BaSzErr - blog:2021:11:30

2021-11-30_-_kinetic_inductance

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 22:41:57 +0000

2021-11-30 - kinetic inductance

while reading on some lesser-known reasons why miniaturization of electronic components does improve its parameters, i came across the concept of kinetic inductance, that blew my mind.

electrons of course have kinetic energy. small, but still. the thing is that it also adds to an effect of inductance (think: coils). while the effect is negligible for regular coils and (most of the time) other conductors, it becomes a major factor in superconducting materials! physics is fascinating and marvelous place! :)

2021-11-30_-_podcast-triggered_brain_dump

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 22:52:07 +0000

2021-11-30 - podcast-triggered brain dump

recently came across yet another awesome interview Lex Fridman made in his podcast, with Lisa Fedlman Barrettt, on how brain works. absurdly quick and shallow overview:

thinking is metabolically expensive.
reaction / reflect is relatively cheap.
under stress or if in low power, brain will prefer reaction over thinking.

now combine these 3 and understand why it is so hard to understand others, if you do not know them: “us vs them thinking”. thing: racism, sexism, political and religious extremism, “assholes from other department”, etc…

another great quote from Lex's interview with Scott Aaronson: life should not be a journey to the grave, with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skim the outside, in a clad of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly proclaiming: “wow, what a ride!”.

next on the list is a concept of “computational equivalence” (check out Lex's interviews with Stephen Wolfram: the one on cellular automata and computation and the one on physics and theory of everything), also called “computational unreducability”. the insight is that for most things happening in the real world, there is no “shortcut” and the only way of knowing the answer is by making a perfect simulation of it. example problem from this category is cellular automaton – the only way of checking for the pattern in Nth iteration, is to simulate it. want to predict a future? great, but the only way to do so, would be to simulate it faster than it actually happens, so that you know the results upfront.

last but not least: if you are always succeeding, it means you are doing something wrong.

2021-11-30_-_programmers_perspective_on_3d_printing_is_out

anonymous@undisclosed.example.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 22:13:40 +0000

2021-11-30 - programmers perspective on 3D printing is out

my this year's code::dive talk on 3D printing, seen from programmers perspective is finally out (slides and recording). abstract follows:

3D printing: programmer's perspective

By now everyone knows 3D printing is a thing, although not that many programmers have actually gave it a shot. This is a bit strange, since having some background in programming seems like a perfect start into this world. During the talk following topics will be covered:
* Basic concepts of 3D printing
* Creating source code for 3D model
* Slicing model in a reproducible way
* Automation of processing pipeline
* Creating stable SDK

By the end of the talk attendees will know basics on how 3D printing pipeline works and how to setup a toolchain for it, along with a proper automation. This should be enough for any programmer to start their adventure with 3D printing, regardless if one owns a printer or will send model out to be made by 3rd party.

This is an introductory talk. No prior knowledge on 3D printing, Linux and/or particular tools is required. General programming skills and common sense are enough. :)

have fun watching! :)