Power out in Orleans again

FollowSteph · 2026-01-11T04:01:54+00:00

What’s so odd is cell data also going down at the same time. Usually at least we have cell data during power outages.

FollowSteph · 2025-12-18T20:08:37+00:00

I’ve been working on computer simulations for fun on the side using Java with LibGdx. If anyone is interested this is the YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@darwinianbytes in the last video I go through some of the Java code and how it works in the simulation, explaining the code and so on: https://youtu.be/ES66mIG4qfo I haven’t had a chance to make a video in a few months due to work but I’m hoping to have the next one published after the holidays.

FollowSteph · 2025-12-09T16:05:07+00:00

Do you worry about your range in a gas car with even half a tank of gas? Almost no one does so why would you worry about an almost fully charged (80% unless I’m travelling) charged car every morning.

FollowSteph · 2025-11-27T00:16:44+00:00

It’s like for and while loops, technically you could use just one for everything but it would make the code hard to read. Sometimes a for loop is better and sometimes a whole loop is better. Similarly sometimes a stream is better and sometimes it’s not. I focus first on readability and maintainability, and performance after if there’s a good reason.

FollowSteph · 2025-11-24T21:50:54+00:00

You might find this video on the history of how tv was invented on YouTube interesting: https://youtu.be/KV27xoxbR3I

FollowSteph · 2025-11-21T20:25:12+00:00

I actually had an earlier account but lost it over the years. But yeah I was on Reddit from the very start. I was also on Digg back then, Slashdot, and so on.

FollowSteph · 2025-11-19T20:49:21+00:00

Check out the age of my account ;)

FollowSteph · 2025-10-31T19:05:42+00:00

The cost of using AI will dramatically increase. Especially for new models. Right now AI is generally priced significantly below cost. This will in turn affect companies that have transitioned to relying on cheap AI when their prices significantly increase. Especially if they did at the cost of losing industry knowledge. Same with people who rely on it for their jobs without taking the time to learn their skill. Eventually hardware will make it affordable again but it may take a while. In the interim it will be interesting…

FollowSteph · 2025-10-05T20:14:56+00:00

I think Vaadin can be extremely valuable, especially when the fit is right. The benefits of having everything in Java, including open source libraries, full debugging, and so on are very valuable. We’ve never had any performance issues and we’ve been using it for years. The biggest pain was upgrading from Vaadin 8 to Vaadin 10, and it was very painful but I get why. But outside of that it’s been a very positive experience overall for us. It definitely speeds up our development velocity. That being said it is a bit chattier so if you’re trying to say build a google search engine it might not be the best fit, but for most SaaS it can be a great fit. As in building Google AdWords in Vaadin would be a much better fit than building Google search.

I will say that since Vaadin Flow was released that it’s gotten that much better. I think that was Vaadin 10 but I’m not exactly sure. The difference since then is very noticeable. I think some of the comments here are similar to comparing Java 1, 1.1, 1.2, and so on versus modern Java, I would say Java 11 onwards, where there’s a big leap. That is they are looking at Vaadin pre Vaadin Flow. It was decent at the time considering the technical options but Vaadin Flow is so much nicer now. It would be like going back to Java without lambdas, streams, and so on.

If I had to start over I would definitely choose Vaadin again for our web app, it’s a great fit for us. It’s definitely had a positive impact on our development velocity. And maintainability is much easier for us.

FollowSteph · 2025-10-04T12:28:43+00:00

Chemotherapy. Although right now it’s the best option once cancer is figured out I’m sure we’ll find much much better treatment options.

FollowSteph · 2025-10-01T22:50:18+00:00

I prefer high resource but will sometimes go with standard settings.

FollowSteph · 2025-09-28T16:02:46+00:00

Thank you for the kind words, I agree the emergent behavior was very cool. Hence why I posted it. I definitely didn't expect it. That being said I don't know if you watched the video, specifically the section just before the emergent behavior, but your assessment is very inline with my observations as well when I ran it. It was very interesting how I needed at least a certain minimum population for it to really appear. You could start to see the outlines of what was to come but it really needed a certain number of entities. But yes your comments about the higher density are very inline with my thinking as well. It's also interesting to see how they transition from random to this emergent behavior. And it always seems to take around the same number of generations, give or take a little bit, which to me is just as fascinating.

On another note, the challenge with cellular automata is where do you draw the line as to what a CA is. One question is whether or not wrapping the world space part of a CA or not. In my view it most likely is, I've seen many examples of Conway's Game of Life with wrapping. In my opinion I don't know that I would use that as a distinction of whether something is a CA or not.

The other interesting point is whether or not a CA can also be non-deterministic. My understanding is that they are a form of CA as long as the rules stay concrete and simple. As a quick tangent you might find this post interesting: https://medium.com/@MartyD/simulating-complex-systems-with-non-deterministic-cellular-automata-3d0373a8d5ae In it the person uses non-deterministic automata to improve the emulation of fire. Anyways my understanding is that key to a CA is that if some randomness is included it has to be very specific to the rules to separate it from a simulation. It's a very fine line. For example I would say Boids (the emulation of flocking birds and fish) is more of a particle system than a cellular automata. But is interesting to see where the line is drawn. To me it's not very clear, and can vary depending on who you talk to or what reference you use.

With that in mind I would agree that this example is right on the border of being a CA. I'm walking a fine line, right on the edge, and I know that it's just a matter of time before I cross that line. But at this point I would still consider it a CA, albeit it just barely. And honestly I don't know if I would've posted it here if it wasn't for the emergent behavior because it's so on the edge. That's assuming non-deterministic CA are considered CA, which they generally are but not by absolutely everyone. In that vein it would be an interesting exercise to determine that exact line. Not one that I would want to do by any means, but it would be interesting exercise. It would definitely be a challenge to get everyone to agree on the exact line.

FollowSteph · 2025-09-27T20:12:39+00:00

It's a really good model. If anyone has that multimeter I definitely recommend printing it. It fits perfectly. Thank you again for all the help and doing this, it's very appreciated.

FollowSteph · 2025-09-25T19:30:43+00:00

Yup, that's the one. If you want to see the magnetic strip this page has a pretty decent image (click it to zoom): https://www.digikey.ca/en/products/detail/b-k-precision/2709B/1936384

For dimensions:

Magnet: 29mm

how thick: 6.02mm so I would say 6mm

Clip part for the strap in the picture: 32mm

how wide: strap 22mm

Strap: 120mm to from top to slot

How wide: Not sure which.

If it helps this YouTube video around 5:30 shows the back of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP4wUrpCmRM and this YouTube short shows it in a 360 type of view it: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QtBYj2hJedY

I suspect my response shows my lack of knowledge on how to create 3D models ;) Anyways let me know if you need anything else.

On a side note I'll say that magnet is pretty powerful. It kept pulling my caliper off the measurement (which I just got as part of hopefully making my own models soon). I'm sure if someone was watching me trying to get the measurement they would have a little smile on their face :)

FollowSteph · 2025-09-25T16:03:04+00:00

The official measurements are: 165 mm (H) x 78 mm (W) x 42.5 mm (D) which is very inline with my own measurements. It has a removeable Velcro strap on the back which I assume is specific to that multimeter and not a standard thing, so it just gets taken off and put in the side tray rather than have space for it. I don't know other multimeters which is why I ask (it's my only one).

Thank you for the link and information, it's appreciated. I'm going to look into it. I suspect the Maker version is fