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42 karma · joined June 11, 2013
Actual notation was the reason I got deep into LaTeX during my undergrad degree (actuarial science). I don't recall the library I used at the time, but if I were to re-do it today, I'd use this one: https://vigou3.gitlab.io/actuarialsymbol/. Vincent Goulet (from Laval University in Quebec) has done a lot to bring actuaries into open source and free software.
Once you internalize the notation (you have to for actuarial exams), it's actually quite powerful. Even though I have not practised in half a decade, I still am able to read 90% of the symbols and get the underlying mathematical formula.
It also makes a tremendous amount of sense when you use it in the context of a mortality table (see https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Excerpt_... as an example).
On the flip side, my job uses Office and Teams quite extensively, and the browser experience is subpar. OneDrive sync is also spotty (InSync works ok, but it's not "set and forget" at least for my use-case). Everything works, but it's less easy than on macOS or Windows, so you have the added cognitive load. I ended up having a VM with Windows when I really need it. It got ridiculous when I needed to join Teams on my phone and my laptop to get sound and share my screen.
On top of that, Linux works very well for the fun work. I don't especially like doing PowerPoint decks or blazing through emails, but because the tools are less friendly, I end up spending more time doing stuff I don't enjoy doing. It means that my productivity gets lower. I miss i3, the familiar command line, all the goodies I got to discover and enjoy on my "play" machine, but the 60% remaining got more tedious.
I ended up moving back to a macbook air (which is less powerful than my Dell) because of the "lack of configuration" to get it to somewhere where I feel "peak productive". Some stuff at work I just want to get "done", and ultimately Linux (or the lack of good Linux compatibility with some of the tools my workplace mandates) went in the way.
I used WSL1 a little while back. It was nice, but it was another thing to get setup which I am not familiar with. I'll get windows back on the XPS and try, maybe it'll strike the right balance.
A bummer, really.
I ended up going in the other direction: kept emacs, got mostly rid of windows (I have it in a VM for the odd occasion where I need to use a windows-specific program. The fact that my company is flexible on the work OS is a huge bonus for me.
Insurance is also a weird product from a consumer stand-point: for most people (at least in Canada) there is little to no difference between company offering. If you take P&C, there is a lot of competition for pricing, and a lot of the "end-stream" innovation is about containing costs (fraud, company-owned repair shops, avoiding litigation). Loss ratio is probably the word I heard the most from my actuarial friends.
P&C and group insurance, since everything is renewed every year, see a lot more disruption and effervescence in the market. It's harder to disrupt life insurance when you're on the hook for 10, 20 or even 70 years. I think that participating life was a game changer, and even then, its popularity is really tied to the market. There is a lot of research being done as well to better assess risk without being invasive (fluids, extensive questionnaires, etc.). But when you're on the hook for a long period of time, your mistakes along the way tend to stay for a long time. And going under is -- I think -- worse than any other industry. You pay premiums to insurance companies because you trust they'll be alive in the future!
Speaking of loss ratio, most companies are also now heavy towards automation, again to reduce costs. I know this has been over-played elsewhere in the industry, but here a lot of the key-players are massive and slow moving, and at their scale, little movement can mean a lot of change.
I use the Herbin ballpoint for quick notes and I really like it. For longer sessions, I'll whip up a Pilot Vanishing Point as I find that the added flex causes less fatigue. I also ordered Yookers felt tip pens that takes FP ink (https://yookers-shop.com/). I love the Sharpie pens, so if they feel the same, I might just hoard them and slowly empty my ink collection.
Ended up purchasing it, and I must say, it's really fun to use! I find that it makes it easier to go from "focus mode" to "overview mode": it's very readable, but since it looks less blocky than most monospace fonts, I find it easier to navigate larger blocks of code.
I might not use it all the time, but this will keep me smiling for a while!
It is really is a walk down memory lane.
http://www.hydroquebec.com/learning/transport/grandes-distan...
Granted, there's not much details :
« The technology used to transmit direct current is not the most common. However, it can be advantageous for isolating alternating-current systems or controlling the quantity of electricity transmitted. Hydro-Québec has a direct-current line (which goes from the Baie-James region to Sandy Pond, near Boston) as well as many direct-current interconnections with neighboring systems. »
Same thing in 6.2 with tail_len = tail len
Seems like the markdown parser partially went into the code blocks.
I like it. I tend to usually remove the style when I read longer documents. This is prettier while doing the same thing.
What are your next goals with it?
