Australian Eastern Standard Time is UTC+1000. e.g. 10:00 UTC is 20:00 EST on the same day.
Example of UTC offset
Australian Eastern Standard Time is UTC+1000. e.g. 10:00 UTC is 20:00 EST on the same day.
Example of UTC offset
GMT: UTC used to be called Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) because the Prime Meridian was (arbitrarily) chosen to pass through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.
GMT - previous name of UTC
UTC: The time at zero degrees longitude (the Prime Meridian) is called Coordinated Universal Time (UTC is a compromise between the French and English initialisms)
UTC
we shield ourselves from existential threats, or consciously thinking about the idea that we are going to die, by shutting down predictions about the self,” researcher Avi Goldstein told The Guardian, “or categorizing the information as being about other people rather than ourselves.
Magically, our brain doesn't easily accept the fact that we will die some day. It was proved by the short experiment:
volunteers were watching images of faces with words like "funeral" or "burial", and whenever they've seen their own one, the brain didn't showcase any surprise signals
test of whether they know how to look for help.Are they able to read a manual?Can they formulate a search query?How do they assess whether the tutorial they found is suitable or reliable?What steps do they take to make sure they're finding - and learning - the right information?
Interesting approach to hiring: put someone in front of an unfamiliar program, make them complete a set of tasks and observe how they look for help.
Zugzwang (German for "compulsion to move", pronounced [ˈtsuːktsvaŋ]) is a situation found in chess and other games wherein one player is put at a disadvantage because they must make a move when they would prefer to pass and not move
Zugzwang - I need to remember this word!
Today, my process is enjoyably unsophisticated. When I want to post something, I first write it in a text file, copy my last blog post’s HTML file, paste in my new article, make some slight adjustments, update my list of posts, add it to my RSS file, and that’s basically it. Any page on my website can be anything I want it to be, like how, for example, double clicking on this article leads to a small easter egg.
Interesting approach on ignoring any type of site generators
walking, cycling and more green spaces not only cut air pollution but also improved mental health.
Quick tip: try to omit public transportation when possible, take a walk and influence others
“Although the studies included were from different parts of the world – eg China, the US, Germany – and varied in sample size, study design and measures of depression, the reported associations were very similar.”
The studies proved that the cultural background did not have a direct impact on the results
The studies analysed took account of many factors that might affect mental health, including home location, income, education, smoking, employment and obesity. But they were not able to separate the potential impact of noise, which often occurs alongside air pollution and is known to have psychological effects.
During the study behind the effect of air pollution, other factors were taken into the consideration as well
more than 90% of the global population lives with air pollution above WHO-recommended levels
Devastating news
People exposed to an increase of 10 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) in the level of PM2.5 for a year or more had a 10% higher risk of getting depression.
Level of air impact
The data analysed in the new research linked depression with air pollution particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres (equivalent to 0.0025 millimetres and known as PM2.5)
Beware of particles smaller than 2.5 micrometres
Other research indicates that air pollution causes a “huge” reduction in intelligence and is linked to dementia. A comprehensive global review earlier in 2019 concluded that air pollution may be damaging every organ and virtually every cell in the human body.
Air pollution impacts more than just our mental health
the finest particulates from dirty air can reach the brain via both the bloodstream and the nose, and that air pollution has been implicated in increased [brain] inflammation, damage to nerve cells and to changes in stress hormone production, which have been linked to poor mental health,” Braithwaite said
How air impacts our mental health
“You could prevent about 15% of depression, assuming there is a causal relationship. It would be a very large impact, because depression is a very common disease and is increasing.” More than 264 million people have depression, according to the WHO.
Increase of depression rate
Depression and suicide linked to air pollution in new global study Cutting toxic air might prevent millions of people getting depression, research suggests
Depression linked to air quality
Nothing truly novel, nothing that matters, is ever learned with ease
If you don't struggle you don't learn, right?
Leaders in every sector seem to agree: Learning is an imperative, not a cliché. Without it, careers derail and companies fail.
Don't stop learning
Unit Testing
End-to-End Testing
Integration Testing
There are three different methods of Automated Testing
The major selling point of Julia these days is in crafting differentiable algorithms (data-driven code that neural networks use in machine learning) in Flux (machine learning library for Julia)
Main selling point of Julia these days
I decided that the name of the game is to optimise quality of life. That means, infrequent brutal deadlines, minimal (pref. zero) commute, opportunity to learn, and spend time with family and friends and be of use to society at large.
