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benfarahmand

17 karma · joined January 21, 2014

product manager, designer, engineer, entrepreneur

Working on https://www.tuvalabs.com and http://www.thefaza.com

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benfarahmand··on Show HN: I built an app to stop me doomscrolling by touching grass
three's 2 feet of snow on the ground. there's no grass. what do i do? can we get an update to touch snow?
benfarahmand··on Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (October 2024)
I made a music visualizer.

Background: Over the past several years my friends and I would get together for music nights where we share albums and songs we've been listening to. We also have a projector in case we want to showcase music videos.

Eventually, I made us a music visualizer that analyzes real-time microphone input and draws various geometries on to the screen, giving us something to engage our eyes. I built it using the Processing library for Java.

Here's a few demos of it:

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcNIBagttRU

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sJ192bQt1k

benfarahmand··on Ask HN: What are you working on? (October 2024)
I had to track my physical inputs and outputs for a week for medical reasons and I used a google form. I placed a shortcut on my phone and it immediately opened the form for simple and easy tracking. Everything was then saved to a spreadsheet, which I could analyze once my week was done.
benfarahmand··on The new math of how large-scale order emerges
I can't think of physical processes that could go from macro -> micro. The examples I can think of stem from Yuval Harari's human fictions affecting the world. For example, a nation state or a corporation or a story could set the stage for the macro affecting the micro. If we look at a story, it communicates an idea that changes the behaviors of humans, which in turn causes those humans to interact with the micro and the macro.

As I'm writing this out and thinking about it, where would fictional objects fit on the micro <--> macro axis?

benfarahmand··on Gemini AI
But can it DM a DnD game?
benfarahmand··on A 100GW phased laser array for interstellar lightsail propulsion (2021)
Could these ground based lasers be used for deflecting asteroids?
benfarahmand··on Algae-Powered Computing
The linked paper summary says "...we describe a bio-photovoltaic energy harvester system using photosynthetic microorganisms on an aluminium anode..."

How do they prevent the aluminum from oxidizing? Oxidized aluminum is an insulator, which should be a problem for a long lived battery?

I don't have access to the whole paper since it's behind a paywall.

benfarahmand··on Ask HN: A genie appears. What do you wish for?
Why?
benfarahmand··on Ask HN: A genie appears. What do you wish for?
To have more time to experience more of the world, learn new skills, spend time with friends and family, start (and finish!) more side projects, etc.

I'm not entirely sure how 'more time' would be accomplished. It could be living longer, not requiring sleep, not needing a salary to pay for basic needs (which would free up existing time).

benfarahmand··on I was stuck on a side project for 5 years – how I finished it (2020)
I may or may not be building a shed in my spare time for the past 5 years, but I'm positive I'm not making a cake. With prototyping and user feedback it feels like I'm not building a shed, but the effort many times feels like I'm building a shed. That said, the shed definition could be clearer because there are parts of my passion project that makes it feel like I'm building a shed (i.e. marketing).
benfarahmand··on Moth Minds: Fund individuals doing work you believe in
If the goal is developing grantee self-efficacy, the funding should require pairing with a mentor. Finding a mentor that is willing to guide a grantee to bring an idea to fruition is also validation of that individual's ability to accomplish the task.
benfarahmand··on Why extraterrestrial life may not seem alien
Reading your comment made me wonder why we have even numbers of limbs for different body plans. I realized it's due to bilateral symmetry for most organisms must some how be advantageous to asymmetric body plans, but I'm unsure how symmetry is advantageous. What are the evolutionary pressures selecting against asymmetric body plans?
benfarahmand··on Milky Way, 12 years, 1250 hours of exposures and 125 x 22 degrees of sky
This is amazing! When taking long exposures like this over a significant amount of time, does anyone know how astronomers account for stellar parallax and/or the sun's orbit in the milky way? Are these factors too small to affect long exposure photos? And if they are too small to affect a long exposure photo, at what point does it become an issue?
benfarahmand··on Reflections on Apocalyptic Science Fiction
Hi Everyone, I wrote the essay above. Would love to know what you think. Feel free to critique it.
benfarahmand··on Building Fonzie, Faza's Robotic Mascot
Maker of Fonzie here. Let me know if you have any questions.

Bill of materials:

- Arduino

- Raspberry Pi

- OpenCV with Python

- Webcam

- 6 servos

- 6 gearboxes

- 2 speakers

- Aluminum frame

- Chicken Wire

- Quilt Batting

- 3s12p Lithium Ion Battery

- Lots of wire, solder, and thread

benfarahmand··on Some terrible personal news
Matt, I'm so sorry to read this news. I hope you spend this difficult time with the people in your life that are sensitive to you and your needs.