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an_account

822 karma · joined September 17, 2015

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an_account··on The UV index is not the warm sensation of sunlight on bare skin
You only need 5 minutes at midday in the summer. At 7am, you get essentially no vitamin D.
an_account··on Could we dredge the Netherlands without fossil fuels? (2018)
> In reality fossil fuel is crap and we don't need it.

I agree, which is why I was advocating for clean electricity to do the dredging.

The end of this article advocates for going back hand labor, which is what I was pushing back on as an unpractical return to a shitty past.

an_account··on Could we dredge the Netherlands without fossil fuels? (2018)
Electricity generated from wind and solar with some wires to the dredge would be way easier than dredging by hand.

Why do many environmental activists seem to want to go back to a shitty past rather than move forward to bright future.

The historical aspects of this article are a good read though. Very interesting technology.

an_account··on The Potomac River Midair Collision
It’s a direct quote taken out of context.

The article explains that the helicopter pilot was flying within the poorly defined helicopter route and within expected altitude on the altimeter. Her instructor was the one who made the critical mistake of saying he had visual on the airplane, when he in fact didn’t not.

I don’t know how you could have read the article and come to the conclusion that that was the takeaway. My only guess is that you ctrl-F searched for something that confirmed your priors.

an_account··on The Potomac River Midair Collision
This is a very bad tl;dr and is definitely not the main takeaway of the article.

Edit: to add details, the article explains that the helicopter pilot was flying within the poorly defined helicopter route and within expected altitude on the altimeter. Her instructor was the one who made the critical mistake of saying he had visual on the airplane, when he in fact didn’t not.

an_account··on Situational Awareness Down 67% in July in AI Stock Rout
All I see is a paywall
an_account··on OpenAI and Hugging Face address security incident during model evaluation
Until someone fine-tunes a capable model to have the behavior of "wanting to live" and "wanting to propagate itself to other compute hardware".
an_account··on The 15-minute city is a dead end
I think he completely misunderstood 15 minute cities as a concept.

15 min cities mean cities that are mixed use enough that you can get all your needs within 15 mins without a car. Cities like this can be large and typically are extremely well connected, not isolated into enclaves like this person suggests.

an_account··on Banning lead in gas worked. The proof is in our hair
CEQA in California is very often used to block apartments in existing urban areas.

So, instead, California continues to mostly build single family housing sprawl into natural habitats.

A clear example of environmental regulation hurting the environment and the climate. And of course the affordability of housing.

an_account··on Changes since congestion pricing started in New York
If you can afford a car in NYC then you can afford the toll. Cars are very expensive to own.
an_account··on Pro bettors disguising themselves as gambling addicts
In sports betting you are betting against the house. If the sportsbook sets a bad line, you can lock it in and make money off of it.

Horse racing is what you describe, parimutuel, where the house just takes a commission. But the odds shift even after you place your bet. Very different for traditional sports betting.

an_account··on Low Cost CO2 Sensors Comparison: Photo-Acoustic vs. NDIR
When I looked a few years ago the Await element was best consumer grade one on the market at a good price. I’ve been happy with it so far.
an_account··on Pixar to undergo 20% layoffs in 2024
Pixar famously spends quite a lot on compute for their render farm.

https://nofilmschool.com/why-pixars-24000-core-supercomputer...

an_account··on Air Quality Monitors from USD $169 to $6k use the same low-cost PM Modules
I’ve gone down the air quality monitor rabbit hole and, after building my own, have settle on just buying/recommending the Awair Element.[1]

Interestingly, it’s not in the table in this article.

[1] https://www.getawair.com/products/element

an_account··on To ease the housing crunch, more places end single-family zoning
“Luxury” is often a marketing term used for very much not luxury apartments. There’s nothing “luxury” about a 900 sqft apartment that happens to have decent stainless steel appliances and a modern look.

New apartments (like new cars) are always priced higher than older buildings, but give it a few years and prices drop.

an_account··on Bikes, not self driving cars, are the technological gateway to urban progress
Plenty of fat or elderly people can ride bikes, especially e-assist bikes. More people can ride bikes than can drive cars… 82M people don’t have drivers licenses in America.

In fact, it’s much more devastating for elderly people in America who can no longer drive due to poor eyesight when the only mode of transportation in a city is by car.

It wouldn’t take much investment (compared to pricy car infrastructure) to make many American cities bike friendly.

an_account··on Why Garmin watches have become common in some segments of tactical aviation
The GPS has to shut off when going faster than a certain speed or higher than a certain altitude. IIRC the GPS maker can decided which they want to follow, and most chose to stop working at high altitude. It’s possible but more difficult to find a GPS that will work with high altitude balloons.
an_account··on Schwab Removes U.S. Stock, ETF and Options Commissions
Lots of smaller regional banks pay ATM fees, as they don’t want to run their own fleet of ATMs. And they have local branches when you need it, like for a cashiers check.
an_account··on Georgia's entire voter file potentially compromised after voting machine theft
Paper ballot, electronic counting. Best of both worlds. You get a quick count, but also if there’s shadiness/hacking going on you can always recount the paper.

Some states seem to be moving towards absentee voting over the internet, which will be a mess when accusations of hacking start flying.

an_account··on Georgia's entire voter file potentially compromised after voting machine theft
It’s to help prevent voter fraud. Anybody who cares can check who voted and when.

Also, your name, birthday, and address will never be very private. You give it to so many different people/companies.

an_account··on A Map That Made Los Angeles Make Sense
I disagree. If you pay attention to where you’re being routed you can totally learn special awareness and routing in your city. Some people don’t, but those are the same type of people that were always lost in the age of paper maps.
an_account··on Longest-running oil spill in history releasing more than 4,500 gallons per day
Human oil extraction in the region likely reduces the amount of tar on the beach as it relives pressure from natural seeps.

An oil company even has a cap over one of the bigger natural leaks to capture the oil that would otherwise be entering the ocean.

an_account··on Airlines propose long list of rules to kill or revise
A foreign airline operating domestic routes in the US would likely use many US pilots/employees.
an_account··on NIH Courted Alcohol Industry to Fund Study on Benefits of Moderate Drinking
It’s my understanding that the scientific consensus is that coffee is actually pretty great for you, as long as it’s not interrupting your sleep.
an_account··on Turning Soybeans into Diesel Fuel Is Costing Billions
It you wanted to kickstart a technology I think it could make sense for shorter periods of time. For example Electric Vehicle tax credits make it much easier for car companies to develop their electric car lines, but the credits expire after so many cars.
an_account··on U.S. To End Policy That Let Legal Pot Flourish
You’re conflating two different things. In the former, states have set up legal framework for marijuana sales. In the later, state laws don’t have any opinion on the matter.
an_account··on IOHIDeous OS X Local Kernel Vulnerability
As a Mac user, I feel it’s irresponsible. I don’t want zero days published before Apple has a chance to fix.

I also think that the vendor has a responsibility to fix the exploit quickly, and if not the researcher should publish and shame the vendor.

an_account··on How I went from programming to consulting (2012)
How did you get your start freelancing?
an_account··on Cadavers in the ballroom: Drs practice their craft in America’s favorite hotels
If they follow all medical waste and blood born pathegons procedures, then what does it matter?

Continuing education of medical practitioners is incredibley valuable to society.

an_account··on Goldman Sachs Is Setting Up a Cryptocurrency Trading Desk
Cool idea, lets see what happens: xrb_36of6n5yjan51rzxaembfrdgqmbqwn8rg9aj5791sy8hyqp4s7y4bfrjigx7
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