Advice for happy life:
My mom is the best example of how to enjoy life in the present. She takes her work seriously, but doesn't take herself too seriously, and by putting fun first, every accomplishment and accolade is merely a bonus
70 yo's secret to a full and happy life
But we can take steps to control and lower our stress levels and, as a result, our arousal. Techniques like consciously controlling your breathing, and listening to chilled music have been known to help. More traditional advice, like reducing how much coffee you drink, eating a balanced diet and getting enough sleep each night should also be helpful
Reduce stress by:
In our third study, we had 169 participants jog on the spot for 60 seconds. We found that these participants were more likely to share embarrassing stories – or open up to others – after physical exercise. Usually, people might disclose personal information like this to people that are close to them, but it seems we are more likely to open up to strangers when aroused, particularly by physical exercise
After exercising we might be more prone to revealing a secret as well
Information that we’re usually careful about disclosing, like secrets and very personal information, are more likely to be disclosed when we default to more automatic responses; mainly because they require some degree of effort to conceal.
Therefore we tend to disclose secrets easier under stress
At some point, we replaced the order of displaying the superpower packs (SP) from ascending to descending
The revenue from the most expensive pack increased, but in the end the total revenue stayed as before the change
Users don’t appreciate it when you try to trick them out of their money, or when they think you are doing that. A better approach would be to give them the opportunity to get what they want for free (even with a lot of work involved), and give an alternative purchase option. In this case the purchase will be perceived as a small cheat to make life easier instead of a shady scheme to get users to pay
If you care about reviews
There were four packs respectively containing 25, 50, 150 and 500 superpowers. We increased the biggest power pack from 500 to infinity. Practically, nothing changed. 500 superpowers were more than enough for the entire game, and very few users had spent all of it. However, after the change was made, the revenue from this pack grew by 50%
Word "infinity" might work well for your sales
I observed a similar effect in my own business when I was producing and selling metal license plates (sold via partner brick-and-mortar stores and through our own online store). At the start, the prices we set were relatively low ($3-5). But in a few months, we raised the prices by 2-3 times, and the plates then cost $15-25. Contrary to our expectations, the conversion rate almost doubled, as well as the average order amount.
Example of placebo effect on selling license plates.
$15-25 price range sells more than $3-5. Maybe because the product is unique and people prefer to pay once but expect better conditions
With a vitamin C priced at $3, 100% of participants experienced relief. But the drug priced at $0.1 only worked in 50% of cases
Placebo effect experienced on people trying to reduce the pain. Higher value of a product = higher effectiveness
The word “free” makes any product more attractive to its potential customers. If you have a way to distribute your product for free, at least partially (a trial option, a limited version), then make sure to use it. This approach will greatly expand the top of your funnel. Once done, you will simply have to learn how to convert these new users into the paying ones
Try using the word "free" somewhere in your sales. For example, try adding "free delivery for minimum $20 shopping" and you will see increase in sales
I decided to compare how those who got it for free and those paid for it went through the levels in the game. There was a hypothesis that those who got it for “free” should stop using the game faster and sooner than those who paid for it. The hypothesis turned out to be wrong. The users of both the free and the paid version had identical behavior in the first 40 levels However, after level 40, the “free” players started quitting the game much faster. I interpreted this as those who received the game for free appreciated it less, so their motivation to go till the end or return to it after a couple of days was less
If you get something for free, you tend to appreciate it less, although it's of the same quality as the paid version
When we make decisions, our perception is influenced by a lot of factors such as presentation, packaging, brand, opinions of people around us, experts’ opinions, our own expectations, etc. Each of these factors can ultimately determine how much a person will like your product and how much she will be willing to pay for it
Summarising, pay more attention to the background behind the final product
In one case, the participants were given brochures describing the capabilities of a new audio system. The only difference between the brochures was that the first one was published on behalf of the system’s manufacturer and the second one on behalf of an independent research center. The participants who had seen the second brochure were willing to pay twice as much as the first group for the audio system
It's similar to Brain.fm, which includes all the scientific facts on their homepage
those who received coffee when the table was beautifully set appreciated the taste way more, and were also ready to pay more for it
You will achieve higher sales with better packaging
Joshua Bell, one of the best concert violinists in the world played for free, for 45 minutes, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars at a subway station. He managed to raise $32. Most people (98%) who passed by paid no attention to him, only 2% gave him some money, and less than 0.5% stopped to listen (those were the people who actually recognized him)
Influence of the environment plays an important role. If a homeless violinist had to play in an opera, he would have been more respected, although he would have been on the same level as he plays on the subway
If you want to change the rules of the game in a field that you are about to enter, try to portray your product as something new and different. Doing so will enable you to set the rules of the game from scratch and be the first one to establish the anchor. And when you install the anchor, do not lower the price; there will still be time for that (making a discount always sounds better than raising the price)
Tip for establishing new product: visualise your product as a new solution and do not start with a lowered price. Later you will attract customers with a discount
When the sales agents of a health insurance company that was selling its services via phone asked people (who agreed to proceed) why they chose their company, the proportion of those who eventually decided to purchase the insurance increased significantly. As they thought about the answer to this question, the respondents subconsciously convinced themselves that they had made the right choice, further strengthening their decision and eventually leading to their making the purchase
Marketing trick: ask why someone chose your service, so their mind will be more aware and convinced of the right choice; hence, buy your product again
People also tend to form new “rules” when they encounter something for the first time. Starbucks is very different from other coffee stores. Therefore, when interacting with them, people create new rules instead of resorting to existing patterns
Therefore Starbucks can be considered as something different than a regular coffee shop
we tend to base our decisions on things we’ve experienced before, to make decisions easier
We're basing decisions on previous experience rather than considering pros and cons.
