gpl's recent activity

  1. Comment on Caught the cycling bug. Anyone else? in ~hobbies

    gpl
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    No specific resources. I joined a bunch of cycling subreddits and tend to check those. That's a somewhat passive way to sort of discover more known unknowns, so to speak — to learn about things to...

    No specific resources. I joined a bunch of cycling subreddits and tend to check those. That's a somewhat passive way to sort of discover more known unknowns, so to speak — to learn about things to be aware of even if I am not drilling down and become an expert right away. This is how I've learned that 80rpm is a good target cadence, you ideally want to be having maybe 40-70ish grams of carbs per hour on longer rides, etc

    Otherwise, the best thing I did early on was actually reading a bit about how gears work and being way more intentional about my gearing and cadence on rides. Otherwise, just picking up things as I go. When I started going for slightly longer rides I would look up things like what to bring with, and learned about e.g. what to have in a basic tube patch kit. Stuff like that. Ultimately there's not a ton to learn to get started, if you already know how to ride!

    1 vote

  2. Comment on Caught the cycling bug. Anyone else? in ~hobbies

    gpl
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    My area is also really hilly (Bay Area, California) so I can speak to that a bit. It'll be a great commuter for you, and definitely get a rack installed so you can attach a bag or panniers for...

    My area is also really hilly (Bay Area, California) so I can speak to that a bit. It'll be a great commuter for you, and definitely get a rack installed so you can attach a bag or panniers for your errands. It hands well on the hills and I can keep my cadence up even on the steeper hills around here if I drop to the lowest gears. I haven't put tons of miles on it yet so I can't speak to how it will hold up in the long run but I'm mostly happy with it. If I could go back I would maybeeee get a different bike, but only because I've ended up using this quite differently to how I thought I would. I bought it mostly to be able to ride around town and do errands, but I've since (as I said in the OP) gotten into longer rides and I wish I had gotten a more dedicated road bike for that. But I might upgrade soon and keep this as my commuter and have a dedicated bike for the longer rides!

  3. Comment on Caught the cycling bug. Anyone else? in ~hobbies

    gpl
    Link Parent
    Could be that you're not using the bike efficiently? This was a big thing I've learned recently — your target cadence on the bike should ideally be around 80ish rpm if we're talking about...

    Could be that you're not using the bike efficiently? This was a big thing I've learned recently — your target cadence on the bike should ideally be around 80ish rpm if we're talking about optimizing performance. This is way faster than most people are used to, and it also means you should probably be in a lower gear than you think!

    3 votes

  4. Comment on Caught the cycling bug. Anyone else? in ~hobbies

    gpl
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    Nice! I ride a marin fairfax 2. I've told myself that when I finish my first 100k I will get a proper road bike (but still an entry level one) and honestly that has been a big motivation for me...

    Nice! I ride a marin fairfax 2. I've told myself that when I finish my first 100k I will get a proper road bike (but still an entry level one) and honestly that has been a big motivation for me haha!

    I totally agree re: meditative. I throw a podcast on and zone out for 2 hours!

    2 votes

  5. Comment on Caught the cycling bug. Anyone else? in ~hobbies

    gpl
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    Wow, 210 miles on a single speed! I'm not tought enough for that haha. How do you like Ride with GPS? I use strava which is nice for tracking fitness but I don't love the route discovery options....

    Wow, 210 miles on a single speed! I'm not tought enough for that haha.

    How do you like Ride with GPS? I use strava which is nice for tracking fitness but I don't love the route discovery options. I usually search RwGPS and copy routes to my strava.

    3 votes

  6. Caught the cycling bug. Anyone else?

    ~hobbies Ask (survey)
    Title says most of it. Something has clicked for me in the past new months and I've unlocked a level of enjoyment cycling I never had before. I've always ridden by bike since I was young, but only...

    Title says most of it. Something has clicked for me in the past new months and I've unlocked a level of enjoyment cycling I never had before. I've always ridden by bike since I was young, but only recently have I started doing it for health and fitness, and pure enjoyment. I'm addicted to seeing just how far (and how high) I'm able to go! What really did it for me was my first ride with decent elevation. I've always driven past cyclists chugging their way up in the hills and never understood how they did it, and never thought I'd be able to. Well, all it took was trying it one day to realize that while difficult, it was totally attainable, and since then I've been hooked. This has prompted me to also start following pro cycling, which I've done on and off before, but this year I'm very much looking forward to the Tour de France.

    Anyone else into this as a hobby (either doing or watching)? Anyone training for big upcoming rides, and if so what? I mostly just want to chat about what people's weekly rides look like!

    24 votes

  7. Comment on What do you think is the best sandwich? in ~food

    gpl
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    Try it out if you haven't! Certainly indulgent but so gooey and good.

    Try it out if you haven't! Certainly indulgent but so gooey and good.

