Programmer, engineer, scientist, critic, gamer, dreamer, and kid-at-heart.
Notes: Microblog-like status updates. You can subscribe to an RSS feed of this list.
Someone on quora asked:
Life is just about as interesting as you choose to make it. If you feel a lack of challenge in your life, you might want to try upping the difficulty level a bit. Or explore life to find new things and challenges and expand your horizons.
Ask for more responsibilities at work.
Look for new interesting hobbies.
Hang out at places you don’t usually hang out.
Meet new people. Preferably smarter people. People who can challenge you.
Live life to the fullest!
Someone on quora asked:
Is there a better way to get better at handling rejection than keep being rejected?
In general, the best answer to “how can I get better at X” is to keep practicing X until you get better.
That being said, there are some ways to make it easier to deal with rejection. Most of it has to do with improving your state of mind.
What does that mean? It doesn’t mean conditioning yourself to expect rejection (that would be a self-fulfilling prophecy right there!) but rather to detach your ego from the attempts you make.
The reason rejection can be so difficult to handle is that it’s a huge ego hit, it makes you feel bad about yourself, as if there’s something wrong with you that’s why you got rejected. And that’s nonsense.
People get rejected all the time. Good people, bad people. Handsome people, ugly people. Rich people, poor people. A rejection isn’t a reflection of something wrong with you as a person, it’s a reflection of something wrong with the relationship you were trying to form. And that’s the nature of the world - not all persons are meant to have relationships together! This can apply to romantic relationships, business relationships, friendships, etc. Once you accept this truth, it becomes a lot easier to handle rejection.
Someone on quora asked:
I’m a good salesman but how can I become the best in my field (real estate)?
Well, what is the criteria to be considered the best in your field? For a real estate salesman I would guess it’s to generate the most amount of sales among the salesmen in your area right?
First, maybe you can figure out who is the salesman currently considered as the best in your field. Figure out how much he’s making. Figure out how many sales he makes, how much margins they usually have. Then ask him for tips! If he doesn’t want to talk to you, that’s fine, no loss there! You can also try talking to his clients, ask them what made them willing to buy real estate from that guy.
Copying other people can only get you so far though. The real way to get ahead of the pack is to hustle. Get busy. Work hard. Practice on your pitch.
The only way to be the best salesman is to sell more than other people. That means making more pitches than everyone else and improving on your pitches so that you can convert more of them into sales than everyone else!
Aiming to be the best in any given field is a huge goal to work towards, but it can be worth it!
@mtgaaron maybe you should have at least flipped them over left to right :p
Someone on quora asked:
When a person is said to take something personally, it means that person considers something to be directly affecting his ego and reflecting upon him as a person. For example, if you try to refute a person’s arguments and he takes it personally, it means he gets offended by your counter-argument as if you were attacking him as a person instead of just his arguments. Or taking one’s work personally means if there’s a problem with your work you think there’s a problem with you as person.
Not taking things personally means being able to detach ourselves from the things we interact with.
Someone on quora asked:
How does one come to be a person where “there is nothing he/she CAN’T do”?
First, there is no such thing as a person who can do everything, no matter how much it looks like that. That being said, it’s a reasonably good goal to try to be that kind of person
And like many things, it’s largely confidence. It’s largely believing that you are capable of anything you put your mind to (within limits of course - if you are physically disabled it might be unreasonable to try to become an olympic gold medal winner in the 100 meter dash or somesuch). And even if you don’t believe that you can do it - fake it til you make it. You are who you believe yourself to be
Someone on quora asked:
Can understanding about life improve the ability to enjoy it better?
I think so. I think that some level of introspection or self-awareness is important in making the most of your life, identifying the things that are not good for you, identifying the things you want, etc. The more you understand your own life, the easier will it be for you to focus it towards directions that lead to growth and happiness
For some reason, my prerelease kit had one divider while my friend’s had two
Saturday survey: at what age did you learn to ride a bike?