Therefore, after buying one expensive coffee at Starbucks, the next time we will also do it, as we would remember how good it was, but not how expensive.
That is how we form good and bad habbits, which are so hard to get rid of
It is difficult to find a logical explanation for this, but apparently the prices that end with 9 trigger some kind of automatic mechanism
When presented with the price catalogues of:
The first option would exceed all the other numbers of orders
Offering to proceed with a $1 per day tariff and the one that costs $350 per year are mathematically equivalent, but trigger different reactions in customers. The first option can be compared to purchasing a water bottle in a grocery store, and the second option is more like purchasing a mobile phone
Better to present sale in the form of $1 per day than $350 per year
Mathematically equivalent statements are not necessarily equivalent psychologically
For example, presenting two sets
:
A: A drunken motorist runs over a woman.
B: A motorist runs over a woman.
People would choose A as the more likely, but in fact it's just a subset of B.
Same in this case
:
A: If you fly with this airline once a year, there's a possibility of one air crash in a 1000 years.
B: 1 in every 1000 flights ends in a disaster
It also applies in case of graphs
:
Do not lower prices. The price that you declare at the very beginning will become the reference point. You can also try to show your customers big numbers before starting to talk about the money
Advice for marketers
people are guided by the available prices to assess the rest of the offered goods
For example, court judges were asked to roll a die before passing sentence, and the length of their verdict correlated with the values they got on the dice rolled. Of course, the judges didn’t realize that the die roll had affected them
Salesmen in retail stores try to sell the most expensive things first, or at least offer them to customers. For instance, a person who came to buy a suit is first shown the suits. When the customer makes his choice, then the salesperson suggests appropriate accessories, such as a tie to go with the suit. Compared to the suit’s price, the tie looks very inexpensive and is an easy upsell
Propose the most expensive thing first.
Case 1: For example, when someone wants to buy a suit:
Case 2:
We rarely think in absolute terms, and we don’t have a universal measure to understand the value of a certain thing. Therefore, we tend to evaluate things by comparing them to others
The bait principle
It can be supported by an experiment.
1st version: Group of people was presented with 3 options:
2nd version: Group of people was presented with 2 options:
The lack of a ready-made pattern of behavior makes people rely on “simple” factors in decision-making (such as other people’s behavior, template principles, pre-designed baits, etc.), rather than the correct ones
Use this for your advantage in sales
The circles drawn in the center of the image above are identical. But depending on their environment, their perceived size changes
Use this property in marketing:
New study shows that our personal memories might not be personal at all. All it takes to change your memories is thinking about a different person, and considering how they would approach what happened to you. Perhaps our character isn’t as unique as we think, but more fluid, and changed by every person we meet. Our evaluation of ourselves changes even when we think of objects, not just other people
Plasticity of our mind
if your goal is to build a remarkable life, then busyness and exhaustion should be your enemy
Life protip
Hard work is deliberate practice. It’s not fun while you’re doing it, but you don’t have to do too much of it in any one day (the elite players spent, on average, 3.5 hours per day engaged in deliberate practice, broken into two sessions). It also provides you measurable progress in a skill, which generates a strong sense of contentment and motivation
Hard work:
The elite players were spending almost three times more hours than the average players on deliberate practice
1st difference between the elite and average students:
spending 3x more time on deliberate crafting of the skill
The average players, they discovered, spread their work throughout the day. A graph included in the paper, which shows the average time spent working versus the waking hours of the day, is essentially flat. The elite players, by contrast, consolidated their work into two well-defined periods
2nd difference between the elite and average students:
working in 2 well-defined blocks rather than multiple ones
the elite players slept an hour more per night than the average players
3rd difference between the elite and average students:
1 additional hour of sleep
the elite players were significantly more relaxed than the average players, and the best of the best were the most relaxed of all
4th difference between the elite and average students:
more relaxation
the more files you have and the bigger your project, the more resources VS Code will start to consume. The Search Indexing and File Watcher scripts start eating up your memory. Moreover, to work on such a project, you will open each file in a new tab, leading to multiple VS Code instances running simultaneously, and eventually, your CPU usage will start to look like this
VS Code consumes much more memory in comparison to Sublime while working on more significant projects
FKs don't work well with online schema migrations.
