Holy shit! I ran into this growing up in California. Would have been early 1990s. I have long been bitter that I had taken algebra in 8th grade, and starting high school in 9th grade they made me take algebra again because I was told I couldn’t skip ahead that far. I was too young to be in the class. For the record, I’m white snd middle class, so don’t fit that pattern, but I am neuro diverse. Anyhow, everyone has excused it at the time with shit like it must have been a technicality, or that the algebra was more advanced, or something along those lines. Anyhow, it’s nice to be validated sometimes, and this is one of those times so I thought I’d share.
Readit Newslunaticlabs commented on The Algebra Gatekeepers educationprogress.org/p/t... · Posted by u/domofutu
California/Colorado/Canada sometimes forget that they were blazing the trail (pun intended). Here in Germany it's only been legal since last year, and the novelty of hasn't worn off.
Also in Germany edibles aren’t legal, so we are stuck with smoking or self baking
lunaticlabs commented on There are two types of dishwasher people theatlantic.com/family/ar... · Posted by u/JumpCrisscross
A masticator is what I am missing in a dishwasher. We do not have that in Europe (not the faucet electrical thing that mixes and destroys organic dtuff you put in the faucet - this is forbidden)
Not anymore! These are allowed at least in the UK and in Germany (where I reside) now. It was not the case when I first moved here a few years ago, but read about how they're within code now. The problem I have is that they're not actually available anywhere that I've seen, and I doubt I'll find a plumber easily who will install one.
lunaticlabs commented on How to learn a new language like a baby theconversation.com/how-t... · Posted by u/rwmj
That is not a definition of "fluency" I'm familiar with. To me what you're describing is about "proficiency", and the latter is the term used by e.g. CEFR, I quote: "The CEFR organises language proficiency in six levels, A1 to C2".
"Fluency" is when you can easily speak without having to construct the sentence in your mind, not even for a moment. It just comes out. It _flows_, which is what the term originally meant. Being fluent does not imply that you can talk about anything and everything from philosophy to Bach, or whatever.
To hear "It is extremely rare for any child to be fluent in any language by the time they start school".. that makes no sense. Of course every single child is fluent in _at least_ their native language when they reach school! And long before.
Some are fluent in more than one language, but it's much rarer. Though I do know a family where all three children were fluent in three languages before they started school. Special circumstances though, and thoroughly anecdotal.
I was fluent in 3 languages before school, as is my little brother. Parents from 2 different countries, and moved to America when I was a young child and my brother was born in the USA. It helps if the parents can communicate to each other in their native tongues (like my parents). Of all the 2+ language families I knew growing up, the children generally only learned their parents' native language if both parents either had the same native language, or if both parents were able to speak both native languages. Also thoroughly anecdotal.
There is a term used in aviation called “hot and high” that describes an air field that is situated at a high altitude as well as having a warm ambient temperature. Hot air is less dense than cold air and higher elevation further reduces the density. It’s two lines on a performance graph that must be checked prior to takeoff.
For fixed wing aircraft, this means that your V2 speed (speed where you generate enough lift to begin climbing) is affected and you have to go faster in these conditions. This is overcome during cruise speeds because less air density is required for lift.
The story changes for helicopters, however. Because they generate lift via the rotary wings (rotors) only, they need to spin faster to get more air to hit the blade and thus produce lift. There is an upper RPM that it cannot pass due to physical limitations of the rotors assembly, engine, or both. If it gets hot enough, it can literally spin up to full speed and not move.
Helicopters freak me out. Fixed wing aircraft degrade to a glider should all power be lost, a helicopter becomes dead weight with deader occupants.
Helicopters also glide, it’s called auto rotation. Helicopters can also land in much more confined spaces than airplanes, even with an auto rotation. As we helicopter pilots like to say, if an airplane engine quits, you just know you’re going to die for a long time unless you’re near an airport. All I need in a helicopter is a small area to set it down in.
Source: I fly helicopters
lunaticlabs commented on New earplugs won't amplify the sound of your own voice scientificamerican.com/ar... · Posted by u/sohkamyung
Another point that is rarely mentioned or tested in reviews: massively improved transparency mode compared to the older models. I can use these headphones for hours as headset in video conferences with enabled transparency and not feel isolated from my surroundings, it's almost like you're not wearing them.
My main quibble is the touchpad, which is way too sensitive and I had to turn it off (probably a defect, I guess I'll send them in eventually).
I also love my XM5s, but yeah, the touchpad is useless and far too sensitive. I kept accidentally touching it whenever I move my hair out of my face to tuck it behind my ears, or otherwise brush past it. I also turned mine off, and its stayed that way.
lunaticlabs commented on Downranking won't stop Google's deepfake porn problem, victims say arstechnica.com/tech-poli... · Posted by u/rntn
I moved to Germany from the US, and broadly speaking (I have my own issues with German policies and politics) I like the system here better. In Germany, outside of being a “public” figure, you own the rights to your own image. Without explicit consent and compensation, you are not allowed to distribute photos of anyone. There are specific carve outs for notable events (if you are incidentally in a shot for something else, it doesn’t count), but otherwise seems notably reasonable to me. It definitely seemed odd when I first moved here, but seeing it in practice it seems fine.
lunaticlabs commented on Bytecode VMs in Surprising Places dubroy.com/blog/bytecode-... · Posted by u/todsacerdoti
Multiple times in my game development career have implemented or worked with proprietary byte code in a project. I've done it on PCs, embedded devices, consoles, etc. The first game I worked on used MDL from the old Infocom days.
That's a definite maybe!
Some countries make the airline need to know in advance whether to let you even board. Say the US with the electronic visaless authorization. You gotta give the airline your ESTA. Canada wants to know as well. So you need to have your PR card or Canadian passport on file or the electronic authorization.
But that doesn't stop you from entering Europe on a European passport. You can have your say Canadian passport on file and fly out on that. At the destination you show your European passport (smaller line ups and basically you are just waived through). You never show the Canadian passport in the EU on arrival. You have the Canadian one on file and show that when leaving so they let you board. Back in Canada you use your Canadian passport to enter.
This way you never get any visa stamps and you "fly through passport control" on either end.
So yeah, even if this is maybe used by "sleeper agents" it's also just normal for dual citizens.
As both a US and EU citizen who lives in the EU, I actually run into issues with this. I book my flight with my US with my US passport, and it's a round trip, so it ends up with the same passport registered. I go through the EU line upon entering the EU, but they consistently also ask me for my US passport. This hasn't happened on the automated kiosks for whatever reason.
I guess what I'm wishing for is better awareness of areas of strength and weakness when making such decisions.
I can think of people who should never have been promoted to, say, a strategic role or a team management role, but would have been excellent to be promoted to an expert individual contributor (i.e. 'fellow', or 'expert scientist') role.