2016-04-07

# Hola

Is it poor form to start each post with an apology for the time elapsed since the previous one? Either way, hello dear reader. Beyond being the father of a rambunctious young’un, things have changed around here since we last spoke.

# New Job, Plus Why Tech Companies Should Hire in DC

In January I started a new gig as a Data Scientist for Quantifind. I’m excited about the opportunity, and the balance of faster-paced demands and more blue-sky research has been great.

This new job has highlighted something for me: if you’re a tech/data/whatever company, you should hire people from the D.C. area. There are a large number of people here who have the technical chops to do data and software work, and who—given agency reorganizations and general low morale—are probably open to new opportunities. While some may be able to pick up and move to Silicon Valley, I’d wager that many are (like myself) unable to uproot their lives and families. I’m fortunate that Quantifind hired me to work in the D.C. office, even though they’re based in California. Other companies should consider tapping the large pool of talent we have in the region.

# Revisiting Finite Fields

Now a short technical note. In a previous post, I talked about my difficulties in working with finite fields in software. I’m starting to think that for parameterized mathematical objects (e.g. by a prime of a prime and a polynomial, like finite fields) might be good candidates for a dependently typed language like Idris. I don’t have any experience with Idris myself, but I’d be curious to see a finite field implementation in it.