I commend you for your persistence but this guy is either too far gone or is being angry on purpose. You won’t get any good discussion from him.
Someone on quora asked:
No, that’s fine. Don’t do things you don’t want to do. Of course, there may be social consequences, but I assume you’ve weighed those already :p. As long as your boss is a well-adjusted person it should be fine though. People getting married are much more preoccupied with the their own problems than with guests who can’t attend. Just don’t say you’ll go then not go
Someone on quora asked:
It is a form of self-awareness, which can come only with contemplating yourself and your actions. Look at how you live your life. Which things do you prioritize, which principles do you adhere to? What actions do you respond to well? What actions do you respond to poorly? e.g. If you respond poorly to people lying, maybe you strongly value honesty and integrity. If you respond well to people who make intelligent discussion points maybe you value cerebral thinking
Someone on quora asked:
It’s difficult. Generally whatever you do will always be colored to some extent by your personal biases. The key is to be aware of your personal views and biases and compensate against them in order to be more balanced. Do more research on views opposing your own to counteract your own biases
Anonimized to protect the guilty lol
Ernie: “We should vote for candidate A, his platform promises X, Y and Z!”
Bert: “Have you listened to the speech by candidate B?”
Ernie: “That’s just empty promises!”
Ernie: “Candidate A said [something stupid]”
Bert: “Ungas talaga yang si candidate A, ang kapal ng mukha! Bakit ba may boboto jan!”
Ernie: “Candidate B said [some other stupid thing]”
Bert: “Wala namang perpektong kandidato”
Ernie: “People say candidate A is involved in [something illegal]”
Bert: “Grabe talaga si candidate A! Dapat ikulong na yan!”
Ernie: “People also say candidate B is involved in [something else also illegal]”
Bert: “Wala naman silang ebidensya, bakit nde sya kasuhan sa korte!”
Ernie: “May nagkakalat na maling kwento tungkol kay candidate B mula sa supporter ni candidate A!”
Bert: “Kagagawan yan malamang ni candidate A!”
Ernie: “May nagkakalat na maling kwento tungkol kay candidate A mula sa supporter ni candidate B!”
Bert: “Aba, hindi siguro tunay na candidate B supporter yan, malamang binayaran lang ni candidate A para magmukha kaming masama!”
Ernie: “Inendorse daw ni Celebrity X si candidate B!”
Bert: “Idol ko talaga yang si Celebrity X! May integridad!”
Ernie: “Inendorse daw ni Celebrity Y si candidate A!”
Bert: “Grabe, idol ko pa naman yang si celebrity Y, mukhang nabayaran!”
Comment if you have your own examples :p
Edit: Most of these are from FB btw. I’ve found that this sub is slightly more rational compared to FB threads when it comes to politics discussion (although meron pa din trolls)
Guys, nakadecide na ko. Let’s vote for Duterte-Marcos #Du30 If you disagree, you must be a drug pusher!
Edit: Also, let’s vote for the following senators: Sotto, Gatchalian, Moreno, Pacquiao, Palparan, Romualdez, Gadon
Edit ulit (gabi na): In case it wasn’t clear, joke lang po! Happy April Fools Day :p (Medyo kinilabutan nga ako nung pinost ko ito)
I’d do more of these trials if I could wait for fight requests while doing them
Does finishing them unlock something? Fight Money, or characters gain EXP or Titles?
Gaah that’s why I couldn’t do it!
The competency of the politician should matter. And if we lived in a complete meritocracy, the anti-dynasty provision of the constitution makes no sense
It’s the day of the year when I’m most terrified. http://www.twogag.com/archives/3445
April Fools Day is the one day of the year that people critically evaluate news articles before accepting them as true.
At least I’m getting better at SFV somehow. Two weeks ago I was struggling to stay in Bronze. Now I’m struggling to stay in Super Bronze lol
Unfortunately, the trolls who believe these memes won’t bother watching this video and will continue to propagate them.