At first, comparing it to Markdown (markup-wise) was very helpful. I keep this page ( http://orgmode.org/manual/Markup.html ) handy and write my blog posts in Org. (This is why I found babel to be invaluable : I don't have to keep my code separate from my post, which is one hassle less for quick demonstrations).
Right now, my strategy is a little bit like this : the moment I think something would require some writing, I quickly check what org-mode has to offer. The learning might be slower, but I don't get bored this way.
[1] : http://orgmode.org/worg/
Learning to embrace org was a long and arid journey (it can do so much you quickly get lost in the process). Babel was the first extension I really enjoyed to use from day 1. It is what I expected from a literate programming tool.
I've never much used IPython but I heard a lot of praise about it. I guess it's the perfect timing to jump in.
Are you planning on adding to the languages' page? [1]
[1] : http://orgmode.org/worg/org-contrib/babel/languages.html
I feel this is something that should be an emacs-mode, though. You could then test your theme-to-be against your own work.
" Interestingly, the blog post also includes details on testing that the company has done with various other Linux distros on the XPS-13, including Fedora and Debian. [...] this time around Dell has provided quick run-downs on how to get the XPS-13 working with a few alternate distros—including recommendations for kernel choices and BIOS revisions to load. "
I'm really happy Dell decided to continue down this route. They make good hardware (I love my XPS12) and their Linux support is slowly becomming best-in-class.
Otherwise, a fantastic job :-)
I really wanted to implement my calendar and todo-workflow on my smartphone. The idea of having everything synced everywhere and to be able to "do" stuff everywhere was really compelling. A few months later, I'm back to paper and pen because the feeling and the level of control is so much better when I write.
Another thing I realized is that I'm a doodler. My to-do lists are messy, filled with small drawings but I still understand everything. Fitting them into a computerized list feels like trying to insert a square peg into a round hole.
I know that my journal won't scale easily, but I can't imagine being way busier than I'm now for a little while.
Even looking at the "poor credit" section, there is a variety of APR available.
Competition at work...
[1] With the exception of reduced interest credit card. My credit union offers one with 9,9% APR and is claiming that's the "lowest interest rate for a credit card in the Country".
The battery life is not very good (especially the moment I listen to music or watch videos while working) and the screen, while very pleasant to work on, sometimes has some "shading" going on (my emacs has a dark grey background and if I look carefully, I can slightly see where my code was a few seconds ago -- I think this is common on touchscreens). It's not annoying by any means and I've heard the new generation has a better battery life and is running cooler.
And the flip option is sturdy and really fun to use. I don't use it as much as I though I would though : it makes a heavy tablet.
They have a comparison page (although it might be biased) : https://github.com/orientechnologies/orientdb/wiki/GraphDB-C...
I also like the variety of examples they're providing. Granted, the Mandelbrot Set ASCII-Art is not something I'd see myself using, it's pretty cool!
I see Montreal in a completely different light than what is exposed in the article : the community is vibrant, everybody is very warm and welcoming. IMHO speaking French is a great perk if you want to discover Montreal (and the rest of Quebec :-) ), but the hatred is mostly an attitude thing : history classes are heavily skewed on the separation between "Haut Canada" and "Bas Canada" and the whole "speak white" period. Let's add that Harper doesn't really help bringing the Country together. If you try to speak French and struggle, you will most of the time be answered in English. The key word is "try" : language is a sensitive spot over here, so a little effort goes a very long way.
There was an indirect answer from the community to this article : http://wearemtltech.ca/ (and it's in both English and French)
"The existence of LLVM is a terrible setback for our community precisely because it is not copylefted and can be used as the basis for nonfree compilers -- so that all contribution to LLVM directly helps proprietary software as much as it helps us."
As unpopular as it may sound, I think we need such opinions. He has a set of values and tries to defend them. While it may sometimes not be pretty, it's all part of a healthy debate.
My cousin was required to buy an iPad when he started secondary school (Grade 7). The teacher spent the first week trying to set up his own device.
I don't know how a tablet can prove useful given how most classes are taught in Quebec. You have to adjust how the teacher will interact with the student since the "teacher in front of the class" way won't work with iPads on every desk. I for one also don't listen as much when I have a screen in front of me.
If they're trying to close the gap between technology and learning, they're unfortunately not doing it right.
(And the program is IMHO clearer than the C implementation)
In the article, they're comparing the job security, high pay, etc. of a mathematician with the « it's not much, but I like it» of the lumberjack. Working as an actuary, I am impressed by how many of my coworkers got there because « hey! It pays » and are in fact (not so) secretly dreaming of changing jobs.
"I don't like it, hence I'm not good at it." gives them an easy reason to avoid the problem.