grant_h

dansup, 8 days ago to random

The challenge with a federated DeviantArt platform will be payments, if they can offload that to a 3rd party by allowing users to add links to the store, it could work IMO

Otherwise, each instance would have to host their own Stripe payments account, and other complexities

Not to mention, giving Apple/Google Play 30% of the cut

In @pixelfed, we're handling this by allowing users to add links to specific items that redirect to 3rd party platforms

We can do this, watch me 😎

#notJustInstagram

lukemgraphy, 9 days ago (edited 9 days ago) to random

"The fatman still can jump", May 2024

During my long May weekend in Kraków I had a rare occasion to grab a few beers with my remote teammates. We finished the evening early, but two of us decided we're not done and went for a late night walk.

Half an hour before the alcohol prohibition (yup, it's a thing in this one city in Poland!) we bought a few beers and started sipping them illegally in one of the local parks.

And guess what? Well, my teammate had a skateboard. And I had my fastest lens on my camera.

So, what happened next? Well, around 2am somewhere in the center of Kraków one IT nerd started testing his old skateboard skills. The other IT nerd sat on the ground and started stress-testing his Viltrox f/1.4 lens and an ISO setting well above 20k.

My lovely friend successfully landed a few jumps.

I missed a lot of frames because focusing late at night is hard, but a few serviceable frames happened as well.

So yeah. 90% of people will stop to look at my boring touristy snapshots and move on. I'm more excited about this spontaneous drunk session in extreme lighting conditions. 🤷

#photography #blackandwhitephotography #cracow #poland #kraków #polska #skateboarding

grant_h, 8 months ago to climate

@pluralistic pulls no punches in today's piece, but persevere - read it to the end - he comes out the other side of nihilism with a message of hope and action.

"a muscular belief in democratic, publicly run planning and action - offers a tonic to nihilism"

Let us not give up, but find the real levers that make a difference.
#climatechange

https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/16/murder-offsets/

elizabethtasker, 1 month ago to vr

This week, we're hitting the #Blender3D shop floor for a big design that (I hope) will ultimately become a #VR space for a conference.

So far... it's a doughnut.

Is this to remind attendees that they better getting running around this track to burn off eating too many pastries? We shall see...

grant_h, 1 year ago to photography

It has been a lovely #silentsunday , with the loudest sound the breakers about 500 metres away, the bees, and now the frogs.

#photography #wave #sea #spray #SouthAfrica #BettysBay

https://www.deviantart.com/africanobserver/art/Wave-960400832

selfawarepatterns.com, 3 months ago to math

SMBC on how to get access to the secrets of reality.

https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/secrets-2Click through for source and red button caption: https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/secrets-2I guess this is philosophical comic sharing week for me.

Somewhat related, I’ve been slowly working my way through Sean Carroll’s The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: space, time, and motion. I know a lot of you got this info watching his video series during the pandemic. I did watch a few of those, but never had the time back then to just sit through all of it. So now I’m reading about it instead, which is fine since it’s a mode I learn better with anyway.

Carroll’s main endeavor in this book, and for the second one coming in May on quanta and fields, is to provide a relatively gentle introduction to the math involved in physics. The idea is to get you familiar with the mathematical structure of the theories, without having to learn to actually solve anything with them, that is, without having to become a practitioner. He’s not the first to take this approach, but the first I’ve seen be comprehensive about it.

Like many books in this genre, it does start off pretty gentle. Carroll doesn’t assume you know calculus or trigonometry, but he does assume a comfort level with algebra. And like many others, at a certain point, the book accelerates and feels far less gentle. Often steps get skipped, with the assumption that they’re obvious. (One benefit of reading rather than watching is being able to linger on these cases.) Despite my historical challenges with math, I’ve been able to follow along, at least until the chapters getting into spacetime geometry, which are turning into a struggle.

Among the hints about life I wish I could transmit to my younger self, one is the importance of repetition for learning anything, particularly something like math. I always found math homework agonizing, and so as a boy did the minimum possible. Unfortunately my foundational math classes happened during a period when math teachers weren’t keen on making students turn in their homework. I did eventually learn my lesson, you have to get your repetition in by doing the homework, but not before the damage was done.