Someone on quora asked:
People don’t always react well to people they perceive as different from them. It is born of a primal fear of things that are unknown, i.e. in the olden caveman days you had to be wary of every unknown thing since it might be a dangerous predator. This fear can be hard to overcome unless the person willingly recognizes it and acts to change it. Your acquaintance may not realize it, but he is probably scared that you will do something unusual or awkward and he won’t know what to do or how to respond.
I would suggest just telling him that you’re just like every other person: you have some unusual quirks that takes some getting used to. Everyone is like that! But if he doesn’t want to hang out with you, you have to respect that and just look for better friends who can be more understanding.
Someone on quora asked:
Well, probably the best way is to ask them what features of your product they would like to be different or what additional features would suit them
Someone on quora asked:
Fear is often overcome by facing the fear repeatedly until you are so used to what you are afraid of that the fear goes away. Fear is a primal instinct meant to keep us alive, but many times that instinct is not justified. You need to learn to understand when fear is keeping you safe and when fear is holding you back.
For your specific fear, I’m not clear exactly what you mean by unsafe. If your fear is keeping you from entering unsafe conditions, i.e. maybe your fear is stopping you from moving in to a bad neighborhood known for a high crime rate, that fear might be justified and it’s ok. But if your fear is unjustified, it can be unhealthy. i.e. if you fear flying because you think it’s unsafe (despite the fact that thousands of planes take off and land each day without incident), that’s irrational
@GailSimone is it that episode where he uses a bow?
Reminder: Tomorrow is April Fool’s Day. Be wary of the internet
A bunch of TV shows just got added to #NetflixPH, including Doctor Who and Sherlock
Someone on quora asked:
Stop thinking of yourself as a loser and just move on. Try to avoid thinking about this girl and don’t hang out with her unless absolutely necessary. Moving on from someone isn’t easy, you need to be dedicated to it.
Someone on quora asked:
How do I stop getting irritated on receiving large numbers of code review comments?
Remember: You are not your code. You are not the hundred or so lines of C or Java or Javascript or whatever that you wrote today.
This problem arises because you are too attached to your code. Your ego is associated with the code you write and you feel that any comments or defects found reflect upon you as a person.
You are not perfect. You will not write perfect software, and that’s fine. It’s not a flaw, it’s just the way software is. It isn’t written all in one go, magically perfect and elegant and satisfying all the requirements. Good software goes through multiple iterations and many eyes looking at it.
It is also important to treat it as a learning experience - learn what you can from each code review comment and try to apply what you learn to future code you write. This also helps you minimize review comments in the future. Instead of treating the large number of comments as a shortcoming on your part, treat it as a metric you can improve upon.
You probably meant Heroin instead of Heroine. Unless Mar knows where Darna and Wonder Woman are
Quick reminder: April Fool’s Day has been moved to 2nd April because of the leap year.
Someone on quora asked:
Fear is an instinct, to keep one away from danger.
Sometimes the fear is valid. Such fear can keep you alive, especially in crisis situations. Examples are fear of falling or fear of injury.
Many other times, fear is simply a vestige of our prehistoric brains not yet adapted to modern times. An example is fear of humiliation, maybe manifesting as a fear of public speaking. Our prehistoric lizard brains are afraid that we might say something stupid and be humiliated and lose standing among the tribe, leading to us being ostracized. In prehistoric times, being ostracized can mean death, since humans had to band together to survive. But in modern times, such fear is unnecessary and unhealthy since people are more free to disagree with one another.
The key is to recognize fear for what it is and to understand whether the fear you are feeling is justified and needs to be acted upon, or simply part of a prehistoric instinct that is meaningless in the modern life.
Someone on quora asked:
Everyone, no matter how talented, will question themselves at some point. It’s natural, but don’t let it dictate your life.
Is writing important to you? If yes, then ignore the instinct to question yourself and just write. Write, write, write. Write until it becomes second nature, like breathing. Write until these thoughts fade to the wayside. Write until you can’t write anymore, then write some more.
