MollieTheMare
No bio...
User ID: 875
MollieTheMare
14d ago
USB specifications are an absolute clusterfuck.
At least they have counting down to a science:
- USB 1.0 (A, B)
- USB 1.1 (A, B)
- USB 2.0 (A, B, Mini-A, Mini-AB, Mini-B)
- USB 2.0 Revised (A, B, Micro-A, Micro-AB, Micro-B)
- USB
3.0,3.1 Gen 1, 3.2 Gen1x1 (A SuperSpeed, B SuperSpeed, Micro-A SuperSpeed, Micro-AB SuperSpeed, Micro-B SuperSpeed) - USB
3.1 Gen 2, 3.2 Gen 2x1 (A SuperSpeed, B SuperSpeed, ... , Type-C) - USB
3.2, 3.2 Gen 2x2 (Type-C) - USB4 (Type-C)
- USB4 2.0 (Type-C)
MollieTheMare
14d ago
In reference to the prime 137:
When I die my first question to the Devil will be: What is the meaning of the fine structure constant?
- Wolfgang Pauli
Primes are pretty freaky.
MollieTheMare
14d ago
Really shows how easy it is to mine out a one in a thousand result.
By my calculation the raw probability, assuming 50/50 odds per trial, is about equivalent to a z-score of 3. As a heuristic for correcting for mining and p-hacking effects, there is a tongue in cheek expression that's something like "50% of all 3-z results are wrong."
MollieTheMare
15d ago
Yeah, especially since a decent fraction of votes remaining are in the central time pan handle, not remote votes like in other states. I interpreted the comment as implying Nate Silver took the margin greater than 8 points side. But then the comment also implied he was wrong?
I think 56-43 gives a +13 spread. Was OP interpreting it as +13/2 or +6.5?
MollieTheMare
15d ago
I thought about just using a USB stick with the file(s), but that would make the user navigate the file system and play it through the TV's media player - a bit more friction for the user than I'd like.
Given this, the exact use case probably matters. What is the use case where the users can figure out the right HDMI port to select with their TV remote, but can't figure out how to play a video off a USB drive? Or plug in both HDMI and USB for that matter.
Do you also have control of the TV that will be installed? If it's a permanent instillation on a TV you select, you might be able to fined one where you can flip it to demo mode or some sort of auto play. In the former case I wonder if there is a way to overwrite the demo footage built into the TV. Then it should just play when the TV is powered.
For a mobile application, could a battery bank to power a fire stick or similar work? That would save the need to plug into the TV USB for power.
MollieTheMare
15d ago
unsophisticated random number generators
Do linear congruential generators count as unsophisticated? RANDU was particularly infamous for being able to see the periodicity. Apparently one of the hyperplanes is along the Harris dimension. You would think they would use some sort of elliptic curves over Galois fields for simulating the election. Seems more apt.
MollieTheMare
19d ago
so an OoM less than trillions
In case anyone really cares about the technical definitions of order of magnitude. The numbers 175x10^9 and 10^12, might correctly be said to be of different orders, but the former is not an order of magnitude less than the latter.
To differ by an order of magnitude two numbers X and Y must satisfy abs(log10(X) - log10(Y)) >= 1. In this case log10(1000) - log10(175) ~ 0.76. It did seem a bit hyperbolic to say trillions, but it's not technically an OoM less.
On the other hand, to express the order of magnitude of each number individually, the conventional range for the significand is [1/sqrt(10), sqrt(10)). In this case 1.75x10^11 and 1x10^12. So the first has an order of magnitude of 11 and the second 12.
MollieTheMare
27d ago
MollieTheMare
27d ago
This is exactly what I think every time I see the
24+ hours in a row
argument. It seems pretty likely it's easier to select three people who can competently work 8 hour shifts than one person who can competently work after being awake for 24 hours.
MollieTheMare
27d ago
Specialized coaching in math barely even happens at the undergrad level.
This exists at both the elite and "pretty-good" level. There's the MOP and AoPS respectively. With similar programs to MOP internationally, and AoPS being accessible from anywhere with an internet connection now. Back in the 90's if you were not at the elite level you needed someone in your area with pretty specialized skill to help you through the book version of AoPS, but now they have a huge roster of highly qualified tutors/coaches that work online.
