mihaitodor's recent activity

  1. Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books

  2. Comment on Which other sites do you visit? in ~tech

    mihaitodor
    Link Parent
    Fair, but my bar is pretty low. As long as it still feels human-curated and avoids blatant spam, it’s good enough. I haven’t looked at the comments section in ages :)

    Fair, but my bar is pretty low. As long as it still feels human-curated and avoids blatant spam, it’s good enough. I haven’t looked at the comments section in ages :)

    1 vote

  3. Comment on Which other sites do you visit? in ~tech

    mihaitodor
    Link Parent
    Hehe, I think those days are over, although they sometimes link to someone’s hobby site which has limited bandwidth 😅

    Hehe, I think those days are over, although they sometimes link to someone’s hobby site which has limited bandwidth 😅

  4. Comment on Which other sites do you visit? in ~tech

    mihaitodor
    Link
    HackerNews, lobste.rs and slashdot.org. I find it amazing that Slashdot is still alive and pretty well curated after all these years.

    HackerNews, lobste.rs and slashdot.org. I find it amazing that Slashdot is still alive and pretty well curated after all these years.

    4 votes

  5. Comment on What are the best niche software tools you're using? in ~tech

    mihaitodor
    Link
    Here are a few rich terminal apps that I really love: glow for previewing markdown files jless for previewing JSON and YAML broot is a pretty cool file explorer tokei for counting lines of code in...

    Here are a few rich terminal apps that I really love:

    • glow for previewing markdown files
    • jless for previewing JSON and YAML
    • broot is a pretty cool file explorer
    • tokei for counting lines of code in a repo
    1 vote

  6. Comment on Introductions | March 2025 in ~talk

    mihaitodor
    (edited )
    Link
    How long have you been on Tildes? How did you find out about us? I joined on March 5, 2019 apparently. I have been here on and off and I can't recall my initial impressions of this community, but...

    How long have you been on Tildes? How did you find out about us?

    I joined on March 5, 2019 apparently. I have been here on and off and I can't recall my initial impressions of this community, but it grew on me and now I try to check it regularly even if I don't contribute much. I believe I was looking for communities similar to Hacker News and Lobsters and Tildes popped up. I'm glad to see it's thriving and it remains inclusive and welcoming!

    How did you choose your username?

    In my early internet days, I had various usernames like most other people, but, some years later, I decided I'd rather just use my real name (first_name + last_name). It's simpler for me and unique enough to not struggle when creating new accounts. I appreciate the option of being anonymous and don't mind if most people stick with it, but for me it's not relevant.

    What are your interests?

    Way too many, but, then again, the list is shrinking since I find less time / motivation to dive into arbitrary rabbit holes...

    • Currently, I'm looking for ways to start a career in computational biology for cancer immunotherapy and that leads me to various deep dives into genomic data analysis and related topics. I've been a bit frustrated lately about not having more time to dig into this and want to restart. Ideally, I'd love to take on some sort of intern / research assistant role in this space and learn enough to start a PhD.
    • Detailed technical writing. I've always enjoyed reading such articles and I know I'd enjoy writing them when it comes to topics I'm excited about, but I still haven't created a website and I know such work takes very generous amounts of focused time which is hard to allocate for the time being. I have dabbled in it in the past in various ways such as posting Q&As on Stackoverflow or writing detailed answers to technical questions on GitHub, Slack, Discord etc. I feel those are a bit too ephemeral and it would be great to do it in the context of genomic data analysis.
    • Sean Carroll's Mindscape podcast. Most episodes are pure joy to listen to and I don't always have the right conditions to listen to them. I need a 2-3 hour break to go out for a walk without being too tired and there are weeks when I can't manage that. If I sit at home, I can't focus on it and my mind keeps drifting away...
    • SciFi books, cartoons and movies. Wish I'd manage to get myself to spend more time on these, but they usually end up getting pushed aside if work gets too busy... I have a big list of books that I'd like to go through eventually.
    • Meeting new people who are not religious / spiritual in any way and work on research focused technical subjects. Various online communities have helped somewhat, but it's a challenge to meet likeminded people in person.
    • Going for long walks.

    A/S/L (age/(gender|pronouns|identifier)/location)

    I'm a 39 year old male and my pronouns are he/him. I'm located in Dublin, Ireland, but I'm originally from Romania and have spent a few years in The Netherlands back in 2012... Can't believe it's been so long. I miss that place and looking forward to moving again when I'll figure out where to go.

    What do you do? This could be in your spare time, for work, your passions.

    I'm a freelance software engineer, focused on Golang and open source, currently working on https://benthos.dev (now Redpanda Connect). My work requires developing some new features and, also, I dedicate time to do community work such as answering whatever queries come in and trying to resolve whatever issues I can.

    As mentioned above, I'm looking to transition to computational biology, so I volunteer some time for https://github.com/FHIR/genomics-operations, which is a reference implementation to show how to add genomic operations to the FHIR standards. It's tangential to what I'd like to work on, but it did provide some insight into how genomic variants are represented, parsed and normalised.

    Do you want other users to PM/DM you from this thread?

    Sure thing! Happy to talk with others.

    Give us a fun fact (or a link!)! If there is anything to know about tilderinos, it's that we value knowledge sharing!

