I used to take a wide array of cognitive boosters during higher education and piracetam is one I know quite well personally. To make this short:
It works for some things (like reading for hours at a time) but it has made me sometimes feel "foggy-headed" and less productive/creative. The effects it has on my GI tract have been problematic at times (causing gas) and it tends to make my blood sugar crash at T+3. Plus with the massive amount of choline you have to take alongside the product, it became an inconvenience rather than an aid.
I would recommend sulbutiamine over piracetam if you want to "get things done".
>* anything that "works" has a very pronounced psychoactive effect on the brain. Which is scary in the long-term.
What are you specifically talking about? What do you qualify as a "very pronounced psychoactive effect" "on the brain" and how is that "scary in the long-term"?
Please don't just make blanket statements without qualifying them to the rest of us. Show some evidence or reasoning to argue.
I agree with this advice. I just got out of b-school and my background is in computer information systems, but I am attempting to learn a lot more of the nitty-gritty aspects of computer science I was not exposed to in my university education. This includes topics like algorithms, data structures, operating systems and compilers. I do not know where to start and I've been using Hacker News to follow the tech scene as much as possible. Unfortunately I still feel that I am missing out because I chose business over engineering (which I continue to regret).
I'm just 1.5 years away from being 30 so I realize that I have quite a long time left in my software development career to catch-up to all you CS people. I don't think I've been undirected (the opposite of conscientiousness) but I've been misdirected and distracted. I've studied other things including web design and music production. I've also enjoyed life a lot (and slacked off by watching too much Adult Swim and Comedy Central, as well!).
It's hard being productive and studious all the time. While some people work 80 hour weeks continuously, most people don't out of need for sleep, exercise and relaxation. There is certainly an ebb-and-flow to this so I am embracing the idea that it will take me many more years of continuous growth and effort to get where I want to be. I also know that I need to eliminate as many distractions as possible, including turning off the TV and avoiding going out to concerts, clubs and bars. I have picked up some meditation techniques as well (including spending 10 minutes a day, at least once a day, focusing on deep breathing in order to unwind my frontal cortex). Sacrifice sucks but it is necessary to become the person you want to be!
I've never worked for a start-up in a development role before, but I think I would like it. I am 28, fresh out of grad school and working for a bank currently. I like my coworkers and the work but when I walk by management and I overhear "We're not a development shop," I get disheartened because banks are becoming data centers and have to be in the software game.
Take a look at...
Dwolla: they are out to destroy the Automated Clearing House industry.
Bitcoin: banks need to know how to interface with that!
Micropayments: same deal.
Mobile: OCR for check deposits!
Data science/analytics ("big data"): obvious.
Banks that fail to adopt a hacker culture because IT is a "cost center" (despite the fact that all operational units of any business are) will crumble.
Not to discredit your question which is important in context... I feel like Both of them overlap and there are some really, really interesting problems in finance which most people don't have the balls to solve. There's a reason fintech startups are few and far between in comparison to the rest.
I was asking because I used to work in a bank, participated in two fintech startups, and have returned to banking due to circumstances with my family. I was going to target my advice based on the answer; however, after thinking this over some more, my advice would be the same for either answer. Stay in banking. There are a lot of problems in banking that need to be solved, and I think being on the inside of the bank gives one the best chance at solving those problems.
