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sandworm101

34,128 karma · joined January 11, 2014

Old Life: Attorney, IT/IP consultant, idiot.

I'm on some committees where we do stuff for people that gets filed and sometimes people who write things say things that are similar to our things and that makes both our things better at being listened to by people with more money than the people on our committee.

New life: Defense. Uniform to work every day. Nuff said.

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sandworm101··on What California is learning from solar panels built over irrigation canals
Face to face, or razor wire. Barriers do work, but only if you pay for something more than chainlink. And the math is interesting as the bigger the field the less barrier is needed proportionally.
sandworm101··on Show HN: RxFilm Studio–Create and edit your product videos with AI agent
Its kinda like a dozen UI projects that are little more than a pretty layer above common tools. Music/voice composition, image generation and first-frame/last-frame video creation... this can all be done in comfy using free/oss tools.
sandworm101··on What California is learning from solar panels built over irrigation canals
>> And lots of electrical current if you need to do something during day light because solar panels don’t turn off.

No. Lots of voltage (potential) but current only if you tap it. Panels will charge to a slightly high voltage state but do not become a problem.

sandworm101··on 'We hacked the FBI:' Hackers say they have data on all FBI employees
Computer security =/ publicly-accessable server security.

A linux box, layered in encryption and not plugged into any network = damb secure.

A network-connected linux box with a hardened OS, firewalled, acting only as a file server, given regular updates and 24/7 monitoring = less likely to be "hacked" than struck by lightning.

A hard drive with its power supply physically switched off = 100% secure from external attack.

Not a joke. The keys for editing the world's most important files, the root zone, are kept on no-power drives in air-gapped safes. They have yet to be hacked.

sandworm101··on Disney+: New user agreement allows ads before movies in all subscriptions
An add, but no more than catching a glimps of a restaurant long after one has ordered. When standing in a shop it is normal to see prices for other products on offer.
sandworm101··on Regeneration of used batteries via electrode–electrolyte interphase dissolution
The same place you buy recycled steel and aluminum: anywhere that sells NEW products.
sandworm101··on Regeneration of used batteries via electrode–electrolyte interphase dissolution
Oldschool lead-acid batteries need not be destroyed to be recycled. They can, and are, easily disassembled and refurbished. For all the lithium hype, lead-acid remains a valid option for non-mobile applications where storage density is not relevant.
sandworm101··on How do we prevent mathemathics from devolving into the Medieval Era of secrecy?
This is a simple matter of intellectual property. A tool or technique for doing a thing can be patented. A legal monopoly is granted to the originator. The public is made aware of the technique but is legally forbidden from using it for a period of years/decades.
sandworm101··on Landing the Space Shuttle – A Flying Machine and the Thrill of a Lifetime
It flew like a brick on final, but coming down from orbit it was still a huge improvement over previous capsules.
sandworm101··on Why I didn’t sign the Fields medallists’ letter
>> imagine yourself living in the 1700s. how would you justify Newton and Leibniz's work on calculus

The direct use of that math to biuld better weapons. That math was/is essential to the development of modern artillery. The first tasks assigned most early computers were to calculate ballistic trajectories, and also tide tables which also have immense military applications. Math was and is a weapon.

sandworm101··on The Return of Sail Power: Cargo Ships Are Turning Back to the Wind
Unpredictability. The sails do reduce costs/fuel but they do so in a rather unpredictable manner. Cargo hauling is all about rigid scheduals and precalculated costs: contracts to deliver at an exact time and load an exact amount of fuel. Unpredictable elements, even if on average mostly good, do not mesh with that culture.
sandworm101··on Show HN: An e-ink frame that hears birds and draws them as 1800s illustrations
A neighbour of mine has five chickens... well HAD fier chickens. A hawk did away with #5 and damaged two more.. I wonder what this display would make of that series of frantic bird calls.
sandworm101··on [dead]
For few, read hundreds. Climate data is more than a temperature reading every hour.
sandworm101··on Canada welcomes EU proposal to become 'associate member'
Plans within plans.
sandworm101··on Canada welcomes EU proposal to become 'associate member'
It means neither will be buying american, which is "good" in that it helps cut ties with the US, which is what america seems to want.
sandworm101··on Canada welcomes EU proposal to become 'associate member'
The orange path.
sandworm101··on Steam Frame starts at $1059
>> a steep proce for a niche with not a lot of games

Porn. This, like every other vr device, will see more use streaming 3d porn than it will vr games.

This is not unussual. Porn has often been at the forefront of the internet, from the first cc transactions to the first streaming video.

sandworm101··on Will there be a 7G?
Lol. Season ticket holders are maybe 0.001% of phone users. Even if they are all whales, it isn't a sufficient market.
sandworm101··on Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco
It isnt just oil. The us also buys most/all of its natural gas import from Canada. That stuff isnt refined.
sandworm101··on Global shortage has led to motor oil rationing at Costco
What a great time to start a trade war with the largest oil exporter. Think there is a shortage now? Just think what happens when canada turns off the taps. Even the threat could trigger covid-style hoarding.
sandworm101··on Data collected by cars and sold to third parties
Where was the car serviced? Antennas or not, the dealer might just plug in and upload everything during service.
sandworm101··on A succession crisis that tore England apart (2023)
No. She couldn't lead while she was pregnant as she might die and start the whole process again.
sandworm101··on U.S. in Highest-Risk Category for Civil War, Coup, or Collapse in CIA Model
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Fragile_S...

This is why Trump's fight with canada is doomed: Trying to destabilize a top-10 country when your own country doesnt break the top 30.

sandworm101··on Don't be the out of touch Kung Fu master
They do and there are certainly some mid-level management jobs at risk, but ask any farmer/electrician/millright about the claimed impact of AI and they will laugh. They have yet to see an AI capable of reliably replacing a fuse let alone doing a solid day's work.
sandworm101··on Will there be a 7G?
That is a very effective use case, but until we live in hive cities, stadium-level device densities are an edge case. Developing a new generation to service the 0.01% of time phones spend inside stadiums seems inefficient.
sandworm101··on A succession crisis that tore England apart (2023)
Prejudice and some practical reality. Woman at the time died randomly but very regularly in childbirth. Every pregnant woman had a sword dangling over her head: not a safe bet for leadership.
sandworm101··on Don't be the out of touch Kung Fu master
Ya, AI is very good at generating number, be that code for software, images for ads, or banal prose for company blogs. AI not so good at growing corn, cooking eggs, biulding houses, running fiber, treating disease, changing brake pads, loading a truck... or any of the other millions of physical-world jobs on which the economy is biult.

If you company is all about creating things that go on the internet, sure, AI is your thing. But for most companies the internet is a communications tool rather than a product. Those companies are not seeing the claimed productivity gains.

sandworm101··on Mexican student creates an acoustic fire extinguisher to put out fire in seconds
I dont see this working on significant fires. Let it run, separate flame from fuel, but what happens a few seconds later? The fuel is still there, the heat is still there, as soon as the sound stops it will reignite. Water/foam and such create both a physical barrier and immediate cooling to prevent reignition.

As a general rule, cooling any situation involves throwing cold stuff at the hot stuff. We have many means of projecting heat, but no way to project 'cold' without throwing cold stuff.

sandworm101··on Growing proof that autonomous cars save lives
And in the future it will be robots pushing you around. They will learn to be intimidating. That's what AI does. It spots patterns and then exploits them for its own purposes.
sandworm101··on The Helicopter with Radioactive Blades
Wireless arent used because they need power/wires and are less reliable than IBIS. Civilian versions of sikorsky helos use the same system.
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