What have you learned today?

[EvilRoy]

Yeah, a lot of it is a scam. OTOH, some stuff legit can be recycled, so worth a try.

It's always worth a conversation with your local recycling depot - just because a given material isn't being "recycled" in the way you and I might traditionally think about it, it may still have uses and buyers.

Where I live the recycling plant makes so much money it pays for itself and the remainder subsidizes the entire rest of the dump, including our extremely extensive composting situation. Are the things all being milled down to beads and recast as new bottles? No. But somebody is clearly using all those Tide detergent bottles for something, because they buy it by the truckload and they always want more. As much as I would like a net Zero system, at least in the meantime we can consider reusing plastic rather than making more a small win.

 

[Xprimentyl]

It's always worth a conversation with your local recycling depot - just because a given material isn't being "recycled" in the way you and I might traditionally think about it, it may still have uses and buyers.

Where I live the recycling plant makes so much money it pays for itself and the remainder subsidizes the entire rest of the dump, including our extremely extensive composting situation. Are the things all being milled down to beads and recast as new bottles? No. But somebody is clearly using all those Tide detergent bottles for something, because they buy it by the truckload and they always want more. As much as I would like a net Zero system, at least in the meantime we can consider reusing plastic rather than making more a small win.

 

[Ezekiel]

The reason so few new online games have text communication is because of government regulation.

Demystifying CVAA

Compliance deadline for CVAA accessibility legislation was Jan 1. This post details what it means for you.

www.gamedeveloper.com

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Mathematicians Have Solved Traffic Jams, and They’re Begging Cities to Listen

Mathematicians are unimpressed by engineers’ solutions.

getpocket.com

Though I do think mathematicians, while admirably adept at like, calculating shit, are still failing to grasp how many bullshit factors creep into the picture once their ideas leave their piece of paper and hit the streets.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Morb has apparently become a new word, as in, something you use unironically.

The reason so few new online games have text communication is because of government regulation.

Demystifying CVAA

Compliance deadline for CVAA accessibility legislation was Jan 1. This post details what it means for you.

www.gamedeveloper.com

~Regulations, regulations, let em grooow! Govemeeeents gotta re-gu-laaaaaaate!~

 

[EvilRoy]

Mathematicians Have Solved Traffic Jams, and They’re Begging Cities to Listen

Mathematicians are unimpressed by engineers’ solutions.

getpocket.com

Though I do think mathematicians, while admirably adept at like, calculating shit, are still failing to grasp how many bullshit factors creep into the picture once their ideas leave their piece of paper and hit the streets.

When I read the title I thought to myself "okay, well usually mathematicians and physicists can get a little divorced from reality, but let's see". It's like... Not even possible to institute two of their primary simplifying assumptions. The other two have been, in one way or another, used for at least a decade and the effect is unclear.

I showed it to some traffic engineers and they laughed and then got in an argument over whether green/carpool/bus lanes actually work.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

When I read the title I thought to myself "okay, well usually mathematicians and physicists can get a little divorced from reality, but let's see". It's like... Not even possible to institute two of their primary simplifying assumptions. The other two have been, in one way or another, used for at least a decade and the effect is unclear.

I showed it to some traffic engineers and they laughed and then got in an argument over whether green/carpool/bus lanes actually work.

Hhm? You have a history in physics, Roy? You seem to speak with some familiarity.

 

[Worgen]

Holy shit!! I am 150% certain I could not have done that no matter how calm the air traffic controller's instructions were. I'd be too busy looking for ways to commit swift suicide or planning my last ditch "tuck and roll" maneuver (though my fear of heights would dictate the plane be about 2 seconds from crashing before I'd have the confidence to even try THAT.) Long story short, with me at the wheel, this story would have been about a cowardly tragedy and not exceptional heroism.

Ikr. In a plane, pilot out cold, doesn't know how to fly, no idea where he is, and yet dude talks like his heart rate is not a single beat over 60.

I bet after this he was asked to flawlessly play Rimsky-Korsakovs "Capriccio Espagnole." on piano by himself, perform open heart surgery while blindfolded, and land a sextuple jump in ice skating in perfect form. He then said "Ok, sure, I got this", proceeded to do those things, then casually strolled out the door, probably doing another half dozen amazing things before hitting the end of the street.

Its no where near as hard as you think, especially a small aircraft. It looks like its at a normal sized airport so there is a lot of runway room, no risk of over or undershooting it. If there isn't a crosswind then you don't even need to worry about sliding in. It looks complicated but its not as complicated as you think, especially in calm weather.

 

[EvilRoy]

Hhm? You have a history in physics, Roy? You seem to speak with some familiarity.