3rd reason why at GitHub they don't rely on Foreign Keys: Working with online schema migrations
.
FKs impose a lot of constraints on what's possible and what's not possible
FKs are a performance impact. The fact they require indexes is likely fine, since those indexes are needed anyhow. But the lookup made for each insert/delete is an overhead.
2nd reason why at GitHub they don't rely on Foreign Keys: FK performance impact
FKs are in your way to shard your database. Your app is accustomed to rely on FK to maintain integrity, instead of doing it on its own. It may even rely on FK to cascade deletes (shudder). When eventually you want to shard or extract data out, you need to change & test the app to an unknown extent.
1st reason why at GitHub they don't rely on Foreign Keys: Relying on FK to maintain integrity, instead of doing it on its own
To grow, trees photosynthesize and turn water and carbon dioxide (pulled from the air), into hydrocarbons. A living tree sucks carbon dioxide from the air and locks it into wood as it grows. Even when the tree dies (unless we burn it), the carbon is still locked up in the wood
Cycle of tree's life
For a wood fire, ash is primarily composed of metal carbonates and oxides (such as Calcium Carbonate, and Potassium Carbonate), from the compounds in the original wood
Ash - compounds that did not burn
As long as there is a source of fuel (and oxygen), the fire will burn
Oxygen keeps the fire alive
As the fire gets hotter, more complete combustion occurs, less smoke is produced, and the flames lose the yellow color, turning more blue
As the fire gets hotter:
yellow flames seen in a fire are the result of incomplete combustion
Yellow flames - incomplete combustion
smoke produced (early stages of fire) is unburned carbon
Smoke - unburned carbon
It is the volatile compounds that out-gas from the wood, and eagerly react with oxygen, that are burning, and generate the flames we see
Generation of flames - volatile compounds
eagerly reacting with oxygen
When the temperature of wood is increased (through application of heat), first the water is driven off. This occurs up to about 200°C. Between approximately 200°C–280°C the heat starts to break down the hemicellulose compounds into Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, Acetic Acid, (and more water vapour); these are driven out. Between 280°–500° decomposition of the longer cellulose and lignin begins and produces light tars and Methyl Alcohol
Burning process:
< 200°C
- water is driven off200°C-280°C
- heat breaks down the hemicellulose compounds into Carbon Monoxide, Carbon Dioxide, Acetic Acid, and more water vapour> 280°C
- hydrogen is still produced. Oxygen reacts directly with the Carbon left in the wood exothermically (process happening in the glowing embers)A couple of hundred intermediate products (organic acids, ketones, esters, aldehydes …) have been identified as being produced by the pyrolysis of wood
Output from wood pyrolysis
The pyrolysis of wood is an incredibly intricate and complex process that is not completely mapped out and the exact output depends of many variables
Pyrolysis is complex and relies on lots of variables (type of wood, temperature...)
The correct term to describe what is going on when we ‘burn’ wood is Pyrolysis
Pyrolysis (from Greek) - correct term for "burning" wood (thermal decomposition)
The chemical composition of wood varies from species to species, but is approximately 50% carbon, 42% Oxygen, 6% Hydrogen, 1% Nitrogen, and 1% other elements (mainly Calcium, Potassium, Sodium, Magnesium, Iron, and Manganese) by weight
Chemical composition of wood. Mainly:
Wood is the hard-fibrous material that comes from the trunk, stems, roots, and branches of a once living tree
What is wood
To boil everything down to a bullet list, the differences Firefox Developer Edition bring to the table include: A separate profile so your development environment can be configured differently to your regular browsing environment Access to cutting edge features not available elsewhere A 12 week lead time on support for the newest additions to web standards Default preferences tuned for developers Dark theme style out of the box
Differences between Firefox vs Firefox Developer Edition
“Why don’t you assume you’ve written your book already — and all you have to do now is find it?”
That is heartening...
