salmonellaeater

19 ms·

91.
by salmonellaeater 12y ago
The world can be deterministic and still allow free will with respect to a real observer. In some sense it doesn't matter if a person's actions are in principle predictable when there is no observer who can actually make those pre
92.
by salmonellaeater 12y ago
Several of the fallacies remind me of the ESP example from "Queer Uses for Probability Theory" [1][2]. Arguments often involve trusting that the proponent is not lying or misleading us, especially when there is a need for experts
93.
by salmonellaeater 12y ago
These are old lessons: in 2006 AOL [1][2] and Netflix [1][3] both released datasets that were supposed to be anonymized but were easily de-anonymized. There are older examples based on Census data[4]. It's difficult if not impossible t
94.
by salmonellaeater 12y ago
You could certainly handle that kind of error using a type system. There could be a scoping rule where certain kinds of operation (i.e. close file) put the reference to the object out of scope. The way Haskell chains I/O operations usi
95.
by salmonellaeater 12y ago
" The problem with a join is that you never know what intermediate set will be produced, meaning you never quite know the memory use or latency of a query with a join. Multiplying that out with several joins means you have enormous pot
96.
by salmonellaeater 12y ago
Game theory is just an explanation; people don't use it explicitly to make decisions, they just follow their gut, and evolution has caused our guts to produce rational decisions most of the time. It's the same as the theories of a
97.
Overview of Motion Planning (2013)(gamasutra.com)
1 points by salmonellaeater 12y ago|0 comments
98.
by salmonellaeater 12y ago
This is called a boustrophedon decomposition[1] (the name comes from the movement an ox makes when plowing a field). It's used for minesweeping robots among other things. Constructing the decomposition simultaneously covers the space b
99.
by salmonellaeater 12y ago
mavhc's joke[1] is apparently a little too close to reality. [1] http://princessbride.wikia.com/wiki/Dread_Pirate_Roberts
100.
by salmonellaeater 12y ago
It does distinguish, at least between smoking and alcohol: While many fewer Americans are killed from alcohol than from tobacco, the absolute percentages are somewhat deceiving; whereas the lifespan of current smokers is about 12 years sho
101.
by salmonellaeater 12y ago
"In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is the interval from the first to the last of five consecutive notes in a diatonic scale."[1] CDEFG -> CG is a fifth [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfec
102.
by salmonellaeater 12y ago
One effect of parasites and diseases is to increase diversity. If a species becomes too common, a disease or parasite targeting it can flourish, cutting back its numbers and allowing other species to take its place. Eradicating mosquitoes m
103.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
The author is correct in saying that JS was not designed for functional programming. The issues they raise are real issues, and a different language design would make functional style much easier to write. The issue with immutable data is n
104.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
> If we had no price discrimination, perhaps because of a regulation requiring market makers to leave their quotes out in the market for 60 seconds, then ... [t]he net result is that Big Joe would pay more to trade and Little Billie woul
105.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
Don't underestimate the power of bundling. Even if content becomes decoupled from the cable companies, bundling is still a powerful way for content companies to get a small amount of revenue for content they know you don't care mu
106.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
> FB has a well documented habit of arbitrarily changing those [privacy] settings without the user knowing. This is exactly the reason why I am dismayed at the acquisition. FB has demonstrated repeatedly that it has a very cavalier attit
107.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
Although cameras have built-in filters that block UV and IR light, the IR portion is often weak and allows some light through. By adding a filter[1] that blocks visible light, there is often enough IR left to expose a photo[2]. With some ca
108.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
I was assuming American English, since the site is based in New York. Even so, it turns out there is a lot of nuance to this grammatical question. The Chicago Manual of Style (which is for book editing) prescribes 's, while the AP Styl
109.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
The article's title makes a daring statement. The possessive of a name ending in s usually uses 's: James's Forbes's Omitting the s after an apostrophe is usually reserved for historical or Biblical names (because histor
110.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
Even an AI with innocuous goals will destroy humanity[1]. It would have to have explicitly pro-human goals in order to be anywhere near 'safe.' [1] http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/Paperclip_maximizer
111.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
Presh Talwalkar posts weekly logic puzzles[1]. His blog is a good source of interesting applications of economics and game theory to the real world. [1] http://mindyourdecisions.com/blog/
112.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
I left a top tech company two years ago and moved to a similar country (Taiwan), and I have a few counterpoints. - If the cost of living is low, odds are the wages are low too. If you're living within your means and saving 30% of your
113.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
For a real treat, try Desert Bus[1]. The scoring works like soccer: 1 point and you've basically won. [1] http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/elements/2013/07/the-w...
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by salmonellaeater 13y ago
There are... just not in the US. They're actually a mixed bag so it's not necessarily a tragedy that the US doesn't use them: Based on the operational studies, only the red time countdown device has a positive influence on s
115.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
For half the US population (those in regions that use more renewable power sources), electric vehicles are equivalent to about 70mpg in terms of emissions, so they're a clear win. In the regions that use mostly coal, it's more lik
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by salmonellaeater 13y ago
I keep a few disposable plastic bags in my bike bag for this kind of situation. They're almost weightless, and balled up take up very little space.
117.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
> As a safeguard, take an all-purpose screwdriver and pack it in the gig bag. After having security confiscate my small hex wrench set (part of my bike kit) and, on a different occasion, a tiny screwdriver (part of my camera's filte
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by salmonellaeater 13y ago
HN ought to parse " http://www.iis.sinica.edu.tw" as "sinica.edu.tw" rather than "edu.tw".
119.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
It's a similar reason for the advantage of lowercase over uppercase: the overall shape of the letter is easier to recognize if it's "bumpier," as in serif fonts.
120.
by salmonellaeater 13y ago
While I agree with the sentiment, the statistics quoted don't support the author's thesis. > The average age of a successful entrepreneur in high-growth industries such as computers, health care, and aerospace is 40. > Twice

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