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jpamataon Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

> They literally wrote "cold approach," so no, this does imply approaching strangers in random situations.

You make conversations with strangers all the time. The taxi driver, while waiting at a long queue, a friend brings over a new face, someone on the street shows you interest (they smile first, greet, etc), you see a familiar face out there and you check out if they're showing interest such as a longer eye contact and then you go "Hey we go to the same gym, how's X? blah blah. Oh really? By the way I'm Brad"

> It implies tying people in an unwanted conversation and then trying to leverage inevitable anxiety to get them to say something personal.

Jeez, as long as you're not being a creep it's just friendly banter. There'll of course be people like you who think the world is after them so just have the decency to get out and leave them be.

> Jesus christ, who talks like that.

I'm sure you do it one way or another. Light-hearted teasing and joking: "is that code I see? i'm betting you're a CS student." Heck that's actually how I got my last job referral, sat next to a dude and noticed that he's reading notes that has a diagram of a (segment) tree. Turns out that he's got a position at a company's R&D lab and at that time was prepping for a competition at codeforces. He invited me to his company and we're friends to this day.

> I sure would.

You can't satisfy everyone. Just don't be a creep and pick up on social cues.

jpamataon Ask HN: What Skills to Acquire in 2020?

> ...why is this guy randomly talking to me? Are they selling something?

People assume that even at networking, social gatherings, or speed dating events. Doesn't matter what their initial impression is as you can change their later impression.

> ...oh god, this is boring...

That can be said for anything. The point is to make them contribute and prevent a one-sided conversation.

> ...this is wildly veering _super_ boring and way too personal.

That's why progression matters. You can also refrain from asking them directly, like for example: "let me guess, you're an arts student/interior designer" Most people would correct your assumption, and now you're talking about occupation. Or you can segway that to recreation "I could've sworn that you're the (assumed occupation) type. You seem like you do plenty of (activity related to assumed occupation)" The person would again correct the assumption, or if not, you can change the subject or push through. Either ask directly "so what do you do instead?" or share a detail about yourself/the subject that'd bait the person into asking or sharing theirs.

> ...Axe murder...

Most people respond friendly. If they are part of the contrary, move on.

jpamataon Letting slower passengers board airplane first is faster, study finds

The question could also be asked for the contrary. It's more of a philosophical question, mostly diving into discussions for/against natalism in the end.

jpamataon Comma Two Devkit

Geo addressed that at the lex fridman podcast 5 months ago, briefly mentioning type checking as one of the reasons. I think he said they're moving to Go or C

jpamataon Why you should have a side project

Hey, about algodaily, when are you guys planning to add Java?

jpamataon Off-Facebook Activity

I don't understand where this Facebook takes up a lot of one's time is coming from. You can always minimize it further. Nowadays, it just takes about 2-10 minutes of my lunchtime. I log in, skim the notifications for events and invitations, and that's it for the day. I don't check a post unless someone in real life tells me about it. While reacting to a post might not seem engaging, I'd say leaving a comment to a friend is. The only feature that kills my time is messenger, but that's because it's pretty much the de facto platform for communication in my country. Apps like telegram, wechat, and whatsapp aren't popular here since they ask for your phone number. The traditional phone call and text are expensive, especially when you're travelling internationally. It also becomes a problem when your contact switches their number. Messenger is free, can be used without the phone, no collecting of phone numbers required - just an easy friend request, and you don't have to worry about spam from people you don't know.

jpamataon I Miss Microsoft Encarta

I think I was 7 when I first got hold of it. It was installed on my Dad's work laptop and since using it, I would beg him every week to leave his laptop at home. Among my memories was spending time going over the virtual tours. Encarta had this feature that allowed you to take either a 360 tour, or a full immersive 3D virtual tour of a historical building. I remember my favourites being the Abu Simbel and Persepolis tours. Another feature I miss were the interactive quizzes (only available on Encarta Kids) and that creepy trivia game. One of my past times as a kid was going home from school and studying for these quizzes, reading dozens upon dozens of Encarta articles then later trying my luck on beating my high score. A couple years later, we finally got internet connection and the hobby died down. While the internet provided a wider library of knowledge, it never gave me a platform to cultivate and test my interest for devouring trivias as much as Encarta.

jpamataon Multi-Layer Dictionary (2016)

It's nothing like it but as a beginner, among the best books I've read about vocabulary are the "Madrigal Magic key to X" series of books by Margarita Madrigal. In it, she breaks down how to convert English words into French, German, etc. If I can recall correctly, here are a few simple examples on French:

