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uberalex

54 karma · joined May 12, 2010

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uberalex··on Python tops programming love list – but if you want a job, learn SQL
I feel like SQL is a bit of a categorically different thing to the others on this list. It's best to have python (or another language) and SQL, if you're going to be in a 'coder' role.

If you're in an analyst type role, with SQL as your primary language, then SQL and Py/R is also a good thing.

uberalex··on Best Pens for 2022: Gel, Ballpoint, Rollerball, and Fountain Pens
Lamy does a really nice (and easy to replace) left-handed medium fountain pen nib.

https://blog.gouletpens.com/2017/09/lamy-oblique-and-left-ha...

uberalex··on 3D Printer Can Print Half a Yard in an Hour
Half a yard an hour wins my award for the least intuitive way ever to describe printer throughput.
uberalex··on BPF at Facebook and beyond
This other article seems to explain it https://lwn.net/Articles/740157/
uberalex··on Technician keeps computer made in 1959 still humming along
I apologise if I've failed a reading comprehension check, but did the article say what the computer was used for?
uberalex··on Bladerunner Rutger Hauser Has Died
Would it be possible to correct the name in the sub text?
uberalex··on University of Illinois lists unpaid FTE adjunct lecturer position
The practice of offering zero-hours contracts for university lecturing has been very controversial in the UK[1] and other parts of Europe. I think they short-change the students and the lecturers, and represent a long-term risk to the institutions who use them.

[1] https://theconversation.com/zero-hour-contracts-are-turning-...

uberalex··on Ask HN: How to pitch a company that doesn't solve any problem?
Thefacebook pitched without a problem slide by showing engagement at a massive level.

https://digiday.com/media/how-eduardo-saverin-sold-facebook-...

Arguably the problem that is implicitly solved is 'how do we reach and target college students and graduates from the high-value Ivy League demographic?'

uberalex··on Show HN: My first web app – PDF memo creator
Also entering an odd number of double quotes in the from line creates an error too.
uberalex··on Playability Test of 100 Humble Bundle Games on Linux
Thanks for clarifying
uberalex··on Playability Test of 100 Humble Bundle Games on Linux
I was a bit surprised to see FTL not recommended, for example. I would describe it as a very good, very accessible game.
uberalex··on Was this Wikipedia page computer generated?
This is the original contributor https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Brownw... If they are generating content automatically, they are also using the same account to talk to editors.
uberalex··on Embed Node.js on any website
Am I right in thinking that this is ipython / jupyter but for javascript?
uberalex··on What happened to the laptop computer? (1985)
Price is huge. 7,000 for something that doesn't even run the same software? And weighs 5+ kg?

They did to some extent have that $5 option in in the form Of a few floppies in a brief case as the article points out.

uberalex··on What happened to the laptop computer? (1985)
You're right. For me, it does point to the fact that most predictions are wrong at some point, right at some point, and irrelevant before and after. The things that was a laptop then (5kg beasts like this http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharp_PC-5000) were nothing like today's machines. The T1100 seems to have been the first close thing.

It's impressive to think that it took 20 years from that article for notebooks to outsell pc. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2009/oct/28/laptops-sa... also fun to see how net books are a focus of attention for that article. I wonder what level of accordance will be needed for a wearable to seriously compete with the current mode of computing.

uberalex··on The Long Tail of the English Language
'I' doesn't seem to work. It is very common. https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=I%2C+you&year_...
uberalex··on What 2,000 Calories Looks Like
This is especially true since they pick a much, much leaner choices for Subway. I can't understand that.
uberalex··on Run to Stay Young
How do they compare to Vibrams? I tried to get a pair of KSO or Bikila last time I was in the USA, but all the shops have stopped stocking them since the company settled a lawsuit.
uberalex··on Run to Stay Young
All sports have complications. Swimmers can get shoulder issues and tendinitis (http://physioworks.com.au/Injuries-Conditions/Activities/swi...). Cyclists can suffer overuse injury, but also seem at risk of getting mown down by traffic (admittedly a general risk, but it seems a higher one for regular bike users) http://physioworks.com.au/Injuries-Conditions/Activities/cyc...

