Achilleas gioypi @gioypi@qoto.org
- github
- https://github.com/gioypi
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/gioypi
Computer scientist with a passion for open-source projects.
Always interested in AI and game dev. Withal, a music enthusiast. 🤘☮️
Joined May 2020
Digital art created as a combination of photo editing and AI use (DALL-E).
#mastoart
Comparison of studies on the death toll of air pollution.
#climatechange
COP26 was just words. And not even good enough as words.
# 12 Months a Slave
### Mandatory military service is nothing less than abuse. Psychological and physical.
In Greece, one of the countries that still hold mandatory conscription for all male citizens, the “service” is now being extended from 9 to 12 months. Despite things getting better since a few decades ago, when folks would serve for two years and nobody would care for any health issues, the system is still rotten. From young adults that just finished school to scientists that work in research, everybody has to pause their lives at some point, in order to be being yelled at by condescending buffoons in the name of freedom. For 12 months. How are you protecting your country’s freedom, by deserting your own? Are not countries made of people? Is a country free when its people are not?
A soldier is never free, that I can guarantee. Not even in times of peace. A soldier must not decide for himself when to talk, where to place his hands, how to sit down, whether to turn his head, when to drink water. Yet, his “superiors” will often refer pompously to him as *a man*, or a person that will become *a man* through military training. *A man* that needs permission to go to the toilet. The irony.
At least, soldiers are getting paid. In Greece, their monthly salary is ~8.60€. That is around 30 cents per day and they must be available 24/7. Not to mention the religious and nationalistic propaganda that comes with the army.
Obviously the military needs huge reforms, since we are cursed to maintain it. To my mind, the abolition of enforced conscription is the first logical step in a civilized society. The level of vain abuse one must endure in the army would not be accepted anywhere in the real world. Still, the public seems to tolerate it, even without real ways for the soldiers to defend themselves.
[[Original image](https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%95%CF%8D%CE%B6%CF%89%CE%BD%CE%B5%CF%82#/media/%CE%91%CF%81%CF%87%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%BF:Evzone_Parliament_Greece_1.JPG) by Everlind, [CC BY 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), edited by me, it reads “This is not tradition, it’s abuse”]
In low-level #hardware, the binary system means that anything below _x_ Volts will be considered a '0' digit and anything above will be '1'.
Yeah, it can become much more complex, but that is the concept of **binary** inside a processor (and PCM signals too, voltage not being the necessary value to measure).
What if we could have MORE than 2 states, occurring from our measurement? Turns out we can?!
In PAM4 ([Pulse-amplitude modulation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-amplitude_modulation)) we have 4 states. You can theoretically define PAM16, if you are not excited yet. The more states you divide your voltage spectrum into, the harder to maintain accuracy and so errors happen. It makes sense, since you are becoming "less binary" and "more analogue"...
Find a way to compensate for the errors in PAM4 and enjoy double the speed of PAM2 (or NRZ for _Non-return-to-zero_).
PCI-e 6.0 will be PAM4. PAM4 is also used in GDDR6X memory (RTX 3080 and 3090) and some high-speed Ethernet standards.
[Image from [Linus Tech Tips](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcrkZigYXak)]
Numb Top Hat, my first game, is now available on itch!
It’s a short story of apathy, explored through challenging puzzles in a steampunk environment. You can download it for Windows free of charge. Are you paying attention to detail?
Would you play a #steampunk puzzle game with this kind of artwork?
Game developers use motion-capture tech to teach autonomous cars to understand hand gestures and body language.
Source: IEEE Spectrum
Illustration by Chris Philpot
Photos from recent #XR events:
1. Protest in Cambridge to encourage the university to drop shady relationships with fossil fuel lobbies.
2. XR Doctors about the health impacts of air pollution.
3. "Faceless" bureaucrats with fake blood on their hands at Birmingham HS2 offices.
Thousands of arrests and a good dose of police brutality in Belarus during the protests.
As a EU citizen, I would like the EU to support the people of Belarus against Lukashenko's dictatorship. ✌️
If anyone knows more about the nature and dynamics of the protests right now, you are more than welcome to share some insight.
[Photo: Women show support for detained and injured protesters in Minsk, by Natalia Fedosenko/Tass | the Guardian]
At least 8 dead by the floods on Evia, Greece. I think this kind of weather was rare here. The thunderstorm was extraordinary.
- github
- https://github.com/gioypi
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/gioypi
Computer scientist with a passion for open-source projects.
Always interested in AI and game dev. Withal, a music enthusiast. 🤘☮️
Joined May 2020
