danboarder

Blender has supported NURBS (Non-uniform rational B-spline) modeling since 2.9 (fairly recent). https://www.makeuseof.com/nurbs-curves-3d-modeling-blender-t...

I find this to be a very cool NURBS-based CAD project, can't wait to play with it more. From what I can see it borrows a lot of concepts from solid modeling CAD tools like Solidworks, but also has UX similarities to other common surface modeling tools like Blender. Here is a video of how it works:

Plasticity - Fresh NURBS Modeler for Everyone! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l16YkZnT5zM

This reminds me of the makeup art and privacy activist projects used to confuse facial recognition camera systems a couple years ago, here is one example (of many):

Hiding in plain sight: activists don camouflage to beat Met surveillance https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/01/privacy-campai...

Worth the read. This one caught my eye:

"They are migrating everything to use local IP issuing system instead of RIPE. Cross-border cables have to be owned by local companies. All ISPs have to use SORM: https://t.co/A2C5XpJqet and Deep Packet Inspection. Meaning they can physically shut off cables, making VPNs useless."

True, however there are CAM tools to generate NC toolpaths/gcode from within blender, check out BlenderCAM: https://github.com/vilemduha/blendercam

To complement this, a collection of Blender addons to make CAD design with Blender even more enjoyable:

https://github.com/EleotleCram/blender-cad-tools

Fascinating $25K contest by Terrance Howard to build hardware and software for an interesting drone design that can maintain position in any orientation. Here is an interview with the winner Kevin Plaizier (also a core dev of the EmuFlight software project): https://youtu.be/Hrn1M2opQ60 And some other entries: https://youtu.be/LGPOkZxf5F4

Here is a clip from the BBC showing the Z Machine in action, pushing 26 million amps. The Z Machine - Can We Make A Star? https://youtu.be/eaopaLJk3-Y

That photo is amazing, thanks for sharing! This is the first I've heard of the Z-Pinch device, now I'm interested to learn more about it and how it compares to a Tokamak and other fusion device configurations.

Does this mean people inside Russia can't access sites outside, or that outsiders can't access sites inside Russia? Or both?

I wonder if an electric generator could be configured in the burner to regen using the fuel (or even fully power the electric motor using that fuel energy), interesting potential for hybrid gains.

"A “Skynet” Unified Tactical Management system allows up to four Uran-9s to network together, either spread out up to four miles apart or strung together in a column formation. The robo-tanks do have some limited autonomous capabilities if they lose their signal—particularly for maneuvering around obstacles when moving along pre-programmed paths. Some sources claim the Uran-9 may also be able to detect, identify and engage enemy forces without manual human direction".

Sounds like sci-fi if these work as advertised, but apparently they fall a bit short still. Here is a video of the system in operation:

https://youtu.be/HE3f7oNFTlE

One of the more thoughtful analyses of recent events. Since his work with Snowden years ago when he was at the Guardian, Glenn Greenwald has consistently broadened my perspective on the world - worth the read.

Thank you!

"It's impossible to say for sure but had not a lot of resources been taken from civil society for these projects, there is a chance that there'd be a demand to do it in a more effective and long-term way from the very beginning, and this is my point."

Would you say the same thing regarding the Department of Defense and the Pentagon budget? I have heard good arguments that the military industrial complex is largely a bureaucratic deadweight cost to society, with few benefits (and generates the largest loss of life through Democide: https://hawaii.edu/powerkills/20TH.HTM ). Anyway, I think perhaps your argument fits military waste spending even more than it does with regard to the space race and NASA. Or maybe it's just a characteristic of State spending in general (like the infamous story of a $640 toilet seat https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/only-the-pentagon-... ).

@hourislate Thanks, I think the amp link caused the original link to go to a login page, weird.

@hn Maybe a mod can correct my op link with this one? I can no longer edit it.

"The environment forcibly meditates you."

I love this quote, and I've experienced it while backpacking through the desert and through mountains as well, almost complete loss of time and forgetting all the things I used to care about (like checking what is on the front page of HN, for example). Coming back to the city is a weird feeling of "time" returning, almost like a regaining of consciousness after being asleep, it's a strange sensation. But also returning to the city pushes that meditative awareness side of me back into the shadow.