Here’s Stephen Harrigan (talking about his book, Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas)
"I think that when it comes to writing books, you have to start before you think you're ready, because you will always feel like you are never ready. I find that as you write the book, the road ahead becomes clearer; before that, the road ahead is just a distraction." ~ Stephen Harrigan
In my experience writing books, it isn’t just a “resistance” thing or a “perfectionist” thing or a fear thing, it’s more about research and wondering if you’ve done enough of it. Research becomes your way of procrastinating, because, let’s face it, research is just more fun than writing. (Me, personally, I became a professional writer so I could be a professional reader.)
Research is a pure pleasure included in the process of book writing
There’s an awful temptation to just keep on researching. There comes a point where you just have to stop, and start writing. When I began, I thought that the way one should work was to do all the research and then write the book. In time I began to understand that it’s when you start writing that you really find out what you don’t know and need to know.
Why researching during writing is recommended
great place to start finding circuit schematic is the Discover Circuits site. They have a comprehensive list of fun circuits to experiment with
Discover Circuits - more circuits to build
Step 19: Your Third Circuit
Example of a 3rd circuit to build (check images in post for step by step guide)
Step 18: Your Second Circuit
Example of a 2nd circuit to build (check images in post for step by step guide)
Step 17: Your First Circuit
Example of a 1st circuit to build (check images in post for step by step guide)
designed to allow you to be able to insert an integrated circuit into the center
This way, you can quickly build a circuit (without soldering or twisting wires together)
To use wire in your circuit, simply cut a piece to size, strip a 1/4" of insulation from each end of the wire and use it to connect points together on the breadboard
Using wire
When things are wired in parallel, they are wired side by side, such that electricity passes through all of them at the same time, from one common point to another common point
Wired in parallel - electricity passing through each thing at the same time
When things are wired in series, things are wired one after another, such that electricity has to pass through one thing, then the next thing, then the next, and so on
Wired in series - electricity passing through each thing
circuit is a complete and closed path through which electric current can flow
Circuit:
electricity is typically defined as having a voltage and a current rating
Electricity - typically having voltage and current rating
but, also - resistance and watts
it is recommended that you use insulated 22awg (22 gauge) solid core wire
Wires are nice because they allow you to connect things without adding virtually no resistance to the circuit
Wires - to connect things together using breadboard
there typically runs two continuous bus lines. One is intended as a power bus and the other is intended as a ground bus
Two continuous bus lines
They are covered with a grid of holes, which are split into electrically continuous rows. In the central part there are two columns of rows that are side-by-side
Build of breadboards
Breadboards are special boards for prototyping electronics
Breadboards
Batteries are represented in a circuit by a series of alternating lines of different length
Marking of:
battery is a container which converts chemical energy into electricity
Battery - simply stores power
When put in:
This is dependent on the type of switch it is
Types of switches:
switch is basically a mechanical device that creates a break in a circuit. When you activate the switch, it opens or closes the circuit
Switch - open/close the circuit
it is ideal to light up multiple LEDs by wiring them in parallel
Prefer to light up LEDs in parallel over series
Like all diodes, LEDs create a voltage drop in the circuit, but typically do not add much resistance
To prevent short circuit created by LEDs, you need to add a resistor in series: calculate how much resistance is needed for a single LED (use slightly larger value than calculated)
special type of diode that lights up when electricity passes through it. Like all diodes, the LED is polarized and electricity is only intended to pass through in one direction
LED (light emitting diode):
For instance, if you have two 10K resistors in series between power (5V) and ground (0V), the point where these two resistors meet will be half the power supply (2.5V) because both of the resistors have identical values
[Power] --(5V)-- [10K Resistor] --(2.5V)-- [10K Resistor] --(0V)-- [Ground]
current is rated in Amps
Current = Amps
integrated circuit is an entire specialized circuit that has been miniaturized and fit onto one small chip with each leg of the chip connecting to a point within the circuit. These miniaturized circuits typically consist of components such as transistors, resistors, and diodes
Integrated circuit
PNP transistors allow electricity to pass from the emitter pin to the collector pin
PNP:
emmiter ---> collector
NPN transistors allow electricity to pass from the collector pin to the emitter pin
NPN transistors:
collector ---> emitter
transistor takes in a small electrical current at its base pin and amplifies it such that a much larger current can pass between its collector and emitter pins. The amount of current that passes between these two pins is proportional to the voltage being applied at the base pin
Transistor
the other side connects to power
Anode
The ring found on one end of the diode indicates the side of the diode which connects to ground
Cathode
Diodes are components which are polarized. They only allow electrical current to pass through them in one direction. This is useful in that it can be placed in a circuit to prevent electricity from flowing in the wrong direction
Diodes
Ceramic disc capacitors are non-polarized, meaning that electricity can pass through them no matter how they are inserted in the circuit
Ceramic disc capacitors = non-polarized
Typically marked with a number code to be decoded
Typically represented as two parallel lines
Electrolytic capacitors are typically polarized. This means that one leg needs to be connected to the ground side of the circuit and the other leg must be connected to power. If it is connected backwards, it won't work correctly
Electrolytic capacitors = typically polarised
Written on them:
Represented by side-by-side straight and curved line
capacitor is a component that stores electricity and then discharges it into the circuit when there is a drop in electricity
Capacitor
With alternating current, the direction electricity flows throughout the circuit is constantly reversing
Electricity flows in AC:
reversing (alternating direction) throughout the circuit
resistors add resistance to the circuit and reduces the flow of electrical current. It is represented in a circuit diagram as a pointy squiggle with a value next to it
Resistors:
electricity in a circuit must be used
IMPORTANT consideration!
