2021-08-27 Nerd Roundup
I continue to be amazed and happy with the experience and humor Greg Young brings to the table for the roundup. Greg seems to have an intuitive grasp of technology creation and it's a hoot watching him bounce around all of the topics that show up every week. James was out boating and having a good time, the scurvy dog, so it was just the two of us. Must be nice to have that much time on your hands (inside joke for those who watch the podcast)
| STORY | BUT WHY? |
| Programmers Don't Understand Hash Functions | Great overview and introduction to hashes. Lots of places to go from here, like does P equal NP or not? Why use one kind of hash function over another? Information theory implications, why hashes as used as part of most OO frameworks, and so on |
| U.S. Military May Soon Declassify A Secret Space Weapon | My money says a satellite-based microwave DEW. We've had the tech for a while, and it would do ugly things to other satellites. Plus, who doesn't like the idea of "bodyguard satellites" |
| A Particle Just Did Something That Changed the Nature of Reality | I am sad that there was not yet another Holy Grail involved here, or a New Physics. Perhaps next week we can have "New Solar Battery technology rings the Holy Grail of New Physics". "...Our very conceptions of the way we exist ... could change forever". Oy vey! |
| Subatomic particle seen changing to antiparticle and back for the first time | Charm Meson related: the PR is actually better than the OP. If the rate of oscillation is off even by only a tiny bit, could explain all the missing anti-matter |
| Patterns in confusing explanations | I'm not sure whether I like this or not. I guess I am confused. I think part of the problem is that many times writers write to learn themselves, and we learn by metaphor extension. both of those together make for a tough job when writing public helper texts. I feel very much like a monkey watching a guy do an algebra problem |
| What is 'Elite Overproduction'? | This is funny to watch nreds discuss because it's a real thing, yet so many smart people get prompted as if this is anti-intellectual and then nobody can talk them back off the cliff. |
| A scandal in Tedhemia: Noted study in psychology first fails to replicate (but is still promoted by NPR), then crumbles with striking evidence of data fraud | Maybe these guys are doing some kind of odd On-The-Job-Training program for becoming a professional bullshitter |
| Handy statistical lexicon | Ways to screw up your statistics when you do science. Dang, there are a lot of them! |
| HN discussion on AI used to convict | AI as cop ain't going to work. AI as judge ain't going to work. But we seem to be going full-speed ahead with AI as expert witness. You think your forensics guy will say anything on the stand, just wait until jurie are told "the computer proves it" Directly related to the Apple porn CSAM bullshit. I'm not nearly as annoyed that various companies and programs are trying to help society as I am that the people running these things are going to overpromise stuff and we're all going to pay for it |
| Don’t attach tooltips to document.body | Nice overview of the flow browsers use to render web pages. Nice example of object leakage. Caller is forced to either know a helluva lot about what happens behind the scenes or just follow flind rules. Both of these are unaccpetable |
| Companies of one, what is your tech stack? | Easily over 150 comments on this one question, some from founders making millions. And there are links to similar lists with hundreds of answers. Don't tell me you need a team of 12 to write that CRUD app. |
| Startups Now Spend More on Airbnb Than on Office Rent | This story is about long-term stays, but it works both ways. If you truly have dynamic, freeform meetings, and you use the half-block technique for maaging team distractions, why not? Probably much cheaper, more fun, and more conducive to creative solutions than a glass-lined conference room. Mobbing in random creative locations! Woot! |
| Google has a secret project called Project Hug | Insane reading. Nothing to see here, folks! |
| Radio Transmissions From Police Helicopter's Chase Of Bizarre Craft Over Tucson Add To Mystery | Not sure what I like better, UFOs, UAPs, or Drug Dealer Superdrones. Right now I'm going with superdrones. I can picture a Columiban drug lord somewhere working on an anti-gravity machine in a lab. Much fun. |
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