kens

18 ms·

151.
by kens 9mo ago
That article is from 2018. According to Science , Nov 2025, China is very close to the point at which its carbon emissions will decline, which will probably correspond to a global plateau in emissions. “Everything we’re seeing is that Chin
152.
by kens 9mo ago
The journal Science has an interesting article on China's remarkable shift to renewable energy: "China’s turn to green energy dwarfs any other country’s, as a parade of astonishing numbers attests. In 2024 alone it installed new
153.
by kens 9mo ago
The claim in the article, "Concorde burned 52% of its fuel just taxiing down the runway", is completely wrong and kind of ruins my confidence in the article. A Concorde used less than 1% of its fuel taxiing down the runway, not 52
154.
by kens 9mo ago
This reminds me of mid-1970s ASCII computer graphics, except more advanced and orders of magnitude faster. In particular, it brought to mind "Mandala" from the book "What to Do After You Hit Return", which was an amazing
155.
by kens 9mo ago
> Plenty of engineering blogs, for example, share that sort of tokenized writing style, like for instance this one I recently noticed Hi, I'm the author of that blog. Can you tell me more about what you mean by a "tokenized wri
156.
by kens 10mo ago
This is not a new solution. This article is from 2008 or earlier. https://web.archive.org/web/20080704123725/http://scottkurow...
157.
by kens 10mo ago
It's too late to edit my previous comment, but I wanted to add one more random tanning fact: UV releases β-endorphin so tanning is literally addictive, to the point that naloxone will cause withdrawal symptoms, at least in mice: https
158.
by kens 10mo ago
The popularity of tanning is attributed to fashion designer Coco Chanel, who accidentally got too much sun on a Mediterranean cruise in 1923. Since she was a fashion icon, this made the tanned look fashionable. As an aside, the chemistry be
159.
by kens 10mo ago
> "So far, bless him, he has not resorted to 'gaol' for 'jail.'" Some parts of Canada inexplicably used "gaol" for "jail" until fairly recently. For example, the "Headingley Gaol&quo
160.
by kens 10mo ago
Paraquat is a herbicide, not an insecticide, so why would it be sprayed for moths? I searched for information linking moths, paraquat, and polio, but couldn't find any. Is this claim a hallucination?
161.
by kens 10mo ago
I did a lot of research on this [1]. I got confirmation from Robert Garner (architect of the SPARC processor) that the NSA did indeed ask for the population count instruction. His story of meeting with the NSA is pretty amusing [2]. [1] ht
162.
by kens 10mo ago
I looked at the iAPX's 432 floating point more closely; it uses the same floating point model (which became IEEE 754), but the hardware is completely different. In particular, the iAPX 432 doesn't have nearly the same hardware sup
163.
by kens 10mo ago
Yes, but what is "GRX"? It must be an abbreviation for something, but I can't figure it out. And the patent never mentions it.
164.
by kens 10mo ago
Yes, the iAPX 432's FPU is related to the 8087. I think they took the 8087 design and redid it for the 432, but I haven't been able to nail down the details. I should take a closer look at the dies and see if there is any similari
165.
by kens 10mo ago
Having given a zillion interviews, I expect that they weren't looking for the One True Answer, but were interested in seeing if you discussed plausible reasons in an informed way, as well as seeing what areas you focused on (e.g., do y
166.
by kens 10mo ago
My compiler knowledge is limited, but I think that you end up with the same parse tree at a very early level of processing, whether you use Reverse-Polish notation or inline notation. So I don't think a language change would make a dif
167.
by kens 10mo ago
Stack-based architectures have an appeal, especially for mathematics. (Think of the HP calculator.) And the explanation that they didn't have enough instruction bits also makes sense. (The co-processor uses 8086 "ESCAPE" inst
168.
by kens 10mo ago
The microcode was so huge that they had to use a semi-analog ROM that held two bits per transistor by using four transistor sizes. As far as the layout, the outputs from the microcode ROM are the control signals that go to all parts of the
169.
by kens 10mo ago
You're in luck, I wrote about the 8087's shifter back in 2020 :-) https://www.righto.com/2020/05/die-analysis-of-8087-math-cop...
170.
by kens 10mo ago
Intel also used the 2-bit-per-transistor ROM in the iAPX 432, their unsuccessful "micro-maninframe" chip. Nowadays, flash uses multiple voltage levels to store four bits per cell (QLC, Quad Level Cell), which is a similar concept.
171.
by kens 10mo ago
Author here for your 8087 questions...
172.
by kens 10mo ago
I already have a San Francisco Public Library card because it gives me access to some very useful archives, but I had no idea that I could access O'Reilly as well. Thanks for mentioning this!
173.
by kens 10mo ago
If you're dealing with computer graphics, audio, or data analysis, I highly recommend learning Fourier transforms, because they explain a whole lot of things that are otherwise mysterious.
174.
by kens 10mo ago
That reminds me of the Popular Science garage hint from 1963, explaining how to easily dispose of used motor oil: Dig a hole in the ground and fill it with fine gravel. Pour in the oil, and it will be absorbed into the ground before your ne
175.
by kens 10mo ago
I was wondering the same thing, but near the end, the article discusses using statistical techniques to determine the standard error. In other words, you can easily get an idea of the accuracy of the result, which is harder with typical num
176.
by kens 10mo ago
I can successfully type "def main()" and not "function main()", unless I'm switching between JavaScript and Python and forget which language I'm in :-). It's the if statement with all the underscores th
177.
by kens 10mo ago
My knowledge-gap confession: even after many years with the languages, I can't write a main() in Python or Java without looking up the format.
178.
by kens 11mo ago
Semaglutide (Ozempic) has potential therapeutic effects in neurodegenerative disorders through "modulation of neuroinflammation, enhancement of mitochondrial function, and promotion of neurogenesis". It has shown benefits in anima
179.
by kens 11mo ago
I appreciate that the author talked to various people (technician, engineer) and visited the shop rather than just doing online research. It's rare for people to go to the effort of in-person research.
180.
by kens 11mo ago
Another interesting thing is that the Unix guru on the 386 project was Pat Gelsinger, who later became Intel's CEO. Gelsinger also converted at least one member of the 386 team to Christianity.

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