#LearnedToday 21 to 30

#LearnedToday 21 by shakeeb.in

All those who are impressive orators imo, have this one thing in common: they have normal SPEAKING tone while they speak in public. Not that painfully formal and obviously fake one. 

Be it Muzaffar Master or Imteyaz bhai in Kamptee markaz, or internationally recognised like Nouman Ali Khan, Qasim Ali Shah, Mufti Tariq Masood and Dr. Israr Ahmad. 

Remember: it doesn't necessarily mean they use very simple words either. Dr. Israr for example. 

Tags:  Public Speaking

#LearnedToday 22 by shakeeb.in

Bookmarks in browsers are not just bookmarks.🎉😄

Ever copied from Wikipedia? Those references are annoying, aren't they? 

I used to  remove them using regular expressions, which I'm not an expert at, but manage to do stuff I want with Google's help. 

The other day, I randomly checked it on SuperUser and found that you can use a browser's bookmark to run JavaScript code. 

Tada. I have a bookmark now, and when I click it, it removes all references from Wikipedia text. Will write a short blog post and teach you guys how to use it. 

Tags:  Technical

#LearnedToday 23 by shakeeb.in

Tags:  GK

Soaps are considered as self-cleaning. So if you were not sharing it with anyone because of your hygiene, well, don't be a douche bag and let them use it. 

You don't even have to wash it before use. Gross? I know, but that's how it is.

Even if some bacteria stays on the soap, it is still soap. And you're are going to use water eventually, so don't worry.

#LearnedToday 24 by shakeeb.in

Tags:  Philosophy, Life

Fish-love vs True-love

To sum up, he says that it's not actually love when we love something/someone because it pleases us. Love teaches you to be selfless. 

“Now that part of me has become in you, there's part of me in you that I love.” - Abraham Twerski

Ref: True love explained  by Abraham Twerski [YouTube]

#LearnedToday 25 by shakeeb.in

(AsIs)

Tags: Life, Philosophy

Is having a complex vocabulary a sign of superior intelligence?

There is a correlation, but having a complex vocabulary won't make you more intelligent. Intelligent people are viewed as intelligent because they can communicate their ideas effectively, which requires a complex vocabulary. Intelligent thought in itself has no value, unless it can be communicated in an idea or manifested into action.

Having a complex vocabulary also shows that you're probably well-read and you have a wide range of knowledge, which are signs of an intelligent person.

So, intelligent people aren't intelligent because they have large vocabularies, they have large vocabularies because they are intelligent.

Ref: r/insightfulquestions, Michael Eric Dyson and Jordan Peterson Debate on YT

#LearnedToday 26 by shakeeb.in

Tag: Psychology

Expertise Bias

All sorts of specialized knowledge can make experts see everybody around them as morons. 

You might think what you're explaining is obvious, or the work you told them to do is easy; but it is 'obvious' and 'easy' for YOU, not for them. Be patient.

If you're the expert on something, try to recognize that other people aren't experts and cut them some slack. And if you know an expert who gets frustrated when they have to field the same basic requests or questions again and again, cut them some slack, too.

Ref: Psychology Today

#LearnedToday 27 by shakeeb.in

Tag: Biology

What is exactly is the "lump" in throat before you start to cry?

Your throat, which starts as a single tube eventually splits into two tubes: one going to your lungs and the other going to your GI tract. 

"The expansion of the glottis in and of itself does not create a lumpy feeling, until we try to swallow. Since swallowing involves closing the glottis, this works against the muscles that open the glottis in response to crying. We experience the resulting muscle tension as a lump in the throat." 

Basically the glottis is the vocal chords and their opening.

Ref: eli5 Reddit

#LearnedToday 28 by shakeeb.in

Tag: Philosophy

Islam promotes the idea that the materialistic world is just not worth the attention we give to it. So the pain we get isn't that big of a deal tbh. 

“Stoicism” has the same ideology - the fortune of pain and pleasure. And most of the world out there is basically leveraging on it to fight anxiety, stress, low self-esteem and the likes. 

How much do you care about the world and people around you? All the time. And how often do you try to make yourself happy? Answer yourself.

I disagree with a few points in Stoicism, however. But that's just because we associate religion with what happens, which Stoicism doesn't require. 

Ref: Wiki, YT

#LearnedToday 29 by shakeeb.in

Tag: Language, Linguistics

Had always wondered why isn't there a proper representation of letters in latin alphabets. The charts before dictionaries used to confuse me. 

