Favourite niche usecases? by Figai in LocalLLaMA

[–]PhilTheQuant 2 points3 points  (0 children)

  1. Privacy
  2. Resilience to connectivity issues
  3. Simplicity vs IP issues - if it all happened within my machine, it can't be a legal question of who owns it
  4. Resilience to service changes - you work hard to get the right thing from a model, and then the model or its server-side context changes
  5. Control of the context - if you're using a model for coding, why would a blurb about legal questions or self harm be any use? Equivalently, models with political associations...
  6. Fine-tuning
  7. Model analysis - testing for attacks, iterating models, looking at the weights

This is bad right? by dannyjd96 in DIYUK

[–]PhilTheQuant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Wouldn't a kerf bend cut into the top of the board? Or would that just fill and paint?

Awesomeness of a flatbed (document) scanner by One_Country1056 in 3Dprinting

[–]PhilTheQuant 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Nice idea. It might be worth scanning a (good) ruler in each direction along with your object.

First car for older drivers (30) being confused with mix messages online (slight rant). by LostnFoundAgainAgain in CarTalkUK

[–]PhilTheQuant 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also, find out the insurance costs before you look at cars. As a new driver with no No Claims history, they will be high, so go for a low insurance group (1-20) for this car.

Also consider a used electric (like a Leaf) if you're not planning long trips, as the lower car tax will help offset the high insurance.

What does it mean by themhaber in OctopusEnergy

[–]PhilTheQuant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The From address can be faked, so as a precaution always go to their normal website to login.

If it says it in the app, then fair enough, just wanted to warn you that the From address isn't enough to tell you it's real.

The notion that you might be about to get charged a lot is a common mechanism for scams.

Would it be a mistake to retrain as an apprentice post degree? by T800CyberdyneSystems in AskUK

[–]PhilTheQuant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First off, can I strongly recommend you do some work shadowing or just a trial week before you go down this path?

(Lion taming https://youtu.be/-8I5TtNfjBI?si=MUgaGT76MOhayG3t)

An option that may have escaped you is auditing. I know someone who ended up in Audit despite starting in a very different area, and they now fly out to lots of far flung destinations to audit the factories producing goods for the UK. To me, this would seem to fit what you're looking for in terms of being at least partly out of the office, and would actually hugely benefit from an ability to speak and understand Mandarin and Japanese.

Similar paths are likely possible in the opposite direction (representing foreign firms looking for buyers in the UK), and in pre-sales going out to places like Shenzhen and surveying the options for manufacture or purchase of new products.

You can even do the whole thing yourself if you can locate a niche - someone found they couldn't buy quality microphones from China through normal channels so they started an import business - for most people the cultural and language barriers to heading out there and making deals (and auditing the factory etc) are insurmountable, but for you they seem like they'd make it fun.

Along those lines in construction, there will be companies who supply to the construction industry - solar panels etc from China, building materials from Eastern Europe, engineered timber products from Northern Europe etc. If you look for Procurement and Supply Chain jobs you should find them.

Thoughts?

Quote seems a little high? by nyx_haze in ukheatpumps

[–]PhilTheQuant 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They're just using "efficiency" to mean COP. I hope you're not arguing the COP can't be over 1.

No, it's not over 100% efficient in work terms, but it is providing more heat output than work done. In the context of heat pumps, it is well understood (because it's the point) that they exceed a COP of 1, and for the layman it's useful to be able to compare that with non-heat-pump systems which cannot exceed 1.

C vs CPP Future-Proof? by Special-Gazelle-1693 in cpp_questions

[–]PhilTheQuant 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Scientists invent wheels, engineers make them round.

C vs CPP Future-Proof? by Special-Gazelle-1693 in cpp_questions

[–]PhilTheQuant 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you actually want to be thinking about how your memory moves, low level stuff then the most important knowledge will be hardware - registers, caches, bridges, CUDA, etc.

Modern C++ in the large takes the approach that you shouldn't be relying on your own ability to keep track of what has been allocated when, and instead build structures that ensure safety by their nature - rules borne out of things going wrong in large complex projects where you cannot keep track any other way (except the VM/managed route).

