Hacker News Reader

arc_of_descenton Show HN: Retool: Excel-like, with higher order primitives

Nice work. I really like the drag & drop stuff which snaps to a grid. Awesome!

Nice job!

I've been hooked onto UG for more than a month now. Articles like this would have piqued my interest earlier. Now they just bore me. I'm going back to learning CL.

arc_of_descenton New Features Coming in PostgreSQL 10

I understand your need for a book. I prefer to read a book when diving into a new tech. That being said, when I started out using PostgreSQL years back, there were only online docs, and I must say they are although lengthy at time, very good.

Also, pgAdmin?

arc_of_descenton Ask HN: What do you want to see in Ubuntu 17.10?

Flavor: Ubuntu Desktop

Headline: UX for Moms/Dads

I've been using Ubuntu Desktop for over 5 years and Linux for more than 15 years. I keep on changing distros, but Ubuntu is my first choice.

Role: Web developer

Please make it easier for Moms/Dads to use Ubuntu. My parents (both above 60) use Ubuntu and they love it. But I can feel their frustration sometimes when they need to do more. They mostly use Firefox (YouTube, Facebook) etc. so its fine. But when they need some more power usage, like transferring photos from camera they are stuck. Using a webcam, no way.

Upgrading software, yikes!

I seriously believe Ubuntu Desktop is doing a fantastic job of making sure Linux rules the desktop. If not now, it will soon. I'm sorry I can't provide any substantial issues, but I hope the UX team at Ubuntu can do a good job.

All the best!

arc_of_descenton How to Self-Publish a Novel in 2017

I'm curious. Do you jot everything down on Scrivener? Or do you also write on paper?

Lately I've been carrying a notebook everywhere I go and I'm starting to write much more.

arc_of_descenton Self-driving cars in the browser

Cool demo! The sadist in me immediately began drawing obstacles at most places so the cars got pretty much stuck :)

Reminds me of a child hood car I had which would bump against a wall, climb it slightly and then use the gravity to drop down and turn.

arc_of_descenton Ask HN: I’ve been applying to a million jobs

Make it very clear in your cover letter what role you are looking for. With roughly 3 years experience, a Product designer doesn't seem apt. (for the recruiter, although you may be a genius).

So something like "Web developer, with ambitions of growing towards a product manager/designer role".

Once you get an opening into a company, and its a good match, your talents will be recognizable instantly.

arc_of_descenton Linus Torvalds: Successful projects are 99% perspiration and 1% innovation

I would look at it as the Zeno's arrow paradox. 99% perspiration could be again broken down into 1% inspiration/innovation, and 99% perspiration, and so on...

We need innovation simply because its fun.

arc_of_descenton Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (February 2017)

Hello,

  * Location: Mumbai, India
  * Remote: Yes
  * Willing to relocate: Within India
  * Technologies: Linux, JavaScript, Go, Perl, HTML5, CSS, 
    Go, React, webpack
  * Résumé: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/30714030/rohan_cv.pdf
  * Email: rohan dot almeida at gmail.com

I have more than 10 years experience working as a full stack developer. Very passionate about creating quality software, and I really enjoy programming. Please check the links to my code samples which are included in my resume. Thanks!

arc_of_descenton Why Don't We Have a General-Purpose Tree Editor? (2014)

Thanks to this post I found out about TreeSheets. Looks interesting.

arc_of_descenton Using tmux properly

Wow! PREFIX t displays the time!

arc_of_descenton Blockchain Demo [video]

Really nice. Clear and concise.

arc_of_descenton React Tetris

Really nice!

arc_of_descenton GitLab Database Incident – Live Report

Don't prepare a backup plan. Prepare a recovery plan.

arc_of_descenton I'm Loyal to Nothing Except the Dream

I don't why, but I agree with you. I'm a full-time programmer. The rest of my free time is devoted to my other passions (guitar, music).

I always have arguments with my friends over whether we should take an active interest in politics/policies. I sometimes say, that if you want to, then please join politics full-time, or let the Government do its job.

But the fear exists. You won't do something, until it happens to you. So, people like the OP, have a real sense of empathy which I admire.

arc_of_descenton Atlassian acquires Trello for $425M

If I remember correctly, the Pro React book has a tutorial for a Trello clone.

arc_of_descenton With the Rise of DevOps, Perl Shows Its Muscle

Wow, thanks for the link.

arc_of_descenton Ask HN: What “old” programming languages will you still be using in 2017?

  - Perl
  - HTML (old?)

arc_of_descenton Paris from Camus’s Notebooks

Yes, in the preface the translator does mention the use of short phrases. I found it wonderful.

Although I'm not sure if thats the style Camus writes in.

arc_of_descenton Paris from Camus’s Notebooks

I just finished reading The Stranger (translated from French by Matthew Ward), and I've already got The Myth of Sisyphus on my Kindle.

