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Ask HN: What cool skill or project interests you, but feels out of reach?

124 points akktor | 2 comments | 09 Jun 25 12:41 UTC | HN request time: 1.702s | source

This question's for all those cool projects or skills you're secretly fascinated by, but haven't quite jumped into. Maybe you feel like you just don't have the right "brain" for it, or you're not smart enough to figure it out, or even worse, you simply have no clue how or where to even start.

The idea here is to shine a light on these hidden interests and the little (or big!) mental blocks that come with them. If you're already rocking in those specific areas – or you've been there and figured out how to get past similar hurdles – please chime in! Share some helpful resources, dish out general advice, or just give a nudge of encouragement on how to take that intimidating first step.

Let's help each other get unstuck!

1. ManlyBread ◴[12 Jun 25 12:49 UTC] No.44257166[source]▶
Reverse engineering. Each time I start I seem to get overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge required, then I decide to check if these skills might be useful in getting a better paid job... and there just doesn't seem to be that much jobs involving these skills, neither in my area nor remotely. And my motivation instantly evaporates because learning all that stuff just to sometimes poke around in some weird program.
replies(1): >>44263160 #
2. wrboyce ◴[12 Jun 25 21:02 UTC] No.44263160[source]▶
I love reverse engineering, but it is strictly a hobby (fortunately? Unfortunately? Honestly I’m not sure!).

Anyway, I’d heartily recommend Microcorruption[1]. It’s really good fun, uses a fairly simply assembly flavour (msp430), and introduces new concepts at a nice cadence.

Shameless plug: I’ve written up a bunch of the solutions in “tutorial form” on my blog[2], but I am incredibly slow at getting new posts out (although I do have the next ~4 levels in nearly-complete drafts).

[1]: https://microcorruption.com/

[2]: https://lovesexsecretgod.com/