@internic@qoto.org
@internic@qoto.org avatar

internic

@internic@qoto.org

Theoretical physicist by training (PhD in quantum open systems/quantum information), University lecturer for a bit, and currently paying the bills as an engineer working in optical communication (implementation) and quantum communication (concepts), though still pursuing a little science on the side. I'm interested in physics and math, of course, but I enjoy learning about really any area of science, philosophy, and many other academic areas as well. My biggest other interest is hiking and generally being out in nature.

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neurovagrant, (edited ) to random
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deleted_by_author

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    internic,
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    @neurovagrant @arstechnica has a story on the subejct.
    https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/111269772625761820

    hacks4pancakes, to random

    My Uber driver was on insta watching reels the entire hour+ drive, and then missed the exit at rush hour and added 20 minutes to the trip. AITA if I rate him down for it? I get bored too, but like, damn.

    internic,
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    @hacks4pancakes I think you did the right thing to report it, because it was putting lots of peoples' lives at significant risk, but your reservations about doing so are also valid (and thoughtful).

    I was thinking about what proactive steps one could take to avoid this sort of conundrum; I guess maybe trying to avoid ride sharing services would be one, but that's probably easier said than done. Old-style taxis weren't great, but it seems like they were less bad than the ride sharing situation; they seem to still exist in my area, but I'm not sure if that's true everywhere.

    @Legit_Spaghetti

    superbetsy, to random
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    internic,
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    @superbetsy It'll be fine as long as they don't delve too greedily and too deep into their Halloween candy stash.

    vicgrinberg, (edited ) to random
    @vicgrinberg@mastodon.social avatar

    Kinda fun exoerience about ordering groceries is that sometimes you get the wrong stuff.

    Last year we got half a freezer full of Dutch snacks (frikandel, kroket, carrero). It was - insightful, I would call it.

    This time is 10 x vegan quorn chicken cold cuts 😅 I see lots of vegetarian Wurstsalt in our closw future since we need to use this up somehow ...

    internic,
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    @vicgrinberg Given that I often use Wurstsalat as an example of the difficulties for vegetarians in German cuisine, I find the idea of vegetarian Wurstsalat wonderfully perverse.

    futurebird, to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    Another teacher asked me an interesting question today. "What do you think about this idea of replacing calculus with statistics. After all statistics is more useful."

    That's probably true on the surface, but I can't say I'm a huge fan of the "replace calc with stats" craze... even as I lament the poor understanding many people have of stats. It's obvious we need more education on interpreting datasets and visualizations.

    But, there is a subtext to this argument I dislike. 1/

    internic,
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    @futurebird I'm sympathetic to the idea that statistics is a more practically useful thing to teach than calculus (for people not intending to go into STEM), but I would never claim that it's easier.

    While I realize that calculus is needed to explain some concepts in probability and statistics, it seems like you could still teach a lot without needing it. For example, I have taught algebra-based physics, and while it limits what you can cover and prevents you from proving some things, it can still convey a lot of understanding of the topic. And it seems like calculus is more central to physics than to statistics. Moreover, couldn't one argue that concepts like measure theory or Stieltjes integration are needed to really understand probability? Yet I don't think most students taking statistics understand those.

    internic,
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    @futurebird I'm puzzled by the claim that there isn't "a fully formed educational version of statistics." It's confusing to me because it seems like statistics is already offered at the high school level as an elective in some cases and regularly offered at the college level, with some form often being required for biological and social science students. So it seems like the educational methodology should be reasonably well developed. But, admittedly, you would know better than I.

    christineburns, to random
    @christineburns@mastodon.green avatar

    Just thought you’d like to know Britain is humming along on 77% renewable power this afternoon https://grid.iamkate.com

    internic,
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    @freemo @christineburns Since on of the named categories is biomass, surely those would call there in this case (i.e. the more specifically applicable category).

    vicgrinberg, to random
    @vicgrinberg@mastodon.social avatar

    I HATE outlook. For example, it does not allow to decline all future instances of a given meeting (on Mac & online, which are the two possibilities available to me).

    I can either delete all of them (including the ones I attended in the past and would like to keep for tracking reasons). Or remove each one individually, every week ...

    GRAH!

    internic,
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    @vicgrinberg I am also forced to use Outlook for work, and I loathe it. I can't understand how it is so bad but has remained dominant for so long. The UI is an abomination!

