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esturk

973 karma · joined March 24, 2014

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esturk··on Quaternions in Signal and Image Processing
Assuming this is not a tongue in cheek question, you can read about it more here:

https://hsm.stackexchange.com/questions/8173/did-maxwell-ori...

The answer also includes a link that shows many other representations including Einstein's "4d generally covariant tensor calculus".

The point is that the most common formulation today is not the one Maxwell made (with 12 equations). The idea is preserved, but it was Gibbs and Heaviside that formulated the current 4 equation representation.

esturk··on New cancer drug kinder than chemotherapy
Chemotherapy means "Chemical Therapy" so this is still technically categorized under that. But the general term has gotten really negative in recent decades so I suppose it's why they're distancing the branding from it.
esturk··on Google lays off Bay Area workers, closes Mtn View child care center
Wasn’t it around this time last year that Google had their big layoff? I suppose the rumor that Google implemented stack ranking might be true after all.
esturk··on Innovation of the Year: BYD Blade Battery
It doesn't matter how much you "pack the cells very tight", there's a geometrical limit here.[1]

And in practice, you'll have modules of sections of the battery for repairing which drops the efficiency to below 90%.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_packing#Densest_packing

esturk··on FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease
Except those 10 poor kids aren't spending their own money to save themselves. The patient is though which is the point.
esturk··on FDA approves a CRISPR-based medicine for treatment of sickle cell disease
Such a crass statement. What if you're the patient? Would you spend 2 million to live 30-40 more years? It's so easy to step back and weight the lives of other as if you're making the decision for others.
esturk··on Researchers identify 'switch' to activate cancer cell death
But size/height does play a role in humans. For example, shorter people tend to live longer average lifespans.[1]

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12586217/

esturk··on US Smartphone Shipments Decline 19% in Q3 2023 as More Americans Delay Upgrade
Did you even read the article?

First thing, Apple is the smallest loser in this upgrade cycle. Being only downed 11% compared to downed 37% for Google.

Second, the only manufacturer growing is Motorola. Not Pixel/Next.

esturk··on Michael Bloomberg pumps $500M into bid to close all US coal plants
I just want to point out this is only aimed at coal power plants. This has nothing to do with other uses of coal which is used for steel making. According to the EIA, a little over 90% of coal is used for power[1]. But there is close to 10% of that used for Steel.

[1] https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/coal/use-of-coal.php#:~:....

esturk··on Living in privately rented homes linked to faster biological ageing, study finds
"Link" implies correlation which in this case doesn't explain the causality of renting private homes part.

The underlying "hidden variable" might just be "poverty". So the causal relation would be something like:

Poverty -> Stress -> Faster biological ageing

Poverty -> Renting private homes

esturk··on Valve releases Counter-Strike 2
This has been an incredible year for gaming already but even more so for classic series. So far we've seen a new Zelda, Diablo, Final Fantasy, Balder's Gate and Counter-Strike come out. The last time this happened was back in 2000.
esturk··on Plug and socket types around the world
After the whole lightning to USB-C plug fiasco for the iPhone, I wonder if the EU will ever throw their weight to force certain smaller countries to adopt more popular socket standards. It might even be done in the name of "reducing e-waste".

Just looking over the list above, it seems like Type-J (Swiss & Liechtenstein only) and Type-K (Denmark & Greenland only) are prime candidates. I'm only looking at sockets within the EU border btw.

esturk··on ZX81 Mechanical Keyboard
I know it feels a bit reductionist, but what % keyboard would you call this? Feels like its somewhere 40% to 45%.
esturk··on Ten Thousand Ways to Use Chopsticks
The "roll" angle (as in roll/pitch/yaw) w.r.t. your elbow is relevant.
esturk··on Ten Thousand Ways to Use Chopsticks
So you admit the standard grip is "better" than the scissor grip.
esturk··on 60M Americans have taxes so simple the IRS could do them automatically
It occurred to me the other day that if someone owes unpaid taxes, it is probably cheaper to wait for the IRS to send you an unpaid bill than to pay Turbo Tax. According to the IRS collection procedure [1], the interest on the unpaid amount is only 3% and the penalty is 0.5% per month. Unless the owed amount is really high, exceeding 10,000$, the bill due is still less than what they would pay for service at Turbo Tax which costs over 100$ easily nowadays.

