DavidSJ

54 ms·

571.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
At some level, if we take scientific theories seriously as descriptions of the world out there, and not merely tools for prediction, then we have to assume some sort of isomorphism between the map (our theory) and the territory (the world),
572.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
Completely besides the point, but that integral evaluates to sqrt(2pi), not sqrt(pi).
573.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
Solar flare particles (unlike cosmic rays) are rather low energy, so it doesn’t take much to shield from them. I believe the surface of Mars is reasonably safe due to its atmosphere. Even at 0.007 atm, the total mass of air between you and
574.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
The rule I generally follow as a pedestrian is that the object with greater linear momentum has the right of way.
575.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
The high cost of housing no doubt plays a large role in the Bay Area's homelessness situation. That in turn has a demand side cause -- the continued influx of highly paid tech workers -- and a supply side cause -- the economically illi
576.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
In a slingshot maneuver, the vehicle approaches the planet from outside its sphere of influence on a hyperbolic trajectory, with the hyperbola’s eccentricity determining the angle between its incoming and outgoing velocity vector. From afar
577.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
And with him it's worse than useless.
578.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
What do they say when you ask them that question?
579.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
There is the possibility of growing crops in Martian soil. [1] Nevertheless many agree with your conclusion that stations in deep space offer decisive advantages in their low-energy access to asteroid resources. [2] Regardless of which path
580.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
I think you may be overestimating the lead time to establish a self-sustaining colony. With the will, resources, expertise, and some luck, I think it could theoretically be done inside of 40 years. More likely it'll take quite a bit lo
581.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
We may always face existential risks. We now know of some concerning the next 50-100 years, but in 100 years we may know of different ones. Planetary redundancy conceivably aids our chances with those risks as well, so is a project best beg
582.
The Punctuation Guide(thepunctuationguide.com)
104 points by DavidSJ 9y ago|60 comments
583.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
True. A more useful phrase might be something like, "magnitude (and direction) of correlation may differ substantially from magnitude (and direction) of causation".
584.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
To be pedantic, it's more that there isn't enough data to even say that there's any correlation to begin with, and also that our understanding of the origin of the two quakes refutes a shared cause. A usage note: the phrase &
585.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
Interestingly, Wallace was also inspired by Malthus in his own co-discovery of evolution.
586.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
I'm no crypto expert, but why is this sort of defense-in-depth not more widely deployed? It seems that standard practice is to choose a single cipher for a message, rather than multiply enveloping the message in different ciphers, perh
587.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
Is the quantum multiverse then the mind of Spinoza's God implemented as a linear convent?
588.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
Sharing posts company-wide is an extremely common mechanism employed at Google to influence company direction over all sorts of technical and organizational matters. It seems wrong to single out the author of this memo for employing a tool
589.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
Also, they might not have been directly above the A340 at lowest altitude.
590.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
Bandwidth is not the same thing as latency.
591.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
Let Q(p) be quantity demanded at price p, and c be marginal cost. Then profit is Q(p)*(p-c). If e.g. Q(p) = 1/p^2 (price elasticity of demand of -2), then profit is 1/p - c/p^2, which is maximized at p = 2c. Note how optimal
592.
by DavidSJ 9y ago
> costs of writing graphics drivers that gets bundled into hardware unit prices If Nvidia is smart, they consider only marginal, not fixed costs when pricing their products.
593.
by DavidSJ 10y ago
Strictly speaking it isn't censorship when Youtube removes a channel for being politically too extreme. Not to distract from the larger point, but this isn't true. The definition of censorship says nothing about the government b
594.
by DavidSJ 10y ago
Great idea. And it should be generalized to all systems/software: a one-stop shop for steps to take to make your system safe to use.
595.
by DavidSJ 10y ago
They are competition for the present market, but they are not even trying to compete for the (possibly illusory) market opened up by (also possibly illusory) 100x cheaper spaceflight.
596.
by DavidSJ 10y ago
If I may say so, that is a much less noisy and more readable version of this list.
597.
by DavidSJ 10y ago
60 millibits is pretty small. (Pardon the joke, but while the "m" obviously means "M" from context, I really wish people -- especially computer engineers -- wouldn't say bits when they mean something eight times as
598.
by DavidSJ 10y ago
Maybe my math is simplistic, but a half life of 5 years gives a life expectancy of ~7 years (5 years / ln 2). If 50x current methane levels are released over 100 years, then at steady state you have added 0.5x/year * 7 years, or 3
599.
by DavidSJ 10y ago
JFK's moon speech is one of the most famous of all time, especially in the US. Up there with the Gettysburg Address and I Have a Dream.
600.
by DavidSJ 10y ago
What do you think the corporation does with your personal info when the government asks for it?

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