I suspect it's a matter of cross-training, of trying to do some compensating weight training, and luck.

uberalex··on Why Ice Cream Sounds Fat and Crackers Sound Skinny
Does Frozen yogurt follow this logic? It seems like a harder sounding word might imply the health effects
uberalex··on Impending kOS
I think that the issue is that just measuring simplicity in terms of number of lines is a bad metric. You can have extremely complex expressions in a single statement that are at least as hard to read and debug as an equivalent, much longer piece of code that employs temporary variables and single-purpose statements.
uberalex··on Can thoughts exist without words(code)?
http://www.reddit.com/r/philosophy/comments/17r570/is_there_... is a possible source of thoughts?
uberalex··on Intermittent fasting: The good things it did to my body
It's also worth noting that typically people gain weight during Ramadan. They eat way more, richer food as it's a time of celebration and dehydration from the day.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/07/cairo-the-...

uberalex··on Interactive Resume
It's very pretty, but using the down button to go right is a bit counter-intuitive.
uberalex··on Ask HN :How to become a low-end big data consultant?
I would suggest the following topics (forgive me if this is a bit disorganised)

Languages:

    R, Python (pandas, numpy), C++ or Java, Matlab/Octave
Stats & Machine Learning Topics:

    Neural Nets,Decision Trees,SVM,

    Regression (Linear, Nonlinear, Logistic)

    Clustering (K-means, Fuzzy C-means, Mixture Modelling, etc.)

    Time-series Modelling/Prediction (AR, ARMA, ARIMA, Exponential Smoothing)

    Bayesian Techniques

    Statistical Model Development
System experience:

    Linux administration

    Big Data Libraries (hadoop at a minimum, Mahout, Hive, 
Storm, Yarn as well)

    Data cleaning and large scale data management
uberalex··on Physicians group labels obesity a disease
Another thing is how hard it actually is to know your BMR, and expenditure. Most foods have vast variation in nutritional content, and post-obese people have a great ability to put on weight (up to 30% lower calorie requirement, which is a hell of a lot when you are already cut down).
uberalex··on Physicians group labels obesity a disease
I calorie count, that's how I get through the day. However, it's worth noting that calorie counting is a depressing thing to do. I've experienced very much the feelings that I read about for diabetics (type 1) and people who are severely impoverished. Every cost has to be counted, every extravagance planned for, every unexpected event has to be compensated for. I overate at the start of the week, so I need to cut back at the end. It's difficult to count calories when I don't have the figures, which means I can no longer be the spontaneous social eater I want to be. I miss that badly.

I like to say it's like going from never having to think about how much money you spent to having to count every.single.penny. It's not 'I should skip that holiday in the maldives this year', it's 'Can I afford that trivial expenditure (a single piece of fruit) today? will I be too hungry to sleep if I cut that out of tonight's dinner?'

uberalex··on Physicians group labels obesity a disease
This is all quite true, and very much how I feel. I am finding maintaining my weight much harder than losing. I have not lost my appetite, or my habit of bingeing when triggered. It's a life-long struggle.
uberalex··on Physicians group labels obesity a disease
I can't say I agree with this analysis. In the first instance, the fact that both parents' obesity is a factor could be argued to point towards a stronger correlation. In a broad sense, it's also important to note that chronic diseases always have some behavioural and lifestyle component. For example, physical malformations can be caught early and given therapeutic redress -- Scoliosis correction might be a good example.

You're not condemned to be obese if your genetics give you the propensity for it, but it's also fair to say that the genetics mean that disease-like interventions are necessary. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/obesity-prevention-source/obesit...

uberalex··on Physicians group labels obesity a disease
There is something to suggest that obesity is more than simply having a bad diet. Obese people react differently to food, and it appears to have a genetic correlation.

One paper suggests that there is a dopamine response difference in the obese: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11210998

The causal direction is open to interpretation, but I still think that there is a difference between 'overweight' and 'obese'

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