1) Words ending with -or: replace the -or with -eur

professor –> professeur, aggressor –> aggreseur

2) Words ending with -ist: just add an e at the end

specialist –> specialiste, artist –> artiste

3) Words ending with -ic: replace it with -ique

romantic –> romantique, fantastic –> fantastique

4) Words ending with -ary: change -ary to -aire

extraordinary –> extraordinaire, solitary –> solitaire

5) Most words ending with -a: replace -a with -e

encyclopedia –> encyclopedie, spatula –> spatule

6) Words that end with, -ine, -ble, -ance, and -ion are also spelled the same way in French.

jpamataon Ask HN: What are the 3 programming books you learned the most from? Mine

1. Cracking the Coding Interview

2. Effective Java

3. Building Microservices: Designing Fine-Grained Systems

jpamataon Foundations of Databases (1995)

On the preface of the book (omitted from the ebook), it details several learning paths:

The Classic: a basic database theory course covering the classical material would center around Parts B and C. Chapter 10 and parts of Chapter 9 of Part C are somewhat more advanced and could be skipped. If time allows, some of Chapter 12 and a selection of Part F might be covered.

Feast of Query Languages: a course on the theory of query languages would start with a quick review of the basic material on classical languages (Part B), and continue with Parts D and E. If time allows, some material on languages for complex objects and object-oriented databases (Part F) could be covered.

Gourmet Sampling of Database Theory: a course for people with theoretical appetites that emphasizes the specificity of database theory. Logicians wishing to explore the connection between finite-model theory and databases will be interested in Parts C and E. Those interested in descriptive complexity will find Part E closest to their hearts. Researchers in logic programming will prefer Part D, particularly Chapters 12, 13, and 15. People with a background in theoretical artificial intelligence will find Parts D and F of particular interest. Rule-based systems are related to Chapter 14 (see also parts of Chapter 22). Programming language people will be interested in much of the material on query languages, including Chapters 20 and 21 in Part F.

Fast-Food Database Theory: a course for applied database students that is meant to provide informal exposure to some of the basic results of database theory. This would include assorted topics, with an informal presentation emphasizing the examples, results, and intuition provided in the text, rather than the proofs. A possible syllabus would include Part B; parts of Chapters 8, 9, and 11 in Part C; Chapter 12 and parts of Chapter 15 in Part D; and selected chapters of Part F.

Numerous exercises have been included, and they are essentially of three categories. Routine exercises (unmarked) require easy manipulation of the basic concepts and results. Harder exercises are marked with a (*). Another category of exercises is meant to complement the material in the text and often contains results from related research articles. These exercises are usually on the hard side and some may constitute term projects. These exercises are marked with a ( ).

jpamataon Ask HN: What are good resources for life advice?

Derek Sivers' blog. One of my favourite pieces of his, There is No Speed Limit:

https://sivers.org/kimo

jpamataon Facebook exodus: Nearly half of young users have deleted the app

Anecdotal but same here. I've deleted the app as I didn't like how it takes too much memory (200-500MB) and syncs with the phone's photo gallery. Most of the people I know in my age group (early 20s) have also deleted the app yet still continue to use messenger and the browser version.

jpamataon New Google Pixel 3, Pixel Slate, and Home Hub

That's one of the reasons why Apple is still one of the most innovative in the phone market. Every time they add something to the iPhone, it eventually becomes the new standard in the industry.

jpamataon Show HN: I'm 12, learning JS, and wrote Wolfram's cellular automaton in Node

Hey man, great job! You got some great advice here from the HN crowd and I'd just like to add one more: blog.

Set up your own site and blog about your journey and the lessons you've picked up along the way. Learning is about working and reflection. Blogging is a good platform for that. The very act of writing the content itself is reinforcing your knowledge. Dive into the work, research, reflect, stay hungry and repeat. That's what it's all about. Apart from that, you'll be expanding your network as well. Having some amount of folks following your journey is not just a good way of inspiring oneself, but also gives you an opportunity to inspire others as well.

Anyways, keep it up! You're definitely going places.

jpamataon How to Say “I Love You” When the Language Doesn’t Exist

I see. Having no knowledge of Japanese, I found it interesting. Coming from China, I could say that both Mandarin and Cantonese have popular literal translations for the expression, albeit most Chinese find it cheesy and prefer to use English instead.

jpamataon How to Say “I Love You” When the Language Doesn’t Exist

I think what the article addresses is the literal translation for "I love you" in Japanese, not the idiomatic translation.

jpamataon My dad’s resume and skills from 1980

It's quite common in Europe and Asia

jpamataon Ask HN: What are your favorite long-form nonfiction websites?

Narrative journalism: https://maptia.com/

Humanities & literature: https://www.aldaily.com/

jpamataon Ask HN: How to learn to sleep on your back?