    1 vote

  8. Comment on What do you think is the best sandwich? in ~food

    gpl
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    Depends on the mood and season. Best summer sandwiches? Tomato and avocado, preferably with ripe heirlooms and a thin spread of mayonnaise, salt, and fresh cracked pepper. You can toast the bread...

    Depends on the mood and season.

    Best summer sandwiches?

    • Tomato and avocado, preferably with ripe heirlooms and a thin spread of mayonnaise, salt, and fresh cracked pepper. You can toast the bread if you prefer.
    • Peanut butter and jelly with potato chips

    Fall:

    • I prefer tomato, sharp white cheddar (cut from a block, not pre-sliced) and a spread of English pickle or ballymaloe relish.

    Winter:

    • Banana and peanut butter, griddled.
    6 votes

  9. Comment on When AI builds itself — progress toward recursive self-improvement and its implications in ~tech

  10. Comment on What change would make you quit Tildes? in ~tildes

    gpl
    Link Parent
    Optional LaTeX on the other hand would be very welcome!

    Mandatory LaTeX

    Optional LaTeX on the other hand would be very welcome!

    16 votes

  11. Comment on Maybe just eat the bean goo in ~food

    gpl
    Link Parent
    Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're right and that its just placebo at this point — I think it tastes better because I know I've done that step (is that placebo? but the point remains). But you raise a...

    Yeah, I'm pretty sure you're right and that its just placebo at this point — I think it tastes better because I know I've done that step (is that placebo? but the point remains). But you raise a good point, as now that I think about it that taste is most prominent when I'm making things like refried beans, where I don't necessarily get the beans to a boil, or if I do, it is brief.

  12. Comment on Maybe just eat the bean goo in ~food

    gpl
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    I don't know if anyone else feels similarly, but I always have to separate the beans out from the liquid, rinse the beans, and then add the liquid plus beans in to whatever I am cooking (assuming...

    I don't know if anyone else feels similarly, but I always have to separate the beans out from the liquid, rinse the beans, and then add the liquid plus beans in to whatever I am cooking (assuming the liquid is called for). Otherwise I always end up with an overwhelming "beany" taste. This is most prominent with beans like butter beans but happens with others as well. Not sure if its just placebo at this point, or if there is actually something on the surface I am washing off, but if I just empty a can of beans into my stew (or whatever) I always get that dominant bean-y taste.

    2 votes

  14. Comment on Requesting your thoughts that may help me decide between moving to Chicago or Portland (Oregon)? in ~life

    gpl
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    I was born and raised in and near Chicago and lived there until ~5 years ago when I moved to California. I say that to give be upfront about my biases: I love Chicago and its people and if I have...

    I was born and raised in and near Chicago and lived there until ~5 years ago when I moved to California. I say that to give be upfront about my biases: I love Chicago and its people and if I have the opportunity with my career to move there again I absolutely would (giving up this beautiful California weather in the process)! I think it's the greatest city in the country. It seems like other people have responded to most of your points and I'm not sure I have much else to add, but I'm happy to answer questions if you have any. My only advice is that when you visit, make sure you get out into the neighborhoods and don't just stay in or around downtown! In no particular order, all of the following are beautiful and have their own unique character and vibe, some more than others:

    • Lakeview
    • Lincoln Park
    • Logan Square
    • Bucktown
    • Rosco Village
    • Wicker Park
    • Lincoln Square
    • Ukrainian Village
    • Wrigleyville
    • Rogers Park
    • Andersonville
    • Bridgeport
    • Hyde Park
    • Pilsen

    Happy to get more specific. This list is heavily biased towards the north side but those are the areas I'm most familiar with; my impression is that they are also the areas most transplants move to.

    2 votes

  15. Comment on Can we talk about rice cookers? in ~food

    gpl
    (edited )
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    I love electric rice cookers and have used many over the years. However, I bought a donabe and I absolutely love it. The only thing that makes it slightly less convenient is you need to turn the...

    I love electric rice cookers and have used many over the years. However, I bought a donabe and I absolutely love it. The only thing that makes it slightly less convenient is you need to turn the heat off once you see steam coming out, whereas an electric cooker will shut off automatically. Otherwise, it is genuinely just as easy.

    You get perfectly sticky, plump rice every time. I have literally never had rice come out of the donabe overcooked or undercooked. I like it because it gives me a bit more control over what I'm doing with my rice. If I want some nice crispy bottoms, I just leave it a minute or two longer before killing the heat. It is probably just cognitive bias on my part, but I feel like the rice tastes even better from the donabe — individual grains retain their integrity and the aroma is really enhanced. Little things, but they certainly help!