For example, why do they assume that "a p sound already has an h attached to it" etc.

Phew. Apparently there IS a standard. Maybe will help me someday in some project. 

Quote from wiki:

"The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin alphabet. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standardized representation of the sounds of spoken language." Unquote.

P.s: Came across this going through some farsi stuff.

Ref: Wikipedia

#LearnedToday 30 by shakeeb.in

Tag: Language, Linguistics

The letter "w" is pronounced "double u" because back in the days, they literally used to write two u's in its place. 

Later, they replaced uu by w. Invention of typewriter promoted it even more.

Ref: Reddit 

#LearnedToday 11 to 20

This episode includes following tags:

Biology (1), Computer-Science (1), English (1), GK (1), Help (1), Language (1), Literature (1), Opinion (5), Philosophy (2), Programming (1), Psychology (3), Reform (1), Self (1), Self-Help (1), Theology (2)

I learn a lot of things every day, about diverse topics. Will write these things daily, even if it's obvious-to-the-level-of-dumb for the world.
— Shakeeb Ahmad, from My New Year Resolution

#LearnedToday 11

Without reading anything on God, I had this argument in mind. Most importantly, it... feels... right. And, I still haven't found a counter for this.
The "unmoved mover", argument 1 of 5 by Aquinas for the existence of what we call God, is the most natural thought a human mind can have. Still, when I ask atheists every atheist about their opinion on this, each of them simply answered, "I don't know."
The"motion" here can actually be generalized as "change". So for every change, there's a cause and the chain goes on... but not infinitely. (See "Infinite Regression")
I personally think that being agnostic (I don't know) is good and humble, that's why most soft atheists choose to be that, but sometimes I feel they do it just to avoid the question.

Terms: Summa Theologica, Existence of God, Aquinas's five ways, unmoved mover Aristotle
Ref: Wiki

Tags: Theology, Opinion

#LearnedToday 12 

Peace of Mind

When you've got that analytical skill to run psychological analysis of what's around you and know what tricks people are trying to play with you, you have a definite peace of mind. [ NOT because now you know them and can take revenge. ]
Do their actions/intentions bother me? Maybe. But most of the time, those little acts of selfish nature bring smile on my face. Not a derogatory one, Wallahil Azeem, but for their innocence. الحمد للّٰہ علی ذلک۔
Only if they knew what this world is worth.

Tags: Philosophy, Opinion, Psychology

#LearnedToday 13 

I'd always considered "Jack of all trades and the master of none" as a negative phrase. That's not true. (With a vast range of interests, I often complain that I'm not doing justice to any of them. That's when I use this comment for myself.)
Luckily, I stumbled upon the Wikipedia page of this figure of speech, and I quote:
The full phrase is "Jack of all trades, master of none is often times better than a master of one."
The shortened version "a jack of all trades" is often a compliment for a person who is good at fixing things, and has a very good broad knowledge.
So, it is actually a complement. The "master of none" part makes it a little unflattering though.

Tags: Literature, English Language

#LearnedToday 14 

After 6-7 years, there are people who are still fighting over the same issues which rarely affect our lives, worldly or spiritual.
I wonder how many years would it take for them to realize what other chores they are leaving behind which are far more important, for them. For the humanity.
And when you try to tell them to move on, they stubbornly try to drag you in the same fight you'd left years ago.
Then you realize why Allah said this:
“And when the ignorant address them [harshly], they say [words of] peace.” (Al Quran - 25:63)

Tags: Theology, Opinion

#LearnedToday 15 

Just saw a TEDx talk on how schools are making kids less intelligent.
Have recently discussed this with my sister (or some friend, can't remember), that the
Inspect yourself now. Whatever you've learned, how much was the schools'/college's contribution in that?
Not saying they don't play any role, but I'm more of the idea that rather than grades, the system should be classified based on students' tendencies, skills and natural inclination. More on this in a blog post some time.

Ref: https://youtu.be/2Yt6raj-S1M and its comments

Tags: Opinion, Reform

#LearnedToday 16 

Logging the data in the console for debugging is quick and easy, and that's what you must be using too. But what do you do? console.log("output") like me?
There are a lot more you can do with console. Some of them are
console.log({var1, var2}); //Adds labels
console.table([var1, var2]); //Displays as table
console.time() and console.timeLog(); //Gives time between two console logs
I'll be using the first one definitely. Had to manually add labels everytime.

