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I just took a minute to browse discussion of the latest question and I have a related question (I think).
Is there a system for representing any number uniquely and unambiguously that does not include exceptions?
There are two systems that I'm familiar with, both of which fail to offer unique representations:
• The traditional decimal system (or any other base, for that matter). In this system, any terminating decimal can be represented as the same number minus one in the last digit, followed by trailing nines. For example, 0.123 can be just as easily represented as 0.122999999... Therefore, the decimal system doesn't uniquely define the number 0.123.
• The continued fraction system. In this system, any rational number can be represented in two ways: as either {..., an} or {..., an-1, 1}. For example, 5/64 can be equivalently represented as either 1/(12+1/(1+1/4)) or 1/(12+1/(1+1/(3+1/1))) (in Wikipedia's notation, these two representations would be denoted [12, 1, 4] and [12, 1, 3, 1] respectively).
Mathematicians here may leap in and say, "The solution is simple! Just disallow the representation that isn't preferred!" That's why I've added the condition that there are to be no exceptions. After all, we know what 0.122999999... is telling us just as well as we know what 0.122444444... is telling us; each is just an infinite sum of coefficients of powers of ten. The same is true of ambiguities in the continued fraction notation-- just because you disallow [12, 1, 3, 1] doesn't mean you don't know how to interpret it.
Can this be done?
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rog wrote:
Right, that is a fair point. Laptops are extremely useful for this reason. I don't know what i'd do without mine.
The question though, is do you really need to carry that kind of performance around with you? Because for the same price you could have gotten a significantly better desktop, as well as a cheap laptop.
We'll see. I travel a decent amount and I can't imagine leaving my computer behind. I also anticipate moving sometime in the next year or two and the space in my car is quite limited. Of course my computer is the top priority, but the more space it takes up, the more other stuff will inevitably be left behind.
Also...
True wrote:
Bobo the King wrote:
True wrote:
4/10 bad keyboard layout, no trackpoint equivalent and shitty 16:9 resolution display (yeah, I know, almost nobody sells 16:10 anymore...)
You don't want to know what I spent on my notebook (fully loaded Precision M4400) ~2-3 years ago.
They still make those?
Absolutely. Dell and Lenovo are the holdouts of this superior technology.
(Don't really understand the point of stressful constant movement of the hand and wrist on a touchpad. But Apple knows better and even sells a desktop version of a touchpad now...)
I used a touchpad for eight years and didn't mind it and I'm planning on picking up one of these as soon as I can afford it.
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rog wrote:
I think it's funny how people assume that I'll primarily be using this for gaming.
What about cpu intensive things, like i don't know, emulation?
If performance on these things isn't that important to you, then you grossly overspent. If it is, then you'd be far better off with a desktop.
Or perhaps-- as I'll say for at least the third time-- I need to be able to carry my computer with me.
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Warp wrote:
rog wrote:
Like, literally everything you said is not just not true, but the opposite is.
I still maintain my hypothesis that nfq is just a poe.
Anyways, laptop or desktop, it depends on what you want to do with it. Laptops are not very good gaming platforms. While they have improved quite a lot, there's still a reason why desktop graphics cards look like miniature nuclear power plants:
CPUs aren't much behind that either:
In a laptop such things have much higher requirements in terms of low energy consumption and heat production, which inevitably means that corners need to be cut, which means lower framerates.
I think it's funny how people assume that I'll primarily be using this for gaming. I don't have time for gaming these days, but I do like having the option available to me. Even more importantly, I don't play FPSes, Elder Scrolls, or other graphics-intensive games.
If you believe this guide, I can keep up with most modern games at medium to high settings.
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rog wrote:
I hate people who buy overpriced crap like this when they could have just got a $600 desktop with better performance, and then plan to not even take it anywhere.
I take my laptop to school almost every day for research.
You hate me?
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exileut wrote:
SSD
Gimme a year.
moozooh wrote:
Huge and heavy as fuck, low battery life, heat issues, rather bad screen even for a laptop. 5/10.
I never considered sacrificing comfort and proper ventilation for very limited portability to be worth it. This computer looks and sounds like it should have been a desktop.
That's why it's called a "desktop replacement". You want to play catch with it or check your email in a field? Then this isn't the laptop for you.
Same size as my previous laptop and three pounds lighter. I never wished my old laptop was poorer but more portable. Besides, in three or four years, after Windows 8 is released and prices on tablet PCs come down, I'll pick up a tablet PC as my portable computer and leave my laptop at home most of the time.