I just pray the translation does justice. Matthew did a fantastic job with The Stranger IMO.

arc_of_descenton Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (January 2017)

Hello,

  * Location: Mumbai, India
  * Remote: Yes
  * Willing to relocate: Within India
  * Technologies: Linux, Perl, JavaScript, HTML5, CSS, Go, 
    React, webpack
  * Résumé/CV: http://lickcreator.com/rohan_tm_cv.pdf
  * Email: rohan dot almeida at gmail.com

I have 15 years experience working as a full stack web developer. Very passionate about creating quality software, and I really enjoy programming. Please check the links to my code samples which are included in my resume. Thanks!

arc_of_descenton What a Sensory Isolation Tank Taught Me About My Brain

As others have mentioned, going for the 10-day retreat can help you get started. You have to understand though, that if you want to get into Vipassana meditation, do it for life. If you are motivated enough, then you don't need the retreat.

Some people like the company of others and a sort of schedule to keep. It motivates them. They go for the retreat. But I have seen them come back with absolutely no change. They still go back to their old ways, of talking shit about others, smoking, drinking, and they don't practice meditation anymore. This is just bad attitude towards Vipassana.

To be honest, I was introduced to Vipassana (and Yoga), when I was in rehab. 15 days of early morning meditation and Yoga helped me a lot. That got my interest going and I decided to buy self-help books and keep practicing.

arc_of_descenton What a Sensory Isolation Tank Taught Me About My Brain

I somehow agree with you, but I especially found the book great since it has little or no mention of Religion or gods.

Although spiritual experiences can occur if you think of them as hallucinations due to the state intense meditation can get one into.

arc_of_descenton What a Sensory Isolation Tank Taught Me About My Brain

I've heard of Goenka, but never ventured to listen to his talks. I'm not a big fan of these new age Gurus.

I believe mediation is science, since it requires practice, discipline and effort. Some might not see results immediately, but keep pushing.

arc_of_descenton What a Sensory Isolation Tank Taught Me About My Brain

Thats how its marketed. But no, Vipassna is a form of meditation practice. There are many others.

And to be honest its not the real stuff. What are 10 days? You are going to learn absolutely nothing. Mediation is a 24 hours a day practice. And it takes a lot of time to just get used to it.

For example, in one form they only tell you to focus your mind on an object (like breathing, or your abdomen). In Vipassna, the idea is focus first, but the next step is to observe your thoughts (mindfullness). Observe, never reject, whatever it is. Happiness, Lust, Greediness, Anxiety. Observe, and let it go. The mind is a crazy machine. More precisely, our chattering monkey mind.

Please read this book if you haven't already. I can't recommend it enough. It has changed my life.

Mindfulness in Plain English - Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

arc_of_descenton What a Sensory Isolation Tank Taught Me About My Brain

I'm not sure about these Sensory Deprivation Tanks, simply because I haven't tried them, but it all seems a bit too much hocus pocus.

Richard Feynman (as one post mentions) tried it, felt good, had some experiences, but once out of it he quickly realized that it was just another perception. We all perceive, if there is no sensory input, the brain will fill in the blanks.

I've been practicing mediation (Vipassna, which is also minfullness meditation) for around 6 months now. I highly recommend it. The mind-body complex is what its mainly about. You have to observe your bodily senses and your thoughts.

As quantum mechanics demonstrates, observing changes the thing being observed. (Like the wave function collapse, I'm no expert). But you can surely change your mind by meditation.

Happy New Year!

arc_of_descenton Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

Yeah! But I read voraciously anyway. And also I've been working on my own projects this 2016.

arc_of_descenton Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?

I started Jan 2016 jobless, I still am. hence the long reading list! Apart from these I've read lots on AngularJS, React, Redux, Python.

* The Short Drop (The Gibson Vaughn Series) - Matthew FitzSimmons

* The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins

* Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution - Neil deGrasse Tyson

* Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future - Ashlee Vance

* Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries - Neil deGrasse Tyson

* The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest To Understand, Enhance and Empower the Mind - Michio Kaku

* An Innocent Client (Joe Dillard Series Book 1) - Scott Pratt

* WIRED - Douglas E. Richards

* Phantoms - Dean Koontz

* Breakthrough - Michael C. Grumley

* Knots And Crosses (Inspector Rebus) - Ian Rankin

* Founders at Work - Jessica Livingston

* The Tumor: A Non-Legal Thriller - John Grisham

* Kick the Drink... Easily! - Jason Vale

* Hide And Seek (Inspector Rebus) - Ian Rankin

* Tooth And Nail - Ian Rankin

* Nexus (The Nexus Trilogy Book 1) - Ramez Naam

* Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow - Yuval Noah Harari

* Biocentrism - Bob Berman

arc_of_descenton Show HN: CakeResume – Drag and drop resume snippets to build a unique resume

I like the website. Haven't tried it out yet.

I usually just whip up a good looking HTML page and then use wkhtmltopdf :p