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emptybits
6,415karma·1,004submissions·November 20, 2012
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Darren Stone, Vancouver, BC, Canada
"Once men turned their thinking over to
machines in the hope that this would
set them free. But that only permitted
other men with machines to enslave
them." - Frank P. Herbert, Jr., 1965
"The programmer, like the poet, works
only slightly removed from pure
thought-stuff. He builds his castles
in the air, from air, creating by
exertion of the imagination."
- Fred P. Brooks, Jr., 1975recent activity (1,004 total)
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There wasn't easy hover text or other way to reveal what's coming "this month" on their advent calendar. So spoilers for the impatient: 1 William Faulkner – As I Lay Dying
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A generation of programmers might disagree with you. Multiplication instructions and hash tables (!) are easily worked around, as evidenced by decades of art and innovation programmed on that "te…
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If you’re “into” de Bruijn numerals or Project Euler then you might be familiar with this little treat: https://projecteuler.net/problem=941 Otherwise, have a go and don’t spoil it! (…
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In 2019, Musk asked for deposits as he told the world "We created an exoskeleton ... the body and bed on a traditional body-on-frame design don’t do anything useful. They’re dead weight." Mo…
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We sure do. And it may have been. I was too patient and also morbidly curious how and when Tesla would resolve it.
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Ha, I didn’t even mention that around the same time, to hedge my bets, I also had a deposit on an F-150 Lightning and had the same easy experience with a Ford refund as you did. Click.
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I dodged a bullet. I bought into the original heavy stainless steel exoskeleton concept, which they never delivered on. So they had my deposit. Then it took me a year and a half (!!) to get my deposit…
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While Apple has some admirable history in standing up to government information requests[1], am I alone in wondering now if Apple has started to voluntarily align itself with the current administratio…
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And thank you for this tidbit, down there at the bottom of the Marianas Trench: "MYSTERIOUS DOOR WHICH JAMES CAMERON BUILT HIS SUB TO REACH AND OPEN. HE WILL NOT SAY WHAT HE FOUND WITHIN." o…
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Yes. Also at the above link: "All AiryString® part sales and leasing of dedicated sewing machines are conducted between YKK and the customer. YKK will also coordinate the installation and startup…
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"Major Upgrade" for the fast, disposable fashion crowd. Major downgrade for maintainability and ability to repair. This "upgraded" zipper will be impossible to replace if broken at…
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"- this mechanism cannot be required to handshake in order to start the car (not everywhere has cell service!)" In 2025, this is true. At some point in the future, I predict this will be fal…
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Hell hath no fury like an engineer angered! This was such a good read and epitomizes hacking: "Was it worth it? To read one book? No. To prove a point? Absolutely. To learn about SVG rendering, p…
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> "the console features a built-in 5-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 800×600, delivering sharp and bright vector graphics" So ... NOT vector graphics. Rasterized bitmap versions …
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Agreed. Related: the widely held belief that a corporation's singular goal is to maximize shareholder value.
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Shameless plug for a good organization that helps fight social isolation and loneliness among elderly: Cycling Without Age. https://cyclingwithoutage.org/ We're an international …
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I second the garlic recommendation here. It is more tolerant to nutrient and water variability than most crops. Slugs and many other pests won’t bother it. If you do give it regular fertilizer and wat…
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Wow. Sincerely enjoyed this. Will re-read for the tire model alone. On the other end of the spectrum, playing purely for fun with no regard for simulation or realistic anything ... I'll take a 19…
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I agree. Risks are often given too much weight in our imaginations. We psych ourselves out. Just do it. :-) Risks that are imaginary can be real psychological barriers, fear-inducing, and life-limitin…
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Fortis fortuna adiuvat. Fortune favours the bold. Just do it. Take those risky leaps but I'd add that "luck" also favours the well-prepared.
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I've seen Chinook words used in California, both in place names and businesses. Skookum, Siwash, Tyee, etc. Definitely less common than in BC/WA/OR though. Klahowya tillicum!
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In a feeble attempt to rationalize the Canadianism "pencil crayon"... Pencils have cores based on graphite or charcoal. Pencil crayons have cores based on wax or oil, with pigments added. Th…
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I agree. And if you copy and paste the ASCII moon they have there, it does already have a perfectly good circular shape to it. Well done. It's ASCII art. Drop the bitmap mask.