I'm very certain that the 100th best math undergraduate in the US has access to high level Putnam coaching. The problem is not as far out on the distribution. It's the 300 person survey Calc 1 classes at mediocre institutions that churn out incompetent engineers.
MollieTheMare
1mo ago
As someone who did not attend what would currently be considered one of the top tier football schools, I used to think some of the appeal was the team acted as a sort of martial manifestation of your Alma mater. Before the transfer portal, there was at least a thin veneer of the players being students and future alumni of your school. I guess supper fans, and people at schools that are perennial contenders, care about national championships but in the BCS and earlier eras every game mattered for the quality of bowl your team could hope for an invite to. As @Rov_Scam pointed out there are far more schools that consider themselves top tier than can truly contend for a national championship in any given year. A far more reasonable standard for a good year would be to have a strong enough regular season to get invited to a decent quality bowl, and to win that bowl game.
I do think this naturally limits viewership, since you only follow your own school and maybe a few marque rivalry games. On the other hand I do think NCAAF is in extreme danger of becoming NFL B league.
Speaking of which:
Northwestern Illinois Purdue
Never up to the standard of the marque Big Ten teams in the modern era, but all three were at the founding conference for the Big Ten. This predates the NCAA. They have been members of the Big Ten longer than Ohio State, and much much longer than Pen State. I would lament a realignment that destroys some of the history and tradition of college football. Without that it's more or less just professional football at a lower standard of play. This weekends Illinois–Michigan game will be the 100th anniversary of their meeting for the dedication of Memorial Stadium; that is the dedication of the stadium to alumni killed in WWI. For once the game might actually be competitive, it would be a shame if it were never competitive again because Michigan has 5x the NIL money to spend from exclusive TV deals.
MollieTheMare
1mo ago
Completely speculative, but maybe people are more prone to GI distress in the airport?
You have people who are dehydrated because they don't want to get up to urinate on the plane. People who got sloshed because they have anxiety about flying. People who ate things their digestive system isn't used to because that was the only option on the plane, or they came from a place without the food they are accustomed to. There's the factor of holding it because taking an unnecessary dump in an airplane lavatory is both unpleasant and rude. And finally, the possibility on being on your fifth cup of coffee because you had to get up at four AM to catch your flight and still have to go to a meeting this afternoon.
In general, I think you are not supposed to have to push so hard it requires groaning. It seems plausible though, that the selection on people who are so desperate they would use the public toilet also selects for people who are having an irregular bowel movement.
MollieTheMare
1mo ago
The obvious difference between food and other addictions is that you cannot go cold turkey on all food.
It is actually theoretically possible to quit by going cold turkey. At least if you start morbidly obese. To be clear I am not recommending it, but the canonical case was Angus Barbieri. He supposedly lost 276 lbs, and kept most of it off, at least at the five year follow up.
There is some clinical research on protein-sparing modified fasts, which seems to be more sound from a physiological point of view. In early research there was a realitvely high incidence of death, possibly from mismanagement of the amino-acid profile or (preexisting?) heart disease. It seems like it would probably be hard to get an institutional review board to go along with a large scale study now, hard to fund a high quality study, and you would have perpetual problems with compliance.
From the applied side, this is something like what competitive bodybuilders have been doing in the last weeks of contest prep for some time. That is a world known for disordered eating, so I only point this out to say that it works physiologically, not that it's necessarily a good idea.
At my current stage of life, no. But it does look better than the various slum efficiency and sub-basement units I lived in when I was younger.
Is there a particular reason for all the side yard space and front drives? Is it supposed to be generally preferable to row homes or town houses? I would rather have slightly more personal square footage and a small back garden, than a side yard and code minimum sized bedroom. You could have a back alleyway, shared front parking diagonally in the center of a long cul-de-sac, or even resident street parking (parallel or diagonal), if parking is necessary.
Another option that would have similar density, but more interior square footage, for a development would be a n-over-one or "stumpy." It's not cute, but real-estate developers in North America clearly think they offer the best net balance for medium density right now.
I also thought that they were below-code size, but I see now the minimum size requirements were removed from the International Residential Code in 2015. I had no idea. Also did not realize they added appendix AQ, specifically with respect to "tiny homes." I guess that's a win for density.