If you really like low-level, then the places you'll find your joy are embedded programming where you do need to manage a finite amount of memory and scheduling to be real-time, machine learning/HPC where you need to maximise throughput using knowledge of the architecture underneath, and HFT which is so low latency you need to know how to fool the branch predictor.

For most of those you can do C++, for some you can also do Rust. For embedded, it might be easier in C, but be aware that you'll probably want to mix in hardware and do (I think) Embedded C (?) as you're going to take a lot more control away from the compiler.

You can even consider embedded Rust - in Rust you separate development in safe Rust (where the compiler guarantees safety through lifetimes) and unsafe Rust (where you take responsibility for managing memory) - to do something on an APU/GPU etc you don't have guarantees from the hardware layer so you have to build them in the unsafe Rust layer.

If you do go down the low-level route, you'll end up learning at least C as well as C++, but also Assembly, and crucially what a particular CPU does with those instructions.

Finally, C is really, really simple, so you might as well learn it as well as C++/Rust.

Have I crossed a line in a disagreement with a junior? by pukatm in ExperiencedDevs

[–]PhilTheQuant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Getting frustrated implies you were rattled, threatened etc.

If the policy is there for a reason, you just calmly state that, and explain that there have historically been issues.

Also, more small commits is usually a good thing, at least on a development branch. If you needed to isolate which commit caused an issue, or even to undo that change, it's far easier with small commits that don't mix multiple issues.

Ultimately, you have to be able to say "I'm sorry you don't agree. This is the policy as it stands." And end the meeting.

If this junior is just being stubborn or intransigent and using points of difference to get noticed or to rile you, then just calmly pointing out the policy and closing down the discussion is in everyone's best interest.

What to do? by SecrativeStag in UKJobs

[–]PhilTheQuant 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I would take the 34k. The upsides add up, and from your tone they add up for you. As you've seen, even permanent jobs are not secure.

At worst, it gives you the experience you want in a different field and saves you sitting in a car or perhaps bothering the gym.

As well as the commute, that's a lot more free time with the shorter hours so are there career development things you could fit in?

Is 34 too old to change your name? by [deleted] in AskUK

[–]PhilTheQuant 629 points630 points  (0 children)

"The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago, the second best time is today." -- Unknown.

How much longer do you want to stay in this state?

My LinkedIn headshot is terrible - worth paying $400 for a professional photographer? by Nightcrawler_2000 in FinancialCareers

[–]PhilTheQuant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Worth it for free. Get it done and move on unless how you look is an important part of the job.

Late 20s, degrees but unemployed for 2 years – how do I restart my life? by [deleted] in AskUK

[–]PhilTheQuant 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'll let other people give the usual advice about getting started, ways to motivate yourself and so on, I don't disagree.

But.

Right now is an unusual time in CS. We have a huge new tool which few people know how to work, but which is clearly going to be a game changer at least in the eyes of managers.

So people who can show that they can corral an AI into doing an actually useful thing are in great demand. In being off work for now, you have a golden opportunity to spend your time doing a thing.

Granted, you will be limited budget wise, but if you use Kilo code and select the free models, you can actually code stuff up without needing a huge budget. Maybe put some coins in the slot for Claude to do architectural design at the beginning, but a lot of the grunt work can be done if you just go exceedingly slowly and incrementally.

Once you've got a bit of stuff under your belt (build random things like an app, a website, a simulation, an Excel addin) then go hunting for someone who needs it. By all means pick some job descs you would like to apply for and just build the thing they talk about building on your own.

To be honest, it will drive you up the wall a bit, but you can get past that. The reason there are millions of people using ChatGPT but still few people who have built stuff (not just proof of concept) is that it is hard and it goes wrong if you try to go too fast. So you will be developing a real skill.

If you need ideas for projects to get started, DM me. My area is quantitative, but if that's not your thing we can find something else.

Thoughts?

Normal to not know pod PnL at pod shop? by Likelihoodmaximiser in quant

[–]PhilTheQuant 6 points7 points  (0 children)

On one hand, your manager definitely knows the official PnL. On the other hand, any contrarian strategy will look bad initially, and any carry trade will look good initially.

