robbrown451

I'm curious about the argument that giving too many boosters takes away the vaccine from "people in low and middle-income countries."

Surely we have the capacity to make enough vaccines for everyone by now. It's just a matter of economics. Giving more boosters really shouldn't reduce supply, if there is money to make vaccines for everyone in the lower income countries, they will be made.

"Testing positive" isn't the main question.

Are they dying? Are they in the ICU?

And those officials that you distrust so much have been quite upfront about the fact that vaccines aren't all that effective against infection with Omicron. But they are quite effective against death and serious disease. Fauci's own words are that "just about everybody" will get infected.

If you want anecdotes, at least talk to an ICU nurse. Ask what they are seeing regarding vaccinated or unvaccinated.

Part of it is the pre-Omicron, it took more virus to typically infect people. So the more typical masks helped a lot. Now even a tiny bit can easily infect, so aerosol (as opposed to droplets) was not nearly as big an issue.

"Though Omicron's severity is lower, it is not zero. "

There isn't a zero risk of any number of more dangerous things. This is no longer high risk, at all, for reasonably healthy people who are vaccinated and boosted. (those who aren't are foolish)

I'm willing to wait out the surge, but after that, I am hoping those in my community (bay area.... which doesn't have overcrowding of hospitals because of high vaccination rate) are ready to get rid of the masks and get on with normal life.

I don't think we lost, we developed a vaccine which reduces your chance of death by a factor of 20. (probably more than that if you are reasonably healthy) That's a win in my book.

I am rapidly becoming in the "vaxxed and done" camp.... happy to get vaccinated and boosted as many times as necessary. But after two years, this is no longer an emergency situation for the vaccinated. It is simply not a big risk anymore. All kinds of things are bigger risks.

I'm willing to wear a mask for a few more weeks but after that (when they say the surge will be mostly over), there is no point anymore.

Indeed. Music has complex and confusing nomenclature.... I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.

There are differences between scale and key, yes, but they often are interchangeable and overlap. For instance that wikipedia page for A minor doesn't say "A minor scale" nor "A minor key"... you can see they treat it (there and elsewhere) as if they are essentially the same thing in most usages. When necessary they make the distinction.

Another example from Wikipedia, from the "key" page: "In music theory, the key of a piece is the group of pitches, or scale, that forms the basis of a music composition in classical, Western art, and Western pop music."

I don't think Wikipedia is alone in this.

I'll admit I sometimes use the words "scale" (as well as the word "note") when I might have used "key" because it can get ambiguous and confusing given the overlapping meanings (such as a "piano key").

Interesting. Some people got the bike right. I'm quite sure I can draw a proper bike, but I have a long history in drafting and mechanical design.

Well my experience is that the natural minor is treated as the "default" minor key. For instance, I always understood that A minor was all on white keys. Here is what the Wikipedia page for "A minor" starts with:

"A minor is a minor scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has no flats and no sharps. Its relative major is C major and is parallel major is A major."

Then it goes on to discuss the melodic and harmonic versions. Notably, those need accidentals since the key signature itself describes A natural minor. That in itself suggests "default" for the natural version. As does the name "natural."

"The natural minor scale is the most common minor scale, and the default when a musician refers to “a minor scale” or “minor.” The natural minor scale pattern features the same exact notes as the Aeolian mode in modal music."

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/minor-scale-guide#what-...

This is cool.

See my comment about how to calculate the piano key geometry (or just paste in my numbers) if you want your piano diagram to have correct placement of the keys (black keys shouldn't bisect the two adjacent white keys.... it makes the white key "stems" really narrow between black keys and looks weird).

You should check out google images for piano key clip art. Almost all of them get it wrong. They assume a black key is centered between two white keys, but that is only true for g#.

The width of all keys, white or black, should be equal to one another at the back of the keyboard.

The width of the white keys should be exactly equal to one another at the front of the keyboard.