[1] https://www.irs.gov/faqs/irs-procedures/collection-procedura...

esturk··on 75% of the Most Played Games on Steam Are Playable on the Steam Deck
If you click on the line item "OS Version" (for all 3 platforms), you'll see the "Steam OS Holo" is missing. I suspect the aggregated stat might not be updated properly. For one thing, the top Linux OS is still "Arch Linux 64 bit" at 0.13% when it should be "Steam OS Holo" as you mentioned at 0.254%.
esturk··on 75% of the Most Played Games on Steam Are Playable on the Steam Deck
For those curious, you can see the Steam Linux OS usage here. [1] As you can see, it (Steam OS Holo) is already 20+% of the Linux OS market share after 1 year.

[1] https://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/?platform=linux

esturk··on 75% of the Most Played Games on Steam Are Playable on the Steam Deck
I agree it is pretty nice, a minor nic I have with it is that sleep time counts toward the 'hours played' in the steam profile.
esturk··on We need a new economics of water as a common good
Apparently, you disregarded the entire first part of my point which was that they were bombed so heavily that set them back decades. They need outside investment to jump start development. Just like Japan and Germany did after WW2.

You speak as if Thailand and Vietnam didn't hold important geopolitical values that the West and China want to exploit which makes them attractive to investments.

Those same countries still need to court outside investments to build out infrastructure and industries like recent efforts to move manufacturing to southeast Asia.

esturk··on We need a new economics of water as a common good
Have you considered that Laos is the way it is because of its past history and geographical location? For one, it's the most heavily bombed nation in the world per capita (done by America during the Vietnam War)? [1]

It isn't easy to develop a country that is so severely set back by war. Especially without outside help and/or investment.

Laos also isn't getting the same attention as its neighbors like Thailand and Vietnam by the West almost as if it holds no strategic value to the West.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unexploded_ordnance#Laos

esturk··on Costs of the U.S.-Led War in Iraq Since 2003
Oh? Is this one of those symbolic UN votes that amounted to nothing? I was referring to actual sanctions all the western allies are putting on Russia right now. Options that have teeth. But no one dared to do that to America.
esturk··on Costs of the U.S.-Led War in Iraq Since 2003
The problem was that no country dared to stand up to America just like they would with Russia right now. (IMO, Russia was rightfully sanctioned for the invasion of Ukraine.) But when America invaded Iraq, who dared to sanction America? No one. And in the future, should America do it once more, the same thing would happen again.
esturk··on Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle
So that's optional then? Not really a compelling argument as oppose to the operation of the vehicle.
esturk··on TSMC is making the best of a bad geopolitical situation
That's more true of Taiwan's population. Taiwan's fertility rate is set to be the world's lowest.[1] So it doesn't seem like the population is Taiwan's advantage.

[1] https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/04/21/asia-pacific/so...

esturk··on Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle
No where did the energy.gov article nor parent article mention interior heating. The discussion was always about battery performance vs ICE performance degradation under cold weather.
esturk··on Realistic daily range of an electric vehicle
"Cold weather has an influence on the battery capacity too."

I take this to mean that the author acknowledges GAS cars are also affected by cold weather. There's just no escaping thermodynamics. It's also like pointing out GAS cars' MPG is reduced by 20%+ in cold weather. While it's true, it's like pointing out a gotcha edge case for all cars. So the conclusion can also apply the same way to GAS cars. 'Next time you estimate the mileage, take a 20% discount!'

According to energy.gov[1]:

Cold weather and winter driving conditions can significantly reduce fuel economy. Fuel economy tests show that, in city driving, a conventional gasoline car's gas mileage is roughly 15% lower at 20°F than it would be at 77°F. It can drop as much as 24% for short (3- to 4-mile) trips.

[1] https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/fuel-economy-cold-weather....

esturk··on What happened to the first cryogenically frozen humans?
Regardless of how some might use this tech to prolong life, I'm confident this tech, or "Hibernation" in other literature, is needed if humanity ever hopes for interstellar space travel.
esturk··on Toyota chief says ‘silent majority’ has doubts about pursuing only EVs
Hybrids have the hidden/extra cost of getting your Catalytic Converter stolen which should be tacked on to maintenance.
esturk··on Toyota chief says ‘silent majority’ has doubts about pursuing only EVs
Are you sure you interpreted this number correctly? Seems like EV sales (83%) are growing faster than Hybrid (76%) sales. So no, hybrids are very much a temporary stop gap solution. EV will overtake Hybrids soon; possibly in 2 years.
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