grigjd3 (u/grigjd3) - Readit News

grigjd3 commented on They Were Promised Coding Jobs in Appalachia nytimes.com/2019/05/12/us... · Posted by u/pfortuny

I've found the hardest part about coding to be accepting that there isn't enough time in a single lifetime to learn it all. I may be close to learning that learning it all is not possible with infinite time, but I am not there yet :)

grigjd3 · 7 years ago

This is largely true in any field.

grigjd3 commented on Turnover Hits Apple’s Famed Industrial Design Team wsj.com/articles/turnover... · Posted by u/mudil

kilroy123 · 7 years ago

That's what I'm going to try to do. After being paid to code for over 10 years, I simply don't want to do it anymore.

I'm going to start an aerospace company and try something radically different.

I'm single, I have no kids, and don't own a home. Why not? You know?

grigjd3 · 7 years ago

I mean, know what you're walking into, but if you have that, then yeah. My family makes me risk averse. No complaints. Happy as is, you can chase after whatever, as long as you're vaguely relevant in the field.

grigjd3 commented on I'm Against Podcasts washingtonpost.com/lifest... · Posted by u/quickfox

grigjd3 · 7 years ago

I don't get it. This guy can feel free to not listen to podcasts. It's not killing music by any stretch of the imagination. I still find plenty of bars and restaurants that annoy me with having a local band play that I don't really want to listen to. There really is nothing forcing you to identify and listen to podcasts.

grigjd3 commented on Apple said Qualcomm’s tech was no good, but privately it was ‘the best’ washingtonpost.com/techno... · Posted by u/wallflower

eridius · 7 years ago

I find it odd that the article is implying that the only reason for Apple to negotiate for cheap patent licenses elsewhere is to artificially portray Qualcomm as overcharging, when surely it's in Apple's interest in general to negotiate favorable patent licensing deals.

Even if Apple's sole goal was to prove that they could license a much larger portfolio of patents for much less as a way of demonstrating that Qualcomm is overcharging, the fact that this was their goal doesn't make them wrong. "I'm going to prove you're overcharging by demonstrating that I can license other patents cheaply. Look, I licensed other patents cheaply!" is actually a pretty good argument that Qualcomm is overcharging.

grigjd3 · 7 years ago

The difference is the supporting documents found by Qualcomm during discovery. Internal Apple documents stated that Apple was actively trying to portray Qualcomm's patents as inferior by going to other providers.

grigjd3 commented on Post-surgical deaths in Scotland drop by a third, attributed to a checklist bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan... · Posted by u/fanf2

ip26 · 7 years ago

A release checklist (for us) is inherently very risk-averse, as its raison d'être is to prevent a very expensive & dire catastrophe, and every item on the list is (metaphorically) "written in blood" [0]. As a result it's politically intractable to remove anything.

[0]: https://medium.com/war-is-boring/u-s-navy-supercarriers-domi...

grigjd3 · 7 years ago

Where do you work, so that I know to avoid it? Documentation needs updating as things change.

grigjd3 commented on Post-surgical deaths in Scotland drop by a third, attributed to a checklist bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan... · Posted by u/fanf2

LeonM · 7 years ago

My former roommate is a pilot. When I first met him, I noticed that he uses checklists for just about everything, even the most basic everyday tasks.

After some time, I decided to apply that same mentality to my own life. Both in private and work situations.

I get it now. Checklists reduce cognitive load tremendously well, even for basic tasks. As an example: I have a checklist for when I need to travel, it contains stuff like what to pack, asking someone to feed my cat, check windows are closed, dishwasher empty, heating turned down, etc. Before the checklist, I would always be worried I forgot something, now I can relax.

Also, checklists are a great way to improve processes. Basically a way to debug your life. For instance: I once forgot to empty the trash bin before a long trip, I added that to my checklist and haven't had a smelly surprise ever since ;)

grigjd3 · 7 years ago

Maintaining checklists in documentation for software design reduces mistakes dramatically. Writing step-by-step exacting build instructions for one of our core products reduced the annoying requests for help I got dramatically.

grigjd3 commented on The Coming Desert newleftreview.org/issues/... · Posted by u/howard941

scardine · 7 years ago

tl;dr: a very entertaining account of climate-change beliefs across history. Personally I found the writing style very pleasant.

grigjd3 · 7 years ago

I'm glad you found the writing style pleasant. I found it grating and self-indulgent.

grigjd3 commented on Mathematica Version 12 Released blog.stephenwolfram.com/2... · Posted by u/mvm

carlob · 7 years ago

I absolutely feel your pain. As a matter of fact I've been lobbying internally for a refresh of webMathematica for years. Maybe something is going to come out in the near future. Please hold on :)

grigjd3 · 7 years ago

A shrink-wrapped version of the instant API that could be installed on a server would be a good product.

grigjd3 commented on Mathematica Version 12 Released blog.stephenwolfram.com/2... · Posted by u/mvm

jwr · 7 years ago

Mathematica is a great tool. But in my case, there are two huge pain points which limit my use of Mathematica:

1. Horrible REPL experience. Yes, the notebook interface can display graphics, cool. But I would take Emacs with paredit over it any day. After structurally manipulating Clojure code in Emacs with paredit, using the Mathematica interface is like a throwback to the 70s. You mean I need to balance and match my parentheses myself?! Seriously? Debugging larger expressions is like stabbing yourself in the eye with a dull spoon.

2. Badly designed data structures, specifically maps (also known as hashes or associative arrays). This is the most universal data structure, that can be used for almost anything, storing mappings from keys to values. Using maps in Mathematica is awkward and feels like doing precision watchwork in boxing gloves. I don't know why this doesn't get more love, after all if all your data fits in a matrix, Matlab is the competing tool, so better data structures would let Mathematica get a nice competitive advantage.

If these two areas were improved, I would likely subscribe to Mathematica and use it much more.

grigjd3 · 7 years ago

Associations came very late to Mathematica (version 10 if I remember right) and the whole of the tools in Mathematica had to be converted over. The result was incomplete.

grigjd3 commented on The Indictment of Julian Assange Is a Threat to Journalism newyorker.com/news/our-co... · Posted by u/headalgorithm

Wintamute · 7 years ago

What specific "principle" are you referring to where you conflate private property with public property? That they are both just types of "property" and therefore the invasion of either is an identical ethical misdemeanour? This seems a rather crummy "principle" to me. There is a world of difference between the two types of property, and it's fundamental to the very definition of a nation - especially the US. Government property is publicly/collectively owned by the citizens of the nation, while private property, while coming with certain collectively agreed responsibilities (tax, licenses, codes etc), is controlled entirely privately by individuals. Invasion of private property as you say is unambiguously morally wrong, but I don't think the same can be said about collectively owned public property. I'm not saying everyone should have a "license" to ransack public property, but if there is an invasion then the morality of the act has to be gauged on case by case basis - if the public property of a non-corrupt state is breached for private gain then of course that's wrong. But what if property of an evil/corrupt regime is breached for the public good - surely the same can't said?

grigjd3 · 7 years ago

I don't know what planet you live on, but there is plenty of publicly owned property that I have no access to. If you think otherwise, just try randomly walking onto a military base that does not allow visitation. You may argue what you feel is morally right, but any actual adult has realized that morally right does not equate to the law.