I can believe the heat issues (though I was under the impression that i7s run cooler than older processors), but what don't you like about the screen? Before purchasing this one, I was inches away from buying a laptop with a 1600x900 screen. Should I have held out for 3840x2160?
(Link, because I love these photos too much.)
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Spikestuff wrote:
4/10 - It's a laptop!
also you got 3 for the amount of Space you have XD and Graphics
the 1 is because it's 16:9
TIL it's a sin to buy a laptop, despite any requirements imposed by your school and/or job.
Also, are you giving me 3 and 1 points as a concession or a deduction?
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For reference and to explain why I'm so eager to get my new laptop, here's my old laptop's specs:
• Microprocessor: Intel Pentium 4 processor 3.2GHz with HT Technology, 800MHz FSB
• Microprocessor Cache: 512KB L2 Cache
• Memory: 512MB DDR SDRAM (2 x 256MB) at 333MHz (Upgraded to 2 GB for the last five months of its life...)
• Memory Max: Maximum Memory 2048MB DDR SDRAM (2 x 1024MB) (See above note.)
• Video Graphics: Nvidia GeForce FX Go5700
• Video Memory: 64MB DDR (dedicated)
• Hard Drive: 80GB (4200RPM) Hard Drive (Upgraded to 320 GB PATA hard drive in 2009-ish. I swear I had the last PATA laptop ever made.)
• Multimedia Drive: DVD+R/RW and CD-RW Combo Drive (The DVD+R functionality died in about a year. Fortunately, I didn't use it much and I was able to put off buying a cheap DVD burner until around 2010, when it was $40.)
• Display: 17.0-inch WSXGA+ High-Definition BrightView Widescreen wide viewing angle (1680 x 1050) Display (Loved the display.)
• Fax/Modem: Integrated v.90/v.92 56KB modem (RJ-11 connector)
• Network Card: Integrated 10/100BASE-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
• Wireless Connectivity: 54g 802.11b/g WLAN with 125HSM/SpeedBooster™ support (Hahaha, this made it nearly impossible to install Ubuntu. I finally had a friend install it for me--with much aggravation-- last fall.)
• Sound: 16-bit Sound Blaster Pro-compatible audio; internal Harman/Kardon speakers; AC audio link; volume control button and mute button (Those Harman/Kardon speakers were amazing)
• Keyboard: Notebook keyboard with scroll bar and integrated numeric keypad (The numpad was a welcome addition.)
• Pointing Device: Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical Scroll Up/Down pad
• PC Card: Slots One Type I/II/III 32-bit card bus (also supports 16-bit) (Yeah, never used that. Thought about adding two USB ports for five bucks, though.)
• External Ports:
- Four Universal Serial Bus USB 2.0
- One Parallel SPP/ECP standard interface
- One VGA (15-pin)
- One RJ-11 (modem)
- One TV-Out (S-video)
- One RJ -45 (LAN)
- One port replicator connector
- One headphone-out
- One microphone-in
- One IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
- One FIR (Fast Infrared)
• Dimensions: 15.67 inches(L) x 10.94 inches(W) x 1.67 inches(front H) 1.85 inches(rear H)
• Weight: 9.5 lbs (One friend cautioned me that my new computer will be heavy. I said that at six pounds, it's much lighter than my old one. I assured her the resulting scoliosis has been quite manageable.)
• Power: 135W AC adapter (which ultimately fried the motherboard...)
• 12-Cell Lithium-Ion battery (Battery life, toward the end of its use: about 5 minutes. It at least allowed me to put the laptop in standby mode and carry it with me.)
• Windows XP Home Edition
Total cost: about $2000 in 2004.
You can rate this one too, if you'd like.
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True wrote:
4/10 bad keyboard layout, no trackpoint equivalent and shitty 16:9 resolution display (yeah, I know, almost nobody sells 16:10 anymore...)
You don't want to know what I spent on my notebook (fully loaded Precision M4400) ~2-3 years ago.
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HP Pavilion dv7t Quad Edition customizable Notebook PC
• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
• 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3610QM Processor (2.3 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache)
• NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GT 650M Graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory [HDMI, VGA]
• FREE UPGRADE to 8GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• 750GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
• Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word/Excel(R) only, No PowerPoint(R)/Outlook(R)
• 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery - Up to 5.75 hours of battery life +++
• 17.3-inch diagonal Full HD Anti-glare LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
• FREE Upgrade to Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner
• HP TrueVision HD Webcam
• 802.11b/g/n WLAN
• Standard Keyboard
• Included 2 Year Warranty
• HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope
Price after $400+free shipping coupon code and taxes: $1,162.33.
