ridgeguy

6 ms·

1.
by ridgeguy 8d ago
An audio "recording" is data (digital, analog, grooves on vinyl, whatever) that allows later listening to the original audio. What Apple is doing in Rewind is as legal as if you were to take a contemporary transcript of a conversa
2.
by ridgeguy 8d ago
My need for this new iPhone is driven by my declining vision. Twenty years ago, I had no problem with my first iPhone. Five years ago, I started to get acquainted with some of the visual accommodation measures in iOS. I do still use my (phy
3.
by ridgeguy 12d ago
Tungsten is 1.0015 times denser than gold. A gold-coated tungsten ingot could be adjusted (tiny internal cavity) to have exactly the same mass as a solid gold ingot of the same volume. I've no idea what checks are done to exclude such
4.
by ridgeguy 12d ago
Californian here. I live in hope.
5.
by ridgeguy 12d ago
Yes, and the one thing I'd add is practice. And more practice.Take an occasional macro video so you can remember how that perfect joint felt when you did it. Source: decades-old Lockheed certification for rework on Trident C4 & D5
6.
by ridgeguy 13d ago
This is correct. Any system that executes variation, selection, and inheritance will show evolution. We're seeing evolution, this time in agents, not biology. Not saying the agents have their own consciousness, intent, or whatever anth
7.
by ridgeguy 1mo ago
This is why I use the human-run checkout lines. I want to keep the humans employed.
8.
by ridgeguy 2mo ago
Sometime in the mid-90s, after I'd read M&C and the two following books, I heard Patrick O’Brian interviewed on the radio as I was driving to work in Sunnyvale. The interview included about 20 minutes of his reading from M&C. A
9.
by ridgeguy 2mo ago
Gasoline doesn't do that. Perhaps you're thinking of the following? What it does do is slowly polymerize, becoming useless as an ICE fuel in time, typically in a year or two. This is why backup generators should run on propane, wh
10.
by ridgeguy 2mo ago
It'll be interesting to see what happens when an AI-piloted F-16 flies for real against a human-piloted one. IIRC, the F-16 maximum maneuvering G-load is 9.5G, LBA (limited by airframe). Maybe that's the meatbag limit, not the air
11.
by ridgeguy 2mo ago
A modern instance of that old saw "you are what you eat".
12.
by ridgeguy 3mo ago
SpaceX, Tesla, and X have entered the chat....
13.
by ridgeguy 3mo ago
YMMV a lot with Aliexpress. I bought a $700 chiller that arrived without a small attachment fitting for the return inlet line. I complained, received another chiller (with the fitting) free. Go figure.
14.
by ridgeguy 3mo ago
eBay is very good for science-related goods, in my experience. Last week, I bought ~$12K of used gear for a project. All items work, would have cost ~2.5x that from the usual used instrument vendors, about 6x new.
15.
by ridgeguy 3mo ago
YMMV. When we sold in 2021, our realtor connected us with an interest-free lender who put up $76K for repairs and staging. This, and other services, made the difference between our selling for $1.8M and the $2.4M we got. Maybe we could some
16.
by ridgeguy 3mo ago
The lighter centers could have been diffraction around the object and reconvergence. Or some kind of signal processing effect at the retinal level. The retinal vessel network is a fun thing to inspect as you say. It works best for me when t
17.
by ridgeguy 3mo ago
Reconsider the blood cell visualization thing. I've had bilateral PVD. Each was accompanied by an initial few minutes of seeing a few dozen small dark spots that had lighter grey centers. Most visible when I looked at the sky. They all
18.
by ridgeguy 3mo ago
Maybe the taxpayers who pay for those expensive sports arenas + the tax breaks that frequently shelter their owners/operators?
19.
by ridgeguy 3mo ago
"Rocket Manual for Amateurs" was my favorite book after I found it in 8th grade. In high school I had a chem teacher who would give me chemicals so I could experiment with what I'd read. A great book for budding Raketenkinder
20.
by ridgeguy 3mo ago
Teflon.
21.
by ridgeguy 3mo ago
I wonder if the results would have differed if LLM training data were biased to include a stronger correlation between use of nukes and subsequent collapse of technology that all LLMs require to run ("survive")?
22.
by ridgeguy 3mo ago
I suspect there are substantial numbers of us in our 70's+ who would volunteer. Why not go out having made an amazing contribution?
23.
by ridgeguy 4mo ago
This is an issue for me and my company. I'm building a prototype chemical vapor deposition system in a space with strong Chinese interest and activity. I picked Prusa 3D machines over Bambu because of the potential for losing critical
24.
by ridgeguy 4mo ago
Unknown at present (nobody sells diamond sandpaper yet that I know of), but not likely. Diamond is as bioinert as gold, fluorocarbons, and similar materials in not provoking inflammatory responses when implanted in tissue. Your point
25.
by ridgeguy 4mo ago
One has to be trained to do it, the untrained tendency is to wait too long. There's a USAF film on Youtube titled "Ejection Decision" that discusses this and shows how little time there is to make that choice.
26.
by ridgeguy 4mo ago
De Beers built and has abandoned a very large CVD gem diamond synthesis in Oregon. This was their LightBox operation. They've transferred it to Element Six to rid the parent (De Beers) of the money sink, probably as a touch-up before a
27.
by ridgeguy 4mo ago
De Beers sells devices that can distinguish between naturals and CVD synthetics. They're not cheap, but less than ~$80K, IIRC. They do a pretty good job, I've heard >90% success in identifying CVD stones.
28.
by ridgeguy 4mo ago
Diamond grit for polishing and grinding is now a cheap commodity. In 10,000 ct. lots, I pay from 5¢/ct. to 30¢/ct. depending on specific grit properties. I haven't searched for it, but diamond sandpaper should be a thing at t
29.
by ridgeguy 4mo ago
Perhaps this is an early indicator. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/13/utah-approve...
30.
by ridgeguy 4mo ago
The helmet cam video gave me a sense of just how difficult such operations are. I'm grateful we have people who will accept such assignments.

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