Someone on quora asked:
It’s never too late to be who you were meant to be.
I would suggest studying an easy-to-learn programming language and getting into the basics of algorithms and data structures. Personally, I’d recommend Python, but it doesn’t really matter what programming language you choose, your initial learning stage should only be to get you familiar with programming concepts and constructs.
When looking for a job, look for the ones geared towards fresh graduates that may be offering training for new hires. This puts you on a more even field with people who have been programming for longer.
Someone on quora asked:
Earlier I was walking along Mindanao avenue and there was a guy hanging campaign materials for a councilor candidate on a wire running between two trees on the side of the road. Parang di naman private property and definitely not common poster area. Should I have accosted him?
Are you saying there is no value in not littering?
I like how “Revolution” has come to mean “Special Unicorn That Will Bring Everybody Love & Happiness” rather than “A Fucking Bloodbath.”
Someone on quora asked:
Why everyone does not improve with time? Why everyone does not learn from their mistakes?
It’s either they can’t afford it, or they don’t see the value and don’t want to bother.
They can’t afford it: Not everyone has the patience or the time or the capacity to focus on self-improvement. It is often a luxury that may be difficult to afford. This category includes people with stressful, time-consuming jobs and people who may be so poor they literally spend all their time struggling to survive. Or they may be in circumstances that make it much more difficult to improve their lot
They don’t see the value: These are people who have settled in to their environments and don’t see the point of trying to better oneself; or people who are too lazy to try to improve themselves. In this category you can put people growing up in poor neighborhoods where there will often be peer pressure to be one of the gang and trying to better yourself is frowned upon.
Sadly, parents can pass on this attitude to this children
Someone on quora asked:
The only real way to find your purpose in life to try a lot of different things and see what sticks. Find out what makes you happy and pursue those things.
That being said, I’ve found that many young people will not be able to find the right path for them immediately. And that’s fine. Life is to be lived, and your purpose can come early or it can come late. The important thing is to live a fulfilling life, to make sure you are exposing yourself to as many different things as possible to make the most of life
Someone on quora asked:
You might want to consider specializing in something that’s in high demand. Consulting in specialized fields can be highly rewarding
is there a high-quality mouse I can buy that won’t eventually degrade into a double-click-fest?
Fallout 4 still too expensive. The sale price is actually still more expensive than the price for a PS4 copy hereabouts
@iamsuperbianca @iamsuperbianca they don’t. Each one has to be treated seriously and that’s why pranksters should be punished
Someone on quora asked:
It’s really up to you to decide if where you are is something you’re satisfied with. In life, you often come to a crossroads where you have to decide whether you are willing to settle with what you have and are comfortable with, or to go out to seek something better. The choice is not always clear-cut, and the right answer always depends on the person and what he wants out of life
It is a tenuous balance between ambition and happiness. If you are too ambitious and always keep moving on looking for the next best thing, you run the risk of never being happy. If you find yourself happy where you are, you run the risk of settling for something less than what you could have had. You have to look inside yourself and figure out where that balance lies.
Think about what happens if you stay: what’s the best-case scenario? Will the job eventually become more challenging? More engaging? What’s the worst-case scenario? Will it become even more boring later on?
Think about what happens if you leave: are you likely to be able to find new work? (Actually there’s minimal risk since you don’t have to resign before looking for new work). Will you likely do well at any other job? Will you find happiness elsewhere?
For my case, I worked in a software job for more than a decade. It paid really well and I was well-respected by my peers and it was quite cushy for me. But eventually I decided to leave and take a break from working for a while to figure out where to go next. I had enough savings to live comfortably for a new months. Absolutely no regrets, enjoying all the free time I have now :)
Someone on quora asked:
Fear can keep you alive, that in itself makes it a good quality. But you have to be able not to let fear control you, to recognize when the fear you’re having is irrational.