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Ask HN: What skills to acquire in 2019?

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141–150 of 194 posts

Re: Ask HN: What skills to acquire in 2019?

#141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there any benefit to doing this in a sheet rather than something like Mint? I just check it occasionally to make sure my net worth increases month-over-month. Any financial decision like buying a car I take the net income average over time as potential spending bound.

For those who still live somewhat paycheck-to-paycheck (or who manage their money that way as I do), Mint can be a bit challenging to use because it only allows budgeting at a monthly resolution and things like pending charges, etc., can be tricky to manage. For me it's easier to see "I have A amount coming on B date with C expenses due and D left over for saving or spending" than it is to try and budget monthly and…

I didn't consider resolution under a month. I can see that angle. I know some of the graphics are not detailed enough so I will occasionally dump the CSV data from it and make a graph in excel.

Re: Ask HN: What skills to acquire in 2019?

#142
post #99
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you go into more detail on what you mean by "write deep content"? I think number 8 is probably mutually exclusive with most of the others, especially 7!

I write on Medium. But, most of the content I write only touches the surface of a topic. It doesn't go deep into the topic like some of the excellent articles upvoted on hackernews.

Could you post a link to your medium posts or atleast divulge your medium username so that I can look your articles up?

Re: Ask HN: What skills to acquire in 2019?

#143
1. Go deeper into the PyTorch ecosystem to be able to work my way through an ARXIV research paper and implement it. 2. Go deeper into Calculus and Linear Algebra to support my quest to understand the PyTorch implementations better. 3. Using these newly acquired skills build a better clone of a very popular SAAS offfering that charges an arm and leg for even basic operations and offer it at a deep discount. 4.Learn marketing skills(NOT Growth hacking) 5. Learn tech interview skills. Similar to what someone had posted.

Re: Ask HN: What skills to acquire in 2019?

#144
post #52

Cloud, machine learning, AI. If you haven't gotten your Ph.D. in machine learning by now, you're at considerable risk of being replaced by an offshore dev who can do your job for pennies on the dollar. As for languages, the future of computing is JavaScript (except for the lowest and most performance-sensitive layers, over which the Rust Evangelism Strike Force has an unshakable claim). Nontechnical skills: practice…

"As for languages, the future of computing is JavaScript (except for the lowest and most performance-sensitive layers, over which the Rust Evangelism Strike Force has an unshakable claim". You mentioned AI/ML both of which are deeply embedded in Python ecosystem though R is still the choice of academia. JS is and will continue to be a client only Tech stack for ML because of it's lack of a NUMPy like Math library. Between friends you should also add Python to your arsenal of languages to learn.

Re: Ask HN: What skills to acquire in 2019?

#146
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I write on Medium. But, most of the content I write only touches the surface of a topic. It doesn't go deep into the topic like some of the excellent articles upvoted on hackernews.

Could you post a link to your medium posts or atleast divulge your medium username so that I can look your articles up?

https://medium.com/@heyfebin I have written a lot of bullshit due to ignorance. However, some articles turned out to be decent. Here are a few.

https://hackernoon.com/popular-use-cases-of-blockchain-techn...

https://hackernoon.com/the-impatient-programmers-guide-to-le...

https://hackernoon.com/how-to-build-it-fast-and-cheap-cffbd2...

https://hackernoon.com/3-popular-types-of-blockchains-you-ne...

https://medium.com/wethinkideas/how-to-validate-if-your-idea...

https://hackernoon.com/what-happens-when-you-combine-blockch...

Re: Ask HN: What skills to acquire in 2019?

#147
post #9

You don't state your programming background but you mentioned C# in previous comments. I would recommend machine learning as a very useful skill to acquire. I have to be more specific because "machine learning", "artificial intelligence", and "data science" are really large topics that can encompass difficult math and PhD research. For application programmers, I think a very realistic subset is using an existing "mac…

I don't mean to imply it's impossible, or throw out some appeal to authority, but dabbling in ML is not going to open doors for you. I worked in and around the field for more than a decade. Companies who are serious about this stuff can sniff a beginner out and they tend to want credentials. It's a deep subject, so that's not terribly uncalled for, and knowing how to throw a classifier together does not in any way me…

I don't mean to imply it's impossible, or throw out some appeal to authority, but dabbling in ML is not going to open doors for you. I worked in and around the field for more than a decade. Companies who are serious about this stuff can sniff a beginner out and they tend to want credentials.

What I think you're missing is that ML is becomeing accessible to organizations WAY outside the sphere you're referring to. In the not-too-distant future, "Bob's Small Engine Repair and Screen Doors" will want to take advantage of ML / Data Science / AI. And it may well be the case that all they need is somebody that can implement Linear Regression or K-Means using SK-Learn, or using a cloud ML API.

And larger organizations will always have room for people with varying levels of skill, especially as demand for the most highly skilled people outstrips the available supply.

and knowing how to throw a classifier together does not in any way mean you're competent and able to solve hard problems.

Not everybody is solving a "hard problem". By way of analogy... if your car has a broken connecting rod, you need to take it to a mechanic who knows how to pull an engine, tear it down, rebuild it from scratch and put everything back together. If you have a bad O2 sensor, that work can be done by somebody much less knowledgeable. If you need the oil changed, that can be done by somebody even less knowledgeable still. Or to use a different analogy, you don't need a neurosurgeon to cut out an ingrown toenail. Use the right person for the job at hand.

Re: Ask HN: What skills to acquire in 2019?

#148
post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you post a link to your medium posts or atleast divulge your medium username so that I can look your articles up?

https://medium.com/@heyfebin I have written a lot of bullshit due to ignorance. However, some articles turned out to be decent. Here are a few. https://hackernoon.com/popular-use-cases-of-blockchain-techn... https://hackernoon.com/the-impatient-programmers-guide-to-le... https://hackernoon.com/how-to-build-it-fast-and-cheap-cffbd2... https://hackernoon.com/3-popular-types-of-blockchains-you-ne... https://medium.com/w…

Thanks.Dont be too harsh on yourself. You had to start somewhere. I lookforward to your new and improved articles in the New Year.

Re: Ask HN: What skills to acquire in 2019?

#149
post #61

Meditation. Being able to direct your attention, to be present in difficult situations, to care about others when it's easier to worry about oneself, and to be willing to see truths that contradict one's self-image. There is much to be gained from this simple practice, and much to be lost from foregoing it. "the faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention over and over again is the very root of judgmen…

Note also that you can train these useful skills in ways other than extended courses of formal sitting meditation. (Which also often come with a lot of woo attached.)

https://wakingup.com/ and https://www.headspace.com/ are both woo-free choices I'd recommend.

Re: Ask HN: What skills to acquire in 2019?

#150
post #53

The skill I am working on the hardest for 2019 is being able to put down my phone. Or more generally to stop the cycle of mindless addictive loops, checking for comments and upvotes on social media, endlessly refreshing forums, and so on. I’ve tried a few times over the past year to make headway on this and haven’t felt successful, so I’m redoubling and trying to deconstruct the concept a little, figure out some rule…

The easiest way to put down your phone is to not have it around. If you go to work, leave your phone in your jacket pocket in the wardrobe. You can check on it once per [interval of your choice], other than that it won't even be around. Out of sight, out of mind.

It's worked great for me and doing it in the office has also drastically reduced the amount I use my phone outside of it.

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