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mdahlstrand

27 karma · joined December 1, 2011

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mdahlstrand··on Commercial dairy keeping calves with cows
Better to have lived short and suffered than not to have been born at all?

If it helps with our environmental catastrophe I’m alright with many fewer cows being born, particularly since the lives we bring them into is so full of suffering.

mdahlstrand··on Crafting Functions
Second code example:

  fileURL = saveFile("export.csv", jsonStr);
(you should be writing csvStr to the file, not jsonStr)
mdahlstrand··on MikroOrm v4 /w GraphQL example project that I created over the weekend
I went through the same thoughts as you and went straight to knex for my last project. Turns out knex also has bugs and the limitations from having it support all the databases means some really useful features are not available.

For my latest project I've gone with pg, writing sql directly, and I'm not looking back. It's so nice not having to write sql through the abstraction layer of knex.

Of course if you think you'll swap your database provider down the line, maybe stay with knex. But I really can't see why I'd want to switch away from postgres at a later date.

mdahlstrand··on My First Homemade Pedalboard
I used to have a Scarlett interface and found the software buggy and without much UX thinking having gone into it. Gen 3 might be shipped with better software better but in the end I switched to Behringer UMC404HD (four channels for less than the price of two) and really haven't looked back! Plug and play as well, with physical knobs only, so no confusing software to configure.
mdahlstrand··on Show HN: I made a Metacritic for tech products
Are there only four products in each category? (Browsing on phone if it's a bug).
mdahlstrand··on Solid-state battery startup claims breakthrough for electric vehicles
In cars having lower weight & volume makes a big difference (your house has more space, and doesn't have to be lugged around). The safety aspect is a big part also - no risk of exploding cars (and already no risk of batteries being pierced when in a house).
mdahlstrand··on Suicidal Vet Calls MDMA Treatment ‘a Miracle'
Am very interested in hearing more about the methods you used. Did you just take MDMA recreationally and your depression got better, or did you do it together with (or at the same time as?) therapy? How many times/over how long time? Thank you
mdahlstrand··on MIT Should Not Be Supporting the Saud Monarchy
...which didn't use to be a reason for war. I recommend watching Adam Curtis' Bitter Lake. The west has more involvement in shia/sunni split and hate than it'd like to admit.
mdahlstrand··on AlterEgo: Interfacing with devices through silent speech
No, you have to think that you're saying it - using your inner voice, which when used still triggers minute signals to the muscles used for speech.
mdahlstrand··on Coltrane Pitch Diagrams: Wrapping notes around a torus
A bit late to the game, but I've really enjoyed reading Musimatchics by Gareth Loy, it explains music theory from a mathematical and historical perspective: https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/musimathics
mdahlstrand··on “Username or password is incorrect” is bullshit
Sounds like a great solution - would browsers need to support it? Do you have any resources on implementing it?
mdahlstrand··on Researchers unravel the biosynthesis of psilocybin
I'm guessing it's the production of DMT (similar to psilocybin and LSD) by the pineal gland that is being referred to. IIRC there's still a debate about whether it can cross the blood-brain barrier, but it seems quite likely. Ostensibly it's produced at birth and at death.

Please excuse the lack of sources, but the book The Spirit Molecule kickstarted this line of thought if you're interested in learning more.

mdahlstrand··on First large-scale deep-sea floating offshore wind farm
I have no idea whether they'd be able to compete commercially, but they manage to put a lot of money in a pension fund for all Norwegians: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_Pension_Fund_of_Nor... I wish BP and Shell did the same instead of being "commercially competitive".
mdahlstrand··on Citi lists Netflix, Tesla as potential takeover targets for Apple
How so? I thought apple uses aws (and google's cloud too) for some of their services.
mdahlstrand··on Show HN: Polished – A lightweight toolset for writing styles in JavaScript
What are these gotchas if I may ask? Have you got experience with BEM?
mdahlstrand··on Elon Musk’s Neuralink wants to boost the brain to keep up with AI
Thanks for your answer! I'm afraid I'm not a fabricator of platinum electrodes... I hope you find someone who is!

I'm thinking about the immune response from the brain, and whether implementing this array of sensors can be done elsewhere than the actual brain, connecting to nerves instead of neurons, essentially creating a virtual limb. I guess it kind of misses the point of this whole thing, and can't reach as far as brain-implementations, but with the advantage of being more feasible as a solution. I think what I'm getting at is whether we need lots and lots of sensors with very high resolution data, or if we instead can ensure the computer interface is consistent enough that a "muscle memory" can be formed for controlling the virtual limb. I guess I don't have a question really haha, thanks for your time and replies!

mdahlstrand··on Elon Musk’s Neuralink wants to boost the brain to keep up with AI
I'm interested in the subject and appreciated your post, thanks. A couple of questions:

How does the brain adapt to having the electrodes in there, how long before the probes are accepted as being "part of" the brain?

Do you envision we need lots more sensors than in your example above, or is said number enough for precision input (say, text/words, or navigation in a 3 dimensional position & rotation plus a temporal dimension interface)? I guess the brain would work around the rough edges (or lack of sensor resolution) just like it already does with keyboards, mice, bodies, and language.

mdahlstrand··on TidalCycles – A language for the Live Coding pattern
A physical device such as a "groovebox" might be interesting for you, they include sequencing, drum machine and synth in one box, much like teenage engineering's OP-1 (which is expensive and modern). One I'm looking at getting is the Roland MC-505. Some people will say they sound this or that, but listen to some demos people have put on youtube and decide for yourself. Think they go for less than £300, and you can make a whole album on one.
mdahlstrand··on Turning off syntax highlighting
Those two A's have completely different meanings though (add all, commit amend), not sure I understand how it's relevant to the parent?
mdahlstrand··on A Quantum Leap for the Web
Disable javascript? Not that it's massively fun for you without javascript on the web, but it sounds like you have a very performance dependent workload on your computer. I don't think it's anything most people will have to worry about though, cpu scheduling is pretty good most of the time, and people's javascript suck less and less.
mdahlstrand··on Alan Kay has agreed to do an AMA today
My personal experience is it's not as much "seeing" as "feeling" whatever I "see". Like with open eyes staring at but not looking at something, instead mentally focusing on peripheral, where the peripheral is more of an idea than the impression of photons hitting your retina. I often almost feel like I'm drawing the diagrams or interfaces I might think of, with sweeping gestures and so on. I definitely think it's something that gets better with practice.
mdahlstrand··on Alan Kay has agreed to do an AMA today
Better tools, where "better" is the most difficult to define, but simpler is a good direction.

I see equality in computing/storage/access as another great need, but teaching the world to write javascript isn't the solution, and "AI"s which do your shopping aren't either. I'm not sure where to place or how to phrase my imagined future, but the path there isn't a slow ascend (or decline, think "phoenix" - we're slowly approaching a locked in world). Maybe what we need is inspiration, a grand vision of the new world.

We also need to look up from our phones and teach our young to understand, see and act upon the world in greater time scales, unlearn our short-sighted perspectives and teach the next generation to care for their future generations, something we're failing to do.

Edit append: We also need culture (music, arts, etc.) to help us think.

mdahlstrand··on Alan Kay has agreed to do an AMA today
I think that's a yes
mdahlstrand··on Iran billionaire Babak Zanjani sentenced to death
Because they are able to make significantly more money if they stay?
mdahlstrand··on Gmail.com was down
I experienced a similar issue a couple of weeks ago when my synced chrome settings & bookmarks appeared on a co-worker's machine, a machine I've never signed in on. All his stuff was gone and replaced with an outdated version of mine...