Tags: Computer Science, Programming

#LearnedToday 17 

Chanakya- an ancient Indian guru, philosopher
وہ لوگ جو کمائی سے زیادہ خرچتے ہیں، اپنے سے زیادہ طاقتور سے پنگا لے بیٹھتے ہیں اور جو عورتوں سے بہت بات کرتے ہیں ( ان میں گھرے رہنا پسند کرتے ہیں، فلرٹ کرتے ہیں)، انہیں تباہی سے کوئی نہیں بچا سکتا۔
- چانکیہ
Wo log jo kamaai se zyada kharchte hain, apne se zyada taqatwar se panga le baitthte hain, aur aurton se bahot baat karte hain, unmen ghira rehna pasand karte hain (flirting) unhen tabaahi se koi nahin bacha sakta.
- Chanakya
The last point. It's specifically targeted towards men, and there's a reason for that. They are men who loose their mind talking to women, while women usually stay normal.
All of us have seen someone who ruined/ is ruining their life after this.

Ishq ne Ghalib nikamma kar diya,

Warna ham bhi aadmi the kaam ke

Tags: Philosophy

#LearnedToday 18 

There's a trait of close friends -
“We can be with them without talking.”
That rarely happens with close friends, I know. But still, when you're with a new friend / stranger, you have a sort of responsibility to keep the conversation flowing. Nod your head nonstop mechanically, listen to completely irrelevant or redundantly told stories, just to be a part of conversation, somehow. Because if there's silence, it would be "awkward silence".
There are no awkward silences with friends.

Tags: Opinion, Self Help, Psychology

#LearnedToday 19 

Have to read this book now.
"Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini"

6 Principles of Persuasion

Reciprocity: Simply put, people are obliged to give back to others the form of a behavior, gift, or service that they have received first.

Scarcity: Simply put, people want more of those things they can have less of.

Authority: This is the idea that people follow the lead of credible, knowledgeable experts. What the science is telling us is that it’s important to signal to others what makes you a credible, knowledgeable authority before you make your influence attempt. Of course this can present problems; you can hardly go around telling potential customers how brilliant you are, but you can certainly arrange for someone to do it for you.

Consistency: People like to be consistent with the things they have previously said or done.

Liking: People prefer to say yes to those that they like.
But what causes one person to like another? Persuasion science tells us that there are three important factors. We like people who are similar to us, we like people who pay us compliments, and we like people who cooperate with us towards mutual goals.

Consensus: Especially when they are uncertain, people will look to the actions and behaviors of others to determine their e.g: Cards, signs which suggests something. We do that.

Ref: https://www.influenceatwork.com/principles-of-persuasion/

Tags: Psychology, Self Help

#LearnedToday 20 

The tear glands in our eyes are connected to the nostrils internally. So that water coming out of your nose while crying is not snot. That's mainly tears. 😁

Ref: https://youtu.be/egEraZP9yXQ

Tags: GK, Biology

#LearnedToday 1 to 10

I learn a lot of things every day, about diverse topics. Will write these things daily, even if it's obvious-to-the-level-of-dumb for the world. 
— Shakeeb Ahmad, from My New Year Resolution

LearnedToday #1

An operation as simple as copying the data to user's clipboard is not that straightforward. It requires a secure origin — either HTTPS or localhost (or disabled by running Chrome with a flag). [SO]

Packages are available for most frameworks out there, which handle clipboard operations (copy to and paste from). Can be used to exploit though. [Wiki]

Terms: Clipboard hijacking, Pastejacking
tags: Computer Science, Cyber Security

LearnedToday #2

• Nothing matters until you finish some actual projects in a field. What you can mention on your resume (and to the world) is NOT a load of languages, frameworks and skills you only know the basics of; but the completed projects using them. 
• Switch to other stuff after fulfilling basic functionalities. Fine-tuning can be done in updates.
• Do your best before jumping to Stack Overflow.

