kkylin

46 ms·

241.
by kkylin 6y ago
Cheap FM radios, at least, are also much, much more power efficient. And, well, really cheap to make. (Not an audiophile, but I imagine these statements would not apply to high end analog equipment.)
242.
by kkylin 6y ago
Terry Tao on Vaughan Jones: https://terrytao.wordpress.com/2020/09/09/vaughan-jones/
243.
by kkylin 6y ago
Thanks. I actually type "(asterisk)", forgetting every single time that HN uses asterisks for formatting, and too lazy to go back and fix it...
244.
by kkylin 6y ago
I think you are exactly right, and want to add a couple things ( ): - It's easy to recognize scientific / technological revolutions in hindsight, but at the time they're anything but. I think most recognize the importance of
245.
by kkylin 6y ago
Seems this may be pertinent to the discussion, even if it is relatively old: https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/37600/MIT-CSA...
246.
by kkylin 6y ago
Being a mathematician who's dabbled in neuroscience a bit, I think that's essentially right (though perhaps I wouldn't have said "laughable"). But I also think this reflects the differences between how science and
247.
by kkylin 6y ago
I came here to recommend that. And anyone interested in great mathematical writing should read the first few pages of Morse Theory. (The rest of the book is great too, but I especially love the clarity and directness of that opening secti
248.
by kkylin 6y ago
Oh this is too bad. Can someone knowledgeble about comment on whether there may be a second-order impact on lens-making for e.g. astronomy? (I got a tour of the Mirror Lab at the University of Arizona a couple years back; many large telesc
249.
by kkylin 6y ago
My extended family moved to the Bay Area in the early to mid 80s (some a little earlier). No one ever thought it cheap, and what they said then about cost of living is not that different from what everyone says now.
250.
by kkylin 6y ago
That's my memory of Athena from those days as well, though I cannot say why that was. Definitely agree with csh and tcsh being painful. But being the first shell I got to know, I still know it well and better than the alternatives...
251.
by kkylin 6y ago
I've never heard that about [1], and would be interested in hearing people's reasons as well. I've used it for many years now and have had few problems. The only other version I've used is Mitsuharu Yamamoto's ema
252.
by kkylin 6y ago
Presumably the book goes with this course: http://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/gjs/6.945/
253.
by kkylin 6y ago
I agree with the sentiment, but would say it slightly differently: I think most big ideas about fundamental physical laws that are testable by present-day technology have likely been discovered. This spells the "end of physics" o
254.
by kkylin 6y ago
I think tech-oriented schools, e.g., Caltech, MIT, Georgia Tech, etc., are exceptions rather than the rule. Most large state universities in the US are likely to have different physics / chemistry / math courses for students head
255.
by kkylin 6y ago
Absolutely! internalizing dimensional analysis has been one of the most useful things I learned in grad school -- even though converting units was something many of us learn, in one form or another, before college.
256.
by kkylin 6y ago
Not arguing with your point, because it has merit, but do want to add that part of the problem with math education (at least here in the US) is structural: for most students, to start with what they know when they enter and to graduate in
257.
by kkylin 6y ago
For anyone interested in the consistency of CH and Axiom of Choice: https://www.scottaaronson.com/blog/?p=4974 And (of course) the HN discussion at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2495469
258.
by kkylin 6y ago
For me, battery life has been the biggest disappointment with the 2018 MBP. It used to be that if one paid more for a MBP, one got more of everything. With the last couple gens of Intel MacBooks, one had to choose: speed? battery life?
259.
by kkylin 6y ago
IBM Research also supported a number of first rate scientists. Just a couple of the better known names: Mandelbrot and Landauer worked there, and Charles Bennett still works there I think.
260.
by kkylin 6y ago
Thank you, that was wonderful. Despite being a fan of Gould for man years, I had not seen this before.
261.
by kkylin 6y ago
As a tenured professor (math), I generally agree but would say it a little differently: yes, definitely talk to students and avoid advisors when there are warning signs. OTOH, even "great" advisors that everyone loves may not be
262.
by kkylin 6y ago
For me, this is most especially useful when traveling, e.g., figure out the kind of neighborhood an airbnb is in an unfamiliar city, or to map out that walk from the central train station to a off-the-main-drag apartment or hotel.
263.
by kkylin 6y ago
A quick search shows this: https://arxiv.org/abs/1401.3014 which still requires a substantial mathematical background, but seems rather less technical (I've not read it). There's also a textbook on rough pat
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Vaughan Jones Has Died(terrytao.wordpress.com)
3 points by kkylin 6y ago|0 comments
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by kkylin 6y ago
I didn't get a chance (almost always read HN comments first). Thanks for the summary!
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by kkylin 6y ago
Genuinely curious: to what extent is that because the numerator didn't grow enough, and to what extent is it because the denominator grew too quickly?
267.
by kkylin 6y ago
I did not know about this. Nice. Thanks!
268.
by kkylin 6y ago
Forgot that there's an xkcd, too: https://xkcd.com/710/
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by kkylin 6y ago
Another relatively recent article on this topic: https://www.quantamagazine.org/mathematician-terence-tao-and... HN discussion at the time: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21780068
270.
by kkylin 6y ago
Hodgkin and Huxley, who figured out how the basic mechanism underlying action potentials, worked on the squid giant axon because it's so large, up to 1.5mm in diameter. And the reason is large is that invertebrates do not have myelin,

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