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krutulis

krutulis on Hacker News

Re:Demystifying Poetic Meter on Friday September 27, 2019 @04:14PM (#21095841)
One of my own favorite explanations of meter in English is Timothy Steele's All the Fun's in How you Say a Thing: An Explanation of Meter and Versification [0].

I'd be interested if anyone has other recommendations?

[0]: https://www.ohioswallow.com/book/All+the+Fun%E2%80%99s+in+Ho...

Re:The Devil's Party: On Milton's Lucifer on Sunday August 05, 2018 @02:55PM (#17692832)
I agree. It is one of my favorite poems. There are also very good audio book recordings avaialable.
Re:R generation on Friday August 03, 2018 @12:45PM (#17681366)
I've been programming for a long time and had to learn R a few years back for a series of projects. The documentation and community seemed to me, as a newcomer, to be very focused on how to solve particular statistical and modeling problems, and I was almost always able to do what needed to be done relatively quickly. (Python documentation and communities, in contrast, span all kinds of applications that can be difficult even for an experienced programmer learning Python to sort through and evaluate. I can also imagine the migration to 3.x has been a challenge for newcomers.)

Although I enjoyed learning and using R, as a CS person I was bothered that I understood how to do X in R, but I had no clue about what was happening when I did X. I found this paper to be particularly useful in describing R from a CS perspective: http://www.lirmm.fr/~ducour/Doc-objets/ECOOP2012/ECOOP/ecoop...

Re:R7RS-large kickoff, list membership, and voter registration process on Sunday May 15, 2016 @09:18AM (#11700786)
In case you are a casual observer or are new to Scheme and are wondering why this might be particularly important to the language, wikipedia explains:

"The R6RS standard has caused controversy because it is seen to have departed from the minimalist philosophy [of scheme]. In August 2009, the Scheme Steering Committee ... announced its intention to recommend splitting Scheme into two languages: a large modern programming language for programmers, and a subset of the large version retaining the minimalism praised by educators and casual implementors;"[1]

Perhaps the history of Scheme standardization itself has something to teach us about the challenges and rewards of openly balancing a wide range of interests and agendas over the long term?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheme_(programming_language)#...

Re:SQLite with Richard Hipp [audio] on Saturday May 14, 2016 @03:53PM (#11697767)
"The reason why ... [SQLite] needed to exist ... The genesis story?" Richard summarizes the development history. 20:39 to 27:20

"Why is SQLite so ubiquitous?" "Its goal is that it just works .... Apparently we win competitions ... I don't know why or how." 30:20

"SQLite is ... not client-server. Why didn't I do this? ... I'm not a database person. I didn't know I was supposed to." 34:25

On "flexible typing" 40:22

"People tell me I could have made a lot of money off this if I had any business sense .... But you know what? We make enough." at 1:06:10

Re:SQLite with Richard Hipp [audio] on Saturday May 14, 2016 @03:42PM (#11697715)
1:10:20
Re:All LinkedIn with Nowhere to Go on Saturday May 14, 2016 @08:43AM (#11695845)
I have had the same experience after deleting my account several years ago (for different reasons). I do keep wondering if it will pop up as an issue, so I'm very curious about other people's experiences when not participating in LinkedIn.
Re:If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is on Thursday May 12, 2016 @09:21AM (#11683156)
Yes, I agree. The history of philosophy is an important part of philosophy, not all of philosophy. I studied the subject nearly 30 years ago and can only recall the history courses as having a decisive Western bias (though not a monopoly). I believe all the courses were correctly labeled, and I can remember at least one embarrassed explanation that other traditions could not be included.

I am curious how the bias might affect topics like contemporary epistemology, logic, or the philosophy of science or of mathematics?

