I push past my dissatisfaction because the better jobs don’t pay.

A 'better job' is not necessarily a high-paying job. Many people opt for lower commute time yet choose a lesser paying job, if it means they don't spend 1-2 hours commuting. Also if you're lucky, you live where you work, and have plenty of amenities available (Gym, Shopping Center etc).

Also you could need a side-project / hobby project you work on that is either related to tech or not related (wood working etc). Many people scratch their own itch on hobby projects even if they're not paid to do it (they just enjoy doing it).

Internet snow day!

> maybe it’s some software I install on my local network that intercepts traffic and helps the robot keep running none-the-wiser that it’s not actually phoning home anymore

Yeah all my IoT devices connect to my pi-hole[0] and I manually disable connecting to various hosts. If there was some pre-made IoT filter list that would be great and would save me from manually disabling all the phoning home.

[0] https://pi-hole.net/

Not sure why you're being downvoted, pi-hole is a solid choice for the privacy conscious.

@op most consumer grade routers let you easily block devices on your network. you might have to connect it initially to activate it, and then block?

Pihole is a DNS solution, not a firewall. Any IoT that calls home via IP address gets right through

You can combine the two roles so you're not solely focused on programming. This is where devops / devsecops / creating ansible playbooks and Docker runtimes can be fun.

Also Nerd Sniping[0] should be avoided, although that slips through the cracks here on HN. A form of Cunningham's Law[1]

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nerd_sniping

[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cunningham%27s_Law

hackernews as a whole is one giant barrage of nerdsnipes.

at least i come here for the discussion of interesting problems. sure sometimes i wonder, like, should i really have spent the time to comment on wobbly walls in britain? was that question i posed a nerdsnipe? maybe, but then so was the whole article.

This is an interesting take as I am on this website precisely to be nerd-sniped and I don’t really feel alone in that aspect.

It's not nerd-sniping. It's nerd-shooting nerd-fish in a nerd-barrel.

Good article on the subject: https://theconversation.com/dont-feed-the-trolls-really-is-g...

Ignore the Keyboard Warriors[0] and move on with your day.

[0] https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Keyboard%20W...

> 1. A Person who, being unable to express his anger through physical violence (owning to their physical weakness, lack of bravery and/or conviction in real life), instead manifests said emotions through the text-based medium of the internet, usually in the form of aggressive writing that the Keyboard Warrior would not (for reasons previously mentioned) be able to give form to in real life.

This is the one. We use this at Akkio so that Engineering doesn’t need to be involved in website changes that are more just marketing and branding. Lets us maximize engineering time on the actual product.