SeanLuke

18 ms·

181.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
So do shift, control, and function, in these same contexts. Like these modifier keys, Option's primary function isn't "switching the function of other keys". Its primary function is, and always has been, as a seconda
182.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
>Stuck between the Command and Control (ctrl, or ^) keys, the Option key, also called Alt key, because of the switch symbol ... that adorns it No. It's called the option key because it was named that on the original 1984 Mac, full s
183.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
An adjustable vector probably doesn't qualify as an "array" in the Java sense of the term: it's closer to an ArrayList. However Lisp is perfectly comfortable making zero-length simple-vectors, which are arrays in the
184.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
Thing is, practically every modern programming language has zero-length arrays or lists. This is derived from Lisp, which had zero-length arrays (and of course zero-length lists). It's not at all surprising. What ought to be surpris
185.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
And the use of "primarily", when there is a much more common use case, so common that it's baked right into the standard libraries.
186.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
This is an Oracle blog, and it's called "Inside the JVM". What VMs do Oracle build besides Hotspot and its ilk?
187.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
Ragged arrays. You can do this: int[][] x = new int[2][]; x[0] = new int[] { 1, 2, 3 }; x[1] = new int[] { 1, 2, 3, 4 };
188.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
Arrays cannot have zero dimensions. They can have zero-sized dimensions.
189.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
I was pretty disappointed that, for a blog called "Inside the JVM", very little in the blog entry discussed goings on inside the JVM. For example, when does the JVM typically optimize away bounds or null checks? How are arrays o
190.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
> Another curiosity of Java arrays is that they can have a size of zero. > This code will not result in an error message. This surprising feature is used primarily by code generators, which might create an array and then discover ther
191.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
Believe it or not, there exists a closed-form equation which computes the nth prime number. It's Willans's formula: p_n = 1 + Sum_{i=1}^{2^n} Floor((n/(Sum_{j=1}^{i} Floor((Cos((j-1)!+1)/j) Pi)^2)))^(1/n)) https:&
192.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
> My point isn't that the lottery is good, just that its the clear moral winner in an industry which includes Bet365, William hill, Coral and a million other pretenders. That's like saying burglary is the clear moral winner ove
193.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
In no universe is the UK lottery good. All lotteries, the UK lottery included, are effectively sucking money out of the poor. It is profoundly, grotesquely regressive. If the UK wanted to have an ethical, legitimate mechanism for distribu
194.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
> a friend who teaches CS for a major university explained that they're going to teach Python as first language for Computer Science undergraduates starting 2024. This is extremely widespread. My institution does it, as do many oth
195.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
> Most Western instruments produce “harmonic” sounds that, when analyzed as Fourier described, have relatively strong lower overtones f, 2f, 3f, 4f. The overtones of several of these sounds will match when their fundamental frequencies a
196.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
This was just one example of where 31-bit ints bit you in NewtonScript. But there were many more, especially when dealing with interoperability with the OS, which was in C++.
197.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
Well, it's not part of the language, but some implementations yeah... :-(
198.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
NewtonScript had 31-bit integers, rather than 32-bit, for the exact same reason. It was a complete mess. Famously the Newton had its own Y2K bug (the 2010 bug) because dates could only be expressed with 31 bits. If a language needs to rel
199.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
So music and dance fields are not impacted, but a host of enginering and computer science fields are? What? Do these departments really not bring in any grant money?
200.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
> Partly due to the recognized difficulty of the problem, in the 1970s-1980s mainstream AI gradually moved away from general-purpose intelligent systems, and turned to domain-specific problems and special-purpose solutions... I think th
201.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
It varies. Italian("Uso l'acensore") -> "I use the lift" Italian("Provo l'acensore") -> I try the elevator"
202.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
Chinese generally has two writing systems: traditional and simplified. In the 1950s to 1980s mainland China developed simplified chinese in a bid to make the language easier to write. Note that these are just different ways of writing the
203.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
The number of countries in the EU seems to be not the best argument, though their distribution might be. The USA has one bank for every 70617 people. The EU has one bank for every 86637 people. Italy is rather much more concentrated, having
204.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
> But they provide an opt-out. It sounds like an opt-in to me.
205.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
Was Kahan responsible for denormals being added to the spec?
206.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
Ugh. Just a tiny bit of googling would have informed them that Kawa is the name of a well-regarded scheme implementation in Java.
207.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
https://www.theverge.com/22801890/sunbeam-radiant-control-to...
208.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
I know everyone goes on about the famous Sunbeam toaster, but I proudly own what I think is one of the nerdiest, coolest toasters ever created, the Kenwood Virtu ( https://appliancist.com/breakfast/toasters/kenwood-
209.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
Why is the FCC giving other companies the right to block One Owl if they fail to comply, rather than simply terminating One Owl's connection to the network?
210.
by SeanLuke 3y ago
Can we have the headline changed? This is a trademark filing, not a patent filing.

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