Hacker News: gtg239a

New comment by gtg239a in "Aphantasia Beginner's Guide"

gtg239a — Thu, 27 Aug 2026 19:46:05 +0000

As I'm taking music more seriously, I'm encountering a lot more practice instruction that recommends mental practice or visualization. Athletes have been doing this forever too. Essentially, imagining yourself doing something correctly or adjusting to a mistake can help you to perform that thing.

In my experience, my issue is not with being able to conjure the mental image + sounds, but holding on to it long enough; which, I suspect is just a matter of my degraded attention.

Anyways, this is fascinating stuff. One of the proponents of visualization/mental practice is Molly Gebrian, a brilliant violist, who, by her own admission, can't "visualize" sounds, but relies on conceptual evocations of the act. (https://www.mollygebrian.com/music-and-the-brain)

New comment by gtg239a in "The Fabled Flatbreads of Uzbekistan (2015)"

gtg239a — Tue, 28 Jul 2026 20:09:29 +0000

It makes sense and is also a surprise to see that Aramco has a lifestyle publishing arm.

That aside, this was a great article. There are some great videos on yt as well showing the baking process. But what those videos don’t show that this article points to is the these Uzbek bakers use natural sour dough leavening. I wish this article also included a recipe for the dough.

Another thing this article does that I like is that it describes how to eat these loaves, because it’s hard to guess just by looking at them. Hoping I get a chance to try one of these loaves someday.

New comment by gtg239a in "Writing by hand is good for your brain"

gtg239a — Fri, 24 Jul 2026 01:36:31 +0000

I remember as an undergrad watching some philosophy majors do this with their reading and their explanation was that it helps them track reading progress. And to your point, that tactile act probably helps a lot with engagement!

The unfortunate part is that you can't then unhighlight a passage.

New comment by gtg239a in "Weightlifting beats running for blood sugar control, researchers find (2025)"

gtg239a — Sun, 12 Jul 2026 00:47:04 +0000

Agreed. One way I found back into running was to acknowledge that I could walk for 5k, then try to slowly jog sections of it: walk for 5 mins jog for 15secs and repeat. Then next time raise both durations or reduce the walk or whatever. Now I can run a 5k no problem and all I did was frog boil myself.

New comment by gtg239a in "Dostoyevsky isn't difficult"

gtg239a — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 04:37:33 +0000

Thanks for sharing! I probably last read it in 2010 so I’ll have to see if my interpretation of it holds up.

New comment by gtg239a in "Dostoyevsky isn't difficult"

gtg239a — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 04:10:31 +0000

There’s a Milan Kundera essay (having trouble locating atm) about how most of the great writers, including the Russian greats, read the literary canon exclusively through translations (Shakespeare for example) and were no less intellectually rewarded for it.

Translation is an art I think equal to authorship. Someone below mentioned My brilliant friend which was originally written in a Neapolitan dialect but the English translation, at least for me specifically, is a monumental achievement.

New comment by gtg239a in "Dostoyevsky isn't difficult"

gtg239a — Thu, 25 Jun 2026 04:03:22 +0000

She has an academic background in Russian Literature and writes really engaging essays about her encounters with the literature (The Possessed). I can’t recommend her novels and essays enough. They’re riotously funny and erudite and readable if you’re looking for something.

New comment by gtg239a in "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (April 2023)"

gtg239a — Mon, 03 Apr 2023 17:31:29 +0000

Location: SF Bay Area Remote: Preferrably or Hybrid

Willing to relocate: Depends on the opportunity

Technologies: Typescript, javascript, Node, React, Redux, Graphql, Python, Ruby

Resume: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijayselvanram/

6+ YOE.

Hello! I'm a full stack frontend leaning engineer with both consumer application and b2b application development experience. I've helped companies introduce automation testing, migrate frontend stacks, and built complex UIs along with the required backends.

Email: vijayselvanram@gmail.com

New comment by gtg239a in "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired? (March 2023)"

gtg239a — Wed, 01 Mar 2023 18:35:40 +0000

Location: SF Bay Area

Remote: Preferrably or Hybrid

Willing to relocate: Depends on the opportunity

Technologies: Typescript, javascript, Node, React, Redux, Graphql, Python, Ruby

Resume: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijayselvanram/

Email: vijayselvanram at gmail dot com

6+ YOE.