robryk @robryk@qoto.org
I enjoy things around information theory (and data compression), complexity theory (and cryptography), read hard scifi, currently work in infosec, am somewhat literal minded and have approximate knowledge of random things. I like when statements have truth values, and when things can be described simply (which is not exactly the same as shortly) and yet have interesting properties.
I live in the largest city of Switzerland (and yet have cow and sheep pastures and a swimmable lake within a few hundred meters of my place :)). I speak Polish, English, German, and can understand simple Swiss German and French.
If in doubt, please err on the side of being direct with me. I very much appreciate when people tell me that I'm being inaccurate. I think that satisfying people's curiosity is the most important thing I could be doing (and usually enjoy doing it). I am normally terse in my writing and would appreciate requests to verbosify.
I appreciate if my grammar or style is corrected (in any of the languages I use here).
Joined Nov 2020
I still get amused once in a while by the combination of pomp and absurdly detailed requirements in the Swiss constitution:
"Im Namen Gottes des Allmächtigen!
Das Schweizervolk und die Kantone,
in der Verantwortung gegenüber der Schöpfung,
(...)
gewiss, dass frei nur ist, wer seine Freiheit gebraucht, und dass die Stärke des Volkes sich misst am Wohl der Schwachen,
geben sich folgende Verfassung:
(......)
Der Anteil von Zweitwohnungen am Gesamtbestand der Wohneinheiten und der für Wohnzwecke genutzten Bruttogeschossfläche einer Gemeinde ist auf höchstens 20 Prozent beschränkt.
(...)"
Wow, https://gcn.gsfc.nasa.gov/other/221009A.gcn3 was a Gamma Ray Burst that caused noticeable disturbance of ionosphere.
...
"Both. You learn that it's not about recipes at all."
"So, you do anything you want with magic?"
"Well, not just by wishing it. When you learn how to think about magic, you learn how to predict its effects."
"...and then I can try to figure out what to do so that I would have the effect I want?"
"Yes. Just like when you deal with any other part of the world."
Pratchett's #dragons are to all dragons just like gnomes are to people in standard fantasy settings. (They all are tinkerers, though out of necessity~.)
2685. 2045
"I have another appointment that would be really hard to move, in terms of the kinetic energy requirements" is my favourite phrase of the week
QT: https://botsin.space/@xkcdbot/109167546165382546
robryk
boosted
Frist psot!
I today realized (yet another) reason why one must slowly start steam boilers: steam flow provides cooling of e.g. superheaters. Thus, if the heat output of the furnace is combined with lower-than-expected-at-that-heat-output steam flow, you'll overheat the superheater.
robryk
boosted
Okay. I really, really want /sees my posts in their home tab/ and /can see my locked posts at all/ to be separate things. I want to the former to be totally open again, and I want the latter to be more restricted than it is now.
Please, please can we make this happen? #mastodev
robryk
boosted
RT @element_hq@twitter.com
‼️ IMPORTANT: Please upgrade Element to address a critical security update. For more background see ➡️ https://matrix.org/blog/2022/09/28/upgrade-now-to-address-encryption-vulns-in-matrix-sdks-and-clients
https://element.io/blog/important-security-update
🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/element_hq/status/1575155711054680064
robryk
boosted
2677. Two Key System
title text: Our company can be your one-stop shop for decentralization.
(https://xkcd.com/2677)
(https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2677)
robryk
boosted
I'm looking for an USB XLR interface that's Linux-friendly. Currently I'm using Behringer UMC202HD and it's constantly problematic.
Boosts welcome!
robryk
boosted
It used to be the case in #Haskell that
:t 3
would give you
3 :: Num a => a
but
let x = 3
:t x
would give you
x :: Integer
because storing a value in variable forced the system to commit to a specific type.
Nowadays, though, the latter gives you
x :: Num a => a
What changed? I'm at a loss as to how to search the web for an answer to this one.
possible electrical energy shortage
I'm surprised that I haven't seen any appeals to clean the radiators in the fridges. (And now am trying to figure out how to get at mine.)
robryk
boosted
twitter quote on CS
there is NO field that more grievously overestimates the layman's understanding of what they do than computer science. if you do too much programming you ascend/descend to an entirely different plane of existence where you think that regular human beings know what linux is
https://twitter.com/katiedimartin/status/1569530531959967746
Do you know of any text media (e.g. newspapers, but also blogs that aspire to journalism) that "show their work"? More precisely, ones that describe not only what they figured out, but also how they did that and, ideally, also the failed avenues. An example of a publication that goes in that direction (but not as far as I'd ideally want to see someone go) is Bellingcat.
Maybe you know journalists who publish (with a delay and redactions, for obvious reasons) log of all the research they're doing?
So, apparently swiss aviation regulator has restricted the number of passengers on a single historic aircraft as a permanent safety measure (in response to an accident from 2018).
If we ignore the effect on the price (by way of reducing total passenger throughout), I think this actually reduces safety. Ensuring safety of an aircraft takes work that mostly doesn't change depending on the number of passengers. Thus, aircraft with fewer passengers require more effort per passenger. So if the amount of passengers remains constant, we end up with more work (incl. more work for authorities) for the same level of safety.
Is there a mechanism (other than reducing the total number of participants) that could cause this change to improve safety?
I enjoy things around information theory (and data compression), complexity theory (and cryptography), read hard scifi, currently work in infosec, am somewhat literal minded and have approximate knowledge of random things. I like when statements have truth values, and when things can be described simply (which is not exactly the same as shortly) and yet have interesting properties.
I live in the largest city of Switzerland (and yet have cow and sheep pastures and a swimmable lake within a few hundred meters of my place :)). I speak Polish, English, German, and can understand simple Swiss German and French.
If in doubt, please err on the side of being direct with me. I very much appreciate when people tell me that I'm being inaccurate. I think that satisfying people's curiosity is the most important thing I could be doing (and usually enjoy doing it). I am normally terse in my writing and would appreciate requests to verbosify.
I appreciate if my grammar or style is corrected (in any of the languages I use here).
Joined Nov 2020