----
I've been absent since my computer of seven-and-a-half years (an HP zd7260us) died suddenly and dramatically. My computer hasn't yet arrived, but I can't contain my anticipation any more. With all this additional power, surely I can bot ever more tedious games.
I'm planning on upgrading it with a SSD, tablet, and new RAM over the next few years. What do you think?
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Warp wrote:
grassini wrote:
The ability to extract the core of the message from other people's not-so-well-expressed-but-valid ideas is an important ability not only for your professional life but your life as a whole.
The burden of being understood properly is on the writer, not the reader. If you want people to understand what you mean, it's your responsibility to express yourself in such a way that minimizes misunderstandings.
It doesn't matter if you use cursewords with a friend. The society does not work like that. If you can't comprehend that simple fact, then it's you who should revise how you should interact with others. "You should understand what I mean, not what I'm saying" just doesn't work in real life. If you express yourself poorly, people are going to understand you poorly.
(Of course this is just BS. You were most probably just childishly trolling, and now you are trying to take it back without actually admitting to any wrongdoing.)
Oh. My. God. Yes.
I have long held that exact same opinion and it has shaped my techniques as a teacher. Whenever I mention it to anyone, however, they're dismissive at best. My stance is that there is effectively just one way to listen, and provided your audience was attentive, if you didn't get the point across, you just need to find another way to express it.
I once told my landlady that "the burden is on the communicator" and she looked at me like I had told her the Earth is flat. She assured me that there are several ways to listen (she cited eyes and ears as examples) and said it's the responsibility of the listener. She then condescendingly told me that I can lecture her on psychology when I have a degree in it (she has a degree in psychology, but I think it's just a B.S., she earned it decades ago, and her career is in tax consulting). Never mind that she disregards my advice on physics, which I do have a degree in. Just the other week, practically out of the blue, she said that "studies" have been done that show that listening is responsible for two-thirds of communication-- I'm convinced she brought it up just to pour salt in the wound. Did I mention she also subscribes to homeopathic medicine and quantum mysticism?
She's ultimately pretty nice, but on even the most mildly academic matters, she's a terrible person to be around. Sorry for the off-topic rant, but I cannot express how excited I am that someone shares my views.
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My psychology professor explained that Freud's work began at a hospital where he observed patients with something resembling alien hand syndrome or BIID. Because it was known that the fingers in the hand are controlled by two separate nerves (think about how only your third and fourth fingers tingle when you hit your funny bone), Freud reasoned that the dissociation must have been happening farther up, in the brain. That was actually a pretty good observation.
And that's where Freud's science ended.
Psychology, in my eyes, cannot move forward until they divorce themselves first of Freud, and then of the rest of their many non-scientific theories. My professor still spent an agonizing week discussing Freud, even though she knew his theories were garbage. Freud has no more place in an introductory psychology course than Aristotlean physics has place in a physics course.
To his credit, he did indeed revolutionize the field. Also, I have a friend who is a psychologist who once gently explained to me that Freud did have several good ideas but introductory courses and popular perception of him only focus on the nutty, unfalsifiable aspects, such as dreams and supposedly wanting to screw your own mother. I do not know the extent to which my friend is correct, but it is clear to me that any positive aspects to Freud's theories have been largely lost among those who aren't dedicated to picking out the good stuff.
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grassini wrote:
can anybody tell me y do u guys watch this cartoon,i mean its colorful ponies,what else?isn't it just plain retarded?i used to watch fairy godparents and spongebob until a few years ago,but now i just see it as childish
I see your spelling, punctuation, and syntax as childish. We've got some smart and esteemed members of our little community watching this "show for little girls", so would be wise to inquire about it respectfully.
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amaurea wrote:
Bobo the King wrote:
Would it perhaps be worthwhile to create a page of checksums so that TASers can know (before running or playing back a game) if their ROM is good? I don't think that even comes within a mile of a gray area of the site's rules.
Isn't this exactly what the GoodTools are for? Here is the Wikipedia entry, and here is a link to GoodGBA. This tool will compare a rom's checksum to a database of checksums, and tell you which game and which variant of the game it is. The correct rom to use would be one with [!] in the name.
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Would it perhaps be worthwhile to create a page of checksums so that TASers can know (before running or playing back a game) if their ROM is good? I don't think that even comes within a mile of a gray area of the site's rules.
This book is terrible and exactly what leads people to thinking they're perpetually in the "friend zone". If anyone wants I can write a long detailed post about why it's terrible, but it shouldn't be necessary. The book talks about how women are inherently inferior and submissive to men, and how to best exploit them for sex.
