NeverSSL, a site committed to not using SSL so you can sign on through public Wi-Fi networks. Interesting that we do have a site setup for this, as otherwise those connection intercepting Wi-Fi gateways to get you to go through an agreement or payment portal would just never work with modern web security.
20190125/http://neverssl.com/
So, yeah I knew for some time that there is Project Gutenberg, Google Books, the Internet Archive, those distributed library database projects from Cornell, and so on… but what sense of continuity between those distinct collections is there? Where is the collaboration and communication between them? What is their official stance on each other? Yeah, for Google, we know the official stance is clear… to have a digital book collection owned by Google. As the others are nonprofits, the situation of lack of communication and collaboration is less clear. Alas, it may be that they are suffering just the same thing that we observe to be happening with libre software projects… parallel projects working toward the same goal, but alas with incompatible symbolic ways of doing so.
20190125/https://www.gutenberg.org/
20190125/https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Category:Volunteering
20190125/https://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:Volunteering_for_Project_Gutenberg
20190125/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gutenberg
20190125/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Archive
Wikipedia itself is not much more helpful in providing a stance either. Just a “list of similar projects.”
This is an interesting explanation for why software managers have a tendency to undervalue software architecture quality. In most areas of life, better quality simply means more expense for an object that otherwise serves the same functional purpose. So, with software architecture, so instead of spending money on improving the quality, you can instead use a cheaper architecture that will save you money that you can spend on more features, right? Wrong. Worse architecture quality slows down the rate that new features can be added, so actually the payoff doesn’t justify itself, except over the very very short term.
20190125/https://martinfowler.com/bliki/TradableQualityHypothesis.html
In other words, this oft-repeated internal dialog and capstone phrase I think to myself in regard to DSLR camera technology also applies equally well to the discussion of software architecture.
“It pays because it’s cheaper.”
“It’s cheaper? Cheaper not better.”
The point here is quite obvious to DSLR affectionados. You might think you’re saving money in the short term when you buy cheaper equipment, but pretty soon, you’ll realize that you’re working slower using the cheaper, lower-quality equipment, and in addition to the fact that it keeps breaking down and you have to keep buying new cheaper replacements, pretty soon you realized you would have saved a lot of time and money by buying the higher-quality, more expensive equipment.
Interesting AI research here. With input data as direct game model data, an AI was trained to be able to beat human champions. A Google TPU cluster was required to train the AI, but only a single desktop GPU was required to execute the trained model. One particularly interesting thing was that superior response times and click rate was not required to execute a superior strategy. Also, when the AI performed with window visibility management, it performed almost just as well as when viewing the whole map simultaneously at all times. It appeared that the AI maintained a “virtual window of focus” as it was trained from humans.
20190125/https://deepmind.com/blog/alphastar-mastering-real-time-strategy-game-starcraft-ii/
So, how do you setup your own AlphaStar on a LAN? Unfortunately, it appears that the full information required for this isn’t available as a single open-source project. However, you might be able to find the bits and pieces online and reassemble it from there. I’ve found DeepMind’s GitHub. Apparently, the whole of the researchers working on this go by the name of the DeepMind website, it’s not just a news publishing website, unlike some of the others.
20190129/DuckDuckGo AlphaStar github
20190129/https://deepmind.com/research/open-source/
20190129/https://github.com/deepmind?utf8=✓&q=&type=&language=
So, I go to revisit the Mr. Money Mustache website, and here I save some interesting articles that I find.
Interesting, luxury is a weakness? So, you mean when there are people you know who “must-have” luxurious lifestyle implements, that is really just their way of experiencing a personal weakness? In the end, apparently, well, yes.
20190124/https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/08/29/luxury-is-just-another-weakness/
The economics of divorce? Divorce does not need to be expensive. Also, I’m kind of surprised that the Mr. Money Mustache himself got divorced, but maybe I shouldn’t be. At least it was a peaceful, economic divorce, as he said.
20190124/https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2018/12/31/divorce/
Wealth advice that should be obvious.
20190124/https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2013/09/20/wealth-advice-that-should-be-obvious/
Get rich with… Craigslist. Any time you have a commodity, think about exchanging it on Craigslist.
