27 Comments
Aug 1, 2023Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

Fork in the road!

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correct. just gave u a 3 month comp. congrats. I gotta ask, how'd you figure it out??

also the 'deleted comment' below was me saying the above but without the 'how'd you figure it out' part which I thought was key but now it looks like really shitty down there whatever

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Aug 1, 2023Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

I did a reverse image search on Bing. I hope that doesn’t count as cheating.

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um what the hell that's not okay

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Seriously though, thank you!

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Aug 1, 2023Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

Alex! There is so much in here I want to steal for my own blog thing esp. writing out a series of experiences with focusmate but I also don’t want to tangle with you after seeing what’s gone down between you and Mr. Sowden...

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nooooooo do it do it ! OR what if we both did it and reported on our results or something! Sowden himself I believe recently requested a Kadet x Dobrenko collabathon!

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Aug 1, 2023Liked by Alex Dobrenko`

I AM I'm going to DO IT.

OR

LETS DO IT

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lets do it

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I AM HERE FOR THIS THING

FULLY.

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I raced down here to yell, "FORK IN THE ROAD" as loud as my keyboard would allow. But after realizing I was an hour late to the finish line, I'm now crippled with sadness. If anyone needs me, I'll be listening to Bon Iver's "Up In the Woods" on loop for the next 8 hours.

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Aug 1, 2023·edited Aug 1, 2023

hi! as a cs student, all i can say is that the particular language you choose to learn is not relevant to the art of programming and building up cool stuff. sure, each language has its particularities. however, they are quite easy to catch onto once you get the basics of computer science. for learning these basics, harvard offers an excellent interactive free online course called cs50 (https://cs50.harvard.edu/x/2023/). i highly recommend it. fun fact: it's the biggest on-campus course at harvard.

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I really like a nice grilled cheese, where you butter both sides and hit that shit in a hot cast iron skillet.

But I’ve been (self)diagnosed with a gluten allergy and it makes sandwiches less enjoyable as gluten free bread is absolute gutter trash. But sometimes, when it’s a perfect full moon and mercury is in Gatorade, there will be a place that serves a sandwich on gluten free bread that is almost like the real thing.

Those are the days. That is my sandwich. I don’t even care what is in between the slices of wannabe real bread. If it makes me believe I’m eating a real sandwich, I am home.

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Thanks for bringing Transparent Tuesdays to my attention. I can already tell it's gonna be one of those open immediately and fuck everything else for a few mins things.

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SQL, toss-up between a solid grilled cheese/Cuban sandwich/ meatball sandwich from Claro's Italian Market in San Gabriel (you should go!), and TYSM for the shout-out 😊

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Thanks for the tip on Substack to follow. 👏

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In joining the anti Martel bandwagon, I have to ask: how many Marvel films have you seen?

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Coding: Use ChatGPT. Open universities online also have a lot of free courses, or with low cost if you want a certificate. There are more expensive courses, of course. Try Coursera and edX. Search Google or ask a LLM which code you should learn and why.

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Well damn, I saw it was a fork in the road immediately and didn’t look it up! ;)

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You better believe I eat Bon Iver’s origin story for breakfast every day. Love the review 🤘🏼

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I would also like to know how to reach fame’s inflection point!

Great reads all around, thank you for sharing all these things you love-- it made for a really enjoyable and inspiring read.

Also-- CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I am fittingly also preggo (at the 6/mo mark) and am trying to figure out how I'll manage my Substack during my version of "parental leave". Do you have thoughts on that?

I've tried to learn how to code several times and always give up.

Not because it's hard, but because I've come to learn that it's only going to be sustainable if you have a goal/project you really want to make with the programming language.

My husband is a die hard for Python, so if that has any impact, there's that!

I always thought maybe frontend work could be interesting then maybe we could make our own websites since we're writers/artists. Who knows!

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dear alex,

i love you!

here are the answers to your questions:

"What’s the best coding language to start learning first?"

i don't know! morse?

"Also, do you think a Substack about my learnings would be cool?"

cool? maybe. good? yes! also, cool? yes!

"Did you also tell everyone Bon Iver’s origin story circa 2008?"

never had!

"Are you more concerned about aliens or sex robots?"

real answer: i am not concerned about either.

joke answer: alien sex robots.

"What’s ur favorite sandwich?"

the one i'm eating NOW

"Have you tried remote body doubling / coworking yet?"

no, but i have tried eating sandwiches!

love,

myq

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Okay, I came straight over here to yell (in typewritten upper-case format) 'FORK IN THE ROAD'... and then realised that you'd published this post YESTERDAY. So: I'm LATE both for class AND the party... and haven't even read the rest of your post, so excited was I for my chance to WIN.

*sighs*

😉

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I think the coding language you learn will depend on what you want to do with it. I wanted to make narrative games, so I learned a simple scripting language called Ink, which I’m currently using for all my Adventure Snack quests.

If you want to build websites, I’d learn CSS/HTML. If you want to build apps, maybe C++ or Python. Whatever you choose, I’d be interested in your stories about learning it!

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