Those can't both be true (since 5/12 isn't equal to 3/7), so the former has to be fudged a bit.

My formula is in a different comment. :)

Yes that is true and is a common mistake. The keys at the back of the keyboard should all be about equal width to one another, regardless of whether they are black or white.

There is an interesting "fudging" that has to happen, though, because 5/12 is not exactly equal to 3/7 (each of which should be the width of CDE relative to CDEFGAB.... 5 keys out of 12, or 3 white keys out of 7 white keys)

I actually discuss it in detail here (and all the weird ways people mess this up): https://youtu.be/xwKlKcymfDs?t=33

Here is some JavaScript code for calculating where each key should go. You can paste in the final numbers at bottom if that's easier. They start at the left of C (zero) and assume each white key is width of 1:

  var firstFiveWidth = 3/7; // c-e, 3 white keys
  var lastSevenWidth = 4/7; // f-b, 4 white keys

  // assume each of the 5 is equal width at back
  var cSharpMiddle = firstFiveWidth * (3/10);
  var dSharpMiddle = firstFiveWidth * (7/10);

  // assume each of the 7 is equal width at back
  var fSharpMiddle = firstFiveWidth + lastSevenWidth * (3/14);
  var gSharpMiddle = firstFiveWidth + lastSevenWidth * (7/14);
  var aSharpMiddle = firstFiveWidth + lastSevenWidth * (11/14);

  // average width of what a key in first five and a
  // key in last seven should be (then halve it)
  var halfBlackKeyWidth = (((firstFiveWidth/5) + (lastSevenWidth/7))/2)/2;

  var keys = [
    0,
    cSharpMiddle - halfBlackKeyWidth,
    1/7,
    dSharpMiddle - halfBlackKeyWidth,
    2/7,
    3/7,
    fSharpMiddle - halfBlackKeyWidth,
    4/7,
    gSharpMiddle - halfBlackKeyWidth,
    5/7,
    aSharpMiddle - halfBlackKeyWidth,
    6/7
  ]
  console.log("black key width: " + (halfBlackKeyWidth*2*7))
  console.log(keys.map(function(item){ return item *7}))

And here are the numbers I got: ( C to B)

  black key width: 0.5857142857142857
  [
   0,
   0.607142857142857,
   1,
   1.807142857142857,
   2,
   3,
   3.564285714285714,
   4,
   4.707142857142857,
   5,
   5.85,
   6
  ]

If that works for you, ok. I have my keyboard connected to my computer, so I am actually at my keyboard as I use the site. Its still nice that I can click around quickly and hear different chords and scales and such, without having to be held back by my limited piano skills.

Could it be improved if it supported web midi and encouraged you to actually use your keyboard? Maybe. (I actually do web apps that do that) But I'm curious why you can't see its value for what it is, which guides learning rather than just basically saying "figure it out on your own."

Strange comment. The site is interactive and allows you to explore a whole lot of music theory. A mnemonic, uhhh... doesn't.

This is amazing. Beautiful design (both in light and dark mode) and very educational regarding music theory. And a lot to it (if you click beyond the linked page).

Well they gave a Grammy for best engineered album to Finneas (for his sister Billie Eilish's album), and it was recorded and produced on equipment most any of us could afford. Not so different.

I don't see the people who vote for Oscars being so concerned about threatening the foundation of the industry. That would require some sort of corruption or conspiracy, and I'm just not confident that is going on to that level.

Yep, and they all, to my eyes, are superb quality.

I'd be scared if I was the manufacturer of one of those quarter-million dollar cameras.

It's just a matter of time before someone wins an Oscar for best cinematography and does it using a couple thousand dollars worth of equipment.

Recently Finneas won the Grammy for best engineered album (for his sister Billie Eilish's album), and he did everything except the very final mastering on equipment that cost less than a typical car. Including recording vocals and some acoustic instruments in their parents' house.

