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starpilot

5,518 karma · joined September 22, 2010

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starpilot··on Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinpoints his location
The hiker texted a photo. Even better, since he had a smartphone, he could text his GPS coordinates from an app like Gaia. Not sure if there's a way to get lat/long from Apple or Google Maps.
starpilot··on Human taste buds can tell the difference between normal and 'heavy' water
Oddly today there's an obsession with certain bitter substances like caffeine, dark chocolate, and IPA beers.
starpilot··on Adjustable, low-impact keeb
Keyboard layout doesn't matter for speed. Here's a guy typing 99 wpm with two fingers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mNu8WnFFa0 You switch to Dvorak for comfort, not speed.
starpilot··on Where have all the kindergartners gone?
Are you having a bad day or something?
starpilot··on Where have all the kindergartners gone?
Don't preschool and kindergarten teach vital social skills that can affect how you interact with others for the rest of your life?
starpilot··on Windows 95 – How Does It Look Today?
What's a pendrive?
starpilot··on Staying awake to treat depression (2018)
Scott's explanation at least makes sense with a causal chain of reasoning. "Self-awareness" is more a philosophical concept that has no psychiatric meaning, sort of like like "fairness" in economics. "It's all placebo here!" sounds lazy and like a cheap shot.
starpilot··on The deck we used to raise our seed funding
I thought this was going to be about gardening.
starpilot··on Analyzing word usage in cosmetic product names
I'm guessing you haven't bought much makeup or women's underwear.
starpilot··on She Came to the US to Study with Only $300 – Now She’s a NASA Director
Colombia
starpilot··on Ask HN: What is the most complex concept you understand?
Not possible.
starpilot··on A lost tourist who thought Maine was San Francisco
I went on a date with a Mexican girl who spoke no English. Google translate app worked incredibly well for two-way translation. I mean it was perfect. She had been dependent on it her whole time in the US.
starpilot··on Emirates’ Tim Clark says Boeing ‘not getting it’ on 737 Max, 787
I want him to build one under my home. As long as he pays me.
starpilot··on Emirates’ Tim Clark says Boeing ‘not getting it’ on 737 Max, 787
Your email is not in your profile. I will bet.
starpilot··on What happens when investment firms acquire trailer parks
I read that the world needs both types of economies. The US is a dynamic, freewheeling sort with the most extremes. You can get incredibly rich, but the bottom has no floor. It's easy to amass capital and to pay workers. Or have western Europe, which is a relatively painful climate for businesses. Taxation for extensive social services is stifling, but at least most of the middle people are OK.
starpilot··on What happens when investment firms acquire trailer parks
A lot of the California ones are pretty decent. I dated a girl who lived in one. I also stayed in an Airbnb that was in one. The owner, who lived there, was a woman with a Stanford degree. They're cheap and reasonable places to live with a lot of stigma. The ones I saw around me growing up in Virginia were... shitty.
starpilot··on Replaying real life: how the Waymo Driver avoids fatal human crashes
But what about choosing between hitting one doctor versus a group of school kids? /s
starpilot··on Remembering Allan McDonald, who refused to approve the Challenger launch
For perspective, 17,000 people work for NASA.
starpilot··on No One Is Prepared for Hagfish Slime (2019)
I am prepared.
starpilot··on No One Is Prepared for Hagfish Slime (2019)
Currency?
starpilot··on The Air Force is having to reverse engineer parts of its own stealth bomber
Also in auto repair. A shop told me they wanted to take a gasket from the engine, draw the part, then send it to a machine shop to have it fabricated.
starpilot··on The Cuboid: A DIY air purifier that's better than a box fan
It takes a lot of specialized aerosol science equipment and expertise to measure the percentage filtration, so it's questionable that they could claim to replace N95 filter with towels.
starpilot··on Launch HN: H3X (YC W21) – High power density electric aircraft motors
Do you think a supersonic, VTOL electric aircraft is theoretically feasible?
starpilot··on 28-year-old turned his college side hustle into a $1.3B startup
He became a landlord for Airbnb's. Good for him.
starpilot··on NASA Has Decided to Start Building the Lunar Gateway Using the Falcon Heavy
Comment is downvoted, but he has a point. We've been trying to return to the moon for over a decade: https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a26962388/g...

George W Bush said we would return by 2020: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/bush_vision.html

There's nothing indicating that this initiative is any more serious. There isn't a space race, people don't care. If this were canceled in favor of any other program (say, relief for climate-related crises), there would be very little opposition.

starpilot··on United B772 at Denver on Feb 20th 2021, engine inlet separates from engine
So raise the price of the software so that you can afford more/better software engineers, to produce a more robust and flexible project. Then it'll be aerospace quality, aerospace costs.
starpilot··on United B772 at Denver on Feb 20th 2021, engine inlet separates from engine
You just don't need that in software when most of the industry is low consequence. It's only losing money at most tech companies, not killing your coworkers. This hasn't happened to me personally, but it's not cool when Rob the test pilot, whose family you've hung out with and that you've gone on hikes with, literally dies next day in a fiery crash. But that's the risk any test pilot accepts.
starpilot··on Handheld two-way radios for preppers and other curious folks
The most rugged handheld radio, for rock climbers, whitewater rafters, skiers: https://rockytalkie.com. Just no raspi. I just got a pair and they're incredibly well designed. The rubber case can be removed to make them even lighter. It comes with a full-strength rock climbing carabiner.
starpilot··on How Antidepressants Work, at Last?
What drugs are best at extinguishing those negative priors? Vorinostat worked for me when a slew of antidepressants did not, but it's hard to find and can have side effects. It was really astounding. I just felt normal, unafraid, but not in a weird amped up way as with Adderall. I could just talk to people fluidly and think normally.
starpilot··on California State Legislator Introduces Bill to Decriminalize Psychedelics
The thing is psy's generally aren't addictive so they're not that profitable. Marijuana and alcohol are way more habit-forming. People take LSD a few times, then it doesn't really work any more. Then there's the notion of you got the message/insights from the drug, time to hang up the phone.
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