JoeDaDude

Also recommended: A visit to the Benjamin Franklin Museum in Philadelphia where they have reproductions of equipment Benjamin used to experiment (end to entertain guests) with electricity, such as a Leyden jar and voltaic cells.

https://www.nps.gov/inde/planyourvisit/benjaminfranklinmuseu...

One problem with sirens is that it is difficult for our ears and brains to process and determine which direction the siren is coming from. If you are in a car, even if you can hear the siren you can't easily tell if it is behind you or in front of you. "... only 26 per cent of occupants of a closed car could determine the direction of a siren" [1].

[1] https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6898454/why-is-it-har...

This is a known problem and hopefully some of the new proposed siren sounds will mitigate this.

For those interested in Linguistics, there is also Ask a Linguist

https://askaling.linguistlist.org/questions/

I suspect this is obvious to the HN audience, but this work is nice little exposition on some concepts of Information Theory. I wonder if Claude Shannon had any thoughts on it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_theory

https://utopiaordystopia.com/tag/claude-shannon-a-mathematic...

It's been said that the maze-like library in "The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco was inspired by the Library of Babel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Name_of_the_Rose#:~:text=T....

Look at the Terminal Equipment tab of this page linked below. It shows the Cobham ( different manufacturer from Thales) antenna for the same satellite service. It looks like it is a set of six or so patch antennas. It's not clear if it is switching between patches or combining the signals to/from the patches. If the latter, it is indeed a phased array. That seems likely because the other manufacturer, Intellian, describes their antenna as a 12-element phased array. I'm guessing the Thales also uses a phased array.

https://www.otesat-maritel.com/article/2128/iridium-certus

Per this little video, the Thales Vessel link does some 350kbs uplink and downlink.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoVbH7gFrVY

Include an option to include a software defined radio and I'm in.

I share the mixed feelings about e-readers. It would appear these mixed feelings predate even the invention of e-readers, as humorously presented in this (politically incorrect) short story "The Holmes Ginsbook Device" by Isaac Asimov in 1968.

http://sfwritersworkshop.org/node/1232

Meteor bursts in the upper atmosphere are a fairly frequent occurrence, detection is made with acoustic using sensors developed to detect atomic explosions. It is very rare that they occur low to the ground though.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229492086_Historica...

This graphic novel could be fun, it is based on the writings of Julius Caesar who was said to write in a fairly simple style.

Caesaris Bellum Helveticum: Scriptores Antiqui Romani Imaginibus Ornati by Karl Heinz Graf Von Rothenburg

https://www.amazon.com/Caesaris-Bellum-Helveticum-Scriptores...

One more recommendation: The Swords of Armgeddon" by Chuck Hansen. Published as a CD ROM, it is full of historical references and photos:

http://www.uscoldwar.com/

This is one of the selling points of induction stoves, but you will have to balance air quality with exposure to high EM fields.

David Cope has written several books and journal publications about his automated composition methods, some examples below:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0895792567/ref=dbs_a_def_r...

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/6787993

Dropping related Nicky Case's’s excellent piece about space repetition here: How to Remember Anything Forever-ish https://ncase.me/remember/

The end of World War I was somewhat chaotic [1] as General Pershing (US Commander) and other high ranking officers issued orders to cease hostilities on November 11th, but did not clearly state what to do in the interim. Lower level commanders either believed that territory held when the armistice went into effect would be kept, or sought to enhance their military careers by one final action, ordered offensives right up until the last minute. General Pershing would later have to testify before congress on why there were so many casualties on the last few days of the war, but no action was taken against him.

[1] Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour: Armistice Day, 1918 World War I and Its Violent Climax Paperback – October 12, 2005 by Joseph E. Persic

I'd like to continue this discussion. Can you please e-mail me at the address in my profile? Thanks!

Dumb but honest question: If most sales were expected to be in Latin America, why wasn't the game localized in the Spanish language?

In general, the United Nations, by means of the International Telecommunications Union, coordinates orbital assignments between member nations [1]. In the US, the FCC mediates for the American satellites to the ITU, so the FCC, as a member of the ITU, approves satellite orbital assignments [2]. In addition, the FAA plays a role in approving satellite launches as a matter of air traffic and safety, etc. [3]. The FAA doesn't get involved once the satellite is in space though.

As an example, one US company got in legal hot water by trying to skirt around the FCC in getting its satellites to orbit [4].