The term is sleep paralysis. It's why I rarely sleep on my back as well, for some reason I'm also more prone to suffer from it when I sleep on my side.

jpamataon From Father to Son, Last Words to Live by (2007)

The US has a million troops, only around ~40,000 are deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and Syria[0]. The majority of the military are deployed elsewhere, serving either as a deterrent (such as those in South Korea) or help with nation building, foreign aid, and peacekeeping (ex. anti-piracy, protecting trade routes). There are those who are unfortunate enough to be sent by politicians to the war zone at one point of their career. And when that happens, you may not agree with the politics but it is still part of your duty to follow. There is no room in the military for going against commands, else it would render the organization ineffective.

Every country needs a military and whether you think that they are heroes or not, these are still people making a necessary sacrifice. Someone has to do it.

Oftentimes, the media likes to only show the wartime aspect of the military, making people think that those who join the military are there because they want to kill. Nothing could be any further from the truth.

[0] https://www.businessinsider.com/us-military-deployments-may-...

jpamataon Ask HN: What are the most interesting emerging fields in computer science?

Graphical models[0] & probabilistic programming[1], with the latter making it easier for developers to dive into this growing AI trend. Research in the field for the past decade has been steadily booming with more companies like Microsoft leading the way. I recommend checking out some MOOCs[2] in coursera.

[0]http://www.computervisionblog.com/2015/04/deep-learning-vs-p...

[1]http://probabilistic-programming.org/wiki/Home

[2]https://www.coursera.org/specializations/probabilistic-graph...

jpamataon Ask HN: Would you do a beautiful whiteboard text and diagramming skills course?

Sounds perfect for me as well.

jpamataon Ask HN: Good materials for teaching undergrad Software Engineering?

A Fresh Graduate's Guide to Software Development Tools and Technologies: http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~seer/book/2e/

NUS Software Engineering class textbook and syllabus (with notes): https://nus-te3201.github.io/website/index.html

jpamataon A Course in Machine Learning

With all of these online courses around, I'm just curious: is there an ML course that teaches you the right model to use? Say for example, the right amount of layers/nodes for a neural net? As a newcomer doing one of these machine learning MOOCs on his free time, it seems to me that it's about chucking in a load of parameters into a black box hoping for the best.

jpamataon America’s Teens Are Choosing YouTube Over Facebook

Yes. Aside from events, I also find Facebook groups useful for discourse and networking. I've made great friends from fb groups: startup founders and high level executives who've helped me expand my professional network, recruiters, professors who have now become my mentors, travellers and backpackers whom I get tips from and at one point I've shared a journey with, etc.

jpamataon Ask HN: What is the best online course to start learning python?

http://composingprograms.com

"The text was originally published as lecture notes for CS 61A at UC Berkeley and is based upon the Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs by Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman."

jpamataon Facebook Use Has Been Dropping Since the 2016 Election, According to SimilarWeb

I have noticed the same thing, my news feed is full of people that I don't even message at facebook. Later I realised that it's because I unconsciously spend more time on their posts because of their clickbaity nature (ex. politics, humorous posts, attractive people, controversial topics) than I do with my real friends. I tried creating a few accounts to test this hypothesis and found out that even if I don't like or comment on their posts, just the act of hovering over their posts for a few seconds longer than other friends is enough for the news feed algo to prioritise these posts on my feed.

Twitter got it right with a "customisable news feed", the list[0], where I could create several list timelines for my friends and organize them by those who post about tech, business, political rants, etc.

[0] https://help.twitter.com/en/using-twitter/twitter-lists

jpamataon Ask HN: Which books have made you introspect?

1. A Guide to the Good Life by William Irvine

-my first introduction to stoicism.

2. Mastery by Robert Greene

-stories about the lives of luminaries such as Henry Ford, Michael Faraday, and Da Vinci on what it takes to be successful.

3. Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger

-for providing me a new mental framework on building discipline and confidence.

4. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

-for giving me a paradigm shift on how to think about myself and others.

5. Seeking Wisdom From Darwin to Munger by Peter Bevelin

-a compendium of cognitive biases and mental models.

jpamataon Facebook monthly visits down 5% in April

I believe it's one of the reasons why India is rejecting free FB. Unlike India, the Philippine infrastructure is fragmented and offers little to no better alternatives which is why most are welcoming them in the country.

jpamataon Facebook monthly visits down 5% in April

Ah yes, that's the problem the country is having right now. Too many people are getting too dependent on facebook that it's becoming a playground for fake news and propaganda campaigns[0].

[0] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2017-12-07/how-rodri...