AcademicalNerd @academicalnerd@qoto.org
People are more important than wires.
Joined Jan 2021
I am going through the process of creating my first video on youtube. This will probably be a series about thermodynamic modelling, which is a subject I am interested in. The question is: should I make it in matlab (which is easier for me and very fast) or in python (which is way too slow for anything serious but which more people know)? People of QOTO, what are your thoughts on the subject?
#STEM #help #question #thermodynamics #programming #matlab #python
@zpartacoos
I do. Or rather I did, as for the previous protest from the 23rd of January. For this one both parties, protesters and authorities, have prepared thoroughly, both had a week. I am concerned about possible bloodbath. Civil war is rarely a good idea.
Note: I support them, but I don't attend them. There are reasons for it.
2021-01-30, 10:57, Saturday
I am now on the train, going home from countryhouse. It's snowing outside, the view is great for once. On the subject of views - it's amazing how ugly winter gets in the city, snow of the road turns into slit and snow off the road turns gray and black. Most of the time winter in the city leaves nothing but disgust and piles of trash after the snow is molten.
Looks ike tomorrow there will be more protests in the city centre. A few metro stations will be blocked officially, in advance, and god knows what will happen. This wont be peaceful, I'm afraid. Probably should stay away from the center.
#Moscow #winter #thoughts #journalling
@trinsec
Yeah, this is just what was on top of my head at that moment.
2021-01-09, 08:06, Friday.
I can't have my cup of coffee early in the morning because my sister is still asleep and the grinder is very loud. Oh well, I probably shouldn't whine about it. Coffee can wait.
What amazes me in the modern society is how people point out the problemn and expect it to solve itself somehow. So there was a viral tiktok recently about how google knows everything about you. Seemingly, there is not much to talk about - yes, it does, if you don't like it - degoogle, spend a weekend hosting a mailserver, nextcloud instance, switch your browser to brave (since mozilla isn't really an option anymore) with duckduckgo or other as a primary search engine. Yes, there is also your phone, but there are ways to partially de-google it. You don't even have to invent the solution, it exists. Not enough for you? Install linux, get a librem (or try to boot your phone with free OS), and stop hyping the non-existent problem.
2021-01-28, 11:50, Thursday
I am a programmer and a scientist, and my work as such mostly consists of fighting with frustration. And this is a surprisingly accurate description for everythiog that involves building things, especially for ones with fixed variables, like experiment results or required features for code. No matter how much you yell at the screen, the numbers won't change, and it's your job to build a somewhat decent model to approximate them, or rather use the existing model and tweak statictical weights until it works well enough.
Apart from beung frustrated most of the time, the experience of getting it right after numerous iterations is worth it.
@FailForward
I probably would say something similar about the platform.
AcademicalNerd
boosted
# 3 weeks of Mastodon@QOTO
So it's 3 weeks since I joined Mastodon@QOTO. My motivation was a low threshold scrapbook place were I can throw whatever I want to remember and/or share with friends.
After these couple of weeks, I can say this:
* works - kind of. Feels a bit weird, probably because I never did this kind of stuff in public before
* obviously what I am doing is not very standard (more than 200 chars), but within the design envelope of Mastodon and QOTO (kudos for all the customisations, I like it!)
* probably what I am doing would be better called mini-blogging (more than Twitter, less than a blog). When called this way, I took a look at services which do that (e.g., Tumblr) and the usage pattern fits
* timelines are somewhat distracting, but I'll try to use this in a somewhat introvert mode anyway
* interactions are not a bad part of the experience, but need to be managed - can be easily distracting
* lots of strange stuff fly around, but can be filtered out when needed
* the images people post are a throwback into 90's when we were sending this via e-mail (I still have a couple of GBs in my mailbox archive just funny pics and powerpoint slidedecks full of one-off jokes). Since I left this subculture, I never thought it still clogs the Intertubes elsewhere. Still fun, but I could do without.
* tooling: Tusky proved useful, `toot` is good too, web interface a bit overwhelming and distracting
* still need to work out how to deal with hashtags - probably will ignore
@RealDonaldTrump@koyu.space
This makes sense since for some people (most, as far as I'm aware) trains are a very soothing experience, even if the ride is fairly long. You get a small, cozy space, no internet connection for the most part and either silence and solitude or a fellow traveler whom you can talk to freely, because odds of meeting them again after the ride is over are negligible.
2021-01-27, 06:17
I am currently on the train, going to meet my gf on the railway. Had little (or rather not enough) sleep but it's okay. Realized what is this that I want to do as a hobby yesterday. Challenging endeavor, but not impossible. Stay tuned for news on that.
Also, I sometimes forget how big my country is. It took my girlfriend 17 hours on train to return here and it's not that far for this place.
#life #Russia #thoughts #earlymorning
@trinsec @stevax@mastodon.neoziggurat.com
I guess Stevax misread it. My point is that anyone can get a shot, even if your health isn't fine (no one checks your record), while the trial's third phase will only be finished in May. And people apparently are brainwashed enough to enthusiastically book for vaccination.