[1]. https://www.itu.int/en/plenipotentiary/2014/newsroom/Documen...

[2]. https://www.fcc.gov/general/international-bureau-satellite-d...

[3]. https://www.faa.gov/space/legislation_regulation_guidance/

[4]. https://qz.com/1503575/swarm-technologies-settles-illegal-la...

The HP=12C Financial Calculator, still in production, uses RPN.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-12C

Interesting maps on [0], though details on how direction finding was done are lacking. Is this something anyone can do with friends who have radios around the country? If so, how?

[0] https://k0lwc.com/direction-finding-points-to-cuba-jamming-h...

Image 6 just looks like he is holding 2 pencils. Is he actually sharpening them?

However he does it, I don't think he is using a razor based sharpener, just look at the rough points in image 15.

This worked for GPS [0] because it was conceived as a purely military project (and still is mostly). Once established, it was opened up to civilian and commercial uses. But even so, other countries and supra-national organizations decided they needed their own navigation satellite systems, and now we have Galileo [1] and Beidou [2].

Maybe if the military had done this first, a similar path would follow (not likely though). As it is, the military is planning their own massive LEO satellite system [3].

[0]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System [1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galileo_(satellite_navigation) [2]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeiDou [3]. https://www.sda.mil/us-military-places-a-bet-on-leo-for-spac...

Nice work! I tried hydroponics a couple of times, though with a simpler setup. I usually had to combat the build up of algae in the reservoir tank. I was farming outdoors so I blamed sunlight and nutrients for creating conditions for algae growth.

I wonder if the use Mycostop would be effective against algae?

I for one, would like to attend thie SETI Symposium , attendance at which is one of the items funded:

https://sites.psu.edu/setisymposium2021/

Let me correct myself. Phil Lubin (the author) is on the Starshot Advisory Committee. He is so listed in the Bidder Briefing slides for the Starshot Sail RFP.

A lot of this sounds like the Breakthrough Starshot initiative ideas. I could not find out if the author affiliated with said initiative.

https://breakthroughinitiatives.org/initiative/3

The story of Charles Dodgson aka Lewis Carrol is ... complicated. On the one hand there is a lot of fishy stuff going on with young girls. On the other hand, he deliberately cultivated the image of himself as a friend of children because it was, at the time, believed to be a mark of innocence and absence of worldly desires. And on the other other hand, he had many relationships with adult women, flouting convention and going on unescorted excursions with them, well into his old age.

A good treatment of this complexity is found in the biography of him, "In the Shadow of the Dreamchild" by Karoline Leach. The book posits the theory that Dodgson may have been pursuing an affair with Alice Liddel's older sister, or even her mother, which may not be convincing. But the book is well researched and has a lot to say about Charles' love life, or apparent lack of.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Shadow_of_the_Dreamchil...

Fantastic! I've been thinking about tinkering with clocks lately, Here's why: I recently saw this video [0] about controlling clocks and it made me want to do it too.

[0]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdnXLv5za-k

At one time I had a backwards clock [1]. It turns out it was the only analog clock in the house so after a while I got used to it. Then I would be jolted back to reality when going outside and seeing a "normal clock.

[1]. https://www.walmart.com/ip/9-quot-BACKWARDS-CLOCK/35002444

And how about these one-handed watches [2]. Ostensibly, they "fundamentally change the way you look at your watch and ... give you a much better consciousness about the progression of your day". True? After my experience with the backwards clock, I'd like to find out. But I don't want to buy an expensive watch, I'd rather make my own one-handed clock.

[2]. https://www.slow-watches.com/24-hour-one-hand-watch/

edits: fixed link and typos

Coincidentally, I just started reading Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire by Richard B. Frank [1]. The very first chapter details survivor accounts of the March 45 fire bombing of Tokyo. Later chapters go into the difficulties LeMay had when trying to precision bomb industrial facilities and how ineffective the bombing was.

[1] https://www.google.com/books/edition/Downfall/cJXtAAAAMAAJ?h...

For a general; history of bombing as a tactic, I recommend A History of Bombing by Sven Lindqvist [2]. A short and unusual book in that the author gives instructions on how to read the book in two ways, either chronologically as a history book, or thematically, following the themes and ideas of bombing strategies.

[2]. https://books.google.com/books?id=Wws_HAAACAAJ&newbks=0&hl=e...