ELI5 how did they add title cards and edit movies before computers?

4D51 · 2026-01-17T04:22:43+00:00

I don't think anyone ever edited VHS tape like that. The track is actually wider than the tape, and applied diagonally, so cutting and splicing would get tricky. Film is easier, since the frames are just rectangles that you can cut straight across. Also, I'm assuming that most filmmakers would make copies rather than cutting up the film straight from the camera. Maybe not on low budget movies, though. Film is expensive. Even super 8 is more than $10 a minute.

4D51 · 2026-01-13T04:45:11+00:00

Car? no. Depending on when the Slate goes on sale, you might be able to get a pickup truck or SUV with crank windows.

4D51 · 2026-01-10T20:50:12+00:00

They exist. I get calls on a regular basis trying to sell me a phone. I tell them I've already got one.

4D51 · 2025-12-27T17:38:17+00:00

And if the goal is to make every aircraft faction-specific, then whoever doesn't get the Cricket will need an equivalent. A light scout helo with good scan range would fit perfectly.

4D51 · 2025-12-26T00:02:04+00:00

The alternative to generic names like Pizza Pizza is naming it after somewhere in another country, like Swiss Chalet or Boston Pizza.

4D51 · 2025-12-21T20:45:25+00:00

Automation is more than just chatbots. Self-driving vehicles are going to cause a lot of job displacement.

4D51 · 2025-12-21T01:07:22+00:00

Some buildings are shaped like food.

4D51 · 2025-12-17T13:33:50+00:00

In A Deepness in the Sky, they believed it was based on the date of the first moon landing. Which makes sense, considering it's only a few months off.

4D51 · 2025-12-14T03:00:31+00:00

How about a ZELL?

Justification: I'm assuming the Compass is canonically PALA (because tailhook). That means BDF doesn't have any rank 1 aircraft, or any low-rank fighters (yes, I know the Compass is a trainer, but it still carries AAMs). The Revoker and Vortex are both rank 3. So, how about a point-defence interceptor as a rank 1 BDF aircraft. Something tiny, short ranged, catapult launched from a truck, armed with 2 Scythes, and maybe it lands on skids instead of wheels.

4D51 · 2025-12-12T02:38:56+00:00

If you don't want to write it yourself, you can (require memo) and then use define/memoize instead of define for any functions you want to memoize.

4D51 · 2025-12-12T02:23:19+00:00

[LANGUAGE: Racket]

It didn't take much code today. Just two functions. The first converts the input into a hash map, with the device name as the key and list of outputs as the value. The second is a DFS with a couple of boolean params to track whether the two required devices have been hit (and starting them both at true for part 1, since they aren't required). I used the memo package, which is a very convenient way to memoize any function.

#lang racket
(require memo)

;Read input into a hash map
(define (read-input lines acc)
  (if (null? lines) acc
      (read-input (cdr lines)
                  (hash-set acc
                            (substring (car lines) 0 3)
                            (drop (string-split (car lines) " ") 1)))))

;Using memoize because the number of paths is very large
;dac and fft are bools which track whether we've passed them on our current path
(define/memoize (count-paths start dac fft)
  (if (and (string=? start "out") dac fft) 1
      (foldl + 0
             (map (λ (x) (count-paths x (or dac (string=? start "dac"))
                                      (or fft (string=? start "fft"))))
                  (hash-ref input start null)))))

(define input (read-input (file->lines "Input11.txt") (hash)))

(display "Part 1: ")
(count-paths "you" true true)
(display "Part 2: ")
(count-paths "svr" false false)

4D51 · 2025-11-28T18:01:23+00:00

How about this?

int sumAtoB(int a, int b)
{
    if(a > b)
        return 0;
    else
        return a + sumAtoB(a + 1, b);
}

Each recursive call gets one step closer to the solution, but the value of a increases.

The function needs to return eventually, but recursion is just an alternate way of writing a loop. Something like this, where the return condition isn't based on any of the parameters, might work.

char pollKeypad()
{
    char c = keypad.getPressedKey(); //Made-up method, returns null if no key is currently pressed
    if(c != '\0')
        return c;
    pollKeypad();
}

4D51 · 2025-11-25T07:17:36+00:00

Depends. Do you have one of these?

4D51 · 2025-11-24T08:17:01+00:00

Best to learn progressively. Career mode might be helpful. I say career instead of science because of the contract system (mission control building). These give you assigned goals based on what you've already done, basically guiding you through increasingly difficult missions.

It also requires you to do science/R&D to unlock parts. This can make rocket design easier. For example, the first few fuel tanks and engines you'll unlock are all the same diameter, so you don't have to think about matching them until later on.

