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jsmcgd

1,837 karma · joined April 19, 2007

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jsmcgd··on Show HN: I made some transistor animations
For people who don't have an EE background, like myself, it would be great if for each animation you could add a small explanation for the layman. Looks very cool.
jsmcgd··on The sigmoids won't save you
> It’s true that birth rates must eventually flatten out and become sigmoid

All positive growth eventually flattens out and becomes sigmoid, but a lot of phenomena experience negative growth and nose dive. No gentle curve, but a hard kink and perfect flat line at zero. Forever. I think it would be a stretch to categorize that pattern as sigmoid. Predicting a sigmoid pattern for negative growth implies some sort of a soft landing (depending on your definition of soft).

We can think of many populations that are no longer with us. So just a caution about over applying this reasoning in the negative case.

jsmcgd··on Opus 4.5 is not the normal AI agent experience that I have had thus far
People put up with what they have to put up with. Many millions of people have lived and suffered under totalitarian regimes with basically zero options to do anything about it. I think that's where we're headed and by the time a sufficient amount of people realise how bad their situation is, the moment to do anything about it will have long since passed. There will be no cavalry riding to the rescue this time.
jsmcgd··on Show HN: Play with real quantum physics in your browser
Instead of discounting some of the results, can we alternate the value of the coin each toss? So on the first flip, heads is 0 and tails is 1, then on the next flip, heads is 1 and tails is 0.
jsmcgd··on TSMC begins producing 4-nanometer chips in Arizona
Humanoid robot workers are going to have a massive impact on industries like this. 'cheap labor' will no longer be isolated to certain regions.
jsmcgd··on Germany's days as an industrial superpower are coming to an end
I feel I've seen this movie before.
jsmcgd··on Why you can't divide by zero
I think that this proves that dividing by zero produces the set of all numbers, which is what it looks like to me when you graph this problem (y=1/x) using increasingly small positive and negative values for x. Smaller positive x values tend to positive infinity, smaller negative x values tend to negative infinity. When the x value reaches zero you have a vertical line from positive to negative infinity. ie dividing by zero corresponds to all numbers. That's how it appears to me. So 0/0=2 and it equals 3 etc. I admit this doesn't seem that useful.
jsmcgd··on 'Sunspot archipelago' 15 times wider than Earth could soon bombard us
This is alarming. Does anyone know what the current state of space weather protection/mitigation is for electricity grids in the west?

IIRC in 2012 the Earth missed a giant CME by one week, and had it hit Earth there would have been 80% casualties in the US (according to a US government committee), due to the fallout of failing electrical transformers. I'm not aware that this issue has been rectified - probably due to the magnitude of the task.

Edit: This suggests the issue is being addressed but not to what extent: https://www.space.com/space-weather-impacts-electric-grid-pr...

jsmcgd··on The Sociopaths Among Us–and How to Avoid Them
I'm not so sure that the Dark Triad model is that useful. Reading about narcissistic personality disorder and anti social personality disorder will probably yield a better understanding of these cluster B types. Both are low in empathy and high in selfish behaviour, but they have very different aims and produce very different results. The narcissist main goal is to acquire narcissistic supply and is willing to feast on those closest to them to get it. Psychopaths main goal can be sex, money, power, control and they usually do not care at all for the admiration and opinions of others (with the obvious exception of narcissistic psychopaths).

Thoughts?

jsmcgd··on Nickel Hydrogen Batteries by NASA
Can anyone comment on the design of the cell, specifically why it is long and thin, which would work against the square cube law. Is a large surface to volume chosen for thermal reasons?
jsmcgd··on Noclip.website: A digital museum of video game levels
Very cool. Would love to GoldenEye 007
jsmcgd··on Critical theory is radicalizing high school debate
Why do the debate organisers tolerate this? If the debate is X versus Y, why allow someone to say we should really be discussing Z? Imagine this in any other competitive arena like sport where during a match some team starts playing another sport entirely. There's nothing wrong with debating critical theory but not if that's not what's being debated. It should be an automatic fail, just as it would be if you're supposed to debating in a certain language and you refuse to do so. This just seems like deliberate sabotage/propaganda masquerading as sincere communication. As much fault lies with the organisers as with those who wish to deliberately pervert the debate.
jsmcgd··on Experts say ‘cocaine sharks’ may be feasting on drugs dumped off Florida
I wonder if something similar might explain the recent aggressive behaviour of orcas.
jsmcgd··on Britain Is a Developing Country
The UK actually has a lot of industry: https://www.ibisworld.com/united-kingdom/list-of-industries/

Most people are ignorant about businesses that are not international consumer brands. However this only represents a tiny fraction of the total number of businesses out there.

