John BS @johnabs@qoto.org

Economics+dynamic programming is really hard 😭

I made this out of Kingwood and got a really nice grain match across the cap and the body!

@freemo I know you like fountain pens (or at least calligraphy), what do you think?

#fountainpens #woodworking

While R isn't my favorite language of the ones I regularly use, I know you #rstats people adore it, so here's a fun package you should try out:

https://github.com/dirkschumacher/transduceR

If you like functional style, but want efficiency too, try out transducers, they're an amazing little tool that I'm still picking up, but they give you pipelines that don't create intermediate arrays (and composable reductions, lazy evaluation in this case, etc). Thus, they still provide clean, familiar functional syntax but with a pretty sizable performance boost!

Here's a conceptual primer on them from Clojure as well:

https://clojure.org/reference/transducers

I hope this proves useful to some of you! 😁

Well, it's good to know that fantasies can become a reality, that is, if your fantasy is to wonder what it's like to have a cartoon villain run your healthcare system 😂 ....😭

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2sDx0Y_I-k

I am henceforth proposing the word "ambiative" (plural "ambiatives") to refer to either a positive or negative attribute of a given system, or a set of positive and negative attributes in the plural case.

There are no words I have been able to find that succinctly encapsulate the idea of "pros and cons" or "positives and negatives" in a single word, so I'm making one up. "Tradeoffs" comes close, but I don't think it's precise, and carries some undesirable baggage.

Even the roots make sense: -ative means "related to or connected with" and ambi- meaning "both". Similar to the definition of ambivalent: having both positive and negative feelings, but in this case it is the set of both positive and negative attributes.

Intended usage: "I'm weighing the ambiatives of the situation." Or similar, just replace pros and cons/positive and negative/etc.

Got started on my self improvement plan 1.25 months early this time. And it doesn't rely on extreme willpower, massive routine shifts, or anything crazy. Just an under-desk elliptical, an exercise bike in front of my TV, and a weight bench in my office.

It's not nice when you feel like the quintessential depiction of a "before" photo (even though I'm apparently not *that* bad looking). I've just taken my first progress shots: time to get that "after" physique. And then...I can buy my new sexy clothes.

I've already got my savings account buckets tracking money for my new shoes, my new tweed suits, chinos, and some other nice pieces for my wardrobe. I am so hype, and I wanna be walking into fall semester looking ✨*c l a s s y*✨

(One downside is that I basically have to buy everything new. Thrift stores don't typically carry clothes for people my height, and they definitely don't have my shoe size. One more reason to look forward to checking out the Netherlands: all the tall-people thrift stores and maybe some size 47 shoes 😁)

Oh goodness, I'm stuck in a difficult situation with a manuscript. I'm trying to write (and be engaging) for a journal audience who likely aren't particularly big on our topic, whereas my colleague prefers a much drier and more passive style. I'm concerned that without a good hook, our work will go mostly unnoticed, even in this relatively high-profile journal.

Of course, this is primarily for the introduction, we get on to the "boring" stuff in the preliminaries and model formulations as needed. But at the very least, I'm hoping to implicitly signal to readers "yeah, this isn't your usual programming, but stick around, grab some eggnog and enjoy a well written, engaging piece of academic literature".

I'm basing my assessment on Helen Sword's "Stylish Academic Writing" book, which is an excellent guide, even for the hard sciences (she did a huge survey across fields before writing the book). Unfortunately, convincing others to deviate even slightly from the poorly written style they're accustomed to reading is....difficult, to say the least.

Anyone willing to offer some advice?

"Life is a masquerade: many masks are opaque, some are translucent, yet only mine is glass.

Transparency itself does not vex me, yet many seem loathe to gaze upon what 'should remain unseen'.

Humbug! 'Tis better to doff garb, when its purpose does not befit its form, than suffer the psychic chafing it inflicts.

My marred form bare to behold, so unlike the impeccable, pallid porcelain worn passim. Shall I curse those who demand perfection yet only accessorize with it? Or do I accept freedom as blessing enough? Never have I been truly adorned; at least now, comfort is a welcome consolation."

Written by me, based on a quote from Kafka.

My dog worryingly looking at my wife for no reason. I think we're "doin her a heckin concern"... or she has gas from all the eggs 😂