Ref: https://youtu.be/YX9T4V22j-Y and its comments.
tags: Self Help, Computer Science

LearnedToday #3

حالیہ جاری احتجاجی مظاہروں میں فیض کی نظم”ہم دیکھیں گے “ کافی مشہور ہوئی ہے۔ درست موقف کی بحث ایک طرف، سر پیٹنے والی بات یہ ہے کہ کچھ بے ذوق لوگوں کی طرف سے مذکورہ نظم کو ”فرقہ وارانہ “ قرار دیا گیا ہے۔ 

لگتا یوں ہے کہ صنائع و بدائع، کنایے، محاوروں، ضرب الامثال اور استعاروں سے مزین میر اور غالب کی شاعری پر سر دھننے والی یہ ”جینیس جنریشن“ دراصل ڈھونگی ہے اور ان اساتذہ کو محض ”کول“ لگنے کے لیے پڑھتی اور سنتی ہے۔

بحیثیت ایک ادنیٰ شاعر اور ادب کے طالب علم کے، میں غور کرنے پر مجبور ہوں کہ شاعری کا اتنا سطحی مطالعہ کرنے والوں کے لیے کیا سزا تجویز کی جائے؟

हालिया जारी एहितजाजी मुज़ाहिरों में फ़ैज़ की नज़म"हम देखेंगे" काफ़ी मशहूर हुई है। दरुस्त मौक़िफ़ की बेहस एक तरफ़, सर पीटने वाली बात ये है कि कुछ बेज़ौक़ लोगों की तरफ़ से मज़कूरा नज़म को फ़िर्कावाराना क़रार दिया गया है.

लगता यूं है कह सनाए-ओ-बदाए, कनाए, मुहावरों, ज़रबुल अमसाल और इस्तिआरों से मुज़य्यन मीर और ग़ालिब की शायरी पर सर धुनने वाली ये "जीनीयस जनरेशन" दरअसल ढोंगी है और उन असातिज़ा को महिज़ "कूल" लगने के लिए पढ़ती और सुनती है.

बहैसीयत एक अदना शायर और अदब के तालिब-इल्म के, में ग़ौर करने पर मजबूर हूँ कि शायरी का इतना सतही मुताला करने वालों के लिए किया सज़ा तजवीज़ की जाये!

Ref: Javed Akhtar, Munawwar Rana etc. on IIT's case

tags: Politics, Thoughts

LearnedToday #4

Learning regex is a better option to go for, rather than mastering language-specific methods for simple string manipulation.

Also, on a more general note: Instead of forcibly modifying every problem to meet your knowledge-level, you should try to learn available methods (i.e. functions) and data types in a language.

tags: Computer Science, Programming

LearnedToday #5

YouTube is sucking a lot of our time right now. Like a lot a lot. Even if it is for the sake of entertainment, we're using it no less than 4 hours. Physical entertainment seems a thing of the past now. Even when we meet friends, the conversation revolves around the same. Sad!

Told this to Muzammil and Mubashir many times, that we scroll through useless feeds all day. If we start reading books instead, we'd have a sense of accomplishment. A feeling of enlightenment, a wow moment... it can be anything, but would benefit us someday. After all, we all want to do something we could be remembered for. At least I do.

tags: Self Help, Philosophy, Thoughts

LearnedToday #6

Averse vs. Adverse

”Adverse” is used to refer to unfavourable while ”Averse” refers to the state of being reluctant.

Example:

The adverse effects of alcohol.

A good number of people are averse to sleep at work.

tag: English Language

LearnedToday #7

My guess about hyperinflation was correct. We don't always face the inflation problem if we (the government) just print money and get rich. In fact, if USA as a developed economy wants to purchase oil, it CAN just print money and do that without the fear of hyperinflation. 

Reason? USD is the standard currency using which most of the world trade today.

The government has tricked us to believe that more money means more income. On an abstract level, that is true, but in reality, the vegetable plant your mother has grown in the backyard is the actual wealth.

Ref: Economics StackExchange, Reddit, Wikipedia, Quora

tag: Economics

LearnedToday #8

Stupidly obvious. In order to properly use a hand dryer, you have to rub your hands. Don't just put your hands under it. 😁

The goal is to spread the water out as much as possible to increase its surface area and thus the evaporation rate.

Ref: Reddit

tags: Life Hack

LearnedToday #9

Remember Dijkstra algorithm?

In English, the Dutch name Dijkstra is normally pronounced DYKE-struh, in IPA /ˈdɑɪkstɹə/. It is a Dutch name, where the 'j' is always silent or pronounced like a 'y'. So the name should be 'dyk(bike, hike in English) -stra'.

tags: Computer Science, English Language

LearnedToday #10

People don't care about your struggles. They're just going to judge you by the results. Why should we exhaust ourselves if an easier alternative is present there already?

Be it a small routine task, a project or the life as a whole, the final outcome would be the only thing you'll be judged by. The route to that destination is usually not smooth, but who cares? That struggle story would only be inspiring if you reach the success.

tags: Philosophy, Thoughts