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zests

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I was taking AP classes in highschool for fun just to take as many as possible. That included AP Computer Science.

I felt behind at the beginning so worked extra hard to catch up. The teacher let us work at our own pace and before I knew it I was several chapters ahead of the rest of the class. Then I spent class time writing naive math programs to do stuff like numerically compute integrals. When I discovered BigInteger I was so excited.

I think my future career was determined then but I did not realize it at the time.

Rebracketing 5 years ago

The word helicopter is not heli+copter but is really helico+pter. Helico as in helix and pter as in pterodactyl. "Heli" is a modern prefix that comes from helicopter, not the other way around.

Of course it would be impossible for modern society to stop using money altogether despite what this man might hope. Its easy to see this person as someone who just doesn't want to work. At the same time, I read a historical religious fiction book that describes monks going from town to town offering enlightenment in exchange for food and presumably shelter. Is this any different?

All of modern society joining a monastery or becoming enlightened is perhaps an even bigger ask.

Senet 5 years ago

I love ancient board games. It's amazing to think about chess and how rules have been changed slightly over time for 1000 years. The game has since been stable for about 500. The computer era is revolutionizing the game again and maybe will usher in new popular variants (Fischer random, no castle chess) as our understanding of the game evolves.

You should expect this to be true of any shrinking rainforest. A growing rainforest will absorb more CO2 than it emits. A rainforest that remains the same size will be carbon neutral.

The idea that the rainforest removes a significant net amount of CO2 from the atmosphere is simply false. The rainforest even emits methane.

It feels like there are two classes of engineers in the US. One class of engineers makes 60k-120k and the other makes 150k-500k.

Is this just a really well kept secret? I don't really see many engineers trying to migrate from the first class to the second class. I'd expect most software engineers would jump through hoops at the prospect of doubling their salary.

There doesn't seem to be a great consensus on the best microphones to use on my usual sources (HN). This is surprising because the difference between laptop mic or bluetooth mic and a good microphone is enormous. I also don't mind spending a bit more $$$ because this is for my day job.

But when buying a mic, I've read many types of good microphones (bluetooth streamer/podcaster looking mics vs XLR traditional looking mics e.g., Shure SM58-LC). Its hard to pull the trigger and know whats best. At this point I'll go with the Shure model, a stand and an XLR to USB-C cable sooner rather than later.

I have a nice webcam so a great mic is the next step.

I've always found the real world to be infinitely more stressful than the world of work and school. I also recognize how this is somewhat absurd.

During COVID my to-do list was basically to work, spend time with family and get some exercise. Now my to-do list is to move back to a major city, get a new job to support an increased standard of living, make new friends in a new area. I have to carefully budget my "keeping up with the Joneses" energy because there is no way I can do it all at once.

The absurdity is that I don't really need a new job or to move to a huge city in order to be happy but I'm doing it anyway.

These are 'God Days' which are special days used to make our equations line up. They have not been observed directly but most experts think that God Days are abundant in the universe and that they have had a strong influence on its structure and evolution.

I struggle to figure out why the homeless are so visible in SF but not in other cities like Manhattan. My only haphazard guess is that it has to do with the weather. I could ask the same question about why SF is the only city that has to lock up soap in their grocery stores.

SF strikes me as the city with the highest highs and the lowest lows.

My pet peeve is people asserting that rainforests are a carbon sinks. Mature rainforests are carbon neutral. The rainforests are carbon banks -- not sinks. This article is simply saying that the Amazon Rainforest is shrinking but it's using a lot of words for dramatic effect. I'd always expect a shrinking forest to emit carbon and an expanding forest to absorb it.