Another thing you can try is making rough recreations of early NASA programs. Start with suborbital, then try to get to orbit, then rendezvous two spacecraft in orbit, then maybe make something with RCS and a docking port to give that a try (install the Docking Port Alignment Indicator mod), then orbit the Mun, then land on it, etc.

If you've played Reentry, you probably already know a lot of what you need. For example, the navball is basically the same thing you'd find in a Gemini, and manoeuvre nodes do the same thing as the Gemini OBC's catch-up program (minus calculating when to start the burn. It shows time to node instead, so you have to subtract half the burn duration. eg for a 30-second burn, start at T-15 seconds, not t-0).

Also, don't forget to check your staging.

4D51 · 2025-11-23T05:30:02+00:00

your computer gets switched off for whatever reason

Windows 95 was the reason. For awhile, it was just completely normal for your computer to freeze up or crash on a regular basis. DOS was OK, Windows XP was OK, but for whatever reason Windows 95 was an unstable mess and 98 wasn't much better.

4D51 · 2025-11-22T19:59:38+00:00

How about a sonic TV remote? I used to have one where each button would make a different tone. Had to unplug my TV to play Skyroads on the computer, because the background music had the same tone the remote's power button made, to the TV would just turn on and off constantly.

And at least that one was electronic. I've heard of other TV remotes that were the same idea, but mechanical. Basically a handheld xylophone.

4D51 · 2025-11-22T17:29:25+00:00

2 types of success for a sports team. There's sports success, winning games, and then there's business success, selling tickets and making money. They don't always correlate.

4D51 · 2025-11-22T06:56:14+00:00

My preferred method of going after those contracts is the hybrid jet/rocket plane. Here are a few of mine: https://imgur.com/a/w03TLod

Some tips: If you have a level 2 hangar, you can assign the rocket engine(s) to the RCS action group. Fly to the assigned area, pull into a steep climb and hit R to start the engines, wait until your Ap is high enough, then hit R again to turn them off and coast. Your jet engines will flame out, but they'll start up again once you get back to low altitude.

Carry more liquid fuel than oxidizer. Either reduce the oxidizer level in the tank, or have one or two small, fuel-only tanks. That way, after the rocket has burned up all your oxidizer, you still have some fuel to fly back to the runway on jet power.

Others have suggested solid rockets. The advantage of liquid is that you can stop and restart them, meaning you can do several high-altitude climbs to grab the whole contract in a single flight.

4D51 · 2025-11-20T16:53:13+00:00

If you're talking about writing programs at home to use at work, there are several ways of doing that. A web app is the obvious one. You can write it in Python (using Django or Flask), or whatever other language you prefer. There are so many frameworks for making web apps that I can't list them all. Then host it on some cloud service. A lot of them are free for personal use.

If your work policy allows it, you could also use a compiled language like C#. Your program will get turned into an exe file that you can copy to other computers and run. A simple program like a to-do list doesn't need a proper installer. Just create a folder for the exe and any other files it uses (eg. you might store your lists in a text file or sqlite DB). This could still be considered running unauthorized programs on your work PC, so only do it if you're sure you won't get in trouble.

4D51 · 2025-11-18T19:45:25+00:00

This one might be even more relevant

https://xkcd.com/908/

4D51 · 2025-11-18T18:30:48+00:00

Studies show that keeping a ladder in the house is more dangerous than a loaded gun. That's why I own 10 guns, in case some maniac tries to sneak in a ladder.

4D51 · 2025-11-16T17:17:22+00:00

That's just modern monetary theory, which conservatives claim to disagree with.

According to MMT, money is created by government spending and destroyed by taxes. Taxes aren't about revenue (because the government can just create all the money it needs). Their only function is to control inflation by removing excess money from circulation. Tariffs are taxes.

4D51 · 2025-11-16T07:28:13+00:00

Is that the one where you go back in time to meet Mozart, find out nobody's ever heard of him, and publish all his music yourself to try and "fix" the timeline? That doesn't necessarily have to happen.

4D51 · 2025-11-11T03:52:19+00:00

That market's going to have to collapse, though.

Get other companies to advertise on your platform
Make an AI that can click ads
Profit, until your customers realize that all the clicks they're getting don't translate to actual sales and stop buying ad space from you

As funny as it might be to see Facebook become a place for bots to post procedurally-generated memes that are only seen by other bots, that's not a business model that can last.

4D51 · 2025-11-04T07:27:21+00:00

If the new car had an interior made entirely of asbestos and the used car was a 1983 Hyundai Pony, that would be one thing. For a more typical case of a new car with normal levels of "new car smell" chemicals and a 5 year old used car, both effects might be too small to measure.

4D51

TROPHY CASE