241–250 of 579 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Modern technology is also completely dependent on stable society of individuals working together in mostly amicable fashion.
I don't have to agree with someone else's political beliefs - or even generally like that person at all - to sell them a widget or buy from them a tool or raw-materials package; all I need are skills and a profit margin.
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)
1. Have a database to query (or think of some project that is basically a frontend on a database and which you can give a reasonable amount of data)
2. Come up with questions for the database you want to answer
3. Look at the SQLite documentation. They have fantastic diagrams for the syntax of a sql query.
4. Write down the sql for your query (or work out what you can’t express and see if you can search on the internet to find out how to express it)
5. Look into relational algebra and try to work out how it corresponds to sql databases.
6. Repeat steps 2-4
7. Understand what different types of joins there are
8. Repeat steps 2-4
9. Read about more exotic things like nested queries, window functions, recursive queries, and so on (just look at the features of your database of choice and see what you can learn about). These might come in handy for future questions
10. Repeat steps 2-4 (repeatedly)
If you don’t know which database to use then start with SQLite. It’s basically fine for anything simple and manything complicated.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm talking about the hundreds of thousands of years we spent as tribes of hunter gatherers. We still carry much of the social needs and behaviors formed in that landscape.
Right, and I'm saying that the landscape has changed enough that many of the behaviors and characteristics we evolved back then, are maladaptive today; just because most humans happen to have a certain trait, does not mean that others should hold that trait sacred and kowtow+mold themselves to it. There are other examples, too; ones with even fewer exceptions. Our minds and bodies both help hoard energy; that trait-s…
Penmanship & Calligraphy. One of my non-computer fascinations that turned out to be spiritually rewarding. Once one gets past shallow modern trends, there's so much to discover, study, learn, practice, master and let loose with. It's really fun. I don't necessarily ship or sell anything, at least as of yet, but still the act itself is kinda like meditation.
I started to get into calligraphy. I got quite good at copperplate/engrosser's script (I was never quite clear on the difference). My script was good enough that people thought it was printed. But I just don't know where to take it from there. I feel like I need a good book on the subject. Like The Art of Computer Programming, but for calligraphy. I've been unable to find such a book, though. Any suggestions on how p…
As for good books, oh so many. Please dont discount the value of a book because it's in public domain or because they've been written a while ago.My taste generally favors american penmanship derivations and as such prefer engrosser's script over styles grouped under copperplate. Copperplate are styles that derive from English Round hand. Engrosser's script evolved from copperplate but did so in a time of the steel nib which allowed more nuanced curves. Engrosser's script has a very definitive guide from the Zanerian college that is clear, concise and has great exemplars. So my recommendation is - The Zanerian Manual. There is a copy in archive.org but David Grimes recently scanned a high def version of it on his website https://masgrimes.com/archive . Beauty of a book. I refer to very often.
You didn't ask but some good material suggestions with KISS in mind - get a good (not speedball) oblique holder, McCaffery's Iron gall Ink, a rhodia book and a bunch of Leonardt Principal nibs because you'll go through them a lot. Just like programming, once you get the fundamentals right, you can handle anything that whimsies you.
I have a particular fondness for the Spencerian family and as such regard the "New Spencerian Compendium" as a definite recommendation. It was done by Papa Spencer's sons(including a genius penman Lyman Spencer) and has some well written teaching material and theory on styles that have spring from the Spencerian family. While on this topic, I'd like to recommend a book from the Zanerian college about one of my favorite penmen - Louis Madarasz. It's called - The secret of the skill of Louie Madarasz.
All of these books are freely available as pdfs on archive.org . Also you should visit iampeth.org at some point - an organization that has spent lots of resources to dig up and preserve the beauty that was the golden age of American Penmanship. So many good helpful notes on that website.
I wouldn't mind offering personalized advice or more book recommendations. Feel free to DM me on instagram.
Why is it necessary to truly avoid exploiting the other party, instead of merely maintaining for them an illusion that they're not being exploited?
Most people are happier if they know that they are actively contributing to the world or at least to others people's happiness. Whether that applies to you is a question you have to answer yourself. I wouldn't want to live my life knowing that I'm trying to pull everyone and everything over the table and that i make others miserable wherever I go. If you want to find a business reason: long term relationships and tru…
Programming (I feel like that might be cheating on HN...) I started programming about 16 years ago (I think), when my Dad bought a basic introduction to HTML for himself, which I ended up "borrowing". I super geeky teenage life followed where I learned various languages, including Python, Delphi and an obscure language called RapidEuphoria (honest, that is a programming language, with some interesting features actual…
I'm curious about your experience going from a maths degree to a software engineering career - do you find the maths to be specifically and/or broadly relevant to your work? Are there any anecdotes you'd like to share on the process?
My career is a bit mixed up: Taught Math at a college (part time on and off for 10 years), Meteorologist (only 2 years), Nuclear Engineer (only 2 years), Systems Engineering (7 years), Hedge Funds (15 years). I did a lot of ML/AI (20 years) mostly for Trading Stocks, Poker, Torpedos, and Satellites. I wrote about 100,000 lines of C++ and about 10,000 lines for each of the following: BASIC, Mathematica, Matlab, and Haskell.
Math is an integral a part of my life and my thinking. :)
If I get some time later, maybe I will try to write up a few stories.
During interviews I would force myself to smile. It helped get rid of some nervousness. When I get stuck on a problem I would smile stupidly and usually the interviewer would help me out.
When I feel like conversations are getting heated I would take a step back and smile, it helps me direct the conversion to a more positive place.
Sometimes when stuff happens outside my control and life just sucks I'll force myself to smile and handle things to the best of my ability
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)
Learning Photoshop. My photo restorations: http://imgur.com/a/uzUzP http://imgur.com/a/BuwKp http://imgur.com/a/q61eH http://imgur.com/a/1lp9O http://imgur.com/a/OyMWI http://imgur.com/a/iVhUq http://imgur.com/a/4zv43
Dance lessons Was particularly helpful to me because it taught me so much more than how to appreciate human movement as art or to exercise. It taught me the intricacies of human interaction, especially with the opposite sex, because my computer oriented hight school was practically a monastery. Its a highly structured way to learn about those things, so easy on software people - just read and follow the instructions,…
I was just going to post this, but you where faster;) So yes: I am also very thankful that I had the opportunity to learn a social couple dance (with 'social' meaning non-competitive and without fixed dance-partners) The first lessons were hard and sometimes frustrating when you don't make progress as fast as you want to. But for me it paid out and changed my life. Today I go dancing twice or more a week. No matter h…