I configured Visual Studio to play sounds if a compilation succeeded or failed (to wake up if it's taking too long). I also configured it to play a sound if a breakpoint is hit (quite useful if you are debugging a game and some assert you don't care triggers)
I think the Optimization course by Prof. Jacco is a nice start https://web.archive.org/web/20230924064410/https://www.cs.uu... (sadly the website seems to be currently down). Basically you need a mental framework to approach optimizing software (else you might just be spinning around wasting time). I recommend reading at least lecture 1 and looking at the references on the website.
As for specific optimizations, it requires context of what software are you trying to optimize and under what circumstances. A lot of the times you are going to see that the answer to asking if certain optimizations are worth the effort is going to be 'it depends'
As a Venezuelan in Europe this feeling is eerily familiar. Including being the enjoyer of a communist utopia and whose family resisted the fascists of the 50s. Furthermore with mixed feeling on what to call home, given that what used to be home is still burning and you have family and friends still there
Yeah, I guess the only way of getting it removed safely would be to the international community pressure a lot and trade it for something Maduro wants (I guess gold and probably some propaganda).
And yeah, that guy is really brave. Especially after that story of the Colombian captain being detained for months and then killed in a raid by national guards that wanted money. I guess now there are going to be patrolling it and Sebin is going to make sure no one gets close again.
As a Venezuelan, it is interesting to see how the Castro's used the CUC to save face from the defacto dollarization they had.
Also, it's interesting to see the parallels with the Petro. I'm thankful that it mostly failed, minus some money laundering by the government and pensions (this is Maquiavelian, they pay part of the pension and bonuses in a controlled electronic currency to elderly people who mostly don't have access to the internet and maybe even electricity, but good for propaganda). From the last quarter of 2018 we went from talking about dollars being illegal to a heavy push towards defacto dollarization where a lot of party and army people opened bodegones (mostly imported good stores, they pay 0% taxes by presidential decree) where they mainly accept USD (sometimes EUR) and sometimes Bolívares (the official currency). The government tried to push the Petro to them, but failed to convince even it's own people who want hard currency and not useless monopoly money. And now even some state run stuff is marking prices in USD (some elite government places stopped accepting Bolívares)