I'm a bridge engineer, so I have a basic understanding of traffic engineering and I actually sit right near two guys who are fully qualified traffic engineers and do all sorts of modelling and stuff.

For the record, I understand why they made the suggestions they did, it's just that they aren't really real-world tenable.

Everyone being on the same navigation system at all times would make so much stuff so much easier, but like... In order for that to work literally everyone in a given country would need to be on the same software fully up to date, and it would have to be built in to the car or something. Somewhere like Europe where there's a lot of flow between countries would mean the entire continent would have to be on one system - and they would actually need to trust it, which a lot of people don't. I'm very guilty of ignoring Google maps because I don't want to make a left turn or I dislike driving a specific street.

Then there's the whole digital twin thing. Yes, that would be very useful, but outside of small towns it would be a huge undertaking to develop, likely taking many years. I'm not buying the textbook to check the level of detail they want, but Google maps is not considered a digital twin, so if you think of the decade+ of hardcore work to develop it, and it's still just wrong pretty often, a twin would take even longer.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Its no where near as hard as you think, especially a small aircraft. It looks like its at a normal sized airport so there is a lot of runway room, no risk of over or undershooting it. If there isn't a crosswind then you don't even need to worry about sliding in. It looks complicated but its not as complicated as you think, especially in calm weather.

That assumes one is a person of calm and stoic rationality facing the very real danger of death. It might be as easy as you presume, but under the pressure of "do this right, on the fly with no experience, or die," I imagine most people wouldn't be able to handle it as well as he did. At best, I maybe could have mitigated casualty by not nose-diving into the tarmac, but a perfect landing that saves everyone? Not at all, at least not my panicky ass. What he was able to do was exceptional, and I'll take nothing from him in the way of kudos and high praise. You're sitting at a desk [presumptively;] he was in the air in a flying plane, and was given the equivalent of a month's-worth of flight instruction, in real time, over the course of minutes, over the radio. I don't care how easy it typically is; how difficult is it when you know nothing and your life is on the line? That's like taking someone who can't swim, dropping them in the middle of the ocean with ankle weights, and giving them swimming instructions via a walkie-talkie.

 

[Mister Mumbler]

Mathematicians Have Solved Traffic Jams, and They’re Begging Cities to Listen

Mathematicians are unimpressed by engineers’ solutions.

getpocket.com

Though I do think mathematicians, while admirably adept at like, calculating shit, are still failing to grasp how many bullshit factors creep into the picture once their ideas leave their piece of paper and hit the streets.

Well, without even opening the article I can already see the major flaw right there in the title: mathematicians. They deal with numbers on a daily basis, which is going to carry over to their traffic proposals and kill them before leaving the drawing board by sheer fact that their theories are predicated on a perfect system. One where x input always gives y result for a certain function, which is near impossible in any system when you introduce the human factor.

 

[Worgen]

That assumes one is a person of calm and stoic rationality facing the very real danger of death. It might be as easy as you presume, but under the pressure of "do this right, on the fly with no experience, or die," I imagine most people wouldn't be able to handle it as well as he did. At best, I maybe could have mitigated casualty by not nose-diving into the tarmac, but a perfect landing that saves everyone? Not at all, at least not my panicky ass. What he was able to do was exceptional, and I'll take nothing from him in the way of kudos and high praise. You're sitting at a desk [presumptively;] he was in the air in a flying plane, and was given the equivalent of a month's-worth of flight instruction, in real time, over the course of minutes, over the radio. I don't care how easy it typically is; how difficult is it when you know nothing and your life is on the line? That's like taking someone who can't swim, dropping them in the middle of the ocean with ankle weights, and giving them swimming instructions via a walkie-talkie.

Dude, I've done flight training, I've flown light planes before. Its much easier then you think. The plane wants to fly itself, if you panic you just need to keep your hands off the stick and contact the tower, the aircraft will keep going straight. Never underestimate a calm voice over the radio to help calm you down. There are instances of untrained people landing commercial aircraft, with nothing but the tower guiding them. Now this guy did a good thing, but its not as hard as you would think, even landing. Once you get down to about 15-20 feet you enter something called ground effect, this is where the density of the air is higher so the plane will want to keep hovering over the ground. If you slowly cut engine speed and keep a somewhat steady hand then the plane will just slowly touch down, even if you cut it too fast you will just have a bit more of a bump, the landing gear on light aircraft is really sturdy, its able to take landing in a field, it can take a bump landing on a runway. Also, as I said before, this looks like a good sized airport runway so there is a lot of room to land don't really need to worry about going off the side, front, back or left or right. Just listen to the tower, they will have someone who knows the control layout there and can tell you everything you need to do before you do it. Hell, the pilot should also have a checklist of things to do, when I did flying it was on a metal clipboard that would be strapped to my leg, this one might have a tablet, but it will be there, checklists are awesome.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

 

[Xprimentyl]

Well, without even opening the article I can already see the major flaw right there in the title: mathematicians. They deal with numbers on a daily basis, which is going to carry over to their traffic proposals and kill them before leaving the drawing board by sheer fact that their theories are predicated on a perfect system. One where x input always gives y result for a certain function, which is near impossible in any system when you introduce the human factor.