Which isn’t to say I’m completely helpless. My education went through introductory calculus, trigonometry, statistics, and other basics. When my back is to the wall, I can usually get by. A career in computer programming helped somewhat. One of my issues with plain math is how abstract and seemingly unconnected it is with anything in the world. Learning to read equations as a sort of mini-program that reality executes helps me deal with them in scientific papers, or in books like Carroll’s.

This seems to be in line with a lot of discussions I’ve read over the years about finding a better way to teach math. Many of my teachers seemed to delight in the abstract nature that I found so unappealing, and so taught from that perspective. They saw a beauty in those abstractions, and seemed unable to grasp that most people simply don’t. Math education that starts and stays grounded in practical problem solving is probably a better avenue for most students.

So yes, the keys to understanding the nature of reality is math, and the keys to understanding math is doing the homework. As adults, those of us who didn’t get a great launch with it have to get by as best we can.

What do you think? Any tips and techniques you’ve found useful for dealing with math? Or for learning to appreciate its beauty in the way so many math teachers do?

https://selfawarepatterns.com/2024/02/17/how-to-study-reality/

#Math #Mathematics #Physics #Science #SMBC #WebComic

grant_h, 8 months ago to photography

#photography #cloud #SouthAfrica #Beach

https://www.deviantart.com/africanobserver/art/Ribs-985244434

grant_h, 11 months ago to photography

Winter Wind
Gusting upward of 70km/h, the northwesterly storm wind was having fun with the spray on the incoming rollers.

#photography #sea #mountain #southafrica #Spray

https://www.deviantart.com/africanobserver/art/Winter-Wind-967997421

thor, 26 days ago to random

My neighbour in the condo is from Poland, and he was having a loud phone call on the balcony right next to mine. Again.

Seeing as this somewhat irritates me, I stepped outside to wave and say hello to him. I don't usually attack what irritates me. I try to examine why it's there first.

He said "ja halo for broke ribben".

Kinda half Norwegian - half English.

"Yes hello four broken ribs."

Then he walked inside again.

thor, 30 days ago to random

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thor, 12 days ago to Musicproduction

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mxtthxw, 1 month ago to random

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thor, 20 days ago to ADHD

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thor, 17 days ago to random

Considering that Norway has a population of only 5.5 million, it has a lot of hydroelectric plants. Many more than Sweden, Finland, Denmark or the U.K.. The reason is geography and climate. Lots of mountains and lots of rain. And there are no nuclear or coal power plants.

thor, 14 days ago to random

That one time when I worked security at the The Gathering LAN party in Vikingskipet and carried a big and heavy flashlight, because I was late to apply for a crew position.

derekvanvliet, 20 days ago to cycling

riding bikes every day until I can’t for some reason, day 1355

#Cycling #BikeTooter #BikeTO #Photography #Scarborough #Graffiti

Photo of a red BMC roadmachine road bike lying halfway down a staircase that leads to Lawrence East station in Scarborough. The staircase is descending in round hole and flanked on either side by walls of smooth stones. There is a blue railing, running around the hall and down the sides of the staircase.

thor, 1 month ago to random

I'm not finding many common roots between whatever language the neighbours are speaking and what I am speaking. I can't even wave a hand. How do I approach?

thor, 5 months ago to random

it's incredible how much the average supermarket is rigged against you when it comes to eating healthy.

all the stuff you should be eating is on the periphery of the store, with an obstacle course of cheap processed carbs and fats in the middle, and a hot spot of stuff you should be avoiding near the cash registers.

grant_h, 1 day ago to ai

In the light of the 'decline' of Google search, and the inaccuracies of #AI, the idea that we don't need to remember things because we can "just Google them" should be getting a little more airtime than it is.
Anyone else feel this?

I'm feeling that content rich education is a good, lasting thing that can't fall prey to a "bait and switch" corporate manoeuvre .

@edutooters