jfoutz

54 ms·

541.
by jfoutz 7y ago
I have a lot of biases in my vision. Optical illusions are clearly one example of exploiting those biases. I suspect there are a lot of biases in processing return signals from radar, an expectation of motion like things actually move. So,
542.
by jfoutz 7y ago
Not hard to imagine the degenerate case though. Hey, remember X? Nope. Checking more things before returning the negative result might be better.
543.
by jfoutz 7y ago
If you would like a heartwarming tale of an engineers first compiler, this is the article for you. There is either nothing to learn here, or a spectacular insight into compilation, depending on where you are in your career. Compilers are fu
544.
by jfoutz 8y ago
Hmm. I keep getting warnings about responding to quickly. Perhaps my account is under attack. Setting that aside, google has done good things. Today, not so much. It’s never too late to turn the ship around. Google can still be awesome. Our
545.
by jfoutz 8y ago
I think there is an easy heuristic, bias against ads. Google can’t do this. Original sources very likely don’t have ads, scrapes will have tons. But good results are good results. Big g has done an admirable job. They can’t exploit the best
546.
by jfoutz 8y ago
Add the factors to the sort key? Every sort is stable if you have some vague ideas about what to sort on.
547.
by jfoutz 8y ago
I'm sort of up in the air about it. Although you're more likely to change the mind of someone at university than anywhere else in the world, you're never going to change the mind of your professor. They've invested years
548.
by jfoutz 8y ago
I have a lot of sympathy for their situation. I can imagine humming along just fine at 5 concurrent requests over 10 seconds, having busy days where you hit 10/10 But to suddenly hit 50 for 1 second, then nothing for 9 seconds, well, t
549.
by jfoutz 8y ago
CEMEX has been doing very clever things for a long time. I love the random distribution of cement trucks they maintained in the 90's do deal with the complexity of delivering cement. https://www.wired.com/1997/07&#
550.
by jfoutz 8y ago
is that how this works? throw up a disclaimer and i'm good? i mean, it's fine they are in a tough spot and can't put up an accessible version right now. but that should maybe be answered in court in a year. and people will go
551.
by jfoutz 8y ago
although i hate it, yeah. there are plenty of places humans don't live _on earth_. Deserts and tundra are obvious. but like 70% of the surface is water, and basically 0% of the population lives there. Maybe we need to go down before we
552.
by jfoutz 8y ago
there are high and low density locations. The dutch have proven that very little technology can protect land from the sea. I'm not opposed to special cases, but the coastline is _huge_. I don't believe we can protect all of it any
553.
by jfoutz 8y ago
Is it a new problem? The dustbowl hit, and some people were completely unwilling to move, even though their way of life was unsustainable. Change is inherently hard to deal with. I think one of the big roles of government, and perhaps cultu
554.
by jfoutz 8y ago
> Why not just build more universities? Because universities are fortresses designed to protect the weirdos who can't survive in the real world. We're passing through this awesome enlightenment phase where there's room for
555.
by jfoutz 8y ago
I kinda want to grab you by the lapels and re-enact that part from Clear and Present Danger. It doesn't matter what's true, it matters what i can prove! Unfortunately, the phrasing would be more like, It doesn't matter what&#
556.
by jfoutz 8y ago
I think you're half right. adding an error band to a far out estimate won't give you a better estimate, but it might help tell you how much you _don't know_ about what you're facing. Cumulative error is _hard_. see weath
557.
by jfoutz 8y ago
there is an uncharitable response to this thread, which is marked dead. I do think there is a kernel of truth in that response, which is nothing more than mocking. why fibonacci? I think it's reasonable to say time includes an exponent
558.
by jfoutz 8y ago
Also, high enough temperatures can change the stone. I’m not remotely a material scientist. I vaguely remember stone barbecue pits require some special consideration. There are also probably concerns about thermal expansions as well. The st
559.
by jfoutz 8y ago
i'm confident i've hit an NP complete problem once. I don't remember the nitty gritty details, but it had something to do with optimal rendering of boxes on a screen. kinda like bin packing. I've been asked a few times,
560.
by jfoutz 8y ago
I’m a little skeptical of 3 years making an expert, but I’ll stipulate it’s certainly possible for the reasons you mentioned. I’m basically an old fart who has learned and forgotten a lot of stuff. It really depends on what you need. I thin
561.
by jfoutz 8y ago
I don't doubt people have the tv on for 5 hours a day. I do doubt that people are intently watching every minute. Making dinner, washing dishes, straitening up, and folding laundry are all sort of obvious things people do while the tv
562.
by jfoutz 8y ago
I wonder if batteries, motor and third rail connections could be added to the flat cars that carry shipping containers. Skip the engine all together, and make trains fully dynamic. Probably not worth the cost. It would be kinda cool to see
563.
by jfoutz 8y ago
I think it’s really great when everyone has their own space to hang out. Kids, or teenagers can have their own room. The adults probably share a bedroom, so maybe two extra places they can each make their own is pretty nice. Nothing needs t
564.
by jfoutz 8y ago
i have a mid-2015. i just like it. aluminum body, good screen, i don't mind the keyboard, the trackpad is fantastic. I really want a physical escape key. I've thought about, and can readily afford, a newer model. the 32g memory wo
565.
by jfoutz 8y ago
That was the right one. I never got far along enough to learn about e^2=p^2c^2+m^2c^4 Thank you for the amusing explanation.
566.
by jfoutz 8y ago
I'm completely out of my element here. Hoping maybe for some clarification. I've never heard of a laser, at any scale, having a force pushing backwards against the direction of light. It seems like one of two things is possible. 1
567.
by jfoutz 8y ago
I hate to do this. You’re a YC icon. There is a place like here. Their is ownership like heir. I apologize, but I know you can do better.
568.
by jfoutz 8y ago
This is a clever point. I think, even if I am being bombed, I don’t want my neighbors to die[1]. I would care very much about why. But if the hammer is coming down on me, it’s better for everyone if it’s only me. [1] except maybe that one a
569.
by jfoutz 8y ago
With salt at least, that .sls file can just as easily be python. Just return the structure you need.
570.
by jfoutz 8y ago
aww, now i'm embarrassed about my lack of imagination. I have to admit i forgot about the magic you can do with define. Excellent point. i kinda sorta think defun in common lisp injects the new function at top level regardless, but in

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