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prateekj

2,552 karma · joined May 8, 2012

I'm Prateek Joshi and here are a few things about me:

- Published author of 7 books on Artificial Intelligence

- TEDx speaker

- My tech blog has received 1.4M+ page views from 200+ countries and has 7,300+ followers: http://prateekvjoshi.com

- Hackathon winner at Facebook

- Personal website: http://prateekj.com

submissionscomments
prateekj··on What is Life? by Erwin Schrödinger (1944) [pdf]
I thought I was the only one :) To be honest, the main reason I started scrolling through the comments is because I wanted to check if someone else heard it in their head too.
prateekj··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (December 2016)
Pluto AI | Palo Alto, California | Data Scientist | Full-time | Onsite

We are enabling our customers to analyze and understand the real time data coming from internet-connected devices like sensors and smart meters. Our analytics engine digs deep in to the data to uncover actionable insights using Deep Learning algorithms. The platform provides real time alerting and a command center view of consumption trends, leakage, overallocation, conditional monitoring, and many more things. The platform has to process high volumes of time-series data.

A couple of things needed for this role: - Good knowledge of machine learning algorithms, data science tools, and time-series data analysis - Proficiency with Python - Experience with time series databases and stream processing systems - Knowledge of various data preprocessing techniques

If you would like to grab coffee and learn more, email us at founders@plutoai.com.

prateekj··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (November 2016)
Pluto AI | Palo Alto, California | Data Engineer | Full-time | Onsite

We are enabling our customers to analyze and understand the real time data coming from internet-connected devices like sensors and smart meters. Our analytics engine digs deep in to the data to uncover actionable insights using Deep Learning algorithms. The platform provides real time alerting and a command center view of consumption trends, leakage, overallocation, conditional monitoring, and many more things. The platform has to process high volumes of time-series data.

A couple of things needed for this role: - Good knowledge of machine learning algorithms, data science tools, and time-series data analysis - Proficiency with Python - Experience with time series databases and stream processing systems - Knowledge of various data preprocessing techniques

If you are upto it, email us at founders@plutoai.com

prateekj··on Ask HN: Who is hiring? (September 2016)
Pluto AI | Palo Alto, California | Full Stack Developer | ONSITE

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

We are looking for a full stack developer with at least 3 years of experience to join our team. This is an opportunity to spearhead the development of our water analytics platform and pioneer the overall architecture.

WHAT IS PLUTO?

We are enabling our customers to analyze and understand the real time data coming from connected devices like sensors and smart meters. Our analytics engine digs deep in to the data to uncover actionable insights. The platform provides real time alerting and a command center view of consumption trends, leakage, overallocation, conditional monitoring, and many more things. The platform has to process high volumes of real time data coming from our customers.

WHY US?

Our goal is to develop a Deep Learning platform to prevent the wastage of water, our planet's most essential natural resource. We are looking for somebody who knows how to get things done. If we end up liking each other, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW?

A couple of things to note about this role: - Experience with a backend framework like Django - Experience with a frontend framework like AngularJS - Our stack is built using a combination of Python and Javascript, so familiarity with these languages is necessary - Working knowledge of databases (Postgres, MongoDB, Influx)

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU?

- We like solving hard problems. You will be working on cutting edge data science problems. - Since you will be one of the first few people in the company, you will have a tremendous impact on our strategy and culture. - You’ll have the opportunity to drive the architecture and design of our platform. Since this work is largely self-driven, you’ll have the opportunity to get really hands-on.

If you think you are up to it, feel free to ping us at founders@plutoai.com.

prateekj··on Choosing between two job opportunities
When you say "real office environment", you are actually referring to big corporate environment. A startup environment needs you to do much more than a structured corporate environment where you will always have somebody to bail you out. As long as you have a rock solid description of what you did at the startup, I think it would actually work in your favor in the long term.
prateekj··on DigitalOcean grew faster on a month-to-month basis than AWS
Not to belittle DigitalOcean's growth, but AWS is a mammoth compared to all other services. The percentage growth may not be the best metric to compare AWS and DigitalOcean. Let's see how DigitalOcean makes use of that $37M.
prateekj··on Choosing between two job opportunities
I would go for the second job. I personally think that developing your overall skills takes precedence over company name and job safety, especially during the initial stages of your career. I don't think it would be that much of a learning experience if you are not allowed to make design decisions.
prateekj··on Ask Parents of HN: Would you use an "Uber for babysitting"?
The features look nice and it appears to be a good way to get babysitters at the last minute. When it comes to babysitters, the biggest problem is trust! No matter how secure it sounds, parents will still be skeptical to leave their children with a stranger. If you go above and beyond to address the trust issue in a way that can appease the concerned parents, I think this definitely has potential.
prateekj··on Show HN: Softcover – A publishing platform from the author of the Rails Tutorial
Looks like a nice product! Congrats on the launch.

