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Resolutions for programmers (2012)

matt.might.net

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Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#191

Post by greggyb »

sawwit wrote: post #21

> Switch from emacs to vim or vice versa. Switch to emacs + evil, or alternatively to Spacemacs: https://github.com/syl20bnr/spacemacs

This is where I am.

As a text editor, I find vim's paradigm to be absolutely superb. As an editing environment, emacs offers so much more in terms of extensibility and functionality.

I tried for a long time to love readline's vi-mode, but the level of customization to get a bad vim experience (I know vi and vim are different beasts, that's part of the problem) makes this not too valuable a task. On the other hand, with emacs + evil, I get emacs in any REPL I want, and in a pretty capable shell, with evil editing everywhere, which is much less painful to configure than readline.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#192

Post by greggyb »

SoulMan wrote: post #47

I would try to use potable devices like iPad/Kindle/Mobile more for reading (Hacker news etc) purposes. Most of the time we don't need a full fledged computer compromising the sitting posture.

Do you find that you read better with a mobile device? I tend to find myself adopting awful posture when using any mobile device. With my computer and desk at home, though, I've got a monitor and keyboard at the right height and a very comfortable chair where I can maintain appropriate posture.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#193

Post by jazzyk »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #187
jazzyk wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are entitled to your opinion, of course. Two things though: "Knowledge." - no need to ask strangers. Everything is just a google away. There are plenty of YouTube videos which show proper form (but read the comments, because there are a few which are actually terrible). bodybuilding.com is a treasure of wisdom. "Working out isn't fun". If someone told me 10 years ago that I could not wait to go to the gym and lif…

There are youtube videos, but it's difficult to check whether your form is right - even if there are mirrors. And you might find it fun, but I don't. Every time I jog, I do so on a treadmill so I can zone out and not focus too much on what I'm doing (other than making sure that nothing obviously hurts) - jogging outside means I have to be present for it :P

Sure, what is fun to me may not necessarily be fun to others, I get that. The point I was trying to make was to perhaps try finding other ways to exercise - I found it in an unlikely (for me, 10 years ago) activity, maybe you will, too.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#194

Post by kwhitefoot »

swiley wrote: post #31
mosburger wrote: post #20

#3 Embrace the Uncomfortable - one thing I did a few years ago that might fall into this category (as an American) is start using the 24h clock. It makes working w/ remotes a lot easier because you become good at doing the +12 math and knowing which hour it represents. :)

That's a good first step, now switch it to UTC.

:-)

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#195

Post by JauntTrooper »

magnetised wrote: post #161
richmt wrote: post #48

On the health note, the single most beneficial thing I did for myself this year was to start lifting. 6 months ago I started committing 3 days a week to a strength training program which I've strictly followed since. Making gains in the gym has motivated me to sleep better and eat better which both have had huge effects on every aspect of my life. Not only that, but the exercise has helped a ton with anxiety I've had…

From personal experience I would urge everyone to start with some form of Yoga. It's less easy to quantify your progress than with weight lifting (whose easy conversion into numeric growth I wonder isn't one of its attractions when you're a data-driven kind of person) but has further reaching benefits beyond basic physical strength. After 3 years of fairly regular yoga practise (3-4 sessions a week), even when combin…

> There is an awful lot of pseudo religious bollocks that surrounds it but within that there's a really solid method for improving the quality of your life.

I bet Christian yoga will eventually become really popular in the US. I'd imagine it would keep the physical elements of yoga but infuse light Christian meditation into it, rather than the vague eastern spirituality that's currently everywhere in the industry.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#196

Post by JauntTrooper »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #97
cabinpark wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was very lucky, growing up, to be the son of a sports medicine doctor because, from birth, healthy eating and exercise and their benefits were grilled into my brain. Unfortunately I see too many people in my job (academia) who don't exercise despite the huge potential benefits to their productivity and life. So this makes me wonder: what is it about exercise that turns people off? Is it a communication issue? Is it…

For me it's a combination of things. 1. Convenience. If I have a gym in the building I live in, I'm about 10x more likely to use it. If it's a block down the street, I might go once a week. If it's two blocks down the street, it might as well be in Algiers. 2. Knowledge. I don't know how to lift weights, and I'm afraid I'll do it wrong and end up injuring myself. Apparently even running isn't trivial to do without po…

> 2. Knowledge. I don't know how to lift weights, and I'm afraid I'll do it wrong and end up injuring myself.

