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Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

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Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#191

Post by twinge »

msluyter wrote: post #127

Readline —- I’m sometimes amazed at the number of relatively seasoned developers who don’t know simple commands like ctrl-r. This one really pays off because almost all shells and repls like ipython or the mysql client implement it. Sample cheat sheet: https://readline.kablamo.org/emacs.html You don’t have to learn it all, but mastering the basics like moving to the end/beginning on the line, moving/deleting by word,…

If you're a vi user, edit ~/.inputrc and add:

   set editing-mode vi
   set keymap vi-command
This changes readline behavior from emacs to vi. This, along with "set -o vi" in bash, are really handy (though can be frustrating for others if you ever share a keyboard pair programming).

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#193

Post by cirgue »

afarrell wrote: post #130
ohyes wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that getting good exercise also helps me think. I feel more creative and happy if I’m getting my 30 minutes a day. But it’s also about discipline, this sort of thing can only be accomplished with discipline, which is what really lets you accomplish things.

> discipline For the benefit of my past self: discipline isn’t about punishment or being harsh with yourself. Discipline is the practice of saying to yourself “this is hard. This is scary. This is worth it and so I’m going to do it because I’m stronger than I think” and then following through with action. EDIT: Sometimes the "following through with action" bit also involves knowing what you need to set yourself up fo…

Discipline is learning how to want to do something, not how to make yourself do something.

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#194

Post by faitswulff »

matthewrudy wrote: post #163
yorwba wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For making Chinese flashcards in Anki, I can recommend this addon https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/3448800906 (Anki 2.0 only, for Anki 2.1 there's a fork https://github.com/luoliyan/chinese-support-redux )

I need to learn the tooling around anki. I was trying to edit the full hsk1-6 flashcard set to just show hsk5. But I didn't manage to find the right tools. Tried to manually change the file (it's a sqlite dB inside a zip file) but the db is not structured in a way I managed get my head round. Should try again.

> I was trying to edit the full hsk1-6 flashcard set to just show hsk5.

> But I didn't manage to find the right tools.

This is by far the worst part of those decks (which I am also using). You are literally encouraged to just browse the cards and delete the levels that you're not using. It's really not user friendly.

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#195

Post by Arubis »

smnplk wrote: post #183
mrcnkoba wrote: post #28

Learning English. It opened up a whole new area of the internet that I was excluded from simply because I didn't know the language. There are communities that I can actively participate in and learn from.

Does anyone know of a service that matches people who want to chat via Skype to practice speaking skills ?

It’s non free, but italki.com may suit your needs.

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#196

Post by yorwba »

matthewrudy wrote: post #163
yorwba wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For making Chinese flashcards in Anki, I can recommend this addon https://ankiweb.net/shared/info/3448800906 (Anki 2.0 only, for Anki 2.1 there's a fork https://github.com/luoliyan/chinese-support-redux )

I need to learn the tooling around anki. I was trying to edit the full hsk1-6 flashcard set to just show hsk5. But I didn't manage to find the right tools. Tried to manually change the file (it's a sqlite dB inside a zip file) but the db is not structured in a way I managed get my head round. Should try again.

I think that's what "Tools > Create filtered deck" is for. Assuming the cards are appropriately tagged, "tag:hsk5" should be enough.

For more complex operations Anki doesn't support directly, I usually just export as text instead of dealing with the database directly.

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#197

Post by geokon »

beamatronic wrote: post #116

SQL. Ultimately a software company is a business, run by business people who have to solve business problems. Often to do that they come up with questions which need to be answered by ad-hoc (written on the fly for one purpose) SQL queries. Having that ability, to answer arbitrary questions FAST will elevate your status in the minds of managers and business people.

What's a good place to start learning SQL? (for someone with 5+ years C++ and now dabbling in Clojure/ELisp)

Re: Ask HN: What things have richly rewarded the time invested in mastering them?

#199

Post by refurb »

Investing. Read a few solid, no BS books by people like Bernstein. Realize that there is a ton of BS out there. Develop your own investing strategy and execute it yourself.

In the end you save money, get some financial security and stop asking yourself “do I know what i’m doing?”

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