Dragonfruit's recent activity

  1. Job offer in a new city -- making friends?

    ~life Ask (advice)
    Hi. I'm finishing my schooling and have received a job offer on the west coast (Vancouver). I also have comparably good, though marginally worse, job offers here on the east coast where I live...

    Hi. I'm finishing my schooling and have received a job offer on the west coast (Vancouver). I also have comparably good, though marginally worse, job offers here on the east coast where I live (Toronto).

    I'm familiar with Toronto and have many friends here or nearby, especially since I grew up and went to school not too far. However, the offer I have in Vancouver is "better" both in terms of compensation (though not that it makes a big difference) and in terms of the actual learning experience I would have on the job.

    If this job was also in Toronto I would take it immediately with no hesitation. However, it being in Vancouver gives me some pause. I've visited the city and have some mutual, but not personal, friends there. The city overall is fairly agreeable, and I enjoy the nature and scenery a lot.

    Question: have any of you made similar moves, how did you feel about it retrospectively, and how did you go about establishing a friend group outside of work?

    18 votes

  2. antediluvian

    ~creative Text 124 words
    gusts of wind pick up in pace and oaken leaves they make to shake. chirps and flaps as birds make haste and hooves all trample in escape. above, the clouds, they morph and move bearing an ocean in...

    gusts of wind pick up in pace
    and oaken leaves they make to shake.
    chirps and flaps as birds make haste
    and hooves all trample in escape.

    above, the clouds, they morph and move
    bearing an ocean in their womb.
    forest florals stare in rue;
    effulgence dims as darkness blooms.

    the rumbling clouds envelope all.
    a drip, a drop. and the rain falls.
    and though the canopy may stall,
    a dribble starts and rends the wall.

    a torrent soars towards the floor.
    the land, to sea, returns once more.
    in time, the green but will restore.
    in time, the clouds but will reform.

    i wrote this at a creative writing workshop with the following three randomly generated words as the prompt: frequency, dribble, oak.

    9 votes

  3. Multiauthor poetry anthology recommendations

    ~books Ask (recommendations)
    I've recently finished Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook and have begun writing my own poems (just for fun). I feel though that I may be limited by my having read little poetry. So, I'm searching...

    I've recently finished Mary Oliver's A Poetry Handbook and have begun writing my own poems (just for fun). I feel though that I may be limited by my having read little poetry. So, I'm searching for anthology recommendations to get some inspiration.

    I'm not really looking for collections of "classics," just a large collection of poems generally considered to be "very good," and maybe leaning more towards contemporary (late 19th century onwards?). But I'd welcome recommendations outside of these guidelines too if anyone feels particularly strongly about some collection.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on Ski vacations in the Alps are becoming increasingly elitist in ~travel

    Dragonfruit
    Link Parent
    I'm someone who lived in SWO too and I'd hesitate to even call Boler affordable. My parents would send me there in middle school with a $100 bill when I went with my friends. This was enough to...

    I'm someone who lived in SWO too and I'd hesitate to even call Boler affordable. My parents would send me there in middle school with a $100 bill when I went with my friends. This was enough to cover a day pass, equipment rental, and a meal. That's a ridiculous price for a child to do something for 4-5 hours. It's hard to justify even for a middle class family like mine, which is why I only went a handful of times.

    2 votes

  5. Travel advice for Taipei, Taiwan

    ~travel Ask (recommendations)
    I'll be visiting Taipei for a little over a week in mid-January. I'm going to attend a conference, but have most evenings free and will be staying a few days after it ends too. Looking for good...

    I'll be visiting Taipei for a little over a week in mid-January. I'm going to attend a conference, but have most evenings free and will be staying a few days after it ends too. Looking for good recommendations on activities in the city (museums, sights, etc.). I've heard Taipei has a very good nightlife, but unfortunately I don't know if I'll be able to experience much of that due to with whom I'm traveling.

    19 votes

  6. Comment on Manchester United reaches agreement for Sir Jim Ratcliffe to acquire 25% of the company in ~sports.football

    Dragonfruit
    Link
    I'm definitely not envious of the lawyers and bankers having to work right up until Christmas to get this done. An announcement at 4 am on Christmas Eve is crazy.

    I'm definitely not envious of the lawyers and bankers having to work right up until Christmas to get this done. An announcement at 4 am on Christmas Eve is crazy.

  7. Comment on Chip company Arm files for Nasdaq listing in IPO anticipated to be this year’s biggest in ~finance

    Dragonfruit
    Link Parent
    This is called dual listing. Many foreign companies like doing this because it means they can raise more capital since they can sell more shares in more places if they want. Typically (at least,...

    This is called dual listing. Many foreign companies like doing this because it means they can raise more capital since they can sell more shares in more places if they want.

