JoeDaDude

Looks like he just unplugged the WiFi modem/module. But the software that looks for a WiFi connection is still thee and operating, which is no big deal on a fridge, but on a TV it really extends the startup time as the TV won't be fully on until its has searched for WiFi connections, even if it fails to find one.

That is a tempting little project but that Geiger counter is costly for a little hobby project. How about this cheaper alternative?

https://www.adafruit.com/product/483

I tell my relatives to bury such that I become a fossil, to be discovered by future paleontologists, probably of some species other than human. Bury me in a muddy river bed that will become sedimentary rock in a few eons.

But I want to take a message to the future. It would have to be made of wood or similar so it too fossilizes, something like an abacus or an astrolabe, so the future excavators know that we had a technological civilization.

Disclaimer: I am no expert, have never been to Japan, and know no Japanese people. That said, I've read or watched several pieces [1] which state the complex relationship Japan has with religion.

It is said that modern Japanese see Shinto as one of the factors that drove into the Asia Pacific War and World War II. Aum Shinrikio [2], a sect that did terrorist attacks also contributed to giving religions a bad name. Christianity is practiced only by a very small minority and modern Shinto has been reduced to consist almost exclusively of ritual, with little belief for gods, souls, or the afterlife.

I'd be interested in hearing more perspectives on this from anyone with first hand experience, or that just knows better.

[1]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJmWVWCdTYo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr0hxKznLTA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gZHuFtuzdg

[2]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aum_Shinrikyo

Good Ol' Days indeed. I remember sabotaging Gorilas.bas so my opponent always had a random gravitational constant to deal with.

Very nice work, but I would still prefer cartoony anime robots to realistic humanoid ones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-GKwqTxtS8

See the 2003 film about him, made while he was still alive, at link below. This film has some details about his homemade reactor at about 17:24 minutes in.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBuOJn03QVo

I too wondered what it would be like to adapt and get used to the inverted view. It turns out, inverting goggles are readily available.

https://www.grand-illusions.com/reversing-goggles-c2x2114003...

These shavers are why I now grow a goatee. Even a goatee will cut your shaving costs in half, beards much more. Obligatory Onion satire on the subject:

https://www.theonion.com/fuck-everything-were-doing-five-bla...

Maybe what happened is that once you become good at being a developer, you derived satisfaction from that even if you were working for someone else, or maybe you thought your "passion" was elsewhere.

This is the thesis of Cal Newport's book "So Good They Can’t Ignore You", summary here:

https://fourminutebooks.com/so-good-they-cant-ignore-you-sum...

I did in person MSCS with a day job and one kid, about 7 years old at the time. It's doable with a supportive spouse. I spent one or two hours (outside of class) a during the week, and sometimes more during the weekends.

I completed this at one class per semester, except for the semester I attempted two classes to speed up the process. While I was able to complete both classes, I felt the learning suffered as I was just rushing to complete assignments in time instead of really learning the material.

If only it included a guide to the different USB connectors, but that might make TFA too long to publish.

It's not just one source over the other, it is also the impracticality of the hot air balloon for this purpose, as I stated in my post.

This observation, borne out of my (admittedly brief) exposure to both hot air balloons (I know hot air balloon pilots and have ridden with them) and weather balloons (I planned, but did not execute, a project with my son's boy scout troop to launch a weather balloon to the stratosphere), combined with my engineering instincts (FWIW), convinced that the Wikipedia source was correct.

Some people are so nitpicky...

From TFA: "He instigated a top-secret experiment, code-named Project Mogul, that sent up hot air balloons equipped..."

I believe this is an error. Per Wikipedia [1]: "...rubber meteorological balloons, however, these were quickly replaced by enormous balloons made of polyethylene plastic. These were more durable, leaked less helium...". So the Project Mogul balloons were NOT hot air balloons. Which is not surprising. To fulfill the mission, a hot air balloon would have to carry fuel and perform controlled burns to maintain altitude. Not that this would be impossible, it is just easier IMHO to release ballast.

[1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mogul

Awesome! I'm going to dig up the source for my custom After Dark module and see if it works!

This is the kind of stuff I had in mind when making the suggestion about sabotage:

https://arxiv.org/abs/2204.06974

To "When Machine Learning Fails" add a chapter or two on "Sabotaging Machine Learning Models".

I was going to suggest this, but take it a step further and consider writing commercially. A huge number of press articles and books have been written just to explain subjects to other who are not professionals in the field, but have an incessant curiosity about many subjects. A casual search will turn up innumerable explanations of how, for example, machine learning works, or what quantum computing could do, what the Mars rovers have found, or what GMO foods are. IMHO, these articles and books provide a meaningful social service in keeping people informed on subjects which could impact society or their lives.

Count me in for the study group. I'm looking a enrolling in graduate physics classes, maybe as soon as this Fall.

IANAM (though I have relatives that are). My experience ion the corporate world is that HR exists to protect the organization, not to help the employees. The notion that orchestras need an HR organization to address musician's issues should be taken with a big grain of salt.

Way back in the day, I wrote an AI to play hex based on the Genetic Algorithm, for which I drew inspiration from Blondie24, a checkers AI. At the time I didn't realize how much broader the search tree for Hex was compared to checkers. The results were disappointing. I had to reduce the board size to get even modest performance.

[1]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blondie24

Here's one, though the AI is said to be pretty dumb:

https://boardspace.net/english/about_hex.html

Last time I checked there were a couple of mobile games. Looks like these are still available:

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hex-ai-board-game/id1326484730

https://appadvice.com/app/hex-for-ipad/626696176

I have not read it, but it likely complements another Hex strategy book: Hex Strategy: Making the Right Connections by Cameron Browne.

[1]. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Hex_Strategy/tR7XkqeV31...

The (very old) machine translation joke: The computer was asked to translate the phrase: "The spirit is strong but the flesh is weak" into Russian. The output was: "The vodka is great but the meat is rotten".

All of the above, but consider if you are going international. Be aware of rules regarding exports from the US, ITAR, and EU regulations.

Sad but true. Still, there have been hacks to get Oculus SW to work on Vive and even Windows Mixed Reality hardware. I hope that is the case with this title as well.

Not far from my neighborhood outside of Philadelphia, there is the Jackalope Research Institute [1]. I've often wondered what goes on in there, whether it is some eccentric would-be-scientist, tax dodge or money laundering scheme, or front for the KGB.

[1]. http://jackaloperesearchinstitute.org/

FWIW, I know of a group of language learners who have setup one of these rooms with the rule that conversations only take place in the foreign language. So far, it has been very effective in giving learners a place to practice and hone their language skills.

UVB-76, aka "The Buzzer" is a radio transmission of Russian origin with unknown purpose. It is listed on that site, link below:

https://priyom.org/military-stations/russia/the-buzzer

At the time of this writing, as the Russian invasion of Ukraine is on-going, rampant jamming of the buzzer is occurring. The buzzer can be listened to hear:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUgzv-8_EMc

For astronomy, I suggest The Universe, From Flat Earth to Quasar by Isaac Asimov [1]. Even though it was published in 1971 and may miss recent developments, it captures thehistory, the discoveries and controversies of the times, such as Olber's Paradox, very well.

[1]. https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Universe/Eo5xpO83Yp...

[2]. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olbers'_paradox