George Budd @Gbudd@qoto.org
Father, Boyfriend, Volunteer EMT, (conflicted) Veteran, Computer Geek, Perpetual Student. Command line kind of guy (he/him) Very amateur woodworker, crude sketcher, proud nerd, liberal, wished I knew more math and science.
I’m willing to be wrong, certainty often means that I don’t actually understand the problem
Joined Nov 2022
George Budd
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My kid (10) has gotten really into watch and clock repair. His latest success was this German Bradley travel alarm clock from the 1950s. He did a full service cleaning on it.
Getting the main spring back in was a challenge because it wasn't in a barrel, but his makeshift solution with zip ties got him past that.
@robryk @freemo I should have been a bit clearer. In this specific context (it might be different in other states) we can involuntarily transport someone who has explicitly expressed suicidal thoughts or acts.
It’s not the same case as “I think they’ve got a fatal condition but they don’t want to go to the hospital” though I guess it’s arguably a legal rather than moral distinction. In the EMT framework it’s just presumed that if you want to actively end your life that you’re not mentally competent.
@freemo I should clarify a bit too.
When I’m out as an EMT it’s a relatively bright line. If they’re competent (alert and oriented, not a threat to themselves or others, over 18) they get to refuse medical attention. We might try to convince them but at the end of the day they get to choose.
There are calls where that feels crappy but at least we have a decision making framework to fall back on.
@freemo That’s a really interesting question! Putting my EMT hat on, if they’re competent they get to refuse an intervention but in practice those are hard calls.
More generally it kind of depends on other factors. For example, do you let someone ignore a mandatory evacuation knowing they may want to be rescued later at greater risk to all concerned?
It’s a thought provoking question. I’d lean towards answering “Yes” in the abstract and mostly in practice but I’m willing to believe there are circumstances where I’d be open to “No” and I can’t come up with a consistent limiting principle.
George Budd
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Randall Munroe is brilliant... https://xkcd.com/1732/
@Daojoan Nice job!
George Budd
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Time to put a smile on your face! 😃
George Budd
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In 1917, the US Army executed 13 black soldiers by hanging after a deadly riot in Houston, Texas between the soldiers and other white soldiers and locals. Months later 6 more were executed. This week, the Army announced it was overturning the convictions of those 19 men and 97 others citing a trial that deprived them of basic due process rights.
The trial, and subsequent snap execution of these men, became known as one of the most unjust military trials in US history. The decision now makes it possible for their descendants to receive benefits and even potentially reparations. My guest is Fatimah Gilliam, whose great great uncle was one of the 19 executed.
George Budd
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One minute you're debugging code, and the next minute you're searching for sheet metal brakes on Amazon. This is true for everyone, right?🤔
George Budd
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Logarithm = banging on a fallen tree to a beat
HAHA! HA!
And yet the connection to music is quite real. Since I realized that recently, thanks to an xkcd comic, let me tell you all about it!
https://badastronomy.substack.com/p/xkcd-is-logfrequency-to-my-ears
George Budd
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Was banned from Nextdoor when someone posted looking for a local hand doctor and I replied to “Check on Phalanges List”
George Budd
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I have the best conversations with my mom. I try my best at a translation of the call I just had with her:
phone ringing
Me: Hello m...
Her: Eʟᴅᴇʀ Sᴘᴀᴡɴ.
Me: ...
Me: Yᴇs Gʀᴀɴᴅ Mᴀᴛʀɪᴀʀᴄʜ.
Her: I sʜᴀʟʟ sᴜᴍᴍᴏɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴀʀᴛᴀᴋᴇ ɪɴ ꜰᴇᴀsᴛɪɴɢ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴄʀɪꜰɪᴄᴇs ʟᴀɪᴅ ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ᴜs ᴛʜɪs ᴅᴀʏ ᴏꜰ sᴜɴ. Wɪʟʟ ʏᴏᴜ ʜᴇᴇᴅ ᴍʏ sᴜᴍᴍᴏɴs?
Me: checks calendar
Me: Tʜᴇ sᴛᴀʀs ᴀʟɪɢɴ, ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴍᴇ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ɢʀᴇᴀᴛ ᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀ. I sʜᴀʟʟ ᴍᴀɴɪꜰᴇsᴛ ɪɴ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴄᴏᴜʀᴛ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ 12ᴛʜ ʜᴏᴜʀ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ sᴜɴ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇs ɪᴛsᴇʟꜰ ɪɴᴠɪɴᴄɪʙʟᴇ.
Her: Tʜᴜs ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀᴅs ᴀʀᴇ sᴘᴏᴋᴇɴ, ᴛʜᴜs ɪᴛ sʜᴀʟʟ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴ.
Me: Great, see you on sunday.
Her: Try to be punctual.
I always refer to her when people ask me "why are you like this?".
George Budd
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Six minutes well spent
George Budd
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George Budd
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The trick to drawing hands, is you just draw lots, and lots and lots of them. Ten a day for a year. Then you can just draw whatever hand you want.
Also:
George Budd
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The tritone - the dissonant sound halfway between any sound and the one that vibrates twice as fast - is sometimes called "diabolus in musica". Yes: THE DEVIL IN MUSIC! 😈
Believe it or not, this devil also afflicts modern data storage. But first: there's a lot of misinformation about the tritone. Was it really banned in the Middle Ages? Adam Neely's great video here clears it up. It goes into a lot of detail. But not enough detail for me!
As I studied just intonation in Renaissance music - where frequency ratios should be simple fractions built by multiplying and dividing the numbers 2, 3, and 5 - I realized that the tritone is DEVILISHLY DIFFICULT for this system!
You see, the tritone vibrates with a frequency of √2 ≈ 1.414 times that of the sound it's sitting over. This number is not only irrational - making Pythagoras turn in his grave - there are also four competing ways to approximate it in just intonation:
25/18 ≈ 1.38888
45/32 ≈ 1.40625
64/45 ≈ 1.42222
36/25 = 1.44
And the ratios of these frequencies vexed early music theorists so much they all have their own individual names!
For example,
(36/25)/(45/32) = 128/125 = 2⁷/3³
is called the 'lesser diesis'. This number shows up automatically when you try to approximate powers of 5 by powers of 2. But notice:
128/125 = 1024/1000
also shows up when you try to approximate powers of 10 by powers of 2. For example, when we talk about a kilobyte, we usually don't mean 1000 bytes - we usually mean 1024. So we're a bit off! And our error is the "lesser diesis" - a number discovered in the Renaissance, or even earlier, by musicians fighting the devil in music.
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@nuintari@infosec.exchange I’m sorry for your loss
@WEATHERISHAPPENING @L1vY@mstdn.social Very sorry for your loss
Father, Boyfriend, Volunteer EMT, (conflicted) Veteran, Computer Geek, Perpetual Student. Command line kind of guy (he/him) Very amateur woodworker, crude sketcher, proud nerd, liberal, wished I knew more math and science.
I’m willing to be wrong, certainty often means that I don’t actually understand the problem
Joined Nov 2022