While both a computer(HAL) and a gun share the attribute of being non-human, there is an argument to be made that HAL could make decisions and thus has "agency", while a gun cannot make decisions. This differentiates the question significantly.

Edit - responding to your comment edit, I don't know if it's common knowledge that HAL was written by humans (or not) but it's perhaps less clear with machine learning and AI algorithms used for modern autopilot systems, the systems learn and further program their own behavior beyond what the human programmers wrote, so in that sense I do think self-agency is emerging and as such there is responsibility on the part of both the car and it's creator, perhaps similar to how a parent is responsible for the independent actions of a young child.

What could possibly go wrong... I don't expect Facebook or TikTok to oppose this very much, having credit cards on file is conveniently closer to making more money.

First, this article needs a (2009) tag on the end of it, it's an old article.

Second, from the article: "Someone admitted to using Google Earth for a theft." This line is used to support the idea that Google is "Evil".

Theft is on the thief and any number of things can be used in a crime (car, tools, etc). Google Maps and Google Earth have vast utility beyond use in crime so I don't see the author's point holding up to scrutiny.

This story highlights the value of putting yourself in the mindset and perspective of the "other" that you disagree with, to see things their way, for your own benefit.

The entire Tim Ferris podcast episode (from which the quoted story was told - https://tim.blog/2021/09/09/sheila-heen/ ) is good, and brought to mind an EconTalk podcast episode that explores how seeing and doing things in the interest of others is many times in one's own best interest in the long run:

https://www.econtalk.org/michael-munger-on-desires-morality-...

With sufficient flight controller integration and sensors & software the jetpack form factor could be as easy to fly as a self balancing Segway is to ride around. Current semi- autonomous drone software like what we see in the Skydio 2 would be an interesting direction for this tech, one would end up basically riding a drone around at low altitude. I am optimistic for near-future electric implementations and practical progression in this type of e-mobility development.

They have a contract for 300M doses deploying in India now, and it looks like this is distributed under some type of open source license as well, from the article:

"The real beauty of the CORBEVAX vaccine that Drs. Hotez and Bottazzi created is that intellectual property of this vaccine will be available to everybody," Keith Martin says. "So you can get manufacturers in Senegal, and South Africa and Latin America to be able to produce this particular vaccine."

By contrast, the makers of Pfizer and Moderna, for example, are not sharing their recipe.

"And it's cheap, a dollar, dollar fifty a dose," Hotez says. "You're not going to get less expensive than that."

Warning from the dash Console:

"Only the specialist personnel of a qualified specialist workshop should open the hood. Access by the customer is not permitted.”

Yes, mesmerizing how it moves quickly across land and in snow and water as well, I wonder how much faster such a propulsion design could be optimized to move, and why it has not been explored more for full size off-road vehicles etc. I wonder if it's the actuator/software control system that is easier to build now, as it looks like that is where the magic is in moving efficiently in the water, and on land.

Video of it in action: https://youtu.be/JVq0adTn0_w

CNET explains the tech further here and the reporter used a magnifying glass to zoom in on the 3D display, apparently it's high res, requires no glasses to view in 3D:

https://youtu.be/7oGtgbsmmg8

Adam Savage's Tested went further in depth on this tech in the video below, you can see 3D without glasses.

How Lightfield Displays Will Make Holograms Possible https://youtu.be/PgiyoweaPb4

I have a display from Project Looking Glass (Kickstarter version), one of the makers of this tech, it's somewhat low res but very impressive and open for content generated in apps like Blender or 3D cameras.

I find it amazing what open source and community can create! Here is a video of 20 interviews with people around the world on how they use Blender now: https://youtu.be/rJ48-SYY1sQ

Also here is a link to their download page as the Blender home page seems to be slammed today: https://www.blender.org/download/

A couple quotes from the article that stood out to me:

"More pressing than the privacy concerns, though, are the safety issues. Including an automatic kill switch of this sort in a machine with internet access presents the obvious scenario that a malicious agent could disable your vehicle remotely with no warning."

and also:

"...by 2026, vehicles sold in the US will be required to automatically and silently record various metrics of driver performance, and then make a decision, absent any human oversight, whether the owner will be allowed to use their own vehicle. Even worse, the measure goes on to require that the system be "open" to remote access by "authorized" third parties at any time."

What could go wrong...

I'm wondering why they don't fire up the original pump system that drained the pit back in the mining days?