I’m sure education is a big part of it, but also, and perhaps linked, a lot seem… terrified?

In the examples you give, that pure blast of hate can be driven by fear. That sort of person (not exclusively American) is scared of anyone who’s different to them. Thats why they like guns, to make themselves feel safer (ignoring the irony that having a gun makes someone statistically less safe), why they’re so chest-thumpingly desparate to show the world they’re strong and fearless.

The Garmin stuff (I’ve used Oregon a lot - various models since 2011) auto-saves tracks as GPX and is very reliable about that.

The newer stuff also saves as .FIT with extra info.

When you plug these into a computer by USB they appear as a normal extra drive, with the files available natively. As /u/Shimitar says, they don’t need the cloud, or an account (unless they have changed that)

They’re also pretty robust and weather proof.

Downsides - expensive. Sometimes limited features. The cameras on the Oregons are useless, and you mention a camera is needed - so it depends what features you want, your budget, and the range.

That sounds pretty grim and I’m sorry it happened to you. Having to be strong for other people is damned tiring.

I’m no psychologist, but that sounds a lot like depression and if so, would explain why there’s little passion to be found at such a time. Certainly when I’ve had periods of clinical depression, life was pretty damned bleak for a while. As you say, you can’t chase happiness or force it to happen. Anti depressants helped me, but I found that they certainly didn’t encourage passion or enjoyment in anything as they takes away the highs as well as the lows.

Sounds like you’ve got a good partner and that’s half the battle. I hope things improve for you soon.

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

My father was also an amateur photographer who went professional - doing lots of weddings and events. He got quite frustrated with that too, even though this was back in the 70s. Even then, the customer usually had a strong view about what they wanted, which gave him little leeway to be creative - much as you describe. He also found getting paid at the end of the job really difficult, so much so the combination forced him to give it up, and that pretty much killed his love too. Sold most of his cameras and lenses and all his darkroom equipment.

I can understand that. I’ve always coded for fun (Basic, Turbo C, lots of psuedo languages, then perl, sql, php, python and so on) - learning that stuff is hard for me but very rewarding when I do. I actually find it harder to learn stuff at work, but it’s great to do at work too. I transfer skills between the two schools - and each has enough variation that whilst there’s technical and skill crossover, the headspace is very different - at least for me. But yes, if I’ve been doing that all day, I’ll do something else in the evening. I restored a car as a distraction from work once, but that was when I was in a job that I really hated.

High five for factorio mention. Incredible game, although I’m playing more Captain of Industry lately. Different but similar brain scratching.

Oh, that sounds brutal. Sorry.

Companies are already using AI to generate their own versions of expensive proprietary software (Triggered no doubt by https://developers.slashdot.org/story/25/09/29/1733238/new-claude-model-runs-30-hour-marathon-to-create-11000-line-slack-clone - a project that is entirely closed source)

As prompt engineering gets better and more reliable, why wouldn’t they? And honestly, I’d cheer. Commercial software pricing is so blatantly predatory (We won’t give you a price until you tell us who you are so we can charge you what we think you can pay, rather than what it’s worth) that skipping it entirely is a no brainer if you have some in-house support.

That’s sad to hear.

I feel you. I’m much more productive working from home with fewer distractions, but I’m a little luckier in that I get to split that time.

Yes, it can definitely do that. You have to be extremely firm with yourself about boundary creep but even then, the temptation to check in on the business side when you’re supposed to be off is big.

Any arts store or online you can get a sheet of dark coloured stickers for cheaps that have become essential in modern life. Quick, easy, removable. Even on nova-quality LEDs where light still escapes, you can double up.

On several over-bright backlit LCD screens, where I still need to read the info, I create a simple hinge with thin cardboard and a short strip of sticky tape. Cardboard flaps down but can be lifted up to see the info.

I have a sheet of dark coloured stickers specifically for this task.

God, you must be even older than I am! We did Basic at school, and our teacher showed us punch cards, and tape, but we never actually used them - BBC B’s being the tool of that time. Those were great times - genuinely pushing the boundaries of the possible, spending hours hand optimising code to save a few bytes or cycles, all with only printed manuals as reference. Understood about corporate structure, and for me also, some individuals can really affect the subject (I detest rudeness in particular)

Oof, that must have been brutal. I understand the satisfaction and still try to recognise and store up the good days, but something like Covid is a blindsider that took so many businesses out.

Hospitality here in the UK suffered hugely, even to the extent that the government created an ill-founded system called “eat out to help out” and paid people to eat at restaurants. (And did cause more spreading of the virus). I’m lucky to live close to several good food pubs, but they’re still struggling and gradually closing as costs rise.

Mmm, but they also say to keep your work and personal life separate.

That’s really interesting, and sad to lose an interest for a while. Do you remember what triggered the shift to hating it? Movies themselves, or the internship and environment of that, so closely associated with the subject?

That could be a valid point and I certainly appreciate the value in a clear separation. It’s been my hobby since 1981 when I got my first computer, and aside from a poor six months working in a support job in the 90s, it’s only been my main career for 7 or 8 years. My colleagues are a mixture of those who like to selfhost and fiddle in their spare time too, and those who actively avoid technology.

Yes, definitely - and perhaps I should have including that as I think I was also asking, “Can work kill that passion”?

So your job is cooking?

Basically it’s the different challenges at home vs. the daily grind that make the difference for me.

That makes a lot of sense. A lot of the ‘stress’ of my job comes from people - asking permission, considering stakeholders, working around their needs - that it’s quite freeing to “JFDI” something, knowing that it’s only me that cares or is affected.

The venn diagram between “work” and “play” for me has a lot of intersecting area, but the distinctions are mostly clear. Guessing it’s the same for you - especially with the extra depth that cooking for family involves.

Thanks for your experience. I’ve certainly felt like that at times, and some nights definitely don’t want to do it - so then I turn to other hobbies that aren’t related, but I keep coming back to it.