With Direct Current, electricity flows in one direction between power and ground
Electricity flows in DC:
one direction
between power and ground
Potentiometers are measured in ohms like resistors, but rather than having color bands, they have their value rating written directly on them (i.e. "1M"). They are also marked with an "A" or a "B, " which indicated the type of response curve it has
Potentiometers are measured in ohms (like resistors).
Written on them:
"A" - logarithmic response curve (1, 10, 100...) {increases logarithmically}
"B" - linear response curve (10, 20, 30...) {increases evenly}
Potentiometers are variable resistors. In plain English, they have some sort of knob or slider that you turn or push to change resistance in a circuit. If you have ever used a volume knob on a stereo or a sliding light dimmer, then you have used a potentiometer
Potentiometer - changes resistance in a circuit
The round notch on one edge of the IC chip indicates the top of the chip. The pin to the top left of the chip is considered pin 1. From pin 1, you read sequentially down the side until you reach the bottom (i.e. pin 1, pin 2, pin 3..). Once at the bottom, you move across to the opposite side
Order of reading pins in the IC chip (1 to 8):
As a beginner, you will be mainly working with DIP chips. These have pins for through-hole mounting. As you get more advanced, you may consider SMT chips which are surface mount soldered to one side of a circuit board
Study from DIP chips to SMT chips
you can learn all about integrated circuits by looking up their datasheets. On the datasheet you will learn the functionality of each pin. It should also state the voltage and current ratings of both the chip itself and each individual pin
Find more information about integrated circuits in the datasheets
There are two basic types of transistors, which are NPN and PNP
2 basic types of transistors: NPN and PNP. They have opposite polarity between collector and emitter.
They are represented in schematic as a line with a triangle pointing at it
Representations of diodes:
it requires energy to pass through a diode and this results in a drop of voltage. This is typically a loss of about 0.7V
Drop of voltage (important when talking about LEDs - special form of diodes)
The most commonly encountered types of capacitors are ceramic disc capacitors that look like tiny M&Ms with two wires sticking out of them and electrolytic capacitors that look more like small cylindrical tubes with two wires coming out the bottom (or sometimes each end)
Typical look of capacitors
Capacitors are measured in Farads
Any resistor of over 1000 ohms is typically shorted using the letter K. For instance, 1,000 would be 1K
1000 ohms = 1K
1 000 000 ohms = 1M
Anyhow... a resistor with the markings brown, black, orange, gold will translate as follows: 1 (brown) 0 (black) x 1,000 = 10,000 with a tolerance of +/- 5%
Sample calculation of resistance
You read the values from left to right towards the (typically) gold band
You can tell the value of each color by looking at the color value chart, or by using graphical resistance calculator
two different ways in which you can wire things together called series and parallel
2 different ways to wire things
switch does not add any resistance to a circuit and simply adding a switch between power and ground will create a short circuit
Switch doesn't prevent short circuit
Always make sure that you never accidentally connect positive voltage to ground while wiring things in parallel
IMPORTANT!
electricity always follows the path of least resistance to ground
Having choice, positive voltage will pass through wire straight to ground, instead of motor to ground
It is very important to prevent short circuits by making sure that the positive voltage is never wired directly to ground
IMPORTANT!
