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Ask HN: What audio resources can improve my technical skills during my commute?

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Re: Ask HN: What audio resources can improve my technical skills during my commute?

#41

Post by unpythonic »

I used to commute in silence or listening to the radio for my daily Silicon Valley drive (237 Milpitas to Mountain View), and by the time I got to work, I'd be angry, frustrated, and cognitively spent.

Listening to audio books has allowed me to relax, enjoy the reading, and get to work excited about the day.

I treat the time as a chance to "read" those books which I wouldn't normally spend either my work hours nor my free time hours on. It's a chance to get informed on topics that are only slightly related to work, but expand your mind in ways that will make you a better thinker, and thus a better programmer.

The books I've found particularly good on audio are:

* Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

* Thinking, Fast and Slow

* How Not to be Wrong

* Ready Player One

* Neuromancer

Re: Ask HN: What audio resources can improve my technical skills during my commute?

#44

Post by tedmiston »

lawnchair_larry wrote: post #31
sz4kerto wrote: post #13

Just sit. Silently. Give your brain a break -- that might be more helpful than keeping yourself busy.

These replies are unhelpful and off topic. Author asked for technical resources, not a bunch of opinions about why they are wrong to want this and what they should do instead.

Inevitably other people besides OP will be curious about things to do during their commute and might stumble in here with less specific criteria.

Re: Ask HN: What audio resources can improve my technical skills during my commute?

#45

Post by tedmiston »

kozikow wrote: post #6

I listen to python podcasts: https://talkpython.fm/ and https://www.podcastinit.com/ . Outside of purely technical subjects, I also like "talking machines" about ML: http://www.thetalkingmachines.com/ . Maybe they won't improve your "core" skills, but it's good with keeping up to date with cool recent libraries or new language developments. I use an app on android that pre-downloads podcasts on wifi and allow me to l…

If you're looking for something less technical and into finance, the Better Off podcast with Jill Schlesinger is interesting. She covers various financial instruments and how you might combine them, pros / cons, etc. They also have viewer call ins every week which are nice to make the advice immediately pragmatic. After listening to a few episodes I feel more equipped to approach finances like I'd approach a programming project knowing about different languages, standard libs, popular packages, etc.

http://betteroffpodcast.com/

Re: Ask HN: What audio resources can improve my technical skills during my commute?

#47

Post by tunesmith »

jansho wrote: post #27
ordu wrote: post #24

Classical music. Learn it. Learn how to listen it, learn to feel it. It is really fun, when you able to understand it. And it helps to move away from current problems to return back from other side afterwards. Oh... And it will greatly increase interconnectivity of your brains, especially if you would not just listen, but play it too. It may be not just classical music, but modern styles a way simplier, they lack cen…

Can you recommend any minimalist classical music (other than Arvo Part) please? Not bland, it can be sensual like Gnossienne or dramatic as... tabula rasa? My main issue with most classical music is that they feel too heavy and I feel physically sick.

You might be asking two different things.

Minimalist: Steve Reich, Henryk Gorecki, John Adams...

But it sounds more like you're asking for classical music that isn't overwhelming. In that case, go for chamber music - this is for any small ensemble. You might particularly like things like Mozart wind ensembles (quartets, quintets), Faure or Ravel trios or quartets (sometimes with piano), etc. There are a lot of Mozart cds "for children" that are good here too, since young children like smaller ensembles better than big orchestras.

Re: Ask HN: What audio resources can improve my technical skills during my commute?

#50

Post by ali_hussein »

Learning Machines 101 is nice and technical

If you're feeling spent and want something less taxing to listen to try Partially Derivative it's more of a chilled out conversation on AI. It's more of a guilty pleasure for me it does feel pretty stupid at times.

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