    Galinstan is an interesting metal alloy, since it has a melting point lower than the melting point of its individual constituents (gallium, indium, and tin). It's used as a replacement for mercury in bulb thermometers. I got super-frustrated one day when I noticed that the thermometer I had ran out of battery and I couldn't use it when I needed to. Also, a replacement battery turned out difficult to find and I hate the idea of having to throw it away and buy a new one. I get that electronic ones are safer than glass thermometers, but the latter are more reliable and can last a lifetime.

    1 vote

  7. Comment on Honey did nothing wrong in ~tech

    mihaitodor
    Link
    Just because it can be done, doesn’t mean it should be done. I’ve seen other products exploit such low-effort opportunities to make money and, while there’s nothing illegal about it, I think we...

    Just because it can be done, doesn’t mean it should be done. I’ve seen other products exploit such low-effort opportunities to make money and, while there’s nothing illegal about it, I think we should keep shaming people for doing it.

    5 votes

  8. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    mihaitodor
    Link
    I keep contributing to a Golang project for streaming structured data at scale called Benthos: https://benthos.dev

    I keep contributing to a Golang project for streaming structured data at scale called Benthos: https://benthos.dev

    1 vote

  9. Comment on What are your top three video game soundtracks? in ~games

    mihaitodor
    Link
    I'm surprised that nobody mentioned the Diablo II soundtrack by Matt Uelmen. It's the best one I know by far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN4pcODdma8 The Diablo I one is also quite cool:...

    I'm surprised that nobody mentioned the Diablo II soundtrack by Matt Uelmen. It's the best one I know by far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN4pcODdma8 The Diablo I one is also quite cool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcTAVQYMZv0

    Then there are the Torchlight ones also by Matt Uelmen:

    1 vote

  10. Comment on Do you think life was better in the past? in ~talk

    mihaitodor
    Link
    I'm surprised nobody mentioned communism yet. Most people living under communism had to endure a lot of hardship and fear. Living standards increased drastically in countries which managed to move...

    I'm surprised nobody mentioned communism yet. Most people living under communism had to endure a lot of hardship and fear. Living standards increased drastically in countries which managed to move away from it.

  11. Comment on Interactive xkcd comic about gravity in ~comics

  12. Comment on Interactive xkcd comic about gravity in ~comics

    mihaitodor
    Link Parent
    I found that you can get stuck in some places, so you have to start over. I don't mind, though :)

    I found that you can get stuck in some places, so you have to start over. I don't mind, though :)

    3 votes

  13. Comment on Interactive xkcd comic about gravity in ~comics

    mihaitodor
    Link
    The comic promotes Randall's new book What If? 2.

    The comic promotes Randall's new book What If? 2.

    3 votes

  15. Comment on Listening to podcasts may help satisfy our psychological need for social connection, study finds in ~science

    mihaitodor
    Link
    Indeed, I find Sean Carroll's Mindscape podcast to be an invaluable resource. The topics are usually quite technical, a good chunk of them being focused on quantum physics, cosmology, philosophy,...

    Indeed, I find Sean Carroll's Mindscape podcast to be an invaluable resource. The topics are usually quite technical, a good chunk of them being focused on quantum physics, cosmology, philosophy, biology etc. Best way to spend a few hours each week.

    1 vote

  16. Comment on Why India doesn’t build skyscrapers in ~design

    mihaitodor
    Link Parent
    Of course, I wasn't trying to compare the countries, just saying that I'm living in a somewhat large city where skyscrapers aren't a thing and it's not due to a lack of money, I think.

    Of course, I wasn't trying to compare the countries, just saying that I'm living in a somewhat large city where skyscrapers aren't a thing and it's not due to a lack of money, I think.

    1 vote

  17. Comment on Why India doesn’t build skyscrapers in ~design

    mihaitodor
    Link
    Is it just me or this material sounds a bit one-sided? Living in Dublin, Ireland, I somehow feel that maybe building skyscrapers in each large city isn't a must. Maybe now even less so with all...

    Is it just me or this material sounds a bit one-sided? Living in Dublin, Ireland, I somehow feel that maybe building skyscrapers in each large city isn't a must. Maybe now even less so with all the remote work. Then again, I don't know much about this topic, so it's just a gut feeling.

    1 vote

  18. Comment on Warner Bros sets ‘Constantine’ sequel; Keanu Reeves and Francis Lawrence to reunite, Akiva Goldsman scripting and producing with Bad Robot’s JJ Abrams and Hannah Minghella in ~movies

    mihaitodor
    Link
    Looking forward to this! Besides the original movie, there were a few animations with Constantine that I really enjoyed. Constantine City of Demons was great and I liked Justice League Dark too.

    Looking forward to this! Besides the original movie, there were a few animations with Constantine that I really enjoyed. Constantine City of Demons was great and I liked Justice League Dark too.

    2 votes

  19. Comment on She Said | Official trailer in ~movies

    mihaitodor
    Link
    I recall watching Bombshell and feeling disgusted that society still tolerates such behaviour. This one is probably even more painful to watch, but I'll definitely check it out.

    I recall watching Bombshell and feeling disgusted that society still tolerates such behaviour. This one is probably even more painful to watch, but I'll definitely check it out.

    3 votes

  20. Comment on Anyone ever get an international job? in ~life

    mihaitodor
    Link
    Maybe try joining the r-bioinformatics Slack (send a PM to https://www.reddit.com/user/apfejes/) and ask in their #career_advice channel. Also worth checking out their #jobs channel.

    Maybe try joining the r-bioinformatics Slack (send a PM to https://www.reddit.com/user/apfejes/) and ask in their #career_advice channel. Also worth checking out their #jobs channel.

    2 votes