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smeagullon New doctoral thesis proposes Buckminster Fuller was a 'charlatan'

There's an "ACCESS DOCUMENT" link on the right of the page, which informs you that you can access it by visiting the Harald Herlin Learning Centre.

Which is a bit sad. My thesis is available online. Which might be sadder.

smeagullon New doctoral thesis proposes Buckminster Fuller was a 'charlatan'

A thesis is more a proof that you can handle a particular type of research or investigation. I myself haven't touched the particular specialised field of my thesis since I submitted it.

It also doesn't mean that the Author particularly enjoys or finds the topic that interesting. I've often heard that if you have a favourite topic, you should at best find a thesis topic that is adjacent or related, and I'd tend to agree.

smeagullon New study simulates gravitational waves from failing warp drive

Things don't have to be real for them to hurt you.

smeagullon The most, and least, walkable cities

Auckland is a horrible car-ridden shithole.

You can't get from where people live, to where they work without a car and actually maintain a job.

smeagullon A chemist explains the chemistry behind decaf coffee

There is nothing saying that a product needs to pay for all the processes inherent in making that particular product.

There is value in having flat pricing across all your products. Especially if some of them aren't as popular, yet might driving purchasing decisions.

Consider cafes that need to stock decaf, but want to buy from a single supplier. If you don't have decaf you're not going to see their custom, despite their order largely being non-decaf.

So they'll want to supply decaf, but in order to encourage the sale of it (so they can reach a better economy of scale) keep the price the same as the equivalent non-decaf.

smeagullon AI models collapse when trained on recursively generated data

They needed to deal with degenerate data on the Web anyway. It's always been full of trash and spam.

smeagullon Sparrows may be 'canary in the coal mine' for lead poisoning in children: study

People consider Sparrows pests?

smeagullon We are at our most creative just before we fall asleep, scientists say (2022)

I like to run from my problems too.

smeagullon McDonald's and other big brands warn that low-income consumers starting to crack

> an inflationary shock

There has been a recent marked increase in inflation. That is the inflation I refer to.

Learn to read maybe.

smeagullon McDonald's and other big brands warn that low-income consumers starting to crack

It's not greed that has varied. It was an inflationary shock. Greed explains why it hasn't gone back down once the shocks are gone. It's basically price collusion - nobody wants to be the first to decrease prices, so nobody does.

Before the inflation, there wasn't an opportunity to collude in this manner.

smeagullon McDonald's and other big brands warn that low-income consumers starting to crack

I don't know how to use those things, and I'll never learn. McD's are a public restroom to me.

smeagullon You can't just assume UTF-8

I absolutely can. If it's not UTF-8, I assume it's worthless.

smeagullon Washington State judge blocks use of AI-enhanced video as evidence

Yeah, those weirdos using AI to "compress" and "enhance" their videos with Cosine transforms. Get out of court!

smeagullon Banning open weight models would be a disaster

It's not a monopoly. It's America opting out of open research.

smeagullon Show HN: Aldi Price Map

Nah, I've seen more than one Aldi. Hence Aldis.

smeagullon Apple confirms it's breaking iPhone web apps in the EU on purpose

Seems like a very unreliable platform to me.

smeagullon Our next-generation model: Gemini 1.5

I believe that's a limitation of using vectors of high dimensions. It'll be muddy.

smeagullon Show HN: Aldi Price Map

Actually it's 'Aldis', because we're talking about more than one.

smeagullon Only real people can patent inventions – not AI, US Government says

The contents of books are also factual statements about their contents.

smeagullon An illustrated guide to post-Orwellian censorship (2021)

I didn't read your comment. I skimmed over it. I was expecting there to be ice cream... Disappointing.

smeagullon The math exams of my life

If a school only accepts students capable of attaining high grades, in what sense is that school good? That's no proving the school teaches well, it's proof that they're trying to avoid having to teach.

smeagullon Google Cuts Jobs in Engineering and Other Divisions

Does this mean my phone will stop trying to interrupt and "assist" me despite disabling Google Assistant?

smeagullon The teen mental illness epidemic is international (2023)

No, we're going to ensure poverty. Climate is already fucked.

smeagullon Software Engineers Say the Job Market Is Getting Much Worse

Marginal improvement? I'm not sure I can compete with that.

smeagullon Austerity Is an Antidemocratic Strategy to Boost Capital

Nope. It was at it's highest in 2010.

smeagullon The teen mental illness epidemic is international (2023)

Continued growth is alarming on its own.

smeagullon Copyright claim against Tolkien estate backfires on LOTR fanfiction author

I've seen what comes out of their caselaw, I have zero respect for them.