Readit Newszahirbmirza commented on LED lighting undermines visual performance unless supplemented by wider spectra nature.com/articles/s4159... · Posted by u/bookofjoe
I hate the LED street lamps so much. I can tell they've got a really spiky and unnatural spectrum, unlike the HPS lights, not to mention that they're white or bright yellow...
I miss the orange glow of sodium lamps that characterised cold dark and foggy english winter nights.
For professional applications there are sulfur plasma lamps which have a continuous spectrum at high efficiency. Unfortunately they aren't economical below about 1000 watts which is impractical for many applications.
The technology basically works by continuously microwaving (think oven) a small amount of sulfur gas. The development of solid-state microwave emitters — most microwave generation is still done with vacuum tubes — might help miniaturize the devices. However, it's hard to beat the simplicity of an LED.
wow - had no idea these things existed, fascinating.
It only doesn't flicker if there's no power driving circuitry - eg just LEDs and a resistor.
Otherwise, if there is a power IC present, there is flicker, though fast enough for most humans to not perceive normally (you can still check it by waving your hand in front of the light and seeing the strobed afterimage.)
Yes! And this after image is distracting.
> The push toward LED seems to be primarily for emission target related reasons
Is this true? I’ve got LEDs in my house because they cost vastly less to run, and because I rarely have to replace the bulbs.
Some cheap LEDs do flicker (at 50 or 60 Hz). But that’s fairly easily solved. I don’t think I’ve noticed the flicker since some cheap bulbs I bought in 2014 or so.
It does seem an easy win for govts to easily conform.
I buy the ones that are suitable for dimmable switches (even tho I don't have dimmers) because there is discernible flicker with most other LED bulbs if you for eg wave your arm through the air or made a saccade. There is a certification (i think) for LED bulbs that are closer to sunlight in their emission spectrum
The push toward LED seems to be primarily for emission target related reasons. It is very hard to buy incandescent bulbs in the UK; even for those of us that accept the cost implications. Also, many less expensive LEDs flicker at the rate of the frequency supply of the current (ie 240 or 120 Hz). This is very annoying and related to the instantaneous response of LED vs the averaging effect of the alternating current through an actual glowing hot filament. It is interesting to read on the development of blue and white LED technology.
Could you also provide your critical appraisal of the article so this can be more of a journal club for discussion vs just a paper link? I have no expertise in this field so would be good for some insights.
From their page
"Built for better conversations Reach people with their email, not their phone number. Designed for focused, meaningful exchanges between managers, builders, and collaborators."
Is it using email protocols to send messages or is it using email addresses as a proxy for usernames?
The claim of a drive for better conversations is not really that accurate because better conversations rely on a more universally used app/system than presently exists. Ie, a replacement that would have to grow internationally extraordinarily quickly.
Apple figured that out... iMessage was basically a cheat code to a vast userbase almost instantly. What Apple didn't figure, however, was that iMessage's green/blue thingy that went on for so long didn't really give android/sms users fomo, but really, it just created an unneeded communication barrier. Such barriers are the exact opposite of what is needed for a communication platform to be excellent. Unfortunately, decisions counter to what may be perceived as income generating are difficult to reverse.
These sorts of apps may not be revolutionary enough I fear. I would love to adopt something like this, but Meta continue to make too many billions to let their monopoly on human communication management to be taken away that easily.
zahirbmirza commented on The tech monoculture is finally breaking jasonwillems.com/technolo... · Posted by u/at1as
> I recently serendipitously found my sansa clip+ which to my delight has a battery that has somehow and miraculously not failed.
Have you thought of installing Rockbox on it? It made mine instantly better.
oh! great thought. thanks!
Seriously its time for a new OS. I mean a non-google, non-apple, non-linux, non-microsoft one.