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Abraln

99 karma · joined April 3, 2014

Mechanical Design Engineer. Works on industrial equipment for the aluminum extrusion industry.
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Abraln··on 90-year-old Cryptanalytic Efforts Must Stay Secret, says NSA
Plus it causes the Russians to continue to view others from the time period with possible suspicion. They can't go "oh, that happened 75 years ago and the Anericans have said nothing about it so we must be able to trust that guy and his work"
Abraln··on Is Faster-Than-Light Travel or Communication Possible? (1997)
I agree with the link that it really depends on what you mean by FTL. At first glance refrigerators seem impossible because they would reverse entropy. The key is that it does not practically matter if they do or not, they just need to achieve the desired result. I would personally consider FTL anything that would beat light traveling through unaltered space-time.
Abraln··on This Device Could Provide a Third of America's Power
I am personally excited about tidal as it is almost completely predictable. The wind may die down and clouds may block the sun, but the tide always comes in on schedule.
Abraln··on Being a “dumb” girl in Computer Science
As a mechanical engineer who has worked with software engineers on projects, I believe that the nature of the job can cause us to be more blunt than most. When the guys in the shop weld something poorly they don't get points for effort, they redo the work. Likewise, when one of my designs has a flaw I WANT people to point it out bluntly and immediately to save me hours of work, the company money and reputation, an possibly even lives if the equipment fails at the wrong moment. My dad is in the field as well and we both have to put effort into not being overly critical of others outside of work. I can certainly see how someone who seeks approval from others could be beaten down by this. Learning to separate your failures from your self esteem, as long as you learn from them, is a tough skill. I honestly think that "girl culture", at least what was at my high school, makes this much more difficult.
Abraln··on You hear a voice in your head when you're reading, right?
I agree that the type of content is important. I personally experience reading as similar to a campfire story, hearing someone else describe a situation. My brain just isn't good at filling in the details of a scene. I am able to control the voice though. Reading textbooks became way more fun once I started reading them as documentaries narrated by Morgan Freeman! I have found the key is to read no faster than a person could speak the words, otherwise I just hear my own voice talking rapidly. I would guess this would be due to a lack of familiarity with the "templates" for the other voices talking quickly.
Abraln··on 'Five-dimensional' glass discs could store data for billions of years
Yeah, it's a bit sensationalist. By that logic you could argue that writing on a piece of paper is 4-D: horizontal and vertical position, what letter/symbol is there, and color. You could add font and underlines/italics to encode even more data per symbol if you wanted.
Abraln··on Hacker Publishes Personal Info of 20,000 FBI Agents
When I was a research assistant in college in the US, we had an Iranian student apply to work with us several times, even after we told him no the first time. We were researching the properties of yellow cake uranium for the Department of Energy! Obviously there are strict rules on that kind of work, hiring him would have been VERY illegal, but he still kept bugging us even after telling him that.
Abraln··on Love Resembles Addiction
Well there is "consent" in that they choose between getting married and getting disowned by their family, often ending up homeless.
Abraln··on Ask HN: What should we fund at YC Research?
I can see the job description now: "75+ years of relevant experience required." At the same time, allowing the Einsteins of society to continue their work indefinitely would provide a net increase in the rate of scientific advancement. Unfortunately climbing the corporate ladder would be nearly impossible as positions would almost never go vacant. It has both pros and cons, but allowing a larger fraction of the population to be in the workforce might just outweigh the negatives.
Abraln··on Netflix to block proxy access to content not available locally
In the US it is not the ISPs "telling" the identity of the customer. They just forward the notices/warnings/thinly-veiled-threats to them. They don't let them know who the IP address is/was held by without a court order as far as I know.
Abraln··on 8K TVs Are Coming to Market
Just so you know, ' is pretty much always used to designate feet, " is inches. Source: I'm a mechanical engineer in the US.
Abraln··on Crows caught on camera making tools in the wild
My understanding is that tools are things used as a way to achieve an objective. Nests would BE the objective, aka shelter. Thus, an ant hill would not be considered a tool.
Abraln··on An Open Letter to California Air Resources Board on VW Cheating Scandal
I would imagine that gas stations of the future will have the capability to fuel/charge cars without drivers present via some kind of pre-paid account. After you get home from work, push a button and the car drives itself to the nearest/cheapest station and a pump/cable extends. When full it drives itself back home.
