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Comment Just simple geometry (Score 1) 217

The power generated by wind turbines is proportional to the area swept. This design generates 5x the power because it sweeps 5x the area, as established by it's huge "three times taller" claims. The other efficiency arguments are minor contributors. The recycling factor is nifty though.

Comment I'm with Amazon on this one. (Score 1) 90

Peak Design chose to sell a premium versions of a generic bag at a 1000% markup that most people couldn't afford. They chose to cater only to the top end of the market.

From my perspective Amazon is providing a great service. They are giving millions of people an affordable option that Peak Design refuses to provide.

Next time, design something truly innovative and get a real patent. Oh, it's just a bag? It's fundamentally the same thing humans have used for millenia? Sorry, then.

Comment Re:The bias on display from these experts is stunn (Score 1) 312

You know as well as I do that these critics are not attacking Bitcoin, but the crypto space as a whole. I don't see them reccomending ETH or DOT or ADA in these articles, as one would do if they were specifically targeting Bitcoin. These are old-finance people trying to stay relevant, and hte power issue is something they can use as a short-term wedge. My point is valid, there are solutions to crypto's power use problem. Bitcoin has changed in the past, and it will change again, although I do find it unlikely Bitcoin would ever adopt PoS itself. Dimishing rewards does disincentivize mining. Every time the reward has halved, the hash rate has dropped immediately after as older less power efficient hardware became unprofitable. We don't yet know what the long-term power situation will look like, but when the block reward is 0 or close to it, it will not be the same economics as it is today.

Comment The bias on display from these experts is stunning (Score 0) 312

These "experts" aren't aware of proof of stake and diminishing rewards? Both are long-term solutions to the excessive power draw currently observed. From my perspective, these "experts" are just talking to their own audience of crypto detractors, and are not trying to be part of the real discussion around what cryptocurrency can do for us and how its technology is evolving. Additionally, gold has been a speculation vehicle for centuries. It's industrial value does not drive its price, and it's not that easy to exchange either. You can convert bitcoin to cash much more easily and with less transaction fees than gold.

Comment It's amazing so much weight was allocated to this! (Score 3, Insightful) 40

Wikipedia says perseverance's launch mass is 1,025 kg. 2 * 170 pounds = 154 kg, so these tungsten blocks are about 15% of the total launch mass.

The Planetary society says NASA paid $243 million for the Atlas V launch. That's 237k per kilogram to Mars. It cost $36.5 million to launch those tungsten blocks into space.

Now I don't know anything about interplanetary navigation, guidance, and control, but I am blown away at how much cost and weight they allocated to these tungsten bricks given the insane cost of sending anything to Mars. Whatever problem these blocks solve must be really serious.

Comment Subjectivity is important here (Score 5, Interesting) 61

Having just watched both the original Library of Congress and this remastered version, I must say I prefer the originals. I'm not saying that the AI tools aren't impressive, they are, but they are mixed with the subjective preferences of the person performing the remastering. In this case, I think the colors are over-saturated, the picture is over-sharpened, and the noise is exaggerated. The type of AI upscaling nvidia is capable of is better to my tastes.

Comment Re:Biden isn't being childish here, a lot is at st (Score 1) 237

Of course not all of those twitter followers are real trump followers, but I assume that vast majority of official media staff would just follow Biden after the "reset." That can't be said of the "real" Trump followers, which is why I believe this is an issue. If this was just about reporters, journalists, and writers, I don't think Biden would care.

Comment Re: Biden isn't being childish here, a lot is at s (Score 1) 237

I agree that the vast vast majority won't be swayed, but some will. Any progress helps. I also don't think that the situation works the same way in reverse due to the nature of misinformation, so I don't like your counter-example. Biden is also not going to tweet the same way Trump did.

Comment Biden isn't being childish here, a lot is at stake (Score 3, Insightful) 237

Biden wants those followers because it is very difficult to pierce the bubble that Trump followers live in. For the sake of the health of the nation, these people need some form of information that isn't tainted. Yes, many will unfollow, but some will stay and that opens the door for Biden to make reasonable common sense arguments that could get some people thinking rationally again with regards to facts and create a counterpoint to the other misinformation sources. Biden isn't doing this to win popularity points!

Comment Re:I've been in the industry for 20 years.. (Score 5, Insightful) 199

I don't think error handling is the core differentiator of "10x" developers. I think it's more about the "conceptual patterns" that Reed points out. The best developers truly understand what they are trying to build, and so they design systems and interfaces that capture the core of the business and allow for growth in terms of both capacity and features over time. And they will do it effortlessly. Another engineer may build a system that meets the immediate requirements, but that system will likely struggle to grow as the group needs it, forcing hacks and tech debt in order to keep up with the changing business. I guess, I don't think the 10x value is in the code itself at all, but in the system and interface design. Most "10x" developers happen to develop/debug very quickly as well, but that's just a bonus of true understanding, and not the root cause.

Comment Re:Save the Rain Forest! (Score 1) 416

Your example sounds clever but is a complete fail. Rain forests are considered a special case. The Amazon cannot be compared with my local county park. Your example implies that black lives are more special and more important to the planet than other lives. Are you making such a racist claim?

To learn more about the rain forests, see: https://www.rainforestconcern....

It's only a special case because it is actively being cut down. Modern studies of the Amazon show it produces 5-6% of the Earth's total oxygen and It's not unique with respect to biodiversity either. There's plenty of that in forests all over the Earth. Rain forests advocates want to play up it's importance so that people respond, which is reasonable, but don't kid yourself into thinking that there's no biodiversity in the other Great Forests on this planet, or that the Amazon "makes all the air."

There's no flaw in the analogy.

Comment Save the Rain Forest! (Score 1) 416

When someone says "Save the Rain Forests," do we respond with "No, Save All Forests?" We don't, because it is clear that the forest next to your suburban or rural home isn't being actively threatened, while the rain forest is.

And that is the crux of the issue. It's true that all lives matter, but when weaponized into a slogan it's a clear statement that the speaker does not care about black lives in particular, and is happy to ignore the police brutality they constantly face. Or they just don't realize the nuance, which is why the rain forest example really works.

Comment This is false equivalence and a distraction. (Score 5, Insightful) 50

These organizations are wonderful and do great things and this "controversy" is false equivalence. These organizations receive donations from billionaires. So what? There's no conflict of interest here, the billionaires don't own or benefit from these organizations receiving PPP funds, unlike Kushner and McConnell. The cynical side of me suspects this is an attempt by the right to distract from their heinous misuse of PPP funds to Trump and McConnell family businesses and churches.

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