Re:“Ask 'why' five times about every matter” on Monday May 09, 2016 @06:20AM (#11658680)
And also why do some people enjoy things that other people don't approve of?
Re:We Need to Talk About TED on Tuesday December 17, 2013 @10:13AM (#6921490)
Agreed, andr, that the number of new good talks can continue to increase. This is an interesting story and relates to a variety of other organizations seeking to scale quickly, whether from necessity or ambition. Is there an ongoing discussion of it as it pertains to TED & TEDx anywhere?
Re:We Need to Talk About TED on Tuesday December 17, 2013 @08:22AM (#6920946)
As the number of conferences and speakers grows, are you concerned that the Law of Large Numbers will exact its toll and make the sample of speakers more typical of the population as a whole? Inviting the flashiest of SF and NYC to speak is quite a builtin selection bias, but there seems to be no apparent strategy for preserving the distinctiveness of speakers as TEDx scales.
Re:Announcing The Dark Mail Alliance – Founded by Silent Circle and La... on Wednesday October 30, 2013 @09:07PM (#6644658)
I do share your sentiment! The shorter "MyMail" makes the same point without needing the profanity, and your more emphatic name would then be available for the most desirable MyMail client...
Re:Why we don't hire programmers based on puzzles and tricks on Friday February 22, 2013 @01:35PM (#5265772)
Answering "In the context of an interview, [I get] frustrated because my default response to not knowing the answer to a question ... is to go out and research the problem [and I cannot do that in an interview]" is a nice response to not knowing an answer and would get bonus points for honesty and self-awareness.

The best candidates will recognize and comment on the ways in which frustration can be either constructive or destructive.

"This contrived situation is not one that applies to the average day in the workplace," is a serious over-generalization. Enormous amounts of code are written based on contrived beliefs about the way business does or should operate. The world would be much better off if programmers were better at recognizing and constructively commenting on these artificialities.

Re:Why we don't hire programmers based on puzzles and tricks on Friday February 22, 2013 @11:14AM (#5264966)
If the motive is laziness or the objective is to trick or intimidate a candidate, then I agree that the method deserves scorn. But I disagree with your position the technique is never reasonable. I like to hire people who know more than I do, and in this circumstance puzzles occasionally help learn about a person.

As a candidate I'm not particularly good at solving puzzles in this kind of situation, but I'm not bothered when people present them because the discussion and interaction about the puzzle matters more to me than getting the answer.

As an interviewer it is important to ask questions that a candidate cannot answer to see how they react. Since I'm a slow thinker myself, I must sometimes resort to "unfair" questions. I don't expect an answer, I expect a reaction.

After establishing a friendly rapport, finding common technical background, presenting an "unfair" puzzle, and discussing the puzzle a bit, then a discussion like this is golden:

Candidate: "Do you believe my ability to solve this puzzle indicates how well I could do this job?" Me: "No. Though I often enjoy puzzles, I'm not particularly quick with them myself." Candidate: "Then why ask a question like this?" Me: "Because I want to see how you react when you don't know an answer right away. In your case, I had to resort to tricks."

Re:900-MPH Supersonic Ping-Pong Bazooka on Friday February 15, 2013 @05:43PM (#5229139)
That's a more detailed video about the project. The shorter video from PopularMechanics is here: http://bcove.me/pbzl94cm
Re:900-MPH Supersonic Ping-Pong Bazooka on Friday February 15, 2013 @05:05PM (#5228959)
Don't miss the impressive video.
Re:Heroku - Bamboo Routing Performance on Friday February 15, 2013 @04:53PM (#5228903)
One might charitably speculate that these are organizational challenges related to growing and being part of Salesforce.com. Things that were simple for a small, dynamic company can become shockingly complicated as the number of interests and priorities increases.

We might also consider the potential for a clash of cultures: Heroku has been relatively open about implementation details. Salesforce, on the other hand, has shown an extreme reluctance to share this kind of information.

I confess I can't help but wonder if the new willingness to make this kind of surreptitious change might in any way be connected to Byron Sebastian's sudden resignation last September. Is that nutty of me?

http://gigaom.com/2012/09/05/heroku-loses-a-star-as-ceo-and-...

