sigma's recent activity
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Comment on Political discussion here seems to be really bad. Is it even possible for it to be good? in ~talk
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Comment on Political discussion here seems to be really bad. Is it even possible for it to be good? in ~talk
sigma LinkHonestly, just stop getting political analysis and politics hot takes from people you don't know. As with any complicated subject, you have to trust that the other person is both arguing in good...Honestly, just stop getting political analysis and politics hot takes from people you don't know. As with any complicated subject, you have to trust that the other person is both arguing in good faith and that they know what they are talking about, or are at least willing to provide proof to back up their claims or have some expertise in the field.
The vast majority of the time on any social media platform, most of the people talking about complex topics are some edgy high school/college kid who read a few articles with hot takes and just pushes it out there for others to read. Other people take them seriously because they have no idea who is behind the message and assume expertise, and it gets pushed out more. Thats why Coronavirus discussion is such a shit show; most people have zero training in statistics and know nothing about how medicine works practically.
Social media platforms are great for finding niche subjects when there is no general public interest driving people to that subject, but once something like Coronavirus or politics becomes pop culture, all nuanced discussion gets blown away. That or just treat everyone you meet like a high schooler and demand proof and evidence for basic claims, and demand an analysis for how they reach it like any professional in any field.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~comp
sigma Link ParentI dont think its specific to computer science. The internet in general has some very extreme takes that are often presented as normal for people in the know in any hobby. Just stop taking...I dont think its specific to computer science. The internet in general has some very extreme takes that are often presented as normal for people in the know in any hobby. Just stop taking everything too seriously and arguing about things that ultimately dont matter to your personal life and move on to other things.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
sigma Link ParentNot to get too nostalgia heavy, but the older RPGs have a depth of play that newer games sometimes lack. D2 was a really really good game even if you had a shit build, and its still tons of fun...Not to get too nostalgia heavy, but the older RPGs have a depth of play that newer games sometimes lack. D2 was a really really good game even if you had a shit build, and its still tons of fun with friends.
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Comment on JPMorgan's Athena has 35 million lines of Python code, and won't be updated to Python 3 in time in ~comp
sigma Link ParentBecause they have to interact with different vendors' API's. DropBox's product is all their own stuff; they dont have to go to another company outside their own to get stuff, process it, put it in...Because they have to interact with different vendors' API's. DropBox's product is all their own stuff; they dont have to go to another company outside their own to get stuff, process it, put it in a database, etc etc.
For a trading platform, if I need to do basic things like deposit/withdraw money on my account, which requires I write an entire backend interfacing with the banking system. I need to also write in regulatory checks because the SEC actually has a backbone and will smack JPM with a bill if they don't, and those checks arent trivial checks either.
Multiply this by 100, as I need to interact with the exchanges (multiple), each with their own API, their own way of consuming and emitting data. I need to clean data from every single one, and I need to transform data into their preferred way of consuming it. I need to do regulatory checks, legal checks, etc etc etc etc.
By the by, most of the companies doing this aren't as tech savvy as JPM, let alone some of the high class algo traders, so their data formatting is non-trivially garbage in ways that make Google/Facebook/Dropbox/Twitter APIs look amazing. FIX processing alone is a nightmare, and you have to build an entire engine just for that. Add on to that some soft real time constraints and interfacing with components that have soft real time refresh rates like Bloomberg Terminal and bam, 35 million lines of code. And because these standards change all the time, you need to rewrite stuff all the time.
I am confident, although not sure, that JP Morgan preferentially routes their orders to their in house OTC desk. Because the trading desk existed before this trading platform, they have to write code to transform data into ways that conform with the existing JP Morgan framework on that desk, and sometimes from desk to desk depending on the security.
Dropbox has it easier in this regard because they just do their own thing. I presume most of the data they use are data they produce, so they can set engineering standards internally to avoid massive databases and data transformations and ingestion engines and output engines. Dropbox doesnt really work in realtime in any sense, and isnt latency sensitive in ways that would produce extremely obtuse code for the sake of optimization. Im sure Dropbox interfaces with Google/Facebook/Twitter/Apple APIs, but honestly at least they are somewhat sanely engineered.
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Comment on What are some earworms whose catchiness hasn't worn off for you over time? in ~music
sigma LinkIm going to be the normie pop guy here and say Carly Rae Jepsen. Call Me Maybe still smacks. Emotion still smacks. Emotion Side B still smacks.Im going to be the normie pop guy here and say Carly Rae Jepsen.
Call Me Maybe still smacks. Emotion still smacks. Emotion Side B still smacks.