    Going beyond basic rice, there is a whole host of donabe recipes out there. To be fair, a lot are things you could do with a rice cooker as well. I often will make cumin rice as a side for curries, or will make orange butter rice to spruce up a basic white rice side. When scallop pieces are discounted at the fish counter, I buy them up and make scallop rice. Daikon rice, taro root, etc. There's a lot you can do! You can also use it as a great vessel for making soups and stews. Since it is made of clay, it distributes heat quite well and holds that heat — once you get it hot you can turn the burner down to very low and still maintain a strong, even simmer. There are specialized donabe for soups and stews that are wider, but I have successfully used my double-lid one for plenty of soups. Some other practical advantages are that it lives on the stove, so it won't be taking up counter space when you're cooking, and there are no internal electronics to break. It's just a clay pot!

    Ultimately if you want an electric rice cooker, this is not a perfect substitute. But for me, I think getting the donabe just encouraged/inspired me to learn about how to cook with it, which then led me to really expanding the types of meals I cook regularly. It's just plain fun to cook with.

    2 votes

  16. Comment on That one study that proves developers using AI are deluded in ~tech

    gpl
    Link Parent
    I am a research scientist (cosmology) so I mainly code either for data analysis, or less often, to (essentially) solve various coupled systems of equations. I also use packages written by other...

    I am a research scientist (cosmology) so I mainly code either for data analysis, or less often, to (essentially) solve various coupled systems of equations. I also use packages written by other cosmologists, which are not always documented or structured extremely well.

    So far, using Cursor (and hopefully now claude) has been really helpful for me in moving from exploratory jupyter notebooks for a new topic to packaged classes that I can more easily reuse in between analyses. I essentially get all the building blocks of whatever computation it is I need to do working in a notebook, and then switch over to the agent to help me package it up in something I can either run on a cluster or use in other places. It's also been helpful on occasions where I have to modify some existing programs in languages I am not as strong in like Fortran. I could do it, push comes to shove, but often times I am really just interested in getting it done quickly and seeing what the final result is. In those cases, it usually helps me write way better code than I would on my own. I ultimately am self taught when it comes to programming, so having anything that helps me write more organized and structured code is a win, and often puts me ahead of a lot of other (small) scientific packages that are out there. I'm also interested, of course, in seeing what else I can do with it!

    3 votes

  17. Comment on That one study that proves developers using AI are deluded in ~tech

    gpl
    Link Parent
    Thank you! I just got a claude code subscription (trying it for a month to start, I still have a few months left with my Cursor free trial so I can do some direct comparisons). Excited to try it...

    Thank you! I just got a claude code subscription (trying it for a month to start, I still have a few months left with my Cursor free trial so I can do some direct comparisons). Excited to try it out and see if I can make it work for me.

    2 votes

  18. Comment on That one study that proves developers using AI are deluded in ~tech

    gpl
    Link Parent
    Very good to know! I think I was hesitant to switch because I do most of my work in VSCode (or, well, Cursor now), and I wasn't enthusiastic about the switch to the Claude CLI. But now I know...

    Very good to know! I think I was hesitant to switch because I do most of my work in VSCode (or, well, Cursor now), and I wasn't enthusiastic about the switch to the Claude CLI. But now I know there are extensions to integrate it into VSCode. I might make the switch, since I've heard only good things.

    1 vote

  19. Comment on That one study that proves developers using AI are deluded in ~tech

    gpl
    Link Parent
    This is super helpful, thanks! I have a pretty basic question about, e.g. agents.md. Let's say I create such a file in my working directory. How do I ensure the agents I am interacting with read...

    This is super helpful, thanks! I have a pretty basic question about, e.g. agents.md. Let's say I create such a file in my working directory. How do I ensure the agents I am interacting with read that file? I imagine this varies depending on what agent or platform I am using. But I feel like I have had some inconsistency here, so I've ended up starting most of my prompts with "read agents.md" with the path to the file. Is this the right idea?

    2 votes

  20. Comment on That one study that proves developers using AI are deluded in ~tech

    gpl
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    I'm going to hijack this thread to solicit some recommendations. I currently use Cursor Pro for my coding tasks. The context is that I am a scientist (astro), so my coding requirements are often...

    I'm going to hijack this thread to solicit some recommendations. I currently use Cursor Pro for my coding tasks. The context is that I am a scientist (astro), so my coding requirements are often quite different than a typical software developer. I currently use agents mainly for a) debugging b) familiarizing myself with a new codebase and c) writing classes to package up longer computations I need to do for re-usability. I definitely see the benefit, but I can't help but feel I'm using like 5% of these tools potentials. In cursor, I attach context, use plan mode, etc, but I've never dabbled with using multiple agents, or things like agents.md. I was wondering if anyone had suggested guides detailing workflows that might be useful for me. I want to learn to use these tools more efficiently and really wring out all the use I can from them.

    Separately, for people who have used both, would it be worth me switching from Cursor to Claude Code (with a Pro subscription)? I know these are slightly different things (i.e. cursor is basically a VS code overlay with agentic features), but I am wondering if people who have used both would really recommend one over the other.

    Sorry this is a bit offtopic, feel free to label as so. I just thought this might be a good place to ask since it is sure to attract the attention of people who use these tools!

    5 votes