Arflech got it right by saying that the friend zone theory denies the agency of women. Remember that women are people, not vending machines with "insert flirtation, receive sex". The idea that they're foreign entities, to be dealt with through beep-boop instructions rather than talking to women like people, is ultimately sexist and goes to bad places.
The sad but true fact is that nerds are a sexist bunch. Has a woman published a TAS here in the last five years? The stereotype that video games are for guys has become more true over the years, as sexism against women pushes them away from our hobbies. I know lots of women who are computer programmers, great Magic: The Gathering players, and all-around total geeks. They all feel driven out of these hobbies because they see an all-male forum talking about their friendzone-proof female-attraction methods.
We can avoid driving away half of our potential players. The community will be much stronger. Just remember that women are regular people, and support feminism because some people still don't think treat women as equals.
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Warp wrote:
There's something that I have never been able to understand in general relativity, and I would be really grateful if someone could help me understanding. (And while I'm not afraid of math, I would like to understand this visually rather than through equations, so please try to help me visualize how this works.)
If I understand correctly, according to the theory gravity is not caused by a spooky force, but it's in fact a result of the geometry of space-time: Free-falling objects are solely affected by the basic law of inertia, iow. they will follow the shortest path (iow. a geodesic) unless acted upon by a force (deviating from the geodesic would mean acceleration, which won't happen unless a force causes it to happen), but since space-time is curved close to a mass like the Earth, these geodesics are curved, and thus as objects traverse through time, they will follow the geodesics that look to us like curves.
Anyways, what I do not understand is why the geodesics are different for objects moving at different speeds. For instance, if I throw an object horizontally at 1 m/s it will follow a drastically different geodesic than if I had thrown it at 2 m/s.
I fail to grasp why shortest paths depend on velocity. In a purely Cartesian coordinate system the shortest path between two points does not depend on how fast something is moving between those two points. Likewise even if we have a curved surface, such as the surface of a sphere, the shortest path between two points on that surface will not depend on the speed of an object traveling that path.
I'm suspecting that the problem here is that I'm thinking three-dimensionally. My brain is completely incapable of visualizing a four-dimensional coordinate system (even a Cartesian one, not to talk about a curved one!), so there has to be a way to simplify this.
The classic way of simplifying this is to compress one of the dimensions to zero size, so that eg. the original x and y axes are still the x and y axes, but the z axis is compressed to zero size, and the fourth t axis can now be visualized as a third dimension. But then what? I don't know how to proceed from here in order to visualize the geodesics in a curved space that depend on the speed of the object.
(The classic "gravity well" picture is imaged like above, with a funnel-like surface. However, even there shortest paths do not depend on speed, so there has to be something more to it than that.)
General relativity is really not my forte (though I try to learn it every now and then), but I think I can help you at least a little. I believe your confusion comes from considering different geodesics through space, not through spacetime. Take your classic Minkowski space-time diagram and wrap it around a cylinder with the time axis parallel to the cylinder's central axis. Now consider the trajectory (through spacetime) that two objects with different velocities will take. An object with zero speed will travel in a straight line up the cylinder. An object with infinite speed (neglecting the finite speed of light) will spiral around the cylinder in a circle. Intermediate speeds will affect the pitch angle of the helix.
This is an extremely simple example (and unlike you, I am afraid of math!), but it illustrates that different geodesics follow from different initial velocities.
Edit: Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler discuss the exact issue you raise on pages 32 and 33 of Gravitation. They point out that the two objects' trajectories are similar through spacetime and neither has any curvature. That's all I can help you, I swear.
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CoolKirby wrote:
Bobo the King wrote:
According to internet lore (so take it with a grain of salt), the line was originally, "So long-a, Bowser!" in the stereotypical Italian accent that we all know and love from Mario. Because the game (and production team) was Japanese, there was some miscommunication between the writer, director, and voice of Mario, Charles Martinet. Perhaps the dash was removed, the "a" was accidentally capitalized, or Martinet just didn't know what they were looking for, and read it not as a schwa, but as the letter "A". In short, it was supposed to be, "So long-a, Bowser!" and is instead, "So long A, Bowser!"
I don't know if it's true, but I like the plausibility of it.
That would also explain the "Thank you so much for to playing my game!" at the end.
It sounds like 3 ("eh, Bowser?") to me though, even if that's not what it is.
Really? I always thought that was just Mario's (not the writers') limited understanding of English. I believe it was completely intentional.