MollieTheMare
2mo ago
Yeah, I managed to track down some unconfirmed videos of the reported explosions. It does look larger and more violent than you would get with even the most kinetic LiPo fire. In that case thought, the battery must have been significantly below standard capacity or have the dimensions way out of spec. Maybe that's fine though, like having to pull every radio and pager with a pillowly LiPo out of action effectively dismantles the communication network.
MollieTheMare
2mo ago
What I had imagined was that the charge controller was some commercial off the shelf module and you could just compare a binary dump directly from the EPROM to a known good copy. I suppose the battery management could be integrated with the rest of the the devices firmware, and that the firmware is sufficiently localized that you couldn't locate an exact known safe version.
I'm amazed at the sophistication of the infiltration though.
MollieTheMare
2mo ago
If you have stress fractures you need time to heal, and possibly a physician.
In the case of normal shin splints though, have you tried incorporating tibia raises? I have never gotten shin splints after I added a few sets a couple of times a week. You can use a dumbell and a bench if your gym doesn't have a machine for them, which is like 99.9% of gyms. Just sit on the bench and extend your legs like a leg extension, holding the dumbell in your feet. Then lower and extend your feet. It can help to sit further back then you would for a leg extention, and to incline the seat by a notch.
You can also do them against a wall, but I don't feel like that is as effective.
MollieTheMare
2mo ago
Is the theory that batteries were augmented with explosive or are these explosions from thermal runaway of regular lithium batteries? Even a regular lithium fire can be quite explosive if triggered in an enclosed vessel.
In either case shouldn't there be some trace in the battery management system firmware?
In the case where the batteries are internationally being sent into thermal runaway, this must be commanded by the device or BMS firmware. Shouldn't you be able to dump the firmware out and check it's hash against an uncompromised version?
In the other case that the batteries have been augmented with additional explosives, shouldn't the BMS see that the battery has always been under rated capacity. Or in the case where the BMS was set to miss-report capacity, that you should be able to detect it as in the first case.
MollieTheMare
2mo ago
We had a similar discussion as part of this thread a few months ago. I'm still not sure exactly how much it would cost, but it could be as little at $5B ongoing annual cost to mitigate current warming levels. I think this is assuming you have fully amortized the capital expenditures for the geoengineering project, that you can use hydrogen balloon dispersion, and that you can use calcite for your particulate.
For comparison FY2024 US DOE: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy proposed appropriation was just shy of $4B.
MollieTheMare
2mo ago
Is this a real scenario you've run into?
I admit this is highly job specific. My old job had the odd combination of having to manually supervise things and needing to be on time within roughly +/- 10 seconds. Obviously my boss’s boss didn't need to get his hands dirty with that kind of thing, so an automatic was more than accurate enough for him. I don't mind setting a watch I'm putting on for the first time in a while, but prefer not to have to think about it for my daily.
In ordinary life, I did exactly once find that we had exactly enough time to run between a train transfer and thus save 30 minutes on our journey from our planned transfer. This was in Switzerland though, in most places you don't need sub-minute accuracy to catch the train. This obviously means i need to buy a Patek Philippe next time I'm there...
Agreed that a rotating bezel can be very useful for casual wear.
For a watch that is somewhat unique, but not hideous, it does seem like the middle tier watch market has been entirely hollowed out by the smart watch market. In the sub €200 category, most classic designs available for the Seiko 7S26 movement have something in a similar price range with a Citizen Eco-Drive. The SEIKO SRPG3X series and the Citizen BM8180 series of field watches, for example. But looking at them now, man the watch market is crazy nowadays. I could have sworn you would be able to pick up either for $80-$90 street price in 2019. SMH over $200 for a Seiko 5 now.
I wonder if any of the Swatch Group Marquees produce entry level solar-quartz movements? I also wonder how their newer entry level mechanical movements hold up over time. I would imagine something like their sistem51 would be decently accurate initially, but seems difficult to have serviced. If they really don't have an adjustable regulator, then I guess you'll never get it back to factory accuracy once the lube dries out?
MollieTheMare
2mo ago
I own a Seiko 5, as well as other watches with Seiko 7S26 (or related) movements. It's my go to for wear on the weekends, the evening, or other "sporting" contexts. That being said it's no chronometer. I don't get it cleaned and regulated nearly as often as you are supposed to, and it can easily be minutes per week out of time after only a couple of years without a service.
