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aj7

2,131 karma · joined December 7, 2015

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aj7··on When did Google get so weird?
I’ll have nothingburger for $100, Alex.

AI Overview patiently taught me Autodesk Fusion, designed the 3-phase wiring in my shop, pointed out scenarios where 3-HP motors would overheat, and attempted to counsel you on the sad demise of your relationship with Dario.

aj7··on Learning Programming in an Age of LLMs
I have a hard time understanding the problem here. I view ai as a tool. Like a steam shovel, electric drill, etc. You can pick up any tool, and try to use it. With the the drill, you’ll have modicum of success, until the drill spins in the chuck. Then you’ll learn to tighten the chuck more, and have more success. Try to solo on a steam shovel with no training, and there will likely be trouble. Vibe coding without understanding underlying syntax is similar.
aj7··on Alan Greenspan has died
He was proof that the position is a figurehead.
aj7··on The desperation of NYTimes
I like the system. Every single time I talked to the human, and explained that the Times wasn’t worth the “regular” price, back came a much lower one.
aj7··on The desperation of NYTimes
“It made me feel powerless.”

Your problem. Read some of Michael Porter’s books on competition. In an economic interaction, all players compete with each other. The Times thinks it’s in its interest to try to brainwash you with some garbage.

And you look for Mommy.

aj7··on MacBook Neo is so popular that Apple doubled production
It took Apple 42 years to kill the pc, but they did it.
aj7··on EEVblog: The 555 Timer is 55 years old [video]
The late Harold DuBose use to use the 555 as a power inverter as it could sink 200ma at the laser companies he worked for. Convenient and cheap.
aj7··on NIST scientists create 'any wavelength' lasers
I should add that analytical device applications of this technology look almost limitless, being able to simplify, shrink, and cheapen thousands of optical instrumentation types. This is a huge market, and will lead to better healthcare, pharmaceuticals and industrial monitoring. Displays are another area, and military, policing, criminology, another. Having a narrowband laser of your choice of wavelength is the holy grail here.
aj7··on NIST scientists create 'any wavelength' lasers
Just want to remind people that the deBroglie wavelength of light IS its wavelength, here 0.5-1.5 um. This is gigantic compared to that of electrons in semiconductors. So there is no VLSI for optical computation. None. Zero. Bupkis. Lasers, except perhaps for some very esoteric applications, will be confined to the periphery where waveguides and fiber are rapidly supplanting copper. By the way, at least $1B has been wasted by VC’s who did not understand the no-VLSI physics barrier.
aj7··on Observer Patch Holography (OPH)
The problem is right in the prologue. “Every piece of evidence we have for objective reality is itself a subjective experience.” But people do independent experiments. And the results agree. That’s a much stronger statement.
aj7··on Iran Targets Datacenters
Iran recites a carefully curated list of American and Gulf States technology targets. 500,000 Nvidia GPU’s are one implicit bullseye.
aj7··on CERN uses tiny AI models burned into silicon for real-time LHC data filtering
I wonder if it is a PhD thesis to prove that the data prefiltering doesn’t bias the results.
aj7··on Doin' It with a 555: One Chip to Rule Them All
The late Harold DuBose of Spectra-Physics, repeatedly used 555's as power inverters in the electronic design of a frequency stabilized ring dye laser. He liked the strength of the output transistor.
aj7··on CSS Optical Illusions
What would be most interesting is using optical illusions to help decode how brain visual processing is done.
aj7··on American importers and consumers bear the cost of 2025 tariffs: analysis
In Israel, virtually every Christian relic is fake. Some are hundreds of years old, but nevertheless fake. This is not a comment on Christianity as a religion. Religions need relics, and if they can’t find them, they are created. This is operating in modern times. I was working as a contractor for Intel Israel. They took everybody on a day trip. To an LDS temple to “see the organ” (what else?). An American LDS church. Needed a place in Israel to “represent.” Now wait 100 years. You wait. I have things to do.
aj7··on I wanted a camera that doesn't exist, so I built it
All good advice above. I’ve tapped 1000’s of holes and haven’t broken a tap in 50 years, and I have nothing to add to the above. Berkeley Physics Dept. student machine shop training.
aj7··on Some ecologists fear their field is losing touch with nature
And in a similar vein, you can’t learn much about investing without actually risking some capital.
aj7··on Ford F-150 Lightning outsold the Cybertruck and was then canceled for poor sales
Try buying a compact Toyota pickup without the extra row of seats. The last one was made in 2015. They sell for more than the price of new for mileage < 100k.
aj7··on The likely cheapest home-made Michelson interferometer
I’m an optomechanical engineer and I’m sorry. I’m not impressed. In a Michelson, the single most important requirement is that the optical path lengths of the two arms do not drift with respect to each other, either in length or angle. Having that path length determined by a fused deposition polymer is about the LAST choice I would make. I have a suggestion. Fused quartz rods are relatively cheap. Buy some 6mm rods and a thin diamond blade to cut them to size. Use the 3D printer to make plate-like parts, ‘replicating’ a cage structure. The polymer parts should be used only for components PERPENDICULAR to the optical path. You could even experiment with using embedded rods to stabilize the plates in various directions. So much of hobbyist activity amounts to a kind of adult coloring or copying. Rather, at your own level, try to be a scientist.
aj7··on Cameras and Lenses (2020)
Look up “beam expanding telescope.”
aj7··on Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design (2011) [pdf]
I have found that my best designs, few and far between, enter a period where they get simpler as they are completed. And my worst or failed designs keep getting more complex as I go on.
aj7··on I program on the subway
I did my calculus homework on the subway.
aj7··on Learning Fortran (2024)
Arrays that actually make sense!
aj7··on Elevated errors across many models
Isn’t that an AWS outage?
aj7··on 23,746 Patients Died on Waitlists in Past Year
Notice that this makes great sense macroeconomically. So you are warned: you will get the healthcare you demand, in addition to that which you pay for. And a certain amount of gaming of the healthcare system is always required. One further note. The more serious your condition the more likely for (1) doctor mistakes and oversights (2) omitted treatments. This requires vigilance and manual correction by you.
aj7··on Scientists create ultra fast memory using light
This is a hugely important point. The de Broglie wavelength of the photon is hundreds to thousands of nm. There is no possibility of VLSI scale-up, a point conveniently omitted in hundreds of decks and at least $1B in investment. Photonic techniques will remain essentially a part of the analog pallette in system design.
aj7··on The 101 of analog signal filtering (2024)
TI App Notes and their design app, LT Spice, and the late Bob Pease are your friends
aj7··on Scammed out of $130K via fake Google call, spoofed Google email and auth sync
I use a variation of this. I answer but do not speak. A legitimate caller will speak immediately.
aj7··on Goldman Sachs says AI still not showing up in companies' bottom lines
I remember identical assertions about the pc. If you want to understand business trends, ask an accountant. In 7-10 years.
aj7··on How to make metals from Martian dirt
OK. As a warmup exercise, make metals at the top of Everest. Then we’ll talk.
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