Perenti

So use Zig to implement Smalltalk. All problems solved.

It would be nice if clicking on a list entry (say llama3 ) opened a window/tab on the home page of that model.

I've been playing with my own Smalltalk implementation. I guess it qualifies as a tiny _language_, but the class library is huge!

Yes, I know that all who do not understand Smalltalk are doomed to re-implement it, poorly. I'm just cutting out the middleman - and this allows it to do things Smalltalk normally doesn't. It allows me to think so far outside the box it's not even visible anymore.

I first saw an Apple I at a Maths Camp in late 1976. It was from the first batch to arrive in Australia. We were all enthralled. We were slightly less enthralled waiting for the floating point libraries to load from cassette tape.

Earlier that year I'd been on a school excursion to Lismore "to see the computer". Richmond River High had got themselves a computer. It was a WANG the size of a washing machine, with a separate mark-sense card reader and a separate RF adapter which connected to a big black and white TV. It was new by the way.

The rate of advance from the WANG to the Apple I was incredible. I'm still intoxicated by it.

Microsoft's problem is probably the same as the author of the article. Look at the last sentence. Either it was proof-read by an AI, or the author was so sure of his perfection he never proof-read it.

Not all of this is as straightforward as the author seems to suggest. In particular, I believe the massive increase in mass shootings is only in one country. Part of it is, I believe, the fear-mongering our glorious leaders and the media love so much.

How is this different from a CA with dynamic neighbourhoods? Other than the visualisation of course. It appears at first read to be isomorphic to what's shown, unless I'm overlooking something (quite possible I am). CA with neighbourhoods dependent on cell states and/or agents were what made later versions of SimCity etc work.

I was working on GACA with dynamic neighbourhoods in 1997.

It can also prevent competitors from entering a particular space. I was told as an undergraduate that UNIX was irrelevant because the upcoming Windows NT would be POSIX compliant. It took a _very_ long time before that happened (and for a very flexible version of "compliant"), but the pointy-headed bosses thought that buying Microsoft was the future. And at first glance the upcoming NT _looked_ as if the TCO would be much lower than AIX, HPuX or Solaris.

Then of course Linux took over everywhere except the desktop.

I use my phone on average 5m per week. This week is bigger, due to lots of medical things. I've spent 3m on it today as of 6pm.

No social media. No videos. No Music. I don't click on links in texts except the one that will show me where my taxi is.

At restaurants people around me sit together with food going cold on plates whilst staring at their phones. People walk around and into me whilst staring at their phones. I saw someone nearly step on a nesting Bush Stone Curlew, despite the protests from the bird's mate, because they were staring at their phone.

I do not believe we are cognitively capable of dealing with interruptions that demand our attention every 30 seconds. I know that despite a long list of life threatening illnesses I am the least anxious person I know, and I think that everyone else is stressing because they are staring at their phone.

* Anecdote, one person's experience. YMMV

I've seen bots promoting Replit on Steam forums of indie games.

If this is the way they are marketing their product, I don't see it as having a future. What I've seen in the Dwarf Fortress forums alone makes me want to avoid the company with a 10' pole.

I had dinner with one of the co-authors Wednesday night. He's doubling down on the "significance" test that has H0 that all possible incoming trajectories are equally likely.

He's convinced it's an essentially a local phenomenon. I look forward to how he spins this paper.

I wonder how much extra work is required to make a vertical panel stay up in a 200kmh cyclone (hurricane for the Americans, typhoon for the Asians)? I saw a flying cow once during Cyclone David, and that wasn't a particularly strong storm. I guess they could be attached at the sides to some other strong structure, but doing that without getting shade on the panel could be tricky.

I have issues with my right hand due to damage to my brachial plexus. I changed to Dvorak about 22 years ago, and have far less fatigue and pain when typing longer documents.

The article mentions in passing how Dvorak may help people with physical hand issues - well it certainly helps for me. YMMV

I don't do banking on my phone. I really don't understand why anyone would. If I can't get to my PC or laptop, I'm probably near an ATM. I've already given so much autonomy to Google/Alphabet/Apple, I won't give them access to my bank account.

I should point out that one of the authors believes Star Trek to be the epitome of Science Fiction.

Given mass distribution of our galaxy is decidedly anisotropic I would expect the answer to be a resounding "no". The ((5/57)/ (4 Pi)) implicity assumes uniform incoming trajectories - I think. There's an odd mixing of radians and steradians in this formula, if the "4 Pi" represents the total solid angle of a sphere.

I suggest you read the paper. It's packed with subjective language (Row one of table one, the incoming trajectory is said to be "virtually" in the ecliptic plane), and has so many unstated assumptions behind their so-called significance of the trajectory it's not valid.

And the stated 5 degree angle disagrees with published observations.

And the estimate of the size is over double the confirmed observations of size.

While "Not aligning with scientific consensus doesn't make your suggestions worthless" is true, ignoring published results does.

His argument regarding the trajectory into our Solar System is pretty flaky. It completely disregards Hopkin's computation of a "steep entry angle" and supposition that it comes from the "thick disk", instead assuming the incoming trajectories of interstellar objects are uniformly distributed across the celestial sphere.