This kept me from lifting for a long time. This year, though, I hired a personal trainer for 5 classes to specifically teach me proper form of a few lifts I wanted to learn well (squat, bench press, deadlift, strict press). We spent most of the classes reviewing the nuances of where to place hands, wrists, legs, knees etc. He would then watch me try, and correct my posture on the spot. It really helped me develop the muscle memory I needed to do it correctly.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#197

Post by ruraljuror »

alextgordon wrote: post #164
oskarth wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps this is more a function of your social group than anything else. Of the three people I know that got into lifting (including myself, one woman and two men, all in long-terms relationships at the time), none did it to "get girls", but in order to be stronger (as opposed to just looking strong a la hypertrophy/bodybuilding). Why be stronger? Many reasons, but it boils down to health and being strong enough to d…

For men, cardiovascular health is most important aspect, heart disease being the largest cause of death[1]. While lifting weights is better than no exercise at all, it is not that effective. There are certainly many people who enthusiastically lift and are still fat and unhealthy. The same cannot be said for running enthusiasts. Anyway, it's your right to do whatever form of exercise makes you happiest, but if someon…

Do you have a source that shows lifting is not as effective for improving cardiovascular health as endurance exercise? Also keep in mind that endurance exercise in and of itself has a risk of heart attack while similar deaths are virtually unheard of in lifting. Most deaths from lifting are due to solo bench pressing and suffocstion, while many more people die on cardio machines. At least that is what I read in the book The New Rules of Lifting. I don't have it in front of me for the source.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#198

Post by zeveb »

knz wrote: post #63
mosburger wrote: post #20

#3 Embrace the Uncomfortable - one thing I did a few years ago that might fall into this category (as an American) is start using the 24h clock. It makes working w/ remotes a lot easier because you become good at doing the +12 math and knowing which hour it represents. :)

It's even easier if you use UTC-0. Joking aside, after enough usage you don't even need to do the +12 maths. Personally, I'd take using metric over converting people to 24 hour time. My day job involves working with UTM spatial data (all metres) but our public facing outputs are all feet and miles for our American audience. It's trivial to convert but drives me insane when a customer asks if I can convert something f…

> I don't think I have ever seen a compelling reason for the US not to convert to metric.

It's expensive, the benefits are minor, and our system is fine (it could be better of course: a switch to nautical miles would be nice, and making a gallon 256 cubic inches would be great). I've never seen a compelling reason to convert — and neither have Americans in general.

> Every other country faced the same expense and learning curve.

If every other country jumped off of a bridge, would you? The French system really isn't as good as it's cracked up to be.

French units optimise for abstract unit conversion (e.g. inches to feet or millimetres to kilometres); standard units optimise for concrete manipulation (e.g. dividing a gallon into cups, or a litre into decilitres). The thing is, unit conversion really isn't that common compared to manipulation (after all, what do units of measure exist for if not to manipulate objects?).

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#199

Post by zeveb »

daigoba66 wrote: post #43
mosburger wrote: post #20

#3 Embrace the Uncomfortable - one thing I did a few years ago that might fall into this category (as an American) is start using the 24h clock. It makes working w/ remotes a lot easier because you become good at doing the +12 math and knowing which hour it represents. :)

I'm surprised most technical folks don't default to a 24h clock. I've been doing it since I was a teenager and had a digital wristwatch that I could set to a 24h clock. Time just makes more sense that way. Otherwise you get weirdness like this: 12:00 AM occurs before 11:00 AM on the same day.

> Otherwise you get weirdness like this: 12:00 AM occurs before 11:00 AM on the same day.

I too prefer a 24-hour clock, but when I don't use it I always use 'midnight' and 'noon' (or, sometimes, '12:00m' for 'meridiem'), just to be completely clear.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#200

Post by zeveb »

khgvljhkb wrote: post #32
mosburger wrote: post #20

#3 Embrace the Uncomfortable - one thing I did a few years ago that might fall into this category (as an American) is start using the 24h clock. It makes working w/ remotes a lot easier because you become good at doing the +12 math and knowing which hour it represents. :)

How wonderful would the world be if we had a base 10 clock instead of 24? Let's make a day be 86400 seconds (already a SI standard), and then you can divide that into tenths, hundreds or whatever. One thousand of a day is 84.4 seconds, which is close to a minute (which is (/ 60 (/ 24 one-day))). We have metric for measurements in space, but something as simple for day-to-day time measurement would be nice.

> Let's make a day be 86400 seconds (already a SI standard), and then you can divide that into tenths, hundreds or whatever.

Why not keep the day as it is, which can be conveniently divided into halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, eights, ninths, tenths and twelfths, as well as any multiples of those you like?

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