    Related to your complaint, another thing I find annoying is that declining a meeting deletes the invitation, so if I change my mind later (e.g. a conflict resolves) then I have to ask to be re-invited. There are various workarounds to this, but I have yet to find one I actually like.

    @IzzyChambers

    gregeganSF, to random
    @gregeganSF@mathstodon.xyz avatar

    I'd be lost without computer algebra systems, but the fact that I can often solve equations they can't just because I know what the equations mean drives home just how far these programs remain from being able to solve every problem that (in some sense) “ought” to be easy.

    internic,
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    @gregeganSF I definitely found that Mathematica seemed unable to analytically compute some contour integrals that I could solve by hand without much difficulty when the integrand had a nontrivial structure of branch cuts. On the other hand, that was probably several Mathematica versions ago.

    idoubtit, to Evernote
    @idoubtit@mstdn.social avatar

    deleted_by_author

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    internic,
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    @idoubtit I have used Zotero for keeping a library of citations, copies of papers in PDF form, and associated notes. I'm not sure if it would be what you're looking for exactly, but it might be worth a look.
    https://www.zotero.org/

    vicgrinberg, (edited ) to random
    @vicgrinberg@mastodon.social avatar

    Allow me this bit of self-adulation, but I think this is the first (and likely the last and only 😅 ) time my name is explicitly listed on Wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B6ntgen-Preis

    [edit to add: the award is from last year, but the wikipedia entry is new to me :D]

    internic,
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    @vicgrinberg Awesome!

    baldur, to random
    @baldur@toot.cafe avatar

    That thing where somebody breathlessly talks about a “great” AI feature being added to an app they use, then show that said feature immediately breaks and doesn’t work properly, but will almost certainly be fixed soon, despite the flaw in question being baked into how LLMs work.

    🤨

    internic,
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    @baldur Do you think these are people who understand the basics of how LLMs work but are caught up in the hype/magical thinking around LLMs right now, or are these just people who fundamentally don't understand what an LLM does?

    For example, when I see people asking an LLM if its previous answer is accurate, to me that shows that they don't understand what an LLM does at all.

    dgoldsmith, to random
    @dgoldsmith@mastodon.social avatar

    Once again I see people talking about how Mastodon needs quote posts and full text search “right now" but is "opposed." Both features are on the road map (https://joinmastodon.org/roadmap) at the highest priority.

    The actual problem is resources (money and/or qualified volunteers), which no one seems to talk about. People talk about Mastodon like it's equivalent to companies with billions in VC money, like the only barrier to implementing features is the desire to do so. The barrier is staffing.

    internic,
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    @dgoldsmith It's not clear to me from that roadmap page: Is there an easy way to find more detail on the items there? I was assuming that they probably correspond to issues on Github but the items on that page don't appear to be links.

    grimalkina, to random
    @grimalkina@mastodon.social avatar

    well I have now written a long, cold, cited email to an EIC: this is a real milestone for me

    internic,
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    @grimalkina
    If I am picking who I want to work with, give me the person with the LEGO watch any day over the people with expensive shoes and watches.
    @mhoye @LinuxAndYarn @gvwilson

    idoubtit, to random
    @idoubtit@mstdn.social avatar

    deleted_by_author

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    internic,
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    @idoubtit Right, not being an expert is why you invite on guests!

    ZachWeinersmith, to random
    @ZachWeinersmith@mastodon.social avatar

    http://smbc-comics.com/comic/paradigm

    internic,
    @internic@qoto.org avatar

    You task me @ZachWeinersmith, you task me.

    ZachWeinersmith, to comics
    @ZachWeinersmith@mastodon.social avatar

    Snow White
    http://smbc-comics.com/comic/snow-white-3 (click for horrifying bonus panel)
    #smbc #hiveworks #comics #webcomics

    internic,
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    @ZachWeinersmith Doesn't she also have birds land on her? So she'd also have mites.

    adamconover, to random
    @adamconover@mastodon.social avatar

    Going to try posting on Mastodon more.

    internic,
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    @adamconover Adam Ruins Mastodon

    markmccaughrean, to random
    @markmccaughrean@mastodon.social avatar

    To anyone wondering when “I have an important exam tomorrow & I haven’t revised!” nightmares go away?

