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allig256on Memorizing a programming language using spaced repetition software (2013)

What were your issues with the standard Anki app? It might not be the prettiest app, but it is effective.

allig256on Santa Cruz plans high-rise living as a fix for sky-high housing costs

Sadly, I think the assumption people are having families might be where the mark is missed - look at the global fertility rates.

allig256on 95%-ile isn't that good (2020)

And ask them to review your own projects? That seems a little odd doesn't it? I am wanting feedback specifically for my own work.

allig256on 95%-ile isn't that good (2020)

Sadly with the limited context sizes on LLMs, you can't ingest a large project at all once to ask for feedback on the more abstract requirements of "good" software practices/design.

That is unless the context sizes have significantly changed in the past months.

allig256on 95%-ile isn't that good (2020)

Are there any good platforms out there that people would recommend where you can have your code reviewed? Either paid for or for free.

As this article points out, feedback is an essential part of learning, and open source projects would be a great opportunity to get feedback on something you have sole agency over as opposed to many workplace projects where it's harder to receive feedback for your individual decisions.

allig256on Ask HN: How much do you read in a year?

20-40 books a year, keeping a page tally is important too if you really want to quantify your reading. This is all on about 30 minutes a night, with some longer spells on the weekend.

I keep a little index of the books I read every year, along with a rating, how many pages the book was and the completed date.

I wish I started writing down what I read a long time ago, I've twice recently started reading books only to realise that I had read them in years prior.

allig256on Show HN: Visualizing public transport performance in New Zealand

1) Unfortunately I am already squeezing as much as I can get out of the existing data. The public APIs (there's a different one for each city) don't cover all fields in the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS). I would love to incorporate more data as time goes on, I hadn't thought of sources of data outside of the public transport providers themselves, weather would be a great example to extrapolate comparisons from, thank you!

2) Yeah, I must admit there is a bias at play. Obviously there are a couple of parts of the site that have a negative spin. In an ideal world, there'd be no negative spin to create!

allig256on A Philosophy of Software Design

I personally loved the book.

I don't think it gets enough credit for keeping its message concise and approachable.

Plenty of nuggets of wisdom in there to glean from.

allig256on Ask HN: How do you keep yourself interested in coding as a career?

Have you done any other form of work that you don't find so disinteresting? To be honest most office work is quite banal, coding is probably amongst the most interesting roles in the building.

allig256on Ask HN: Would wearing a suit at a technical interview put you at a disadvantage?

We've hired fantastic people in suits, and disastrous people, too.

It's more important that you 1) look tidy and 2) are comfortable and 3) match the style of the workspace to a degree.

allig256on Have you successfully got friends, former coworkers, or loved ones a tech job?

The candidate is certainly putting in more work than you are for that money, no?

It feels like a kind thing to do when you’re being given money for little more than an email. It’s a win-win for both parties.

Conversely, I wouldn’t expect a signing bonus for the new hire to be shared, so take that as you will.

allig256on Have you successfully got friends, former coworkers, or loved ones a tech job?

Yes, with the person you referred. Who else?

allig256on Have you successfully got friends, former coworkers, or loved ones a tech job?

Would you ever split that referral bonus? Amongst my friend group it's pretty common to 50/50 it.

allig256on Deep sleep may be the best defense against Alzheimer’s

Honestly a heart attack is how I hope I go, over in minutes!

allig256on Deep sleep may be the best defense against Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer's is the least likely to kill you of "The Four Horsemen", however it seems to be the most elusive in terms of prevention and treatment.

If deep sleep can contribute to prevention, it seems that yet again exercise is the going to be the best catch-all prophylactic.

allig256on Ask HN: Do you also hate self-care?

I disagree with a lot of the sentiment in the comments on this post.

The reason these things are pushed are often because they help people in some form. Of course things are taking to the nth degree to make a quick buck manipulating people's fear response. But the core idea of looking after yourself (drinking water and moisturizing) is that you have one body/life, and you should cherish that to some degree.

At the end of the day, whatever works best for you, as long as you're not stepping on others.

allig256on Show HN: Beepberry – a portable e-paper computer for hackers

If you're trying to trim down on phone time, but still want to be somewhat contactable?

I guess this would require a phone with a WiFi hotspot when you're out and about, but if you're at home and not wanting to reach for that phone this device could help.

allig256on Ask HN: Is it bad to admit mistakes you made as a SWE?

Telling someone straight "not performing as well as your peers" is quite brutal and not necessarily conducive to your performance increasing over the future.

If that is said in public, I wouldn't be happy about the situation, in private, I might chalk it up to the person not knowing how to manage performance.

Don't keep your mistakes to yourself when you require additional help to get over them. If you notice these mistakes and can clean them up by yourself, then get them fixed and move on.

allig256on Ask HN: Share your personal site

https://www.allistergrange.com/

No blog, it's purpose is to show off projects/my cv.

I'm proud how it turned out, it's quite a unique design.

allig256on Show HN: I solved my New Tab page

Fixed!

allig256on Show HN: I solved my New Tab page

I use this extension[0]

[0] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/custom-new-tab-url...

allig256on Show HN: I solved my New Tab page

The idea behind the tiles changing when you switch themes is so that you can have more distinction that just colours between themes.

For instance you might want a "focused" theme with just blank tiles and the day planner.

Or a "stocks" theme with just stock tickers and related subreddits.

allig256on Show HN: I solved my New Tab page

https://64.media.tumblr.com/ac307175e8297f88f095b3bf52e0c854...

allig256on Show HN: I solved my New Tab page

I was sidelined sorry, it's all fixed now.

There's a demo video along with a button that will take you through to the less than ideal layout.

allig256on Show HN: I solved my New Tab page

You can! Change the "Tile Type" option in the sidebar

allig256on Show HN: I solved my New Tab page

If you include a url to a gif in the background segment it will work:

url(https://i.imgur.com/BkgF7ET.gif)

^ Bit of a loud example that one

I also recommend making all the tiles transparent when you have a nice background:

rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2)

allig256on Show HN: I solved my New Tab page

Oh mate there's tens of tiles I can think of that I still want to add in, just off the top of my head:

- Emails - Quotes of the day - Bookmarks - RSS Feeds - Countdown clocks - GitHub stats

That's what I can rattle off in about 10 seconds of thinking, there's so many things that could be done. At some point you have to just call it a day.

allig256on Show HN: I solved my New Tab page

A very good call, to be honest I had completely forgotten about that part of the code it's been so long I implemented that.

Thanks for the reminder, I'll fix it now

allig256on Show HN: I solved my New Tab page

Awesome, glad to hear it! Let me know if you have any questions :)