20190125/https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2011/08/11/get-rich-with-craigslist/
Interesting. An library built in the 18th century in a Mediterranean climate used a colony of bats to protect its books against insects that eat paper. The library is Biblioteca Joanina in Portugal, and the same technique is still used today.
20190122/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioteca_Joanina
I found this short but interesting article about avoiding spinal stenosis. It’s interesting that it is quite easy to avoid, but when the precautions are not taken, it can happen quite often to people over 40 years of age.
20190121/https://articles.mercola.com/spinal-stenosis/prevention.aspx
Previously, my past few blog posts in this same category discussed some of the enviornmental and health hazard implications of some of our favorite modern materials, namely the issue of endocrine disruptors. Plastics are ubiquitous in modern mass production of electronics, so if you are building your own Raspberry Pi embedded electronics project, surely you want a nice plastic 3D-printed case, now don’t you? So, that’s where come back to the question of environmental and health hazardous materials full circle. Contemporary 3D printing for hobbyist projects is done generally at home with your own 3D printer that functions by means of melting plastic. Whenever you heat any material up, there is the potential for fumes to be emitted. Sometimes these are pleasant fumes like from a baking a delicious pie, other times they are noxious, headache-inducing fumes like from melting polycarbonate for 3D printing. And it is the second type that has been called into serious question. Are stinky chemicals bad for your health? Yes!
Sure, PLA 3D printing may still be a viable option for custom design, but maybe not so much for mass production. So, with all the potential for hazardous endocrine disruptors in mass produced materials, do you really need/want to use a similar material for your custom electronics project? As practical matter, I have found there to be very little technical justification for this. Paper mache can be just as strong and lightweight as plastic for the same thickness, which means its only disadvantage for hobby projects is lack of water resistance. Without needing to heat the material, you’ll get less stink when constructing it. Is this good enough for your project requirements? For me, given that many electronics are not rated waterproof, this is good enough for most of my projects.
Nearly 10 years back, I built my own stand to put my handheld solar charger on at my home indoor environment when I am not using it on the go. As part of the construction, I used some pink erasers to hold it at the desired angle. Fast forward to today, and those pink erasers are now looking white and are quite hard, dry, and brittle. What happened?
Well, first of all, clearly those erasers are some sort of “fake” rubber. If you’ve ever had a “rubber band” that “dried up” and became brittle, you probably know what happened given your chemical knowledge. The “rubber band” was actually, literally, plastic, and plasticizers were added to it to make it softer and more flexible. Over time, those plasticizers leaked out into the atmosphere which caused the band to loose its flexibility while also making an environmental pollutant in the process. Now, you’re telling me that the material is turning white? Well, then we have yet more information at our disposal. We know that PVC plastic is a white powder, and pigmets are added to it to make it other colors. Indeed, the vast majority of historic “synthetic rubbers” may have been made out of PVC and laden with plasticizers given that many of these old kinds of things were prone to the same fate when exposed to the elements.
How does natural rubber latex compare to synthetic rubber? Natural rubber latex is generally softer and more gummy than synthetic rubber. If you’ve ever used a “gummy eraser” before, that’s more similar to how an eraser made out of natural rubber latex would feel like and work.
Endocrine disruptors, wow do they sound dangerous. So, what does Wikipedia have to say about them? Quite a lot of interesting things.
Some brominated flame retardants are endocrine disruptors. Flame retardants of some sort are used in almost every plastic, because most plastics will spontaneously combust when heated above a certain temperature. Although the pure plastic itself may have no endocrine disruptors on its own, the flame retardant additive can make it so. (Note that I discuss flame retardants in more detail in a subsequent blog post)
Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) is essentially the precursor to common brominated flame retardant PDBE. PCB is, likewise, also an endocrine disruptor.
Plasticizer additives, used to make an otherwise rigid plastic softer and more flexible, are another common source of endocrine disruptors. Typically, phthalates are used. Again, a pure plastic on its own may contain no endocrine disruptors, but the plasticizer additive makes it so.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is an endocrine disruptor. “BPA-free” products may substitute Bisphenol S instead, which can be even more dangerous. These chemicals are used to line either plastic beverage containers or aluminum beverage containers for additional wet strength.