Abraln··on Ketamine’s effect bolsters a new theory of mental illness
It does get pretty tiring explaining the difference between them. Mine is definitely biologically based, although stress exacerbates it like it does many other things like acne. My "eureka" moment came in high school (when brain chemistry changes from puberty can cause such issues). I was at home playing video games online with friends when I noticed my vision was blurry. I went to the bathroom and saw tears streaming down my face, which baffled me as my conscious thoughts were in no way sad/negative at the time. There was just an underlying feeling of heartache. Over the next 4-5 years I worked with a professional and finally managed to find a drug combo that balances me out. I still get sad, but only for logical reasons, and only as much as I used to before my symptoms developed. It has been a full year for me now without any "episodes", something I had not thought possible previously. I just figured I would share this in case someone else might benefit from reading it.
Abraln··on Antidepressants taken during pregnancy increase risk of autism
Considering that both are characterized by abnormal brain function and that mental illness tends to run in families this seems extremely likely.
Abraln··on Antidepressants taken during pregnancy increase risk of autism
As an aside, NEVER flush medicine. Only dispose of them through proper channels which vary depending on where you live.
Abraln··on ‘No-drill’ techniques can treat tooth decay just as well, study finds
Really? I'm in the USA hear and I have sealants, but have never noticed any difference in feel compared to before (I had them applied in my teens). It sounds like yours were put on REALLY thick. Mine were only put into the indents of my back teeth, so maybe that is the difference?
Abraln··on Car turns driver in for hit-and-run
As someone who lives near Phoenix Arizona, I can see that at least out here it seems to be a result of the fact that the city only really came into existence fairly recently. Compared to much older places like London, which obviously predates the automobile, New forms of transportation were taken into account when zoning regulations and other things were made. As an example, all of our major roads are spaced 1 mile apart and are at right angles to each other in a nice grid. I'm happy living in the suburbs just because it means I get more house for my money.
Abraln··on Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer Faces Morale Challenge
Not the person you are replying to, but I think they are referencing how SEGA ditched home consoles and is now all software and arcades. From what I have heard they are doing extremely well with arcade machines, especially in Japan. I know they make the popular UFO crane game machines.
Abraln··on Why do so many ex-offenders go back to prison? A new study suggests they don't
Seems more like one counts (Number of prison stays)/(people who have gone to prison), while the other counts (people who have gone to prison more than once)/(The number of people who have gone to prison in total)
Abraln··on An obsession with safe spaces is not just bad for education
Kind of, but also "hovering" nearby to prevent every scraped knee and to step in whenever the child faces any difficulty.
Abraln··on Paris Shootings and Explosions Kill Over 100, Police Say
Agreed, reputation is critical for a terrorist organization, just like how gang members brag about how "hardcore" they are because the shot someone.
Abraln··on Paris Shootings and Explosions Kill Over 100, Police Say
Not the gp, but "pointless" killing would be more like someone killing people because they were bored and had nothing better to do. Extremism is all about ideals inspiring action. The hate and retorhic IS the point for them, even if flawed. I think "senseless" killing/violence is a better descriptor.
Abraln··on A US judge’s ruling against the NSA is a big win for Edward Snowden
Yeah, "vindication" may be a better term than "win" in this case.
Abraln··on The European Commission is preparing an attack on the hyperlink
The way it is interpreted is important. I agree that a "health" exemption is used in the US for things like cigarette ads, but as far as "reputation", US courts would laugh at the "right to be forgotten". Basically, in the US, free speech has priority over just about everything else, while most of the EU seems to toss it whenever it comes into conflict with anything else.
Abraln··on First reported case of a paternity test fooled by a human “chimera”
The question is, could this technically be considered polygyny under certain stretched definitions?
Abraln··on Feynman's Letter to His Wife
I was struck by the D'Arline, probably the sweetest pun I have ever heard.
Abraln··on ‘99.99 percent air’: Boeing releases video of revolutionary lightweight metal
I agree completely. Without knowing the spring constant it is tough to say. Although, if they could increase it using thicker tubes it could have applications as shock absorbers in landing gear. I would not be too surprised if they just went as light as they could for the press release. In the end, without a list of mechanical properties it is impossible to say. On the other hand, it could be completely useless and they just wanted to get some good PR out of a failed idea.
Abraln··on Malaria Drug Won’t Work for Much Longer
So would a decent formula for drugs A and B be: rAdiff x rBdiff x rshared = r% where the rA/Bdiff is the chance of resisting the unique parts of A and B and rshared is the chance of resisting what is shared between them?
Abraln··on Why are little kids in Japan so independent?
In the US, any adult male who wants to be an elementary school teacher is looked at as a potential predator. Parents will literally ask to have their kids transferred to a different class because of it.
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