Tangentially, I've been thinking about Ai that uses cameras to dictate traffic lights, looking at actually traffic in

Dude, I've done flight training, I've flown light planes before. Its much easier then you think. The plane wants to fly itself, if you panic you just need to keep your hands off the stick and contact the tower, the aircraft will keep going straight. Never underestimate a calm voice over the radio to help calm you down. There are instances of untrained people landing commercial aircraft, with nothing but the tower guiding them. Now this guy did a good thing, but its not as hard as you would think, even landing. Once you get down to about 15-20 feet you enter something called ground effect, this is where the density of the air is higher so the plane will want to keep hovering over the ground. If you slowly cut engine speed and keep a somewhat steady hand then the plane will just slowly touch down, even if you cut it too fast you will just have a bit more of a bump, the landing gear on light aircraft is really sturdy, its able to take landing in a field, it can take a bump landing on a runway. Also, as I said before, this looks like a good sized airport runway so there is a lot of room to land don't really need to worry about going off the side, front, back or left or right. Just listen to the tower, they will have someone who knows the control layout there and can tell you everything you need to do before you do it. Hell, the pilot should also have a checklist of things to do, when I did flying it was on a metal clipboard that would be strapped to my leg, this one might have a tablet, but it will be there, checklists are awesome.

Not debating you, I'm saying the circumstances of suddenly being thrust into the cockpit without ANY experience, mid flight, would rattle most people making your "simple task" a very difficult one. I'm not saying it's hard to land a small plane; I'm saying it'd be hard for the average Joe to do it knowing error means death. You've been to flight school apparently; this guy hadn't; he had to learn it in a pilot-less plane he was on in mid-air. I don't care how easy it is practically; it's exceptional to go from knowing nothing about it to saving lives in the moment.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Well, without even opening the article I can already see the major flaw right there in the title: mathematicians. They deal with numbers on a daily basis, which is going to carry over to their traffic proposals and kill them before leaving the drawing board by sheer fact that their theories are predicated on a perfect system. One where x input always gives y result for a certain function, which is near impossible in any system when you introduce the human factor.

*UGH* Humans. Always to blame for ruining perfection!

 

[Worgen]

Not debating you, I'm saying the circumstances of suddenly being thrust into the cockpit without ANY experience, mid flight, would rattle most people making your "simple task" a very difficult one. I'm not saying it's hard to land a small plane; I'm saying it'd be hard for the average Joe to do it knowing error means death. You've been to flight school apparently; this guy hadn't; he had to learn it in a pilot-less plane he was on in mid-air. I don't care how easy it is practically; it's exceptional to go from knowing nothing about it to saving lives in the moment.

Really if you can get past the initial panic without pulling or pushing or turning the stick as hard as you can, you will probably be fine if you have a working radio and its set to tower or you can figure out how to set it to tower. You have plenty of time to have your panic and collect yourself, as I said, planes want to fly, even if it starts gently angling down you still have time, even if the engine cuts out you still have time, you have much more time then you would for a car crash cause.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Mathematicians Have Solved Traffic Jams, and They’re Begging Cities to Listen

Mathematicians are unimpressed by engineers’ solutions.

getpocket.com

Though I do think mathematicians, while admirably adept at like, calculating shit, are still failing to grasp how many bullshit factors creep into the picture once their ideas leave their piece of paper and hit the streets.

Parking bans. Many urban roads are too narrow and cannot be physically widened. Traffic-flow models can indicate where parking spots should be turned into lanes.

Many people live in places that don't have off-street parking. I'm one of them. How will they decide who has to get rid of their cars because they have no place to keep them?

 

[Gordon_4]

The reason so few new online games have text communication is because of government regulation.

Demystifying CVAA

Compliance deadline for CVAA accessibility legislation was Jan 1. This post details what it means for you.

www.gamedeveloper.com

That was actually an interesting read.

 

[thebobmaster]

I learned that the lead singer of Toto, band behind songs like "Hold the Line" and "Africa", is the song of John Williams. As in "did the score to Superman, Star Wars, Jaws, and Indiana Jones" John Williams.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]