Author: Veselin

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Everything Is Predictable: How Bayes’ Remarkable Theorem Explains the World, Book Review

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I’m interested in improving my understanding of experimentation. As a person, educated in frequentist statistics, I wanted to learn more about the Bayesian approach, so I got myself a bunch of related books with an increasing level of difficulty to read (more and more formulas).

This is the first one of the batch, which is popular science. It’s tells the story of Bayes and his approach to decision making based on updating probabilities. The amount of useful content inside is roughly comparable to 2-3 popular science Youtube videos of the type I like watching.

The book shared some useful stories and examples, the backstory, and some context about the theorem and its use. However, once I got some of that, it started repeating, nearing unreadability towards the end.

Do I regret reading it? No, I think it cracked some doors open for me and it will help me understand the matter better once I get into the textbooks. So, while I wouldn’t give it a 5*, I think it’s a solid 4*/5 and worth the time and money, as long as you dedicate time for it and read it in 2-3 days, not in 1+ months, which is what I did.

Pull-ups Update

~ Veselin ~ 3 Comments

One of my annual goals was to make one pull-up. The last meaningful update on that goal was in March, when I made 3 reps with a neutral grip. Since then, I struggled with injuries and gained a few kilograms of weight. So it didn’t look like I’ll make progress past three.

In order to address the pain while not giving up on the goal, I lowered the intensity of my exercises, increased the frequency, stopped making them from a full hang, and ditched the neutral grip in favor of the standard semi-false grip. I now do 1-4 series almost every day, depending on how I feel. I also introduced non-standard push ups with various difficulty.

After 4 months of that, my forearms no longer hurt as much as they did in March. They still do, I sense a bit of pain even as I type this, but it’s okay. Not something that would take the peace of my mind.

So, today, I showed my kids how to properly hang on a bar. And the bars in the school where we played have one that’s significantly higher than the one I regularly use. I can’t even try making a pull-up without fully hanging first. I tried doing pull-ups there, and made 4 clean reps.

Four is the new record for me. It took me roughly 4 months since the previous record of three, and it happened almost by accident. But at the same time, I exercised every day since we came back from Sozopoli, so maybe not that much of an accident after all.

Would I do 5 soon? Who knows. It can happen tomorrow, in another 4 months, or never. Doing this at 47 is tough and it hurts. Lots of things are pulling me down. Maybe the right way to get to a higher number of repetitions is to eat healthier food.

Head Cases by John McMahon, Book Review

~ Veselin ~ 1 Comment

A group of nerds is either brought together at the FBI to solve its toughest cases or to fail together because they suck. The lead nerd also happens to be the protagonist. I already don’t remember his name but he’s the type of person who would count things or spot things nobody else does.

The promise of watching a team of nerds solve a big mystery is delivered. The mystery is medium level difficulty but involves multiple serial killers. The main villain is something of a Dexter Morgan type. He clearly knows far too much to not be FBI, at the same time may also be a nerd himself. FBI people wouldn’t enjoy being investigated as suspects.

If you don’t like tropes, this book would not be for you. For me, it was a satisfying read that I’d rate around 4.5*/5. Not very original or anything, just satisfying.