sgentle

23 ms·

151.
by sgentle 8y ago
Interesting... thanks for the pointer. I did some testing and the points definitely do seem to cluster along the axis... just increasing the number of iterations of √(r²-n²) seemed to improve it though. At 5, I can't tell the differenc
152.
by sgentle 8y ago
I thought this was kinda fun, and I was trying to figure out why you couldn't just take a random x and use it to find a y that preserves x²+y²=r² (ie by setting y to a random number between 0 and ±√(r²-x²)). In the end I figured out th
153.
by sgentle 8y ago
You might find relative entropy, aka information gain, aka Kullback-Liebler divergence interesting: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kullback–Leibler_divergence Also this treatment of K-L divergence as a measure of &quo
154.
by sgentle 8y ago
I'm afraid you're mistaken: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Firefox#Naming
155.
by sgentle 8y ago
Elon Musk is not Tony Stark, nor is he Hari Seldon, nor is he Professor Moriarty. He's an actual person: a talented engineer and businessman, a utopian sci-fi nerd who genuinely wants to bring the world closer to being a sci-fi utopia,
156.
by sgentle 8y ago
Heh, neat. Now all you need is to implement that logistic map solver in hardware and write a function that maps other functions into their equivalent "decimal code" and you've got a pretty fun computer going. The paper notes
157.
by sgentle 8y ago
If anyone's looking for a really solid "accessible to a layperson but you're still going to have to put in some work" series on this stuff, I wholeheartedly recommend PBS Space Time on YouTube. It's paced like your
158.
by sgentle 8y ago
Worth reading the report itself, linked from the article: https://www.airproxboard.org.uk/uploadedFiles/Content/Standa... It's only 4 pages, and explains the situation fairly clearly. Choice quotes: The
159.
by sgentle 8y ago
I don't think anyone benefits from watering down the definition of "good" to the point where it describes Javascript. Javascript – sorry, modern Javascript – sorry, surfing a compile-to-JS liferaft atop a thick and constantly
160.
by sgentle 8y ago
I was recently reading about power factor correction and found out that "synchronous condensers", basically just large synchronous motors with no load, are sometimes used at utility scale for PFC and frequency stabilisation. Eg, h
161.
by sgentle 8y ago
In this case I would read "check-boxing" as "reducing to a simple optimisation loop without considering the implications of what you're optimising for". Granted, I'm doing some pretty heavy interpretational lif
162.
by sgentle 9y ago
Relatedly, there must be a (much longer) shortest sequence of bits that it is impossible to send over the internet, because beyond a certain length the payload must be split over multiple packets, requiring additional header bits in betwe
163.
by sgentle 9y ago
This paper is a pretty comprehensive take on Vipassana, so in case anyone's looking for something a bit more general, I'd like to offer a complementary summary based on my own experiences. Vipassana is a 10-day silent meditation r
164.
by sgentle 9y ago
Super cool! I'm excited to see more FP and determinism in the generative art world. A while back I started trying out deterministic animations, ie (seed, t) -> (shape) rather than (oldshape) -> (shape). It requires a bit more bra
165.
by sgentle 9y ago
Wow. You ever get your mind blown three different ways at once? I don't know if I'm more impressed with the depth of ideas in this paper, the exquisite clarity of its presentation, or the glimpse this journal gives into the scienc
166.
by sgentle 9y ago
Rather than place the blame on a lack of structure, community or spirituality, I see this as just a natural consequence of a system optimised at every turn for economic output. I've heard a lot about a singularity doomsday scenario whe
167.
by sgentle 9y ago
"many of the things that make life worth living aren’t measurable at all, or if they are measurable then they aren’t comparable. How many dinners with family equal one random act of kindness?" I think there is a dangerous mysticis
168.
by sgentle 9y ago
I think people are missing the forest for the trees here. Despite what the PR says, this has very little to do with the relationship between YouTube and creators, and everything to do with the relationship between YouTube and advertisers. Y
169.
by sgentle 9y ago
> Both the cynic and the underachiever are afraid of sticking their necks out and becoming who they deeply, passionately want to become, for fear of looking stupid or failing. I have also experienced this for an equal but opposite reason
170.
by sgentle 9y ago
That is the current basis for prescribing them: > A. A persistent pattern of inattention and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity that interferes with functioning or development [...] > B. Several inattentive or hyperactive-impulsive sym
171.
by sgentle 9y ago
What this makes me wonder is, if the problem is not enough funding for visionary work, or more accurately that modern funders misunderstand how and why to find visionary work, then what will change their minds? Because I feel like I've
172.
by sgentle 9y ago
I feel like there's this weird preciousness fetish that comes up around hardship. "Oh, you poor thing! Life must be so difficult and interesting for you. Please, tell me about your struggles, preferably in 15-20 minutes while alte
173.
by sgentle 9y ago
It's interesting to see this laser focus on a particular kind of user. If you're running Linux on a server, you're a user, but unless you're very irresponsible you would probably rather your programs crash than give away
174.
by sgentle 9y ago
Complements and substitutes: https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/06/12/strategy-letter-v/ Modern web companies don't make money from the web, they make money from something you do while you're
175.
by sgentle 9y ago
The root of the issue here is that URLs are trying to be human-meaningful and machine-meaningful at the same time, but those requirements are fundamentally incompatible. Humans work well with ambiguity and context. You know that when your c
176.
Show HN: Starboard(demos.samgentle.com)
1 points by sgentle 9y ago|0 comments
177.
by sgentle 9y ago
I think this is the worst thing about startup culture. Don't get me wrong, I like startups, but there's so much hype and so much money around them that it sucks all the oxygen out of anything else. I can't count the number of
178.
by sgentle 9y ago
Never do a music industry startup unless you have a billion dollars, can raise a billion dollars, or plan to be acquired by a company with a billion dollars to spare. That's the table stakes for going toe-to-toe with the big three. The
179.
by sgentle 9y ago
So I tried but the results were... um, unexpected: https://gfycat.com/negligiblesnivelingastarte Code: var db = document.body;document.onscroll = function(){db.style.transform = 'scaleY(1)'; db.style.transfo
180.
by sgentle 9y ago
It's important not to let pragmatism wander into anti-intellectualism. "pedagogy, psychology, and mathematics" are all well-defined terms with non-bullshit meanings. Montessori, Papert and Bruner are well-known names whose th

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