smokel

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211.
by smokel 1y ago
That's quite the improvement over Stars/NoooN [1] showing off real-time rendering of (supposedly) 23,806 triangles on a 486. [1] https://youtu.be/wEiBxHOGYps
212.
by smokel 1y ago
Please don't read too much into this single word. The comment above mentioned "nearly every ounce of energy they expended on research was strategic" , and I was keeping that in mind while writing my remark. Please read my s
213.
by smokel 1y ago
The TUNES [1] operating system and programming language project. The reason for its failure are described perfectly on the archival website: > TUNES started in 1992-95 as an operating system project, but was never clearly defined, and i
214.
by smokel 1y ago
Very interesting, but I have a hard time differentiating the colors. The gradients seem to be there for aesthetics only, but they confuse me to no end :)
215.
by smokel 1y ago
I agree that the system itself is dysfunctional, and I understand the argument that individuals are shaped or even constrained by it. However, in this case, we are talking about people who are both exceptionally intelligent and materially
216.
by smokel 1y ago
> I certainly didn't judge them because they are just playing the game. Please do judge them for being parasitical. They might seem successful by certain measures, like the amount of money they make, but I for one simply dislik
217.
by smokel 1y ago
The Diátaxis framework [1] provides a nice suggestion of different types of documentation, and when to use them. None of these types is "best", each serves a different purpose. [1] https://diataxis.fr/
218.
by smokel 1y ago
But it was published 5 Oct 2025.
219.
by smokel 1y ago
Agreed. I remember back then thinking what the fuss was all about. There already was Gopher and FTP, and connecting these two occurred at least in my mind back then, so it should have been trivial to most people :) The important thing f
220.
by smokel 1y ago
Could we perhaps remove "Terence Tao" from the title? It feels somewhat disingenuous to lean on their name to bolster the argument. While someone in this thread is criticized for an ad hominem attack, this risks being the opposite
221.
by smokel 1y ago
He sort of counters his own argument by having so much influence as an individual :)
222.
by smokel 1y ago
The problem lies in the word "we". I personally don't think this, and neither do most other people who gave this subject some thought. It's just that silly ideas get to live around for a long time, and simply proving th
223.
by smokel 1y ago
I fail to understand why we would lack data. Sure, there is limited (historical) text, but if we just open up all available video, and send out interactive robots into the world, we'll drown in data. Then there is simulated data, and
224.
by smokel 1y ago
If you like this kind of thing, have a look at Project Euler, especially problem 143, "Torricelli Triangles". https://projecteuler.net/problem=143
225.
by smokel 1y ago
Ha, shows what I know :) As a non-native speaker I had always assumed it referred to working with colleagues. Etymologically related, but apparently not the same.
226.
by smokel 1y ago
The best thing of the ICPC is the first C, which stands for "collegiate". It means that you get to solve a set of problems with three persons, but with only one computer. This means that you have to be smart about who is goin
227.
by smokel 1y ago
Even though you might be joking, I think this is a very relevant point. To take it a step further, one also has to be willing to learn to learn how to learn. I wonder if intrinsic motivation for this can be nurtured, or whether it is up
228.
by smokel 1y ago
Google Gemini 2.5 Pro actually has a quite nuanced reply when asked to consider this statement, including the following: > "Massive privacy invasion: The core of modern adtech runs on tracking your behavior across different website
229.
by smokel 1y ago
This does not make sense when we are discussing an iPhone Air, right?
230.
by smokel 1y ago
When buying etchings, beware of fakes. Since Rembrandt is very popular, people have found ways to make additional prints, by using the same copper plates in or after his lifetime. The Rembrandt House in Amsterdam sells new prints that are
231.
by smokel 1y ago
I've never understood why we still look at the plain text representation of code, and not a visualization of the code that makes more sense. Note that, in my mind, this visualization is not automatically generated, but lovingly created
232.
by smokel 1y ago
To add to this, I think that in the past decades, the rise of large software ecosystems (e.g. around Python, Java, Windows, AWS, Azure), have had both positive and negative effects on accidental complexity. On the one hand libraries and p
233.
by smokel 1y ago
If you are looking for the response that I think you are wasting your life, then here have it. You only have one life, and for many people life isn't so great. Help someone out, and do something useful with your life.
234.
by smokel 1y ago
Reading through the comments here, it looks like there is an opportunity for a startup to streamline software licensing. Just a free tip.
235.
by smokel 1y ago
This particular machine is Z80 based and not 6502, so it's not trivial to port. I've looked into building my own BASIC implementation and got quite far with that. Unfortunately, most games that were written back then rely on timi
236.
by smokel 1y ago
Thanks for the suggestions. I tried my very best a few years ago, and the release of 6502 BASIC has lifted my spirits a bit, so I'll try again and see where it gets me :) Unfortunately, the outlook for most Philips P2000T software is
237.
by smokel 1y ago
It's the P2305 cartridge, originally sold as "Module microsoft basic interpreter" [1], [2]. It's jointly copyrighted by Microsoft and Philips. I have discussed this with Philips [3] a few years ago, and they were open t
238.
by smokel 1y ago
I'm really hoping that this will perhaps lead to other BASIC implementations being open sourced as well. I've written a fully functional emulator for my first love, the Philips P2000T [1], but never released it because I couldn&#x
239.
by smokel 1y ago
The common definition for random walks moves only by unit vectors. Unfortunately, the information on Wikipedia is somewhat limited. The book "Random Walk: A Modern Introduction" (2010) by Gregory Lawler describes things in the f
240.
by smokel 1y ago
> There is one chance in ten that the walker will take a positive or negative step along any given dimension at each time point. This confused me a bit. To clarify: at each step, the random walker selects a dimension (with probability

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