Just to clarify - I am NOT an anti-vaccine person. I know that vaccines are necessary and useful. My main concern is the lack of data and the massive propaganda around the subject. Actually, this includes a bunch of bloggers posting themselves getting a vaccine. Be sensible, consult your doctor, read up, do a research and then maybe, if the risks are low enough, take a vaccine. It is an important thing to do but it's not a "no-brainer". Nothing is.
2021-01-26, 06:50, Tuesday.
No coffee today since I'll need to do a blood test.
I am deeply concerned about the situation with COVID19 vaccine in my country. One of them is being used countrywide already, and this is an adenovirus-based vaccine. Some pharmacy companies has interrupted their trials of adenovirus based vaccines because of the side effects like polyneuropathy or cardyomyopathy.
But these are commercial companies that are interested in their own well-being. If they cell a vaccine and it kills or injures people, they will suffer consequences. Now, sputnik is a vaccine that is pushed a lot by the government that has a very long story of avoiding consequences of it's actions and ignoring the harm it caused.
So, today I'm doing this blood test to see if I even can take the vaccine because I am allergic to some things. And when the time comes I'd like to make an informed choice about which caccine to use and when.
#Russia #thoughts #vaccine #covid19 #vaccination #life
2021-01-25, 14:30, Monday.
Today I was doing a bunch of C++ programming and fixing linker issues caused by my ignorance and lack of attention to details. The thing I want to share is a stream I randomly stumbled across, from George Hotz/GeoHot (link below), which starts with casual computer architecture axplanation and proceeds to deconstruct a bunch of things from software engineer's and scientist's perspective. I rarely see things like getting a girlfriend or, say, earning $1m deconstructed using input-model-output approach, although it is a very good way to think about some things. I hope this is helpful.
2021-01-24, 12:52, Sunday.
Well, today I'm writing in the afternoon, since the morning was preoccupied with some work. Yesterday's events in Moscow led my thoughts to an interesting conclusion: convenience usually leads to cavpivity. Here in Moscow the majority of transportation (some trains, subway, buses and trams) works with so called "troika" cards which you can top up. Each card is unique and they are usually bought and topped up using your card. So you are identified by these cards; more so, if you choose to buy a ticket, it is also identified with a number and there are more than enough cameras to identify you. But they can't store this footage indefenitely, right? But these tickets expire very soon,m my guess - as soon as the data is purged, a few months I believe.
Actually, think China, these guys dont need to use tickets! Facial recognition and virtual wallet tied to your ID. Oh, how convenient, right?
#survelliance #thoughts #Russia #Moscow #life #privacy
@freemo Oh I see. Thanks! Oh, and qoto just showed me "loading fonts latex/math/italis" and then "no font found, using images instead". Couldn't copy so these arent exact messages. Maybe it will help.
This is supposed to be phi over lambda: \( \frac{\phi}{\lambda} \)
This is e=mc^2: \( e=mc^2 \)
And now with []:
This is supposed to be phi over lambda: \[ \frac{\phi}{\lambda} \]
This is e=mc^2: \[ e=mc^2 \]
@freemo, looks like I broke something...
Good morning.
2021-01-23, 08:45, Saturday. Coffee with cinnamon. Yum.
So I happen to live in Moscow. Today there will be some protests for an opposition politic, he is arrested for no reason other than being, well, in opposition. It seems to be his hobby. On a serious note though, there is one leader in this country and one opposing group. No political variety, you can choose whether your group wins or loses the fight waaay ahead. It's obvious who loses.
#life #coffee #politics #russia #protests #whining
Also, I want to test qoto's inline latex.
Which I did and it breaks every time. Sad.
Good morning.
2021-01-21, 08:22, Thursday. Drinking my morning coffee (cezve with some cinnamon) and preparing for my report. I'll probably make a separate post about it since it's an opportunity to tell about my scientific research. For now I'm in a mood to write some more "tips".
STEM tips №2: build your foundation. There is a very good reason for all textbooks on the same subject to convey material in the same order. It is not tradition, it is crucial for understanding concepts. The only exception in basic sciences I am familiar with is organic chemistry: Clayden's textbook is wildly diffirent from standart approach, but I'm not sure how it feels to actually use it for studying without prior knowledge of organic chemistry.
I digress. The particular order most textbooks follow builds new concepts on top of previous ones, and this principle applies throughout your academic career. Let's say you skipped a trigonometry introduction in high school. You crammed for the test and did fine, memorizing all your pi-over-2/3/4/6, but there is no solid understanding of the concept. Now you will struggle in your further math classes. Not only that, in mechanics knowledge of trigonometry is implied, the same applies for calculus, most of the physics and a bunch of other disciplines.
So the takeaway is: don't skip basic topics and make sure you know them very well. Otherwise your ignorance will backfire, usually sooner than later.
#stem #stemtips #student #uni #science #life #lifesyle #qotojournal
