tom_mellior

Joined 11 years ago

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May 21

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Comment · 5 years ago

With HN recently devolving into a propaganda site for the lab leak conspiracy theory, recent UFO mania, and now long-debunked miracle cure truthers making a comeback, I guess this will be my last visit to this site. The chaff is just not worth the wheat anymore. Have fun everyone!

Comment · 5 years ago

Thanks for submitting this interesting issue. Out of interest, what system are you on, and did jq come from a package manager? If you build it from source, it should work: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27362060

Comment · 5 years ago

For whatever it's worth, on a somewhat-current Linux Mint, with the test from https://github.com/stedolan/jq/issues/1387:

System jq:

    $ jq --version
    jq-1.6
    $ echo '{"number":288230376151711744}' | jq '.number'
    288230376151711740

Fresh compile from source according to the build instructions at https://github.com/stedolan/jq:

    $ ./configure --with-oniguruma=builtin && make -j8
    $ ./jq --version
    jq-1.6-137-gd18b2d0-dirty
    $ echo '{"number":288230376151711744}' | ./jq '.number'
    288230376151711744

Alternatively:

    $ ./configure --with-oniguruma=builtin --enable-decnum=no && make -j8
    $ echo '{"number":288230376151711744}' | ./jq '.number'
    288230376151711740

So the basic bug is fixed, jq has included a bignum library for > 2 years. I don't know if Mint (and thus presumably Ubuntu, and thus possibly Debian) includes an older version of jq or sets nonstandard user-unfriendly flags on purpose, but I'm somewhat underwhelmed in either case.

Comment · 5 years ago

> I’ve long thought that a sensible constitutional guarantee would be the right to leave the country at any time.

In totalitarian regimes, constitutions aren't worth the pixels they are printed on. Rights guaranteed by laws must be enforced by the judiciary and the executive. But that only happens if (1) cases actually reach a court, (2) that court is independent, and (3) the executive is willing to enforce the court's decisions.

Indeed, according to https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Belarus, "Citizens [...] have the right to protest against the government." Problem solved?

Comment · 5 years ago

Since jq does something completely different from a browser, it would be reasonable for it to try harder in some respects. A tool that is supposed to pass certain data through unchanged... Should not change that data. Even if we can expect that data to eventually be rounded by the eventual consumer at some later time.

Comment · 5 years ago

Every enterprise timesheet and expense system I've ever used was a slow, barely usable, confusing disaster. But I don't think that was because the VM failed to pre-allocate memory for some operations.

Without the superlatives and strawman attacks and with an actual description of how things should be done instead this would be an interesting read.

Comment · 5 years ago

> I believe, computer science is a branch of mathematics that deals with large but finite structures (so they need an algorithmic description).

This is a strange claim since the entire field was founded upon the investigation of potentially (and often actually) infinite computations.

> Compare with most of "legacy" mathematics, which studies countable structures (so the description can use arbitrary series).

Define "most". Do it in a way that makes real and complex analysis and topology (and probably many other branches) the smaller part of mathematics.

Most importantly though, my problem with this kind of discussion is that the question itself is meaningless. Not everything can be classified into neat " X is a Y" relationships. Not everything needs to be classified into such relationships. Even if the discussion reached a consensus, that consensus would be meaningless. Computer science is a part of math? OK, but so what? Computer science is not a part of math? OK, but so what? Neither conclusion would tell us anything useful.

Comment · 5 years ago

> Turing machines are arbitrary and rather unmathematical.

Thus proving the point that a field that studies them cannot be considered a branch of mathematics.

Comment · 5 years ago

> If I'm reading conference papers, why would I worry about whether one of them is the product of review collusion?

Because the one you are reading may have crowded out a better one. Even if the current review system is essentially random, replacing it with something that is essentially a contest of well-connectedness is worse. Young researchers with good ideas but fewer connections, or people from less well-known institutions would have their ideas suppressed.

So you should be worrying about stagnation, and about not reading what might actually be new and exciting.

Comment · 5 years ago

"Diet = dental health" is bullshit. My partner was raised sugar-free and has horrible teeth with many cavities. So does their entire family. I was raised on a diet which included many forms of sweets, and I have never had a cavity. Same for my entire family. Genetics or other biological predisposition seems to be a major factor. Diet might help a bit, but don't expect any magical effects.

Comment · 5 years ago

I hate to link to the Daily Mail, but this article actually has plan sketches for the movements that are accommodated in the plan: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8945619/Worlds-tran...

Comment · 5 years ago

Thanks, I also found https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/28/worlds-first-floating-sky-po.... So, unlike what some of the renderings suggest it's not an "infinity pool" but rather has high glass walls on the sides, which was one of the things I was wondering about. It also has those two... cables? running below that aren't on the renderings.

Comment · 5 years ago

https://www.embassygardens.com/sky-pool/ says this is "coming soon". It will be interesting to see how the actual thing will differ from the architects' renderings.

Comment · 5 years ago

> I'm not certain whether they intend to allow users to upload their own content, or if UGC actually just means "build structures in game out of built-in assets". I suspect it's actually the latter.

The Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/playdreamworld/dreamwor...) says (emphasis mine, also highlighted in the article): "Creator centric crafting economy : Using simple tools and guided by quick tutorials, you can learn how to create your own 3D models for items that you and others might need or want in your builds and adventures. Imbue them with useful function like lighting, extra damage, low weight, knockback, and a plethora of exciting magical properties! Not artistically inclined? Import 3D models from anywhere online, and DreamWorld will help you turn them into exactly what you were looking for."

We'll see how much of this actually ships.

Thanks for the Second Life information.

Comment · 5 years ago

Newspapers have always had opinion sections.