    Possibly never 🤷‍♂️

    It has been more than 40 years since my last university exam and yet last night … 😱

    (Possibly brought on in sympathy for our daughter who’s trying to finish the first draft of her masters thesis this weekend while her collaborators do f* all. At my old university.

    And BTW, it’s asinine to insist on group work theses & with all groups working on the same mandatory topic 🤬)

    internic,
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    @markmccaughrean I was amused that for me those dreams didn't go away but at some point metamorphosed into dreaming about having to teach a class when unprepared.

    futurebird, (edited ) to physics
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    5.3912×10^−44 seconds.

    Planck Time

    There are more units of Planck time in a single second... than there are seconds that have ever passed since the beginning of time as we understand it. (4.3478x10^17 seconds since the big bang)

    shudder

    Normally? It's a big numbers that give me that shiver, but this?

    It's too damn small! It's so small it's creepy.

    , , ,

    internic,
    @internic@qoto.org avatar

    @MichaelPorter @catselbow @futurebird Yeah, but in the case of the Planck mass this is the mass of a single fundamental, point-like particle at which our theoretical understanding breaks down (because you need to apply both quantum field theory and general relativity at the same time, which we don't really know how to do). Viewed in that lens it is huge, compared to something like an electron.

    idoubtit, to random
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    deleted_by_author

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    internic,
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    @idoubtit Wow, that is a shockingly transparent scam! It seems clear that there's no way this device could double the range of these EV batteries, but it's really just adding insult to injury that it sounds like their range doesn't even need to be extended for the intended use case.

    Of course, the real cherry on top is when the guy claims that a university trying to nominate him for a Nobel prize. :eyeroll:

    futurebird, to random
    @futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

    I’m convinced we relegate “arts and crafts” and manipulatives to lower grades & don’t give older students a chance to interact with these activities enough just to seem “advanced”

    that notion that in k12 “advanced math” looks like taking notes not glue & paper & art.

    If you feel like you “don’t have time” think about what will have more of a lasting impact. What will they remember in 10 years? You doing the proof from the book? or trying to make an ellipse by slicing a cone made of clay?

    internic,
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    @futurebird Well, as far as I can tell, in my specific case (which may be quite unusual for all I know) it's less a question of understanding than the ability to physically execute on that understanding.

    I think if the utility of the things you're making depends on the precision with which you make them, that's where someone like me would struggle. But as you said, using software is always an option, as is constructing things from modular pieces, where no free-hand precision is required.

    As an example of the latter, when learning non-Euclidean geometry, I think that polyhedra can be a good stepping stone to thinking about smooth surfaces (e.g. Euler number), and having physical models could be really helpful. You could imagine, for example, cutting out paper polygons and building polyhedra, but someone like me would struggle to cut straight sides and the proper angles (which then messes things up when you try to get the polyhedron to close on itself properly). However, a colleague had a set of magnetic building pieces (magnetic cylinders and ferromagnetic ball bearings) that could be naturally pieced together to form polygons, so with that I was able to build every platonic solid in no time. It worked fine for me because it didn't depend on the fine accuracy of placement. So even for people like me, it is possible.

    I only commented because I know for many people arts and crafts are a happy carefree space, and they may forget that there are also people who view them with as much fear and loathing as some people have for math.

    grimalkina, to random
    @grimalkina@mastodon.social avatar

    I have a great software engineering research manuscript that I'd totally share freely on CS arXiv right now except I can't find someone to endorse me to post on CS arXiv! 🤔 Debating putting it on psyarxiv where I have history. Does it matter?? I am not academic enough to parse whether there are deep social gatekeepings here. The struggles of being interdisciplinary AND applied.

    internic,
    @internic@qoto.org avatar

    @gvwilson @DrVeronikaCH @grimalkina I saw this thread and now I'm curious to know if you did end up posting on the CS arXiv.

    @gvwilson @DrVeronikaCH

    elizabethtasker, to random
    @elizabethtasker@mastodon.online avatar

    Made it to the Lake District! And… our cottage window appears to be the streaming entertainment for a heard of cows 🧐

    internic,
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    @elizabethtasker

    grimalkina, to random
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    IEEE reference style is hands down the strangest reference style I have EVER seen. Truly cannot believe it every time I'm reminded.

    internic,
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    @grimalkina Oh good, I'm not the only one who thinks it's weird (and comparatively vague, I feel).

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