One of the main concerns for any new book is marketing. Are you planning to address this issue?

prateekj··on Atomic Clocks Make a Quantum Leap in Accuracy
Good point! The research group is still working on refining their system. So may be they will have another breakthrough in a year or two, you never know!
prateekj··on Atomic Clocks Make a Quantum Leap in Accuracy
Definitely ... just as soon as it starts raining money ;)
prateekj··on Atomic Clocks Make a Quantum Leap in Accuracy
Quantum leap refers to a sudden increase in something. Given that this clock is 50% more precise than the previous record holder, I think it qualifies to be called a 'quantum leap'. So even if you are pedantic about headlines, it should still make sense. Don't you think so?
prateekj··on Atomic Clocks Make a Quantum Leap in Accuracy
True! People use Rubidium clocks only because they are inexpensive. I don't think scientists working in expensive labs rely on Rubidium clocks.
prateekj··on The 36 Most Valuable Start-ups on Earth
I think all the companies are technically considered startups until their IPOs.
prateekj··on Bill Gates loses to Magnus Carlsen in 9 moves
Nobody is judging anybody! For god's sake, one is a world chess champion and the other is a tech mogul who ruled the software industry for nearly two decades. It's just fun to watch them sit together and play a game of chess.
prateekj··on Bill Gates loses to Magnus Carlsen in 9 moves
I couldn't agree more! Why would anyone come up with "Justin Bieber of Chess"?
prateekj··on Bill Gates: I assume my phone's not being tapped
Except in this case, the pretense is getting less convincing with each passing day.
prateekj··on Bill Gates: I assume my phone's not being tapped
Tapping a politician's phone is always more "interesting", especially if the politician is from another country. I don't think the "US citizen" badge means anything anymore. If you are a prominent subject who is even slightly important, you come under the radar.
prateekj··on Bill Gates: I assume my phone's not being tapped
Oh, I didn't know that. Can you share the link?
prateekj··on This dwarf planet may contain more freshwater than Earth
... and yet, 9 years later, it's still news!
prateekj··on Bill Gates: I assume my phone's not being tapped
He is relating Bill Gates' charity to US consolidating its power. Be that as it may, it is not an aid given by one country to another country. It is like putting a pessimistic spin on something good. Don't you think so?
prateekj··on Bill Gates: I assume my phone's not being tapped
That's what monopoly does to a corporation in the long run! When Microsoft was completely dominating in the '90s, raking in billions of dollars in profit, they became lethargic. When they realized what was going on, it was too late.
prateekj··on Bill Gates: I assume my phone's not being tapped
Tapping Merkel's phone would have a very different meaning as compared to tapping Gates' phone.
prateekj··on Bill Gates: I assume my phone's not being tapped
Isn't that a bit pessimistic?
prateekj··on Ask HN: What do you find most beneficial about blogging?
More often than not, we just assume that we know something. When we try to explain it, we realize that we don't exactly know all the fundamentals. So blogging helps me go back to the basics and understand everything from the ground up. I end up learning more about something.
prateekj··on ASK HN: Is there a good list of attorneys for startups?
Check out Lawdingo (YC W13). It's a good place to start.
prateekj··on Ask HN: How would you respond during an interview to a founder who says
It can actually be interpreted in two ways. I feel that passion for a particular domain is very important. May be what he meant was that their culture and mentality would be the same regardless of the product. This shows strong commitment towards building something!

On the other hand, if he genuinely meant that they will just build stuff for the heck of it, regardless of the domain they are in, then it's a bit impassive for a person in the startup world. From a businessman's perspective, it's all about whether or not you build some product. From a techie's perspective, it's all about whether or not you build the right product. So in retrospect, may be he shouldn't have said that to an interviewee during an interview.

prateekj··on Ask HN: take a mediocre internship, or hold out for a great one?
I personally would hold out for a great one! These early internship experiences actually play an important part in shaping your career. But then again, I am not fully aware of your circumstances. It's all about whether you want safety (and the associated mediocrity) or excitement (and the associated risk).
prateekj··on Ask HN: I'm 15, won a grant to develop a suicide prevention app, what next?
I would suggest you to learn how to build the entire thing yourself. This is a great opportunity to get your hands dirty and understand the nitty-gritty of web development. Very useful in the long run!

Having said that, I am not sure about the time constraints you are working with. If the timeline is tight and you have never done this before, it's better to outsource it as opposed to building a sub-standard app yourself.

prateekj··on The Six Most Common Species Of Code
Although the large-company version looks overwhelming to an onlooker, it actually starts from a simple version and then keeps growing as more bugs and compatibility issues are reported. Hilarious though!
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