Re:Heroku's Ugly Secret: The story of how the cloud-king turned its ba... on Thursday February 14, 2013 @07:26AM (#5219111)
I can't help but wonder if this kind of surreptitious change to the platform might in any way be connected to Byron Sebastian's sudden resignation last September from Salesforce. Is that nutty of me?

http://gigaom.com/2012/09/05/heroku-loses-a-star-as-ceo-and-...

Re:When Years Have Passed, Will You Remember Today? [video] on Sunday February 10, 2013 @03:00PM (#5197588)
I have had similar periods of time in my own life, but even these have begun to fade over many years. Luckily, there are plenty of techniques to avoid this and many are not new. E.g., Diarists have used writing to remember day-by-day for centuries. For travelers like you, remembering or recoding locations by date definitely helps to organize memories.

Unlike a written diary, which is conceptual, I like how Cesar is systematically compiling small visual queues using a discipline amounting to a form of sampling or measurement. I'm not sure how a video beats a photo-of-the-day, but perhaps it simplifies the overall process of selecting images?

I'm also guessing that his daily sampling method might control for the natural tendency of sensational moments and aspects of life to eclipse the less sensational parts over time.

Re:Bill Gates is naive, data is not objective on Saturday February 02, 2013 @09:39AM (#5156051)
I don't think that Bill Gates claims decent measurement is sufficient for the kind of progress he seeks but rather claims that (in most cases) it is necessary.

I suspect one answer to Mathbabe's question "what can a non-academic mathematician do that makes the world a better place?" might be to highlight and explain the kinds of logical dependencies that are so often obscured by polemics.

I cringe at the suggestion Bill Gates is naive. Anyone who has spent the time he has in corporate America will be well aware of the challenges and politicization of measurement.

Re:Math in Fiction – over 1000 short stories involving math or mathema... on Sunday January 20, 2013 @01:05PM (#5087579)
This looks like a wonderful resuorce! I checked the database for The Number Devil [1], one of my favorite math books for middle school age (and anyone who is delighted by imaginative presentations of math!). Sure enough, it's there, highly rated, and the comments from teachers and students are a delight.

[1]: http://kasmana.people.cofc.edu/MATHFICT/mfview.php?callnumbe...

Re:Another Ortiz case on Saturday January 19, 2013 @05:28PM (#5085040)
"U.S. Attorney Ortiz said through a spokeswoman last week that the government wanted to send a message by going after the motel .... up the street Walmart and Home Depot have all experienced a similar rate of drug crimes .... attorney Salzman says there’s one good reason Ortiz didn’t go after them .... the U.S. Attorney’s office, looking to make an example, picked on the smallest kid on the block.”

Where have we heard this story before? It seems as if the Judiciary Committee might have more than just the Aaron Swartz case to consider.

Re:Carmen Ortiz Strikes Out on Saturday January 19, 2013 @05:11PM (#5084985)
That is a fascinating account of some events related to the "investigation" of Aaron. I'm not sure whether they amount to attempted revenge and harassment or are the result of incompetence on the part of those leading the attack. Either way, the net effect appears to be an abuse of power that would have tormented anyone.

Related: http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/01/14/what-kind-of-fishing-tr...

And: http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/01/19/the-six-week-delay-in-t...

Re:Mathematicians aim to take publishers out of publishing on Friday January 18, 2013 @08:22AM (#5078476)
The idea that appraisal of academic work must be made in secret does not ring true. Perhaps universities have degenerated into political posturing over pursuit of knowledge, but even this seems like an argument for opening the process in order to reform it.

The young researcher should not have to be the one to tell the senior researcher the work is crap. This is why the process is called "peer" review. Of course, the senior researcher should not be submitting crap, and should be told bluntly if she or he does.

But perhaps I'm missing the point and "peer review" is now doublespeak for the process of editing a paper. In this case, the academic publishing racket appears even more absurd.

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