U.S. government seeks Facebook help to wiretap Messenger
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17785616
#hackernews #tech
@freemo thank you :) this is the first time i've said it publicly so it feels overwhelming that people still accept me
@freemo I think this is ok - so far. I'll keep that offer in mind. Like your .me website- very nice
@freemo Would be needing some new #followers as well.
Faster – Fast key-value store from Microsoft Research
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17785002
#hackernews #tech
Only thing I'm missing here on #Mastodon is the #quantum #information #community which is quite active on #Twitter and #Facebook.
Fun with spoons
How do you find the center of mass for any given geometry even if you have no idea on how to solve this analytically?
a) You can try some numerics.
b) You build a 3D replica and try to balance it on your fingertip. Works pretty well for spoons. Take a spoon, try to balance it -> yep, you found the COM.
Some more physics. You balance that spoon and add some small perturbations. Does the spoon hold? Congratulations, you just found a stable minimum.
How to describe this mathematically? -> Taylor series.
Dirty way - do a Taylor series expansion of the equation of motion around your extremum. Try to solve the differential equation with an ansatz combining two exponentials, one with a negative sign in the exponent, one with a positive one and both with different coefficients. The coefficients depend on the initial conditions but the exponents come from the solution of the differential equation.
If the exponent is imaginary you get a linear combination of cosine and sine functions. Congrats! For small perturbations your system will oscillate around the minimum but not leave it. You found a stable (maybe local) minimum.
Your exponent is real. Damn you found an unstable maximum. Try again.
This was the song my grandfather used to sing to me as kid. He used to sing it with his army buddies during World War II.
A Warrior Bold
In days of old, when knights were bold,
And barons held their sway,
A warrior bold, with spurs of gold,
Sang merrily his lay;
Sang merrily his lay:
"My love is young and fair,
My love hath golden hair,
And eyes so blue, and heart so true,
That none with her compare.
So what care I tho' death be nigh,
I'll live for love or die.
So what care I, tho' death be nigh,
I'll live for love or die."
So this brave knight, in armor bright,
Went gayly to the fray;
He fought the fight, but ere the night,
His soul had pass'd away,
His soul had pass'd away.
The plighted ring he wore
Was crush'd and wet with gore,
Yet ere he died, he bravely cried,
"I've kept the vow I swore.
So what care I tho' death be nigh,
I've fought for love and die,
So what care I, tho' death be nigh,
I've fought for love, for love I die
I've fought for love,
For love, for love I die."
--Edwin Thomas & Steven Adams, Published 1912
The Math Required for Machine Learning
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17780971
#hackernews #tech
Crypto Writer and Tech enthusiast. Former Tech Librarian.
Trying to jumpstart the West Michigan Blockchain Association.
see wmblockchain.org
also blog.xtrabytes.global #introductions
A recent blog post from the blog I manage https://blog.xtrabytes.global/general-crypto/blockchain-company-attempts-to-meet-industrys-energy-needs-2/
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
-- The Hollow Men, T.S. Elliot
These are the last few stanza's of the poem from which the famous phrase comes. I love these stanzas! Good poem overall, worth a full read: http://www.shmoop.com/hollow-men/poem-text.html
The following is a #poem / #poetry I wrote 6 years ago. I have never been all that great at poetry but I wanted to share all the same.
==The Mage's Tavern==
In misty lands that the pale moonlight brings,
There stands a tavern where it shines and it sings.
In this warm place eternal laughter does flow;
with a smile for each of the winds that will blow.
To seek this land out less must be so much more,
then set yourself free to drift to night's shore.
The familiar road finds unfamiliar friends door,
filled with mirth, merriment, magick, and lore.
When ready to pass open wide wooden gate,
a cool wind then blows that shows one their fate.
The room there well lit by passion's great fire,
it's smoke will hang thick from our love's own desire.
There in the sky dances god borealis,
and there on the bar sits the bust of the Pallas.
But never there seen is the raven of yore,
for only the wise can be king evermore.
There in the corner stands a gargoyle's head,
where out of it's mouth flows hot earthen lead.
Into a dirt cup it's flow does seek end,
but as shining gold it does then transcend.
The food and the drink shared to all those around,
Not one to the other was any one bound.
With plates of clear manna that did sparkle white,
and cups of ambrosia kept full through the night.
Here pixie's dust used in shakers to fill,
and surely dragon tails do remain in there still.
For what fool would eat from a dragon's great tail,
only to have all of their passions fail.
Moon's magick glow fills the room well dispersed,
While time's wanting path remains untraversed.
The moments found here are well unrehearsed;
The truth is abound, not found interspersed.
In this place here exists just the one,
Embrace silver moon, to become golden sun.
Odal reunites ancient gods of the night,
to let us be one, so we shine with their light.
#introduction I do programming, poetry, and politics
@TheKinrar Any idea why the stats for my instance on instances.social is so far off from the real numbers?
Jeffrey Phillips Freeman
Innovator & Entrepreneur in Machine Learning, Evolutionary Computing & Big Data. Avid SCUBA diver, Open-source developer, HAM radio operator, astrophotographer, and anything nerdy.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, USA, currently living in Utrecht, Netherlands, USA, and Thailand. Was also living in Israel, but left.
Pronouns: Sir / Mister
(Above pronouns are not intended to mock, i will respect any persons pronouns and only wish pronouns to show respect be used with me as well. These are called neopronouns, see an example of the word "frog" used as a neopronoun here: http://tinyurl.com/44hhej89 )
A proud member of the Penobscot Native American tribe, as well as a Mayflower passenger descendant. I sometimes post about my genealogical history.
My stance on various issues:
Education: Free to PhD, tax paid
Abortion: Protected, tax paid, limited time-frame
Welfare: Yes, no one should starve
UBI: No, use welfare
Racism: is real
Guns: Shall not be infringed
LGBT+/minorities: Support
Pronouns: Will respect
Trump: Moron, evil
Biden: Senile, racist
Police: ACAB
Drugs: Fully legal, no prescriptions needed
GPG/PGP Fingerprint: 8B23 64CD 2403 6DCB 7531 01D0 052D DA8E 0506 CBCE