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Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

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Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#411

Post by Apylon777 »

subhro wrote: post #304
neuroticfish wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been trying to learn to cook off and on for years now and I get so discouraged all the time because I'm still either overcooking or undercooking something, still not getting the flavors right, not using the right amount of oil despite the recipe's prescription. I can't be alone in feeling that way.

Sous vide!! Google it if you do not know what it is.

Yes, this. They are basically like magic for cooking proteins and vegetables. And the 'done' to 'overdone' margin of error can be hours instead of mere minutes.

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#412

Post by bluGill »

aczerepinski wrote: post #60
yaman12 wrote: post #19

Learn a another human language. You don’t have to be good at it or even able to converse. Languages are systems of thinking as much as they are systems of communication. Some thoughts only make sense in a given language! The process of learning a language builds cognitive skills and perhaps fights cognitive decline. If you have absolutely no “ear” for human language start with Esperanto and work your way to additiona…

Can anybody recommend a good app to learn another language?

youtube. Find out how to translate a term you are interested in to the target language and search that term. You will find a ton of videos of someone in your target language doing something of interest to you. For example "Weld" in Spanish is "Soldar" - throw that into the search box and I get plenty of interesting videos of people teaching how to weld, which is a topic I'm interested in so I enjoy watching them and I have some idea of what they must be talking about. (Of course some of them are giving bad advice, but I'm there to learn the language...) Don't forget to look at the related videos from the videos you watch to branch out topics.

You need to find your own topic of interest, but it is a great way to learn from native speakers as they would speak.

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#413

Post by ravenstine »

komali2 wrote: post #169
ravenstine wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a similar vain, I recommend getting a sous vide circulator. You'll make perfect steaks and pork chops every time, and it's extremely clean and convenient. You can cook all sorts of other things sous vide style as well. I recently got one, and I've been cooking at home a lot more often as a result. I think more people would cook their own food if they knew how to make it taste really good.

I fully support the value system here in that we both want people cooking for themselves more, but I have to say that sous vide cooked steaks taste like boiled meat to me, aka terrible. People around me are swear by it until I slap a ribeye onto the pan for them, high heat, making sure to render the fat. To each their own but imo a sous vide is a big, expensive, plastic waste of counter space.

It sounds like it's the people around you doing sous vide wrong and you're actually doing it correctly(by virtue of searing the steak). I've never heard anyone suggest eating a sous vide steak without searing it or using a torch to brown it, render the fat, etc. A sous vide steak should still taste at least halfway decent without searing because of the amount of salt and seasoning used in the process.

Your viewpoint is totally valid, though I still encourage people to give it a try for themselves. They don't even need a circulator the first time they do it, although I do think they're worth the money. A lot of restaurants actually sous vide their steaks before searing them, so if someone's sous vide steak is coming out terrible then I suspect something really went wrong in the process. Either not enough salt and seasoning was used(sous vide calls for a lot of salt), or they didn't properly sear the steak.

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#414

Post by nske »

inform880 wrote: post #120
a_bonobo wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have the money (and it sounds like you have), there are quite a few recipe box companies which send you boxes of ingredients and recipes every few days. It's a nice stepping stone towards fully cooking for yourself as it cuts out the shopping/deciding part.

Anyone have suggestions for these?

I've used Gousto on and off for years, great variety of recipes and never disappointed -it actually works out not very expensive per meal if you order the 4-people package, though you need some organizing to cook/freeze the extra meals in time.

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#416

Post by amai »

Learn how you can lower your CO2 foot print: Get used to using a train instead of a plane. Use public transportation instead of your car. Use a bike more often. Stay in home office and do more remote meetings. Eat less meat. Learn about and use solar and wind power energy generation for your house. Learn about the thermal insulation of your house and how to improve it.

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#417

Post by falcolas »

OJFord wrote: post #383
Spellman wrote: post #371

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it's the reverse sear, and proven to be better by SCIENCE

I'm not objecting to the order; a raw steak after 3-4 minutes each side is (fairly well!) done - no sous vide needed!

3-4 minutes per side is insufficient to raise a thick steak to 125 degrees (rare). Below 125 is "Blue", aka raw. Which can be fine as well, but I wouldn't call it a rare steak.

I've seen such steaks (I don't have sous vide myself), and they look like the perfect rare done steak. A nice pink shade throughout, with a beautiful crust.

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#418

Post by ryugarden »

ricg wrote: post #362
ryugarden wrote: post #64

Learn how to make more friends. Communicate. Learn how to talk with people, how to be adaptive and contextual. Learn about yourself as much as you can, either via introspection or from other people. Learn what your values are, and what makes them satisfied. "You are your own ally, when you make yourself an enemy even though you should trust yourself, you become the victim hit the hardest". Learn agency. Remember that…

Care to elaborate on "learn agency" for a non-native English speaker?

I was referring to this twitter thread: https://twitter.com/george__mack/status/1068238562443841538

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#419

Post by hluska »

TurkishPoptart wrote: post #337
hluska wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here’s a neat trick. When you’re at a party, meetup or other social event, don’t approach people standing alone. Instead, approach people in groups of two, say hello (or give a quick little glass tink ‘cheers’) and introduce yourself. A large large amount of the time, one of those two people want OUT of the conversation and you’ll be that out. That’s a great low risk drill to get started. It’s low risk because it wor…

This is a good tip. And something easy and safe to start a conversation with a group of 2+ is a question like "How do you guys know each other?" They'll likely mention a mutual friend, their workplace, or a hobby they share, which can all be good topics to help develop a conversation. Also, if you're a guest of the host of a party, you can approach people and just ask "So, how do you know $host?" Perhaps these are bo…

Those are excellent questions!

Re: Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

#420

Post by take_a_breath »

the_gastropod wrote: post #386
astura wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have friends who eat out every single meal of every single day. I have friends who do too but it's not because they don't know how to cook, it's because they don't like to and don't wanna bother and can afford the luxury of having someone else to do it for them.

I have a suspicion this kind of living, in part, explains why so many people are miserable. I feel like removing every inconvenient thing from your life, and "having someone else do it for you" must make your ability to handle discomfort atrophy to the point where the tiniest unpleasantness feels like a catastrophe. Like muscles, your brain, your immune system, etc., we need a little discomfort / struggle once in a w…

I am also skeptical of "optimizing" every part of our lives. Cell phones allow us to do so many things more efficiently than in the past. But what are people actually doing with that freed up time?
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