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Comment on What are some of the "tricks of your trade"? in ~talk
sigma Link ParentAgner Fog's site. Everyone who does anything very high performance comes across it eventually. What every programmer should know about memory is also great, but out datedAgner Fog's site. Everyone who does anything very high performance comes across it eventually. What every programmer should know about memory is also great, but out dated
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Comment on What are some of the "tricks of your trade"? in ~talk
sigma Link ParentIf you need to do a convex optimization problem and need a proof of feasibility or just an idea of how your data works, Excel's built in conic solver is the single best engineered feature in all...If you need to do a convex optimization problem and need a proof of feasibility or just an idea of how your data works, Excel's built in conic solver is the single best engineered feature in all of Excel and it alone is worth the retail license for Excel
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Comment on What are some of the "tricks of your trade"? in ~talk
sigma LinkEvery trick of the trade you need in C++/Assembly for speed is covered by some random dude in Denmark for free, whose documentation on CPU architecture is allegedly better and more accurate than...Every trick of the trade you need in C++/Assembly for speed is covered by some random dude in Denmark for free, whose documentation on CPU architecture is allegedly better and more accurate than the internal docs at Intel
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Comment on JPMorgan's Athena has 35 million lines of Python code, and won't be updated to Python 3 in time in ~comp
sigma Link ParentThey were apparently counting modules and everything, which I am sure was loaded into the system and frozen to make sure random updates didn't break a live trading platform. Other than the main...They were apparently counting modules and everything, which I am sure was loaded into the system and frozen to make sure random updates didn't break a live trading platform.
Other than the main trading engine, regulatory checks, risk checks, feasibility checks, interacting with bank APIs, interacting with exchange APIs, database maintenance, etc etc. Dropbox is a complex platform for sure, but it doesn't operate with a bajillion different APIs and doesnt have regulations that it has to comply with and risk checks to carry out.
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Comment on password, the typing game, has been updated in ~creative
sigma LinkMy only small beef so far is that I have a hard time telling the difference between 0 and o, although that could be a problem specific to me.My only small beef so far is that I have a hard time telling the difference between 0 and o, although that could be a problem specific to me.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
sigma LinkDiablo II and AoEII with friends is how I pass quarantine. DII consumes copious amounts of time and is quite fun. AoEII is less time consuming for my friends with busy schedules and what not....Diablo II and AoEII with friends is how I pass quarantine. DII consumes copious amounts of time and is quite fun. AoEII is less time consuming for my friends with busy schedules and what not.
During normal times we usually get together and play a massive game of Factorio, but we recently stopped when our map became so big and so much stuff was happening that it started to crash some of our computers regularly.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~comp
sigma Link ParentIR basically. LLVM's magic sauce is that it splits the processing into two parts. Its second magic sauce is that somehow its native C/C++ compiler every bit as good as GNU's compiler for most...IR basically. LLVM's magic sauce is that it splits the processing into two parts. Its second magic sauce is that somehow its native C/C++ compiler every bit as good as GNU's compiler for most programmers, and offers valuable optimizations and tricks that GNU doesn't for very very performance sensitive programmers, which despite sounding not that hard is enormously so especially given GNU's strict licensing rules.
I think the resurgence of language design comes down mostly to a new generation of programmers being used to code reading more naturally to humans, allowing everyone to be programmers, as opposed to code doing exactly what you expect it to do at the cost of an extremely complicated set of rules and procedures you have to follow in order to get performance (C, C++). Its really been Python leading this front, with some languages finding minor niches. C/C++ is far from a general coding language for the vast majority of programmers unless you work in HPC, low latency, writing compilers, systems programming or do competitive programming.
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Comment on What old tech are you holding onto and why? in ~tech
sigma Link ParentI use paper, primarily because I do a ton of math in real life for work, but I am also a heathen who codes on paper before typing it into a computer. I find it helps me organize my thoughts and...I use paper, primarily because I do a ton of math in real life for work, but I am also a heathen who codes on paper before typing it into a computer. I find it helps me organize my thoughts and think more critically because it takes so much more effort to write a line of code on a piece of paper than to blindly type on a keyboard.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
sigma Link ParentThats debatable with Google at least. Its still possible to game Google's SEO rankings, but its algorithm has been switching more and more towards Google Brain black-boxy kind of stuff and less of...Thats debatable with Google at least. Its still possible to game Google's SEO rankings, but its algorithm has been switching more and more towards Google Brain black-boxy kind of stuff and less of the deterministic statistical variety that PageRank and its ilk were. Im sure there will always be some statistical PageRank stuff in there, and thus it will be possible to game a little, but it'll get harder and harder as time goes on.
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Comment on JPMorgan's Athena has 35 million lines of Python code, and won't be updated to Python 3 in time in ~comp
sigma Link ParentIm honestly more surprised they wrote a trading platform primarily in Python as opposed to C++ or C or Java like any of the major algo trading firms would have.Im honestly more surprised they wrote a trading platform primarily in Python as opposed to C++ or C or Java like any of the major algo trading firms would have.
Thats a naive assumption. Tildes is a small community, but its not a utopia, and arguing in bad faith doesnt mean you are an asshole per se. Even if you go on the Coronavirus tildes, there is plenty of misinformation and random articles/statements cited as fact when it is very questionable. You should always ask for sources or analysis breakdown if you are discussing something that requires it and isn't easily google-able.
Tildes and other social media platforms arent exactly conducive to long format conversations anyway; a long conversation on Tildes would be a 10 comment chain, and there is only so much you can say. You can also be tactful about it, like "I'll accept this for now, but Ill PM/email you later for a source/cite", like you would in real life when you are speaking to a professional.