    Typically (at least, for US exchanges) there will exist some entity in the US which holds a bunch of those foreign shares. The shares which trade on the US exchange are not the true shares, but an agreement that you are entitled to a one of those foreign shares held by the entity. This is called an ADR.

    It's easier legally and logistically to do this rather than for the actual company to list in the US, especially if they don't have any business in the US.

    The shares on all exchanges, regardless of where they are, will be the same price up to foreign exchange. If they were priced differently, then an arbitrageur would sell the more expensive one and buy the cheaper one and not only make riskless profit, but drive the prices back to equilibrium in the process.

    2 votes

  8. Comment on Are there politics in mathematics? in ~science

    Dragonfruit
    Link Parent
    This is more philosophy than mathematics, and I'm not trained as a philosopher so my answer might not be that articulate. I think it depends on what in mathematics you're speaking of. Something...

    This is more philosophy than mathematics, and I'm not trained as a philosopher so my answer might not be that articulate.

    I think it depends on what in mathematics you're speaking of. Something like an algorithm (e.g. in computer science) or a standard proof technique definitely feels artificial and invented -- it's just something that we as humans use to convince ourselves that something is true or to achieve some goal, and there are many other ways this could have been done, with apparently the same outcome.

    But a something like a definition in mathematics feels more discoverable. A good definition ends up in objects which have many satisfying properties and connections to other objects and fields, and this gives off an impression that it was somehow more latent than it seems.

    This isn't something that I (or any other mathematician I've met) think of very much though.

    10 votes

  9. Comment on Are there politics in mathematics? in ~science

    Dragonfruit
    Link
    Perhaps the biggest divide is on constructivism. Constructivists reject the law of the excluded middle, which crucially amounts to rejecting proof by contradiction. This is a very useful proof...

    Perhaps the biggest divide is on constructivism. Constructivists reject the law of the excluded middle, which crucially amounts to rejecting proof by contradiction. This is a very useful proof technique, but frequently results in situations where you prove that some object exists but you are wholly unable to describe it or provide an example, which can be morally unappealing.

    There are also some historical debates which have been more or less settled (e.g. Is the axiom of choice valid? The prevailing answer is "I don't care," followed closely by "Yes"). In addition, some esoteric views exist which are believed essentially by no one but fervently held by a few, such as ultrafinitism.

    Edit: Mathematics also has many different possible foundations (e.g. type theory, category theory, or set theory). The latter-most is the standard, although the former two are heavily researched and are better suited for certain applications (such as automated theorem provers).

    36 votes

  10. Comment on PayPal launches US dollar stablecoin in ~finance

    Dragonfruit
    Link Parent
    I promise I'm not being obtuse, this is something I genuinely never understood -- why DO people think gold has value? I've heard people say something about how it's used in chip manufacturing, but...

    I promise I'm not being obtuse, this is something I genuinely never understood -- why DO people think gold has value?

    I've heard people say something about how it's used in chip manufacturing, but that can't be it. People used gold to trade millennia before transistors.

    When people trade gold today they don't actually collect the gold themselves and store it in a safe, but just take on faith the certificate they have entitles them to some gold, somewhere, the location and process of collection they neither know nor care about.

    It seems to me things like gold and silver have value simply because they're pretty and everyone knows what it is and it's agreed they have value. To me, this seems fundamentally no different to fiat. You can make an argument that gold is physically limited in supply, but so is granite and no is arguing to chizel their countertops in preparation for economic collapse.

    10 votes

  11. Comment on Staring into the sun in ~arts

    Dragonfruit
    Link
    I was debating on posting this in ~games, or here. I ultimately don't play video games but enjoy Jacob Geller's videos anyways due to the artistic content, so chose to post it here. He discusses...

    I was debating on posting this in ~games, or here. I ultimately don't play video games but enjoy Jacob Geller's videos anyways due to the artistic content, so chose to post it here. He discusses them more from an artistic and philosophical perspective, and large portions of his videos discuss art and history.

    5 votes

  13. Comment on A "low-risk" AMA thread for everyone in ~talk

    Dragonfruit
    Link Parent
    Sorry for the late reply. I'd probably recommend Foundations of Machine Learning by Mohri, Rostamizadeh, and Talwalkar and Elements of Statistical Learning by Friedman, Tibshirani, and Hastie....

    Sorry for the late reply. I'd probably recommend Foundations of Machine Learning by Mohri, Rostamizadeh, and Talwalkar and Elements of Statistical Learning by Friedman, Tibshirani, and Hastie.

    These are probably more theoretical than necessary, so it might be worth looking into more applied sources. But coming from a pure math background, this is the avenue I took.