The watch nerds will look down on you, but if you just want something in the physical hands sense of analogue, the solar-charged quartz-crystal-regulated watch (citizen eco-drive style) is extremely low fuss. Even with all the pedigree of the classic mechanical Omega Speedmasters the NASA astronauts now use quartz Omegas. I do miss the smooth sweep of a mechanical seconds hand, but I don't miss wondering if I'm going to be late to a meeting.
In terms of analogue time display, I personally find a field watch or flieger style easier to read quickly or at odd angles. Surprisingly useful if you feel compelled to check the time during a particularly boring engagement, and more discrete than moving your wrist to light up a smart watch (or even worse pulling out your phone). At one point I worked in an office where the bosses wore a Rolex Daytona and Submariner respectively. Even then a decent quartz military inspired watch on a decently nice leather band was easily in the top quartile of not looking "horrible and cheap" amongst the office. YMMV, depending on the office.
MollieTheMare
3mo ago
fancy GoreTex
In case anyone want's to really nerd out about waterproof-breatheable membranes.
Classic GoreTex™ was expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE). It's probably more correct to say that it is waterproof OR breatheable, and this trade off is tunable. When it is dry out there can be enough of a gradient to drive some sweat through the membrane, but if the humidity is greater on the outside of the membrane (because it's raining) the gradient is usually in the other direction. The patent for ePTFE ran out some time ago, but most membranes in that style are now expanded polyethylen or polyurethane. I think, but have not seen lab data, that the performance is actually worse, but presumably the manufactures are concerned ePTFE will get designated a polyfluorinated compound of environmental concern.
That brings up the topic of durable water repellent coatings. If you expect some rain, but not extreme cold or sustained rain a "wind-shell" with a DWR coating may be enough, and will breath better. Additionally, membrane based jackets typically require a DWR coated shell for durability and to help mitigate the reverse gradient problem above. In terms of performance fluorinated DWR very likely outperforms alternatives, but are being phased out due to environmental and health concerns and the associated reputational and liability risks.
If you (1) are in the US, (2) don't care about durability and (3) don't mind looking goofy, a set of frogg toggs ulra-lite2 rain suit or poncho is a pretty effective alternative to those $1 plastic ponchos you see people wearing at various tourists traps. They do tear easily but pack down supper small, are relatively cheap in absolute terms, and breath better than a trash bag. If there is a risk of it dropping below 60°F and it raining I would pack at least that. It is possible to go hypothermic in 50°F weather if you can't move around and are wet.
MollieTheMare
4mo ago
While I still have antipathy for people that absolutely can grasp what they're signing, it's just obvious that many people really don't understand what they're signing up for and don't understand the basics of financing.
I'm sure it could never work. But I've thought for some time that the just action for some fraction of student loans would be to transfer the obligations from the student to the university, for any student who filed for financial aid and was required to take remedial sub-"college" level algebra by the university that they were enrolled in. Like the university as an organization knew (1) that person has no way of understanding exponential functions and therefor compounding interest (2) would need to undertake a compounding loan in order to pay for the tuition. If you know a person does not have the capacity to understand the considerations of a contract, I find it highly unethical to enter into such a contract with them. It also seems preposterous to be charging US university level tuition for material that's available from a $2.50 workbook at your local grocery store checkout. I've laterally seen students learning to reduce fractions in a top 50 usnews ranked university.
MollieTheMare
4mo ago
That makes way more sense than a US based person with that budget.
I think federal minimum wage at full time employment in the US is about $1,200/month right now. Seems consistent with PPP, which is about 2.1 for the Balkans.
For eating on a budget you probably have the slight advantage of things like kasha being more readily available in economy pricing, whereas (excluding oats for some reason) groats seem to be considered some sort of specialty health food in the US. Can't say I know anything beyond that though.
Glad it mostly worked out fine.
The lack of a proper place to mount extinguishers is a major flaw in the residential building code, IMO. Like the IBC spent the last three revisions updating the spacing of outlets on a kitchen island, but there's no standard place to mount an extinguisher.
For those who are not renting, I highly recommend just buying a vent cleaning kit. Online or at the home center. Apparently you are supposed to clean your dryer vent every year, and if you already own a drill and vacuum, a cleaning kit is less than the cost of calling a chimney sweep out. Once you're set up, the additional time per vent is pretty small.
More options
Context Copy link