robmiller

16 ms·

1.
by robmiller 3y ago
The nuclear power plant had built the homes to house workers in the early 1980s and to an early form of Energy Star compliance, with an emphasis on being air-tight. Radon was trapped in these homes, workers set off the alarms, and the radon
2.
by robmiller 4y ago
As of March 15, 2020, bank cash reserve requirement was reduced to zero for all depository institutions.[0] 0 - https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/reservereq.htm
3.
by robmiller 4y ago
Just to add a little humanity here among all the numbers, I would have loved to have known my mother. I'm sure adopted children have similar thoughts, but I doubt there's anything quite the feeling of being given life during anoth
4.
by robmiller 4y ago
There are various factors: 1. Partitions around workspaces create a modest barrier effect, not so much realizable for your nearest neighbors but those more distant. No one installs partitions up to 48" or 52" but you have to at le
5.
by robmiller 4y ago
Hey thanks. Yes, esoteric enough to keep it interesting day to day. I mostly work with architects and design engineers to coordinate quiet building systems and good interior acoustics--projects anywhere from K-12 to major performing arts ce
6.
by robmiller 4y ago
Yes, I agree. Inlet side is quieter than discharge for most fan types (propeller, centrifugal, etc), but noise due to air movement are on both sides.
7.
by robmiller 4y ago
Acoustics consultant here. Its too bad there's no mention of using a windscreen on the sound level meter, especially at 2 inch distance. It would make sense if the mesh performed best, while airflow was restricted nearly most if air ru
8.
by robmiller 4y ago
To borrow an observation from Matt Stoller[0], SCOTUS is only powerful because congress refuses to legislate. [0] https://twitter.com/matthewstoller/status/150627311232057754...
9.
by robmiller 5y ago
We use honeycomb panels in acoustics construction as means for high stiffness (low deflection) with the tradeoff of low mass. Often we laminated a thin layer of plywood to each side to improve the stress skin system. Orchestra shell towers
10.
by robmiller 5y ago
I worked on the design of their US HQ in Redmond. Despite anything the architect could dream up, they like the metaphor of the cube...
11.
by robmiller 5y ago
When I was a kid in the '80s, we had a Magnavox TV with built-in Pong. The game mode button was at the top of the side panel with the VHF and UHF knobs. Blue and Red controllers plugged into the back of the set, each with a rotary enco
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by robmiller 5y ago
My response is US-centric, but most hospital projects do have an acoustics consultant involved. Improvements have been made, but not nearly enough. Challenges include the need for sound absorption to be porous, but this is at odds with clea
13.
by robmiller 5y ago
Yes, this is in reference to noise passing through a door that is localizable. Typically we would play pink noise (broadband, equal energy per octave band) on one side and listen for "hotspots" on the quiet side. I would wonder ab
14.
by robmiller 5y ago
I am an acoustics consultant who designs buildings with architects, then sees them through construction. Doors intended to isolate noisy rooms regularly underperform, whether due to manufacturing or installation problems. Lots of fingerpoin
15.
by robmiller 5y ago
One problem is that a stolen iPhone is a >$1000 crime, in fact it passes the $950 threshold to be a felony in California[1]. Police don't have the resources to deal with every stolen phone. When iPhones were new, my cousin was a pol
16.
by robmiller 5y ago
My soon-to-be 8 year old son was devastated and ran into his room crying when he asked Alexa what the notification was and she described his hoverboard present just delivered to the front porch. Could we have anticipated that? Maybe. The su
17.
by robmiller 5y ago
This was my first thought of application too.
18.
by robmiller 5y ago
This primate descendant is thankful I had a strong family structure of grandparents. Even in their grief they took care of me in my early years and I think I probably turned out ok. I'm more surprised I survived early 80's era pow
19.
by robmiller 5y ago
Close. It plays the Maple Leaf Rag, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-XTA_ORK38
20.
by robmiller 5y ago
Slightly off topic, but I attended a higher-ed conference a couple years ago and the administrators are all scared about 2025. The birthrate took a hit in 2008 and has never recovered. Peak enrollment will be 2024 and then diminish for the
21.
by robmiller 5y ago
I think the story went: 1. Hedge funds donate to endowments 2. Endowments invest back into hedge funds 3. Hedge funds list endowments as investors in their marketing 4. Clients invest with HFs thinking endowments must have done their due di
22.
by robmiller 5y ago
This is my dad. He's also a retired health physicist in nuclear power and now is distributing old civil defense Geiger counters to schools. Some other potential sources of radiation in the home are granite countertops, and of course ra
23.
by robmiller 5y ago
Remember Carnival's Costa Concordia that capsized in 2012? The captain's lover, a Moldovan dancer, was on the bridge at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Concordia_disaster https://www.
24.
by robmiller 5y ago
Forgive me if this comment only belongs on Reddit but it's worth noting Vice[0] thinks this captain was being a little caviler for the lulz of his GPS waypoints. [0] NSFW https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgqwn8
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by robmiller 6y ago
I've been wondering what would happen if the same political correctness ever came to Spanish. Every noun is gendered, usually according to whether it is associated with males or female roles.
26.
by robmiller 6y ago
I work on architectural design teams around the US and wanted to let everyone know that the ADA Act compels us to think deeply and equitably about accessibility in our buildings, practically as much as fire design. Often renovations are dee
27.
by robmiller 6y ago
Why hasn't this story gotten any traction on HN?
28.
by robmiller 6y ago
Admittedly, all because I don't want to ding the user that I viewed their profile, but the search results shows enough...
29.
by robmiller 6y ago
One of my hobbies is looking at url strings with GET key/value pairs. Programmers must forget that they're visible to users. LinkedIn has a search workflow that shows "origin=TYPEAHEAD_ESCAPE_HATCH" which I've alwa
30.
by robmiller 6y ago
Previous discussion here, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22906617

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