comicjk

38 ms·

361.
by comicjk 9y ago
I got my PhD in this field and now develop methods like these. They can work, but the field is still immature - there are plenty of models in circulation that haven't been proved to deliver any useful information. Although I agree with
362.
by comicjk 9y ago
The list is nice, but I don't see myself using it without a better UI. Maybe a browser plugin that highlights relevant results in Amazon/Google Shopping searches.
363.
by comicjk 9y ago
In the context, mentioning Hispanic individuals, probably https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wetback_(slur)
364.
by comicjk 9y ago
Quantum computers can be simulated classically, in a timeframe exponentially related to the number of qubits. So as long as the quantum computer is not too big you can compare the results to an exact classical simulation and see if it works
365.
by comicjk 9y ago
I'm rooting for you (and more usefully, donating time and money to political candidates who can help you). My research group currently has a scientist who took a year to recruit stuck in immigration. I wouldn't be surprised if he
366.
by comicjk 9y ago
Cutting legal immigration in hopes of a later bill that increases it is a fool's errand. This proposal already gives the lie to the Republican marketing on immigration - that they have nothing against legal immigration, and only want t
367.
by comicjk 9y ago
You're talking as if there are only two parties here: owners (rich) and tech workers (not rich). But tech workers are well above the average US income. The unspoken group in your argument is the consumer, who on average is poorer than
368.
by comicjk 9y ago
Most PhD programs involve some classes at the beginning - especially programs which don't require a master's degree first. The classes are graduate-level progressions from similar undergraduate classes. Typically, PhD research goe
369.
by comicjk 9y ago
There are simpler factors to explain the good economic growth 1982-1988: a big drop in inflation (engineered by Fed chair Paul Volcker) and a drop in the price of oil (mainly just luck). There was also a lot of deficit spending. Reforms in
370.
by comicjk 9y ago
"Preworkout" (sugar and caffeine) products are basically this, as long as your caffeine tolerance is not too high.
371.
by comicjk 9y ago
A "particle" in statistical thermodynamics is a mathematical idea that doesn't necessarily match any fundamental particle in physics. For example, air is made of molecules with complex quantum bonding states, yet many of air&
372.
by comicjk 9y ago
You could still have sunrise-based time zones the same way we have noon-based timezones now.
373.
by comicjk 9y ago
Same in NYC, but I don't think splitting states is the answer (or possible). Very few states would be intact if we started that. We should allow more legal autonomy for counties, to reduce intra-state political struggles. And maybe do
374.
by comicjk 9y ago
Don't sweat it, it's a common mistake. IIRC some French physicists used the same surface area calculation to try to disprove global warming, for which they got the nickname "knights of the flat earth".
375.
by comicjk 9y ago
That's not what "entropically preferred" means. If something is a lower-energy state, it's energetically preferred, but may or may not be entropically preferred. Water is NOT - entropy would prefer simpler molecules over
376.
by comicjk 9y ago
Yes, oxygen and hydrogen mixed together will eventually react to form water. To react, atoms or molecules simply need to collide hard enough to overcome their initial repulsion and form bonds. In space it is a slow process, because the pres
377.
by comicjk 9y ago
Stars produce oxygen (along with all elements up to iron) during nuclear fusion. If the star is big (several times bigger than our sun), it eventually explodes and the oxygen then winds up in interstellar gas and dust. The oxygen reacts wit
378.
by comicjk 9y ago
The amount is low now because of low-hanging fruit: easy CO2 mitigations that can only be done a few times. If tens of millions of people bought offsets, all the easy opportunities would be exhausted and the marginal ton of CO2 would be muc
379.
by comicjk 9y ago
Practically, that would require court-sanctioned employees to go through all the videos and edit out the non-public content before release (automation probably doesn't cut it legally). It would require a significant labor force and cos
380.
by comicjk 9y ago
This seems obvious to me, but maybe it isn't based on the implementations of body cameras I'm hearing about: the police should not have access to the videos! A camera should automatically upload its contents to off-site encrypted
381.
by comicjk 9y ago
They were the same Church throughout the Dark Ages, until 1054. The treatment a person would get from the Church depended on the politics of the local bishop more than anything else. In general, the "conflict thesis" - that the Ch
382.
by comicjk 9y ago
This is a pet peeve of mine - you're mixing Christianity with Platonism. In the Roman Empire, it was Plato and his intellectual descendants who had the idea that reality was an illusion. Christianity was influenced by this, but only so
383.
by comicjk 9y ago
What that tells me is that they haven't yet come up with the right featurization - that is, the function that maps input data into the actual neural network node values. The appropriate featurization would include the time information
384.
by comicjk 9y ago
I've been thinking about writing a spy thriller based on that premise, ever since the Snowden leaks. At this point I'd assign 30% probability that it's already happened.
385.
by comicjk 9y ago
Sure - you manipulate gravity waves using large masses (the only thing we know of which interacts with gravity). It's not very practical to move stars around in order to make a lens, though.
386.
by comicjk 9y ago
The word "barbarism" is quite an exaggeration. Teaching salaries are low relative to education level because lots of people are socially pushed toward teaching (obvious example: many people's mentors are teachers). Programmin
387.
by comicjk 9y ago
If you assume that people remember the solutions to every problem they've ever encountered, I would not like to use the kind of user interface you would create! Here's the Wikipedia entry on the subject, which describes how 12am&#
388.
by comicjk 9y ago
9999 out of 10000? Seriously? Even in a group of geniuses, 10 in 10,000 would answer wrong simply by being absentminded. And the US population is not all geniuses. Here's the wikipedia article, indicating that this is a common confusio
389.
by comicjk 9y ago
If you did a survey on this, what fraction of adults do you think would get it right? 80%? Remember, this system is supposed to be used by anyone, including the poorly educated and recent immigrants.
390.
by comicjk 9y ago
I agree - I recommend Seveneves to anyone, but I say stop as soon as Act 1 ends. I think Act 2 spoils the ending of Act 1 by undermining the high stakes that made it impactful. I can tell Stephenson enjoyed writing Act 2 as an act of fun se

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