Mass distribution in our galaxy is decidedly anisotropic - most mass lies in the galatic plane.

Loeb's estimate of the comet size is strange, when two observatories concur that the maximum size is around 10km.

Look at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44713579 for links to real science.

Yep, keep how to make PCP in a bathtub away from kids. Keep holocaust deniers away from kids. Keep race-hate videos away from kids.

Keep Hancock and Joe Rogan away from kids.

Keep lies and conspiracy theories away from kids.

You seem to think kids are good at risk analysis and critical thinking. There are exceptions, but most people don't develop these things until their late teens when the pre-frontal cortex is developed.

I believe the simple answer (vs complicated truth) is that the donor cell, a fertilized egg, is in a state accepting a not-quite-formed nucleus. There are no male cells that can get into that state AFAIK, possibly excepting pluripotent stem cells that are somehow convinced to undergo ovogenesis.

The truth is of course much more complicated than my limited understanding.

I've taken my time to respond to this. Firstly, that's a big statement about someone you only know from TV.

Secondly, he was one of the most functional human beings I've ever met.

The reason he was so good at herpetology is because he was raised with dangerous reptiles. The backyard of his home in Botany Circuit was crawling with snakes, crocs and goannas. I rarely played at his place, because it un-nerved me. He was very confident and capable, and understood animal behaviour even at 6yo.

I was better at playing with spiders though, no doubt that changed as he grew older.

I encountered this in 1968. This was at Clarinda State School, in grade 1. The 1A class used ITA, and 1B used proper latin alphabet. My best friend, Steve Irwin (yes, _that_ Steve Irwin. Everyone had to go to school somewhere) was in 1A. Every afternoon after school he'd come to my place and we'd go through our readers for the day. I'd read the English one to him, and he'd memorise it to recite (pretending to read) to his teacher the next day. I assume he was taught properly when he moved to Queensland in 1969.

I can't imagine how hard it was for people less bright than Steve. No wonder the scheme trained illiterates.

I've taken quite a lot of these. I was on 3600mg/day for about 5 years. I was later on lyrica for about 3 years.

These drugs _do_ help you to tolerate nerve pain, but do _not_ stop it. I found they led to my otherwise amazing memory developing "holes" - I knew I knew something, but I couldn't put my finger on it. As someone accused of having an eidetic memory (I'm not convinced) I found this really disturbing. I also felt more stupid, and less quick.

I've been off gabapentinoid medications for about 4 years. My pain is more "in my face", but I no longer feel retarded.

Note: The advice on the gabapentinoid box "May increase the effects of alcohol" is both warning and recommendation. It's not unknown for the mix to include open-eyed hallucinations.

In my experience as a medically complicated person, generics generally work, but may have different side effects, both in scale and style. One of the worst was a duloxetine generic that came on so hard and strong that I felt serontoninised.

My friend the John the Pharmacist explained that the binders etc can accelerate absorption. His advice was be careful the first two days of a new generic formulation.

I would assume the NHS (like the TGA here in Oz) looks _very_ carefully at the side-affect profile before they buy any particular generic. Government agencies tend to try not to poison voters.

The paragraph on the relation to Brugada Syndrome hits home, as I have that rare disease. What isn't clear is if it's safe for Brugada patients - a hell of a lot of drugs are not advisable for us. As I also have CRPS type II (complex regional pain syndrome) I'd like a non-narcotic strong pain killer that doesn't induce arrhythmia.

In the third paragraph the authors state:

"For example, the Lotka-Volterra model accurately captures predator-prey dynamics using systems of differential equations."

This is incorrect. The validation of the L-V predator/prey model was considered to be the population dynamics of the Snow Shoe Hare and Canada Lynx as seen in Hudson Bay Company records. The data actually models the fashion cycles in Europe, showing prices and demand from Europe drove the efforts of the Company and the trappers. This is in the standard texts from at least the mid 90s AFAIK.

We used to steal Iodine crystals from the chem lab at High School, and set "traps" for the unwary. I have no idea how many clothes we ruined by putting NI3 on seats.

We also wired cans in || and wired up the boys' urinal so that they could "complete the circuit".

Ah, the Good Old Days before Workplace Health and Safety, or MDS.

I think Wolfram may be ignoring what we already know of brains with more neurons than most have. We call them "austistic" and "adhd".

More is not always better, indeed it rarely is in my experience.

The debate ran for about 3 months. He refused to acknowledge the validity of style guides and grammar. I tried, but he was resolute that because _he_ likes semicolons, other people could easily read his long and rambling sentences.

No assumptions involved, except the one that RMS wanted people to be able to read and comprehend his writing. I'm not sure that he did though.

This reminds me of a "debate" I had with RMS. Back in '98 I was involved with the Gnu Documentation Project, which was about improving the often very out-of-date Gnu documentation.

RMS tends to use semi-colons where others use commas, with _MANY_ subordinate clauses. I suggested he use shorter sentences, and commas. His response:

"But I like semicolons"

That's when I realised that regardless of his bizarre brilliance, there was no way to discuss some issues with him. I still respect him, but he's a shocking writer.