This visibility problem goes back to even Napolean's time, when he dismissed England as a "nation of shopkeepers". In a way he was correct, but he failed to appreciate what such a nation was and is capable of.

jsmcgd··on Tuple Space (2014)
Thank you :) Upon reflection perhaps this is fair enough, all Hacker News discussions might descend into ~50% ChatGPT content. I'll endeavour to put what ChatGPT produces through my messy human filter. Humans before bots? Guys before AIs. Ho(mo sapien)s before b(r)o ... doesn't quite work.
jsmcgd··on Trudeau says Canada is 'serious' about reviving nuclear power
A lot of new nuclear power plants can be built on the site of the coal/gas power station they are replacing and can utilize the existing power transmission infrastructure.
jsmcgd··on Google Mars (2005)
Here's another 3D Mars surface explorer: https://murray-lab.caltech.edu/CTX/V01/SceneView/MurrayLabCT...

Edit: Searching through my notes, I realised I've been down this rabbit hole before. Here are some more of the same:

https://explore-mars.esri.com/

http://www.mars3dmap.com

https://mars.nasa.gov/resources/24881/planet-mars-3d-model/

jsmcgd··on Why Not Mars
You can't wreck a wreck. Mars can only be improved by humans.
jsmcgd··on Why Not Mars
> What's the point of a "backup plan" when the primary plan isn't even working?

The whole point of a having a backup plan is for when the primary plan isn't working :S

jsmcgd··on FreeTube – A Private YouTube Client
Are there any plans to incorporate other video platforms in this client?
jsmcgd··on Fed should make clear that rising profit margins are spurring inflation
No they're real, but so are higher material costs for businesses. Everything has become more expensive and so there is less to pay for everything, including salaries.

Inflation can be caused by economic success where everybody is richer, and businesses have an incentive to increase prices and salaries to compete with other businesses doing the same.

But this isn't what we're dealing with. This inflation hasn't been caused by economic success, it's been caused by quantitative easing - money printing. And lots of it. Prices are going up because there is more money for the same (or less) amount of goods. In my opinion it may be more helpful to think about 'currency devaluation' rather than 'price increases', despite the fact these are two sides of the same coin.

jsmcgd··on A new concept for low-cost batteries
I agree 110 degrees Celsius is probably too much for a mobile phone, but my laptop has approached 100C before. I'm sure if properly designed it could handle the slightly higher temperatures.

Any thoughts on what the specific energy might be?

jsmcgd··on Living closer together
Living close together does not seem to be optimal for mental health. Quite the opposite. Physical proximity to other humans is not the same thing as community. One can be very alone and feel anxious whilst been surrounded by other humans.
jsmcgd··on Lego Battle of Verdun [video]
2M shells in 48 hrs is 11.5 shells a second.
jsmcgd··on The European central bank is trapped
I don't think anyone does expect the debt to be paid back. However it is expected and required, that at the very least, interest payments on the debt are paid so there isn't a default, which would kill the bond market and end government deficit spending.

Interests rates do not need to increase very much at all at this point, so that 100% of tax revenues would be needed just to cover the interest owed by governments. At this point (actually before) the currency is effectively dead and hyperinflation is inevitable, unless:

1) there is a draconian cut to government spending to match tax revenue, or 2) the current system is abandoned to one that is backed by hard assets (which would include a severe cut in spending but could also include a taper)

1. is politically infeasible, so we will default to 2. after a significant amount of economic pain. The US Dollar and most western fiat currencies are dead and are already long in the tooth by historic standards.

jsmcgd··on The tech bubble that never burst
Interesting. The grass around the cat shit in my garden always seems to grow much better than the surrounding grass. I'm assuming the cats also eat a carnivorous diet.
jsmcgd··on Pockit: A tiny, powerful, modular computer [video]
I think a lego compatible version could be popular.
jsmcgd··on EU to mandate public salary information for all job postings [pdf]
I wonder if this will be one of the unintended (intended?) consequences? Normally the best way to get a pay increase is to apply for jobs that pay a lot more. Previously you could apply for a job that paid much more than your current role. Your new employer might assume that you were on something similar or a little bit less. Now employers will be able to see what you were paid previously and will probably not offer much of a pay increase, or you'll have to have a really good reason why you think your salary should be doubled.
jsmcgd··on Karen Simulator – feel what it's like to be named Karen
Personally I hope this works. I've always liked the name Karen. It would be great to see it get rehabilitated. I'm not a Karen, I don't know any Karens, but I can imagine that this must really suck for them.

I knew an Osama at university in 2003. Poor guy had to change his name. Another nice name ruined.

jsmcgd··on Polaris Program
A vacuum inside a spacecraft is not necessarily cold, nor is the vacuum outside the spacecraft. Components may even begin to overheat in the absence of circulated air.
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