jdblair

42 ms·

481.
by jdblair 8y ago
Most workers in solar are needed to install new systems. Once a system is installed it will require only minimal scheduled maintenance for the next 25 years. After installation the system is wealth. Further, building lots of small generat
482.
“Random” noise pours cold water on room-temperature superconductivity(arstechnica.com)
2 points by jdblair 8y ago|0 comments
483.
Vanguard Warns of Worsening Odds for the Economy and Markets(nytimes.com)
92 points by jdblair 8y ago|62 comments
484.
The Strange David and Goliath Saga of Radio Frequencies(wired.com)
2 points by jdblair 8y ago|0 comments
485.
by jdblair 8y ago
Citation? Or at least the locale you have in mind? Voter turnout in the US is usually far less than 50%. The 2018 California primary had an uptick to 38%. [1] [1] https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/c
486.
by jdblair 8y ago
Sonic quality depends on the quality of the AT&T wiring to your home. At my old house in Oakland, Sonic meant 3mbit DSL because AT&T had not updated the old twisted pair. It meant I bailed and signed up for Comcast. My new place in
487.
by jdblair 8y ago
BART stations close shortly after midnight, and they are closed by locking gates at the bottom of the stairs and escalators. This means the bottom of the escalator is relatively private, and if you shit on the escalator itself the shit &quo
488.
by jdblair 8y ago
I've been culling my book collection every time I move. During my last move in March I discarded a lot of books with sentimental value that were really just taking up space. Examples: my college textbooks on projective geometry and abs
489.
City of Exiles: deportees and asylum seekers in Tijuana(story.californiasunday.com)
1 points by jdblair 8y ago|0 comments
490.
by jdblair 8y ago
I hear people say leasing is the way to go, but I don't understand the math. Cars easily last 10 years now, and I drove my last car for 18 years. Please explain! Is it about always having a newish car at an optimal price?
491.
by jdblair 8y ago
Python for control software, C++ for LED drivers, OSC (Open Sound Control) for communication. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG4xvTjzRwo&t=27s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZVFdqyaKug https:/&
492.
by jdblair 8y ago
I think the keyboard hate is severely exaggerated. I actually like the new MacBook keyboard, except for the noise. I type, umm, vigorously, and sometimes I'm actually asked to be quieter when taking notes in meetings. So, 8% quieter is
493.
by jdblair 8y ago
Or, write your journal entries to a file and commit that? That's what I do. Most of my personal projects have a "notes.txt" at the top level for this purpose. Sometimes I just need to write freeform about the problem I'm
494.
by jdblair 8y ago
I'm responsible for the Asteroids easter egg in the Sun x86 lights-out-management. It is true that we sneaked it in using a rather unprofessional manner (the build system would incorporate it iff the build happened on the CIS build ser
495.
by jdblair 8y ago
Broadcom still ships new MIPS SOCs, like the BCM7231. Context: I work on set top boxes at Netflix.
496.
by jdblair 8y ago
The first casualty of RISC-V will not be ARM, it will be MIPS. MIPS CPUs are the current choice for low-cost embedded systems that run a Linux kernel, from home routers (where MIPS has nearly 100% penetration) to low-end set-top-boxes. I ex
497.
by jdblair 8y ago
Tesla invented battery management technology to scale up bundles of small lithiun ion cells. This requires significant engineering to get right: cells charge and discharge at different rates, heat must be managed and failed cells taken out
498.
by jdblair 8y ago
I think my memory of pain is during merging. We settled on a fairly simple, conventional system: mainline new dev, branches for each release, and occasional personal branches for experimentation. This meant we rarely merged other than fixes
499.
by jdblair 8y ago
CVS was awful, but it was so much better than RCS, which operated only on single files. There was a time in the late 90s when CVS + Bugzilla + Tinderbox was the state of the art of CI if your toolset was all open source. I used this combina
500.
by jdblair 8y ago
It's common to tip a euro or two for your meal in Italy.
501.
by jdblair 8y ago
The entire EU eurozone manages to do it. There's a 1 Euro note, but I've never seen it and as far as I know nobody uses it. Using 1 and 2 euro coins works great. I personaly just keep them in my pocket. I don't think jingling
502.
by jdblair 8y ago
Blocking transactions with particular vendors as well as classes of vendors is part of the current system of managing risk. Banks already have arbitrary power to decide what transactions to allow.
503.
by jdblair 8y ago
And Russia kept part of the land they gained. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karelia
504.
by jdblair 8y ago
Because it poses new interesting questions: If extra-terrestrial life exists, do we have a common ancestor? This is the theory of panspermia. Or does life spontaneously arise when conditions are right, but with variation? It would be partic
505.
by jdblair 8y ago
I never asserted that the two are exclusive. Individual action is satisfying and does demonstrate what is possible. However, I still assert that to make changes on a huge scale you need to make the economic choices and desired outcomes alig
506.
by jdblair 8y ago
I disagree that individual action will ever move the needle on use of plastic. Policies set and enforced by governments is what is necessary. This can take the form of rules and bans for packaging itself or taxes that drive up the cost of p
507.
by jdblair 8y ago
Thanks, I didn't know that existed! I might have to cut a corner off my Unix guru card :)
508.
by jdblair 8y ago
This is my super-simple progress indicator, called dots. I wrote it at least 12 years ago when I was on a slow terminal and wanted to know unpacking a tarball was still progressing (the verbose output would have taken too much bandwidth!).
509.
by jdblair 8y ago
Ok, my bad.
510.
by jdblair 8y ago
I saw these in-person at Maker Faire a few years back. The sculptures were beautiful and captivating, and Bruce was warm and friendly.

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