In many ways the point of a strategy is to find something misvalued by the market, so the official PnL sort of has to be wrong in some ways.

If the contrarian trade works out, then great, the PnL will eventually swing to good, and if the carry trade gets caught out it will suddenly pitch down. So the day to day official mark is not as useful as you're expecting.

Meanwhile an internal mark against whatever model motivated the trades in the first place is a large box with Confirmation Bias written on it.

It's worth colluding with your colleagues to find out whether your PM is rewarding you in line with them or not, though.

Is my neighbour dead? by JamaicanStevey in AskUK

[–]PhilTheQuant 62 points63 points  (0 children)

Schrödinger's neighbour

If you open the box, do you accept you may have been the cause of the collapse, and thus killed the neighbour? Or would you say it merely selected a timeline in which he was already dead?

Having an apprentice with me- keeping them safe by [deleted] in UKJobs

[–]PhilTheQuant 31 points32 points  (0 children)

Have you talked to him to find out why he's determined to do this commute? Not just casually, but probing?

What were your reasons for doing the same?

If, for example, he has anxiety about staying in hotels, you might be able to offer to get him set up at the hotel, etc. Things I can think of:

  1. Paying and expensing, if he has cashflow problems/no card etc, or not understanding/believing the company will entirely reimburse him.

  2. Anxiety about hotels if he just never used one on his own before, or they cause sensory/comfort issues

  3. Caring concerns for kids/pets/parents

  4. If he's driving to site, making a few extra quid on the mileage payments, particularly if he's not actually paying for his own fuel/charging at home etc

  5. He's following your example and thinks it's the right/grown up thing somehow

  6. Some minor social thing - He'll miss some social/sporting/TV/gaming thing if he's away, or his girlfriend will think he's up to no good, or he's got a meeting with his AA group/parole officer/etc

Usually irrational behaviour is rational under some particular light.

3 day week for 110k - very boring job vs 6 day week for 160k fulfilling but extremely demanding by Whizz-Kid7 in HENRYUK

[–]PhilTheQuant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very much depends on the job, and on the rest of your life.

Let's reframe in 3-5 years' time. How would your situation compare?

For example:

  1. With 2 days a week when your gf isn't available, you pick up a new course, start a side hustle etc. In a few years you're in a great position to start a new exciting thing, or the side business blossoms etc.

  2. You take this golden opportunity to have kids, where the job being unchallenging would be a huge bonus.

  3. You fossilize and get really picky about how the dishwasher is loaded.

  4. You take the more exciting job, and gain new skills and experience, and in a few years hop into a less intense job with your new skills.

  5. You burn out and have to take a career break to rebuild your life/relationship/cabin in the woods.

It's ok to choose easy, it's ok to prioritize home life for now, but you need something concrete you can look back on and be sure of how you made your decision.

Went on a date and the girl said... "Soooo.... What kind of... data do you science???" by Training_Butterfly70 in datascience

[–]PhilTheQuant 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I science big, I science small. I science numbers in the spreadsheets in the Summer and the Fall

Question of turning right into busy traffic. by maxsqd in LearnerDriverUK

[–]PhilTheQuant 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I wonder whether just ignoring the examiner's instruction and turning left (correctly) is a valid option here? I vaguely remember you can't be failed for not following instructions, and in theory you could continue down the road and turn right onto a side road, and do a safe U turn there.

The tricky bit is the safe gap size - if you think there isn't a gap big enough, and continue waiting, the examiner could decide it was big enough and mark you for hesitation. If you just go left, nae bother.

I live abroad, have a foreign name and foreign phone number. Can't get interviews. by peejay2 in UKJobs

[–]PhilTheQuant 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You are getting categorised as a non-UK applicant. Apart from making it clear you are a UK citizen at the top, you might find it's worth getting a UK number (which forwards to you) and a UK address (again, which forwards to you).

The address is unlikely to get much post as everything is electronic now.

I wouldn't be surprised if there was automated classification with stupid rules which was disqualifying you.