Hacker News Reader

dieseleratoron IBM and Samsung Unveil Semiconductor Breakthrough

tl;dr

This all the information:

"With new Vertical Transport Field Effect Transistors, or VTFET, IBM and Samsung have successfully implemented transistors that are built perpendicular to the surface of the chip with a vertical, or up-and-down, current flow."

The rest is marketing.

It is nice to see innovation. I hope they put it in production.

dieseleratoron Show HN: Relativity: A Modern Primer

That seems a reasonable complaint.

For relativity with more explanation and not much math I suggest

Relativity (The Special and the General Theory) by Albert Einstein, 1916. Translated to English: ISBN 0-517-029618

I think the book is still in print, and new and used copies are cheap if you shop around.

It is good reading if you want the details explained step by step.

dieseleratoron Death rates are declining for many common cancers in the U.S., report finds

I am happy to see there is progress, but the death rate still feels high.

I am thankful for vaccines. If they can stop the cancer before it gets you and me I will be thankful for that as well . I think that people have been hoping for a cure for a long time. I am not optimistic that there will be a cure in time for me, but I hope just like everyone else.

Here is the link to the actual report: Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, Part 1: National Cancer Statistics (PDF only) [0]

[0] <https://academic.oup.com/jnci/advance-article-pdf/doi/10.109...>

dieseleratoron Watches from the Soviet Union

There is a discussion forum on the topic of Russian watches, including one dedicated to photos of the various brands and models.

Russian watches <https://www.watchuseek.com/forums/russian-watches.10/>

Russian Watches Image Gallery <https://www.watchuseek.com/forums/image-gallery.97/>

dieseleratoron Does NMN improve metabolic health in humans?

tl;dr NMN = nicotinamide mononucleotide

The author explains a published paper and says though the reported results may be statistically significant, there is not convincing evidence that they are clinically significant. So, more study needed.

dieseleratoron Bronze Disease

The chemistry may be different, but this seems similar to stress cracking in brass or bronze where ammonia etches along the grain boundaries. [0]

[0] Season cracking is a form of stress-corrosion cracking of brass cartridge cases <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Season_cracking>

dieseleratoron The Wisdom of Ernesto Colnago

tl;dr An interview with Ernesto Colnago who has been making bicycle frames for a long time, first alone and now in a factory in Italy. He has a passion for his work, and he keeps at it. "As long as there is work, there is life." He shares some other personal philosophies. It is an interesting read. I would like to meet Colnago.

dieseleratoron The modern clock; a study of time keeping mechanism (1905)

Though I would not call them "popular" or "household" clocks, there are still similar clocks being made. For a good quality example, check out Erwin Sattler [0]. I think one of those would fit in at home. Well, it might take new furniture to match it.

[0] <https://www.erwinsattler.com/> I have no financial interest in that.

dieseleratoron In southeastern Colorado, robots disarm WWII-era chemical weapons (2017)

The article is careful with the facts and well written. I found it interesting.

dieseleratoron Fifty twists of the tongue: A remarkable version of a remarkable Arabic classic

Try turning on javascript. That worked for me.

The article is a book review about a creative and clever translation of the tales which in the original Arabic uses clever composition.

dieseleratoron Dave Barry's Year in Review: 2020

You might find this interview of Dave Barry interesting.

2020 KATU Interviews Dave Barry (50th anniversary) [1] Nov 14, 2020

[1] <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN1RfHXEjg>

dieseleratoron James Gunn (1923-2020)

James E. Gunn, professor emeritus, University of Kansas

He wrote science fiction, in particular a novel "The Listeners", 1972. I don't read much SciFi, but I think "The listeners" is very good. It is worth reading if you can find a copy.

dieseleratoron Electric Monarch tractor can plow a field without a driver and run for ten hours

I agree the dealer is important, but they don't make parts. I have a Deere a little over 20 years old, and many parts are unavailable.

dieseleratoron A DIY Audio Induction Loop for the Hard of Hearing

  What I am about to write here is similar to third hand information.
  I do not have first hand experience.

  I looked into putting an audio loop into a venue.  I asked an audiologist
  about the prevalence of T-coil equipped hearing aids.  She told me most
  users prefer small and rechargeable.  There is not much space in the unit
  and rechargeable would likely be selected.  So, the T-coil does not get
  included.  She thought T-coil units were common in Europe.

  There are special amplifiers to drive the audio loop.  The makers don't
  tell us much about them.  I think we would call those transconductance
  amplifiers.  Reading the subject article is encouraging.  Perhaps we
  will just try this after the virus is not such a threat.

dieseleratoron A 1973 IBM Selectric typeball recorded dancers' body movements

That is interesting.

I have an IBM Selectric that I purchased at a thrift store. It is a marvel engineering. It was too much to resist. I have not used it, but I tried it out. It works. It really is a fine machine. I think I will spin it up and exercise it.

I wonder if one of those dance type balls is available any where. I suppose not, but it would be fun to try it out.

dieseleratoron Bill Joy's greatest gift to man – the vi editor (2003)

tl;dr The Register interviews Bill Joy about writing vi over a very slow data link.

