faustlast (u/faustlast)

faustlast commented on In Defense of Matlab Code runmat.org/blog/in-defens... · Posted by u/finbarr1987

D-Machine · 7 days ago

Defending Matlab code in 2025 is like defending Emacs: it's not that you don't have logically good points, in many cases, it is just that you are so completely out of touch with modern advances, communities, and requirements that it isn't even clear that you are speaking to anything more than what amounts to a rounding error.

EDIT: Specifically, it is extremely hard for me to think that anyone should be convinced to learn Matlab in 2025 - this seems to be a statistically useless and obviously soon-dying skill. Any logical arguments about what Matlab offers NOW seem to entirely ignore - what seems to me - this obvious practical reality.

faustlast · 7 days ago

> Defending Matlab code in 2025 is like defending Emacs

I feel attacked.

faustlast commented on Over $70T of inherited wealth over next decade will widen inequality, economists theguardian.com/inequalit... · Posted by u/prmph

veqz · 2 months ago

Inheritance tax is usually only on values above a certain point, though. That point can easily be set reasonable high – say, 5% tax on all inheritance above €2M, and 40% on all inheritance above €10M, and normal families would hardly be affected.

faustlast · 2 months ago

In theory, it is nice; however, valuing assets is not easy, especially for the whole population. This arbitrariness clashes with the principle of equal rights in most constitutions. On the other hand, taxing income is very easy since the number has a precise origin.

faustlast commented on Hledger 1.50 github.com/simonmichael/h... · Posted by u/olexsmir

faustlast · 4 months ago

I’ve been a long-time user of (h)ledger. I use a custom script to generate a cost basis when computing capital gains for selling transactions. Are there any recent updates or tools that improve cost-basis tracking or capital gains handling in hledger?

faustlast commented on Org tutorials orgmode.org/worg/org-tuto... · Posted by u/dargscisyhp

Nesco · 5 months ago

To people using org mode, how does it help you more than Markdown? Genuinely curious because I tried at some point and it felt too heavy.

Maybe because I am a vim user instead of eMacs?

faustlast · 5 months ago

Besides being a markup for structured text with special syntax for links/tables/math, here are my highlights that I use:

1. Code blocks that can be executed have their result captured

2. Links to everything

3. Drawing vector images (SVG) with a tablet

4. Perform calculations on tabular data (like a simple Excel sheet)

5. Agenda (connected to Google Calendar)

6. Spaced repetition system for language learning

7. LaTeX export for reports/presentations with citations

Expanding:

1.1. Execute code on different remote machines

1.2. Work with sessions and execute code asynchronously

1.3. Use noweb syntax for reusing code blocks

1.4. Tangle ("export") source blocks to files (locally or in a remote machine!)

1.5. Use a source block to generate a graph/plot and view the figure in the same place

1.6. Use narrow functionalities to automate script executions (example: execute all blocks in this section).

2.1. Links to PDF pages, commits/pr`s/branches, email, other files` particular lines, remote files, web pages, etc.

7.1. Very easy to select which sections I want to export or not

7.2. Include hand-drawn SVG graphics in the PDF output

7.3. Generate Beamer presentations

faustlast commented on Making TRAMP faster coredumped.dev/2025/06/18... · Posted by u/celeritascelery

derekzhouzhen · 6 months ago

I used to use TRAMP but now I just run terminal emacs through mosh. Everything just work and snappy, if you can live without the emacs GUI.

faustlast · 6 months ago

This is the way for developing in a remote computer. Alternatively one could start an emacs as daemon on remote and use regular ssh.

For quick file transfer/check, it is faster with Tramp.

faustlast commented on Ask HN: How much better are AI IDEs vs. copy pasting into chat apps? · Posted by u/lopatin

fhd2 · 7 months ago

I settled on gptel, which is an LLM package for Emacs. It's kind of a mix of both approaches:

1. You have chats right there in the editor, easy to copy/paste and manage context/history without switching to a browser. You can also quickly add files or portions of files to the context or remove them again.