The recording industry isn't that different from the film industry, where most things are done on ridiculously expensive equipment. But it is increasingly unnecessary.

Weird that they call it "color timing" because "color correction" isn't all that accurate. But "timing"? That applies to film, like real, chemical film.

Surely there is a better word? "Optimizing"?

(of course "grading" is also used, but "timing" really needs to be dispensed with)

Death wish? When I am triple vaccinated? That's ridiculously out of whack with reality.

I'm at about the 99 percentile being safe and cautious. Talk to the anti-vaxxers about death wishes, that isn't me.

What you seem to be advocating is that we all wear masks continuously, forever. Because this isn't going away, it can barely be slowed down with masks, and it has become non-deadly for the vaccinated.

And I don't buy it for a second that everyone has to be masked or that you can't even eat in a restaurant in Asia. That is how it is here. Masks made sense for a long time, but at this point they are no more useful than they'll be a few years from now.

Pretty sure my kid doesn't spend her life driving.

Regardless, what a weird, dismissive comment.

And we don't know the long term psychological effects of wearing masks and social distancing. Those may be substantial as well, especially if it goes on for more than 2 years.

Long term COVID is known to exist, long term effects of vaccination are not and there is no reason to think they are likely.

(me: vaxxed, boosted, happy to boost some more. My 7 year old: vaxxed. My attitude: exactly as described as a "VAD" in the article)

The daycare / preschool shutdowns, though, are simply because others haven't yet adopted the "vaxxed and done" attitude.

So I understand that you still need to be cautious, but you can also advocate for daycares and preschools being less hardcore about it.

I'm definitely moving toward being vaxxed and done, but the mom of my (vaxxed) 7 year old (i.e. my ex) is still in the cautious camp. I'm ok with waiting till the end of the surge or the end of the winter to dispense with the masks, but at that point.... yeah this thing needs to end. If you are dumb enough not to get yourself vaccinated and boosted, well, I'm sorry but that's on you.

I think NFTs are mostly only useful as a parody of the concept of intellectual property and artificial scarcity. They take the concept of "owning" something that can be infinitely copied to the absurd extreme.

When the average person conceives of just how useless they are, they might start to see the ridiculous inefficiencies of our intellectual property system.

Whether title to a house, or entry ticket to a concert, those give you a practical, real world ability to do something. You can live in the house (or allow someone else to and charge them rent), and the government will defend this right for you. You can do neither things if you don't own the house. (well maybe you can live in it if you pay rent to someone who does) You can attend the concert if you have a ticket.

If you own an NFT, you get no practical real world benefits.

This is cool I will bookmark it. I'm a terrible typist. I'm also teaching my 7 year old to type so this can be handy. I have something I built myself years ago and have never really circulated, that is more for beginners (it tries to help you with finding the keys and knowing which finger to use):

https://pianop.ly/misc/typingtutor/

One thing I experimented with is giving you both a "total speed" and a "best 15 seconds" speed.

Regarding "footage", notice that you also refer to them as "film-makers." There really isn't film involved. And Netflix is named after the term "flick" which refers to the flickery effect you get with movies (especially in the old days), which hopefully isn't there anymore.

Google Assistant is pretty impressive, and getting more so every day.

Wanna see what it can do? Give your phone to a 7 year old. My kid has conversations with the "Google Lady" fairly often, and they go on for considerable length. I'm regularly amazed at her ability to come up with something reasonable. Even if it is just to keep a kid amused.

Also, when I get frustrated with her and say something mean to her (the Google Lady, not my kid), she'll tend to respond in a way that makes me feel genuinely bad. That's impressive.

(I know Google is not loved at HN, but still.... )

Does that give you the ability to have nuanced, big-picture, long-term view thinking?

You might as well argue that someone who works in a bank must understand macro-economics, or that someone in the military must have an excellent grasp of foreign policy.

You are steeped in the status quo. Your thinking on this is expected.