  14. Comment on How are you actually supposed to network / LinkedIn? in ~life

    Dragonfruit
    Link Parent
    It's completely fine to do that. What you should ask is for a video call, like Zoom or Teams. Or even better, if they work in the same city as you, find a cafe near their office and ask if they...

    It's completely fine to do that. What you should ask is for a video call, like Zoom or Teams. Or even better, if they work in the same city as you, find a cafe near their office and ask if they would be willing to grab a coffee during lunch one day.

    2 votes

  15. Comment on How are you actually supposed to network / LinkedIn? in ~life

    Dragonfruit
    Link
    "it feels super weird to just approach people and tell them I'm looking for a job." In my opinion this is an incredibly common misconception about networking, and completely misses the point of...

    "it feels super weird to just approach people and tell them I'm looking for a job."

    In my opinion this is an incredibly common misconception about networking, and completely misses the point of it.

    The point of networking is to learn. When you're on LinkedIn, you can filter by people who went to your school and work at the company you want to work at. Then, connect with them and say you also studied X at Y and want to pivot to work in field Z but it's unfamiliar to you, and you were hoping to ask them some questions.

    Most people will get back to you since people are generally nice and want to help. Then, just ask them questions. You haven't worked in this field, so you should have several. Ask them what their day-to-day is like, what technology they use, what they learned outside of school that was helpful, why they chose their current subspecialty, etc. And then ask if there's anyone else they'd recommend you speak with. And repeat this.

    Slowly, you'll learn more and become competent in the field despite not having work experience, and come up with more nuanced questions. And, eventually, through dumb luck, you'll run into someone that happens to be hiring or knows someone who is, and you'll get a referral.

    Getting a job is already the implicit goal in networking so asking someone directly while networking is pointless. Most people can't get you a job. And those who can, in whatever capacity, will already offer it to you if they discern you're a good fit while speaking with them. No one is gonna say "Damn this person seems perfect to hire, but they never asked me for a referral so I guess I can't bring it up."

    16 votes

  16. Comment on A "low-risk" AMA thread for everyone in ~talk

    Dragonfruit
    Link Parent
    It could, since crypto is an asset like any other, but very serious funds trade crypto (outside of Jump). I also think it's becoming logistically more difficult to do since there's fears of crypto...

    It could, since crypto is an asset like any other, but very serious funds trade crypto (outside of Jump). I also think it's becoming logistically more difficult to do since there's fears of crypto brokers and exchanges being fraudulent.

    No, I don't really miss pure math. It was fun, I enjoyed it, and I was good at it, but it got very esoteric and it was hard to see the point.

  17. Comment on A "low-risk" AMA thread for everyone in ~talk

    Dragonfruit
    Link Parent
    I did a double major. And no, it's full time.

    I did a double major. And no, it's full time.

    1 vote

  18. Comment on In the market for new bluetooth headphones, suggestions? in ~tech

    Dragonfruit
    Link
    I have the Sony WF-1000XM4s. The active noise cancelling is excellent. One issue though is that they're uncomfortable to wear for long time periods (more than 90-120 mins) due to the material of...

    I have the Sony WF-1000XM4s. The active noise cancelling is excellent. One issue though is that they're uncomfortable to wear for long time periods (more than 90-120 mins) due to the material of the eartip. There are some aftermarket replacements, but this impacts the passive noise cancelling.

    7 votes

  19. Comment on What are the benefits of using Linux for the less computer competent? in ~comp

    Dragonfruit
    Link Parent
    This is a good point. I feel like mobile OSs have done a good job with this (like Android notifying you when apps are requesting permissions), but this is lacking on desktop OSs, so people are...

    This is a good point. I feel like mobile OSs have done a good job with this (like Android notifying you when apps are requesting permissions), but this is lacking on desktop OSs, so people are much less aware.

    2 votes

  20. Comment on What are the benefits of using Linux for the less computer competent? in ~comp

    Dragonfruit
    Link
    Honestly, I don't think there is. I see people have mentioned stuff like telemetry and cost. But if you're not tech-savvy, I don't think you'd care about telemetry (in fact, I'd wager you don't...

    Honestly, I don't think there is. I see people have mentioned stuff like telemetry and cost. But if you're not tech-savvy, I don't think you'd care about telemetry (in fact, I'd wager you don't know even what that is or how your data is collected). And you'd also be buying a laptop or prebuilt that has Windows included, so cost is priced-in (and you don't have a choice).

    I think this is a "if you have to ask" type of question. Until you have a genuine reason where you yourself discover a reason you need Linux or some problem with Windows, there's no need to switch. For me that was handling Python packages and different versions, where managing the PATH and virtual environments got too much of a hassle. But with WSL now, I'm not even sure if I'd make that switch again.

    5 votes