2. You can choose which model you want to use for what, granted you have an API key.

3. You can quickly highlight some code and ask for a change to it, which along with managed context is powerful.

I tried auto complete again and again but it doesn't work for me. At first I think "yeah, that's what I wanted to write", and then I have to look closer to realise it's not, and that completely breaks my flow and concentration. I can always write some pseudo code and proactively convert it to real code, I like to be in the driver seat.

Context management is really central to my workflow, I manage it like a hawk. Models tend to deteriorate as context content increases, in my experience, so I really try to keep it narrow.

For that reason, and because our clients didn't sign up for their code to be sent to Anthropic et al, I _mostly_ use models like I would use StackOverflow, not to generate non-trivial code I'd actually use.

But having the chats in my editor is really invaluable for me. Powerful text wrangling features make a difference in both speed and motivation.

I use it pretty heavily with pretty much only the high-end models and pay about $15 per month.

faustlast · 7 months ago

have you tried aider? Using it with magit to see the changes is a good workflow. the aider integrations to emacs are also worth it, you can easily add/remove files and send highlighted parts of your buffer.

faustlast commented on I don't like traveling anymore sidverma.io/posts/i-dont-... · Posted by u/mavidser

faustlast · 9 months ago

Traveling to big cities certainly loses its appeal after a while. Nowadays, I tend to prefer little adventures involving nature/sport.

faustlast commented on My Beancount books are 95% automatic after 3 years (2024) fangpenlin.com/posts/2024... · Posted by u/leonry

chrislloyd · 10 months ago

I have a very similar setup but with HLedger[1]. A "do-nothing"[2] script helps me download statements by opening bank websites, waits for manual import and finally checks balances. That makes it a lot less repetitive and error prone. Or at least, I catch the errors faster.

I've found HLedger and Shake to be fast enough to process almost a decade of finances. Dmitry Astapov has an extremely well produced tutorial workflow[3].

How have you managed the PDF parsing? Mine has become a bit of a mess dealing with slight variations in formatting as they change over time. I've been considering using LLMs but have been nervous about quality.

[1]: https://hledger.org [2]: https://blog.danslimmon.com/2019/07/15/do-nothing-scripting-... [3]: https://github.com/adept/full-fledged-hledger

faustlast · 10 months ago

I also use ledger/hledger to process a decade of finances. I reconcile once a year when doing taxes. I have multiple python scripts orchestrated with org-mode to generate reports/plots. I run them in separate processes since they are independent, which makes it fast enough (seconds).

What is Shake?

faustlast commented on Eighty Years of the Finite Element Method (2022) link.springer.com/article... · Posted by u/sandwichsphinx

greesil · a year ago

I took a course in undergrad, and was exposed to it in grad school again, and for the life of me I still don't understand the derivations either Galerkin or variational.

faustlast · a year ago

I learned from the structural engineering perspective. What are you struggling with? In my mind I have this logic flow: 1. strong form pde; 2. weak form; 3. discretized weak form; 4. compute integrals (numerically) over each element; 5. assemble the linear system; 6. solve the linear system.

faustlast commented on GnuCash 5.9 gnucash.org/news.phtml... · Posted by u/moasda

mszcz · a year ago

I tried it years ago but finally settled on HLedger. Like GnuCash, I own and control my data, but with HLedger I have an ability to go in and correct or change something (and not in a "accounting-appropriate" way) in bulk just by editing it in Sublime Text. Then again, my use case is pretty basic and not mission critical so YMMV.

faustlast · a year ago

I have also used hledger and ledger (specifically the lots feature) for many years. One nice feature of hledger is its csv rules system, which is very flexible. I extended it with simple python scripts to add extra information for registering capital gains. So, end of the day the raw input data is just some csv files with records and the output is financial reports with various levels of detail.