I use vi (m) every day. Thank you, Bill Joy, and Happy Birthday whenever chron brings it up.

dieseleratoron Mysterious heart damage, not just lung troubles, befalling Covid-19 patients

I would not describe teachers or those who post on HN as "in it for attention". Though I have not posted on youtube, I see no reason to describe those who have as attention seekers.

dieseleratoron We Stopped Arguing About Chores After Making One Spreadsheet

All right, you got me to read the article.

dieseleratoron Covid-19 impact on logistics: border crossing times

Here is a direct link to the map --> <https://covid-19.sixfold.com/>

dieseleratoron Ozone Production from UV

Another thread on HN [22705511] points to a press release from a company making a product that uses UVc light to disinfect breathing air. What kind of UVc light is not disclosed, but a search of the website hints at their product using 254 nm light.

Making clean air sounds good, but we should ask: Does it also make ozone? I thought this might be worth checking.

Ozone is pretty toxic even in low concentrations. The recommended and permissible exposure limit is 0.1 ppm [1] as set by both OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act) and the NIOSH (United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health).

In looking for information about ozone generation by UVc I found the explanation on the Oxidation Technologies website. They wrote a clear explanation for non experts that answers our question. It appears 254 nm light dissociates ozone to pure oxygen. That would be a statistical result rather than absolute. That is want I want to share here without interfering with the HN discussion on disinfection.

[1] Ozone: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/idlh/10028156.html

I have no connection to any of the organizations mentioned.

dieseleratoron Has Physics Lost Its Way?

No, I do not believe those physics professors would publish any "junk". I expect some research reaches a dead end. However, those professors seemed much too driven by the pursuit of knowledge to waste their time on useless research.

Though the math is beyond me, theoretical physics is pretty much all math. The math being developed may or may not be useful eventually, but it adds to the knowledge base. I think "is this testable?" is the wrong wrong question to ask.

dieseleratoron Has Physics Lost Its Way?

My experience in school was the best professors were in the physics department. I learned a lot in those classes. I never asked, "Is this useful?" Of course, it has been very useful, especially in understanding engineering problems.

The physics professors worked hard at teaching their classes, and they all supported graduate students. I think that is sufficient. I don't care if some of their research gives mathematical results that are not testable. That is what we call research. I will back those professors every time.

That is my opinion.

dieseleratoron History of the Murphy Bed

There is a US company that makes king size wall bed systems. --> Sico, Inc. in Minnesota [1]. In some size I have seen them in hotel rooms. They seemed well made and operated smoothly. I have no idea about prices.

[1] <https://www.sicoinc.com/en/product/room-makers-wallbed-syste...

dieseleratoron Boeing 737 Max Aircraft: Preliminary Investigative Findings [pdf]

> It all ended with serious incident where one of the crews overshot the runway resulting shut down of Laguardia airport. Mike Pence was on board.

The aircraft you are referring to was chartered from Eastern Airlines (since acquired by a different airline) and flown by Eastern Airline pilots. [1]

[1] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines_(2015)>

dieseleratoron Air travel and health care got great for the wealthy and worse for everyone else

tl;dr

The article is a book review/author interview.

The author of the book has a grievance. Rich people can pay to avoid waiting, inconvenience, and hassle. It isn't fair. the author also expresses the opinion this leads to much resentment in the have nots.

dieseleratoron Modeling the effectiveness of respiratory masks in reducing influenza (2018)

I wonder how it feels to be assigned to the control group?

dieseleratoron Musicians Generated Every Possible Melody, Release Them to Public Domain

Though I am not a lawyer, I will jump to a conclusion that this strategy will fail.

First, algorithmically generating all length 12 sequences of 8 notes (2^36 = 64 G results) is just math, not music composition, even if you encode the results in midi format. Thus, not subject to copyright protection (in the U.S. anyway).

Next, a catalog of 64G entries is not human searchable. It is an unreasonable to state a person searched or could have the catalog, and copied an entry. Perhaps a program containing certain search criteria could scan the catalog looking for entries with "musical" attributes. However, such a program would not need the catalog, because it could generate every entry independently.

Since the output of this effort is neither subject to copyright nor human searchable, the effort will not mitigate copyright law suits. It seems a fruitless exercise. I suppose it was worth thinking about, though.

And that is my opinion.

dieseleratoron Can an Economy Feel Joy?

I think the question suggests another question:

Can an economy feel "irrational exuberance"?

dieseleratoron What made the 1960s CDC6600 supercomputer fast?

The article shows us transistor level logic circuits to study, but I think the quick answer is as the architect Seymour Cray gets the credit.

dieseleratoron A radio frequency exposure test finds an iPhone 11 Pro exceeds the FCC's limit

In my case the phone has never been in my pocket while in use. The phone may occasionally ping the cell tower. Otherwise it is just listening in standby mode, in plain words, not transmitting. The premise of the article is weak. In my opinion the article was not suitably vetted by Spectrum.