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NickNameNick

1,134 karma · joined May 6, 2012

Developer from Wellington, NZ
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NickNameNick··on Nearly all UK drivers say headlights are too bright
You don't need electronics for that, just corner-cube reflectors.
NickNameNick··on Android users can now use conversational editing in Google Photos
Red Dwarf did it better.
NickNameNick··on Lego price per part over the years
I'd expect 2 small pieces to weigh more than 1 big one.

So I'd expect you to see the weight go up faster than the part count.

Not sure if that would confound or exagerate the trend.

NickNameNick··on Class Action Against General Motors LLC, OnStar LLC, LexisNexis Risk Solutions [pdf]
Presumably the new ones use an e-sim instead of a physical one.
NickNameNick··on Computer Engineering for Babies (2021)
I was particularly impressed by the clear explanations in 'statistical physics for babies'.
NickNameNick··on Fluorite lenses: Corrective capabilities beyond ordinary optical glass
Isn't that covered in the 7th paragraph?

'the red to green wavelengths are dispersed with the same tendencies as glass, but the green to blue wavelengths are dispersed more than glass. Using a convex fluorite lens element alongside a high-dispersion glass concave lens element therefore eliminates residual chromatic aberration'

NickNameNick··on The future of air defense must be smarter, more affordable, and reusable
There's a minimum size of vehicle you can mount a gun on. The mount needs to absorb the recoil without breaking or getting pushed around too much.

The Swiss have been experimenting with recoilless chain-guns to try and reduce that footprint. Which might be interesting, but recoilless weapons are extremely unpleasant to be near due to the backblast. It still might make sense to mount such a weapon on a remote automated station, and stick it on the roof of any available truck or APC/IFV.

The hype around hypersonic missiles is overcooked. Ballistic missiles are faster. The hypersonic's advantage is supposed to be its manoeuvrability, expecting an heavy anti-ship missile to be more agile than an interceptor is just silly.

And It'd take way more than 10 missiles to overwhelm a carrier groups air defence. The combat system on an American destroyer can track "100+" targets. The carrier group has several destroyers.

In order to overwhelm the systems, you'd be getting close to the point of exhausting their interceptors. So why even bother with the fancy missiles?

NickNameNick··on Unity Software with a 'company reset' walks away from film VFX and the Wētā Deal
Looks like the digital trademark will be going back to FX, so unity isn't even keeping that.
NickNameNick··on The story of titanium
Looks like they're just butted rings, so you're relying on the rididity of each ring to resist opening up.

Welded or rivited rings would be much more robust. Especially vs piercing weapons, like arrows or fighting knives.

But much more expensive.

NickNameNick··on Northvolt develops state-of-the-art sodium-ion battery validated at 160 Wh/kg
New Zealand has a scheme (soon to expire with the change in government) for this.

Low efficiency vehicles are taxed on import, and the money raised is returned as rebates on high efficiency vehicles.

A Ford Ranger might attract the full fee, a new t Nissan leaf would get the full credit. A small ICE car attracts a smaller fee. Hybrids are given a smaller credit.

The exact amount of credit varied over time as the fees gathered changed.

NickNameNick··on Rivian R1T is the first EV to win the longest off-road competition in the US
There have been attempts

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Body_Control#Magic_Body...

NickNameNick··on Rivian R1T is the first EV to win the longest off-road competition in the US
It doesn't have differentials at all ...

Each wheel has it's own motor.

NickNameNick··on Jesus nut
Load balancer? Cluster coordinator? STONITH device
NickNameNick··on Java 21 makes me like Java again
I've certainly done that in the past, but not since I changed jobs ... 7 years ago. Probably not for several years before then.
NickNameNick··on The Uselessness of Phenylephrine (2022)
see "A Simple and Convenient Synthesis of Pseudoephedrine From N-Methylamphetamine"

https://improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume19/v19i3/Pse...

NickNameNick··on Why doctors hate their computers (2018)
Standardised names and codes for every disease, injury, condition, diagnostic process or tool, medication and treatment.

Standardised workflows for entering diagnoses and treatments. Automated warnings when a treatment might be inappropriate, or drugs might interact.

The problem space is enormous.

NickNameNick··on SFO United staff accused of stealing marijuana from checked bags
This approach can be a little problematic.

I'm particular, communications between the airline and tsa aren't all that reliable.

See for example:

https://youtu.be/l0IwVrC56tc

NickNameNick··on Plane: Open-Source Alternative to Jira
I always liked how Redmine has a tree of projects, rather than just a list.
NickNameNick··on Is Gmail killing independent email?
Those are country code TLDs
NickNameNick··on Displaying My Washing Machine's Remaining Time with Curl, Jq, and Pizauth
Combo washer/driers exist. They typically have less capacity than stand-alone units.
NickNameNick··on In 2017, developers competed for who could create worst volume control interface
I got andrew tate, jordan peterson, and 'stopwoke'
NickNameNick··on The day Windows died
I built a new desktop last week. One of the first things I did once windows was installed was go through the start menu uninstalling things. Including tiktok.
NickNameNick··on Experian is a pile of dark pattern garbage
Given how many people seem to have trouble correcting errors in the records, I have to wonder what the threshold would be for just sueing them.

It seems like you could make good arguments for libel and tortious interference.

NickNameNick··on Pentagon looking to make sure SpaceX doesn’t abandon them in war
Kessler syndrome isn't magic. Space is big. Starlink satalites are small. And they're low enough thst atmospheric drag will deorbit must of the small debris very quickly.
NickNameNick··on Pentagon looking to make sure SpaceX doesn’t abandon them in war
I'm pretty sure spacex can launch starlink satalites much faster and cheaper than Russia can shoot them down.

I'm sure spacex won't want to go down that route, but it's not a good tactic for Russia.

NickNameNick··on 200-year old heat pump technology is back
Most reticulated gas networks use the pipe network itself as the storage facility.

eg: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_gas_storage#Pipeline_c...

There may be more than a day of capacity just in the pipe network.

NickNameNick··on Elizabeth Holmes bought one-way ticket to Mexico after convicted of fraud
I think that's more of an issue with 'hidden city ticketing'/deliberately missing connections, because it's cheaper than buying a ticket to the layover location.
NickNameNick··on The Dymaxion Bathroom
I think it depends on where you put the radius'd corners.

They'd be incompatible with vacuum cleaners and Roombas for example. And may pose a challenge for some types of mops.

NickNameNick··on Transformer stockpiles and power grids come under threat
Do the Russians have any equipment to spare?

They already repatriated an s300 battery from Syria back to Russia.

NickNameNick··on Transformer stockpiles and power grids come under threat
Hvdc systems still have transformers on the AC side.
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