Shorts are bad because they will result in your battery and/or circuit overheating, breaking, catching on fire, and/or exploding
Short circuits are bad
there needs to be something wired between positive and ground that adds resistance to the flow of electricity and uses it up. If positive voltage is connected directly to ground and does not first pass through something that adds resistance, like a motor, this will result in a short circuit
Resistance - prevents short circuit from happening
Voltage is obviously rated in Volts
Voltage = Volts
There are two types of electrical signals , those being alternating current (AC), and direct current (DC)
2 types of electrical signals:
The rate of reversal is measured in Hertz, which is the number of reversals per second
Hertz = number of reversals per second
The result of the uniform interface is that requests from different clients look the same, whether the client is a chrome browser, a linux server, a python script, an android app or anything else
Reason of the uniform interface - requests from different clients look the same
The client can request code from the server, and then the response from the server will contain some code, usually in the form of a script, when the response is in HTML format. The client then can execute that code
6) Code-on-demand (optional) - when the response is in HTML format, the response will come in form of a script, which can be executed
data the server sends contain information about whether or not the data is cacheable. If the data is cacheable, it might contain some sort of a version number. The version number is what makes caching possible: since the client knows which version of the data it already has (from a previous response), the client can avoid requesting the same data again and again
5) Cacheable - client can avoid requesting the same data again, thanks to remembering the version number of the cacheable data
In order for an API to be RESTful, it has to adhere to 6 constraints
6 constraints of RESTful API:
there might be a number of servers in the middle. These servers might provide a security layer, a caching layer, a load-balancing layer, or other functionality
4) Layered system - there's a number of server between the server and the response
Stateless means the server does not remember anything about the user who uses the API
3) Stateless - server doesn't store any history/information of user's requests
client and the server act independently, each on its own, and the interaction between them is only in the form of requests, initiated by the client only, and responses, which the server send to the client only as a reaction to a request
2) Client - server separation - client and server act independently, communicating through requests (client) and responses (server)
Uniform interface
1) Uniform interface has 4 parts:
What the server does when you, the client, call one of its APIs depends on 2 things that you need to provide to the server
2 things required by the server:
The representation of the state can be in a JSON format, and probably for most APIs this is indeed the case. It can also be in XML or HTML format
JSON, XML or HTML <--- most popular formats of state representations
It means when a RESTful API is called, the server will transfer to the client a representation of the state of the requested resource.
Reason REST is named as REST:
*REpresentational State Transfer*
RESTful web application exposes information about itself in the form of information about its resources. It also enables the client to take actions on those resources, such as create new resources (i.e. create a new user) or change existing resources (i.e. edit a post).
RESTful web application
A single on/off decision is best understandable using a toggle switch.
Single on/off option - use switch
A single yes/no option is more usable with a checkbox.
Single yes/no option - use checkbox
Independent items use toggle switches for selection.
Independent items - use switch
To select related items in a list, use checkboxes.
Related items (in a list) - use checkbox
Sometimes toggle switch does not clearly indicate whether it is a state or action.
Clear visual state - use checkbox
Indeterminate state is best shown using a checkbox
Indeterminate state - use checkbox
Selecting multiple options in a list provides better experience using checkboxes.
Multiple choices - use checkbox
Checkboxes are preferred when an explicit action is required to apply settings.
Settings confirmation - use checkbox
The options that require instant response are best selected using a toggle switch.
Instant response - use toggle switch
The children watched an educational video that included clips from Sesame Street and covered math topics such as counting and addition as well as reading topics for comparison
Base of mathematical experiment
boys and girls as old as 8 had similar abilities when it came to perceiving numbers and grasping elementary mathematics concepts
Girls and boys at age 8
study of 104 children from ages 3 to 10 found similar patterns of brain activity in boys and girls as they engaged in basic math tasks
Math looks the same in the brains of boys and girls
factors other than biological differences explain why girls are less likely to pursue degrees and jobs in math and science
males may be more likely to choose science because they are less likely than females to have strong reading, writing and language skills
women in these countries are under less pressure to choose a field that promises an economic payback and have more freedom to pursue what interests them most.
Yet paradoxically, females in wealthier countries with more gender equality, including the U.S., were less likely than females in other countries to get degrees in fields such as math and computer science.
The wealthier the country, the least women in STEM
Chords with low uncertainty and high surprise, and vice versa, evoked high pleasure
Unpredictable music seems to be more likeable
With every negative emotion you’re experiencing, ask yourself: “Why am I feeling this? Is there a past experience that’s triggering this?”In short – sit with your discomforts, don’t run from them
Dealing with negative emotions
Be careful of excess coffee consumption – it’s very destructive to the adrenal glands
The average American adult is sleeping 6 hours and 31 minutes per night
Average sleep duration
A tiny percentage of people have the DEC2 gene, a genetic mutation that produces a short sleeping phenotype“The probability that you are a DEC2 carrier is very low… You’re far more likely to be struck by lightning in your lifetime.” – Dr. Matthew WalkerPeople with the DEC2 gene only need ~6.25 hours of sleep per night
A very tiny percentage of the population having the DEC2 gene is okay with sleeping only 6 hours.
Here’s a final tally for our comparison
Comparison of code editors (basing on the ease of plugin development):
BFS looks at each adjacent node and doesn't consider the children of those adjacent nodes. DFS looks at each adjacent node, and looks at all the children of the current adjacent nodes. It again, looks at the children of the next adjacent node (adjacent to the children of the prevoius)
Difference between BFS (Breadth First Search) & DFS (Depth First Search)
Humans are worse at this because we all have different goals, whereas all ants work towards the survival of their colonies.
Ants are "immune" to traffic jams in their world
The big idea behind Brave is that instead of supporting websites by viewing their banner ads, you can pay them directly through your browser
How to make money with Brave Browser:
This means instead of making a bunch of small individual donations to the dozens of websites and YouTube channels you use each month, you can just load money into Brave. Brave will then passively distribute that money for you.
Tutorials and how-to guides are similar because they are both concerned with describing practical steps, while what how-to guides share with technical referenceis that they’re what we need when we are actually at work, coding. Reference guides and explanation are similar because they’re concerned with theoretical knowledge, and finally, what tutorials have in common with explanation is that they are most useful when we are studying, rather than actually working
Difference between tutorials, how-to guides, explanation and reference:
Summary: Napping
NapNumber = 5.6 - 0.8*CoreSleep
Nap number formula
NapDuration = (SleepRequired - SleepObtained) / 3
Nap duration formula (holds only for properly timed naps)
Six naps no sleep; 4 naps one-point-five hours sleep; 3 naps three hours sleep; 2 naps four-point-five hours sleep; one nap six hours sleep*.
PureDoxyk Law
"Everyman sleep schedule". Were it not for that gravitation and a tendency to take a "core sleep", I might even suspect that the inventor of the Uberman sleep cycle suffered from a rare mutation that causes circadian arrhythmicity. People with that disorder cannot sleep well in a long block over the night and take multiple naps during the day
Some people simply cannot sleep well in a long block over the night
Even though naps provide an excellent compensation for lost sleep in the night, they cannot provide a full functional replacement. To achieve your maximum cognitive capacity, you need to run your night sleep uninterrupted until completion!
Don't try to fully replace your night time sleep with naps!
Early naps will not provide full compensation. Late naps will last longer and will shorten sleep in the following night
Consequence of early and late naps
For a nap to express its full power, the following conditions must be met (in order of importance): it should take place at the center of the midday circadian nadir (see: Best nap timing). This corresponds with Mediterranean siesta it cannot be regulated with alarm clocks, caffeine, or other sleep "tricks". Coffee naps are a good idea for people in a hurry, not for those who care about brain productivity it should be the only nap of the day (i.e. it cannot be part of a polyphasic sleep schedule) it works best in free running sleep with no sleep deficit it works best in people with no physical or mental health issues it works best in habitual nappers who improved the quality of their naps from month to month by adjusting and perfecting little details in their surroundings. Beginners are often too anxious to fall asleep
How to correctly perform a power nap
each hour of lost night sleep requires 20 min. of replacement nap time
60 minutes of lost night sleep = 20 minutes of nap time
The art of napping has the power to double creative productivity. Churchill was a famous biphasic sleeper. His naps let him squeeze two productive days into 24 hours
Nap can let you be creative twice in 24 hours
Analysis of data collected in 1970 from 48.738 young Swedish men, compared to national suicide registers, shows that lower intelligence increases suicide risk. Low emotional control significantly contributes to suicide in young men, but becomes less of a factor with age. Low intelligence, however, remains a significant contributor to male suicide throughout life.
Intelligence as well as emotional control significantly contribute to male suicide
In general, use synchronous communication when the following is true
Pyramid of Remote Team Communication post.
It’s hard to build rapport and personal relationships with only written communication
Disadvantage of async communication
Slack boasts that users spend 9+ hours per workday connected to the app. 90 minutes of active usage spread over 9 hours is a whole lot of interruptions.
2015 study conducted by Yahoo Labs found that the most common email response time was just 2 minutes
Common e-mail response time = 2 minutes
synchronous communication is when you send a message and the recipient processes the information and responds immediately. In-person communication, like meetings, are examples of purely synchronous communication
synchronous communication
asynchronous communication is when you send a message without expecting an immediate response. For example, you send an email. I open and respond to the email several hours later
asynchronous communication
Study after study after study into remote work has made one thing clear: Remote workers are more productive than their office-bound counterparts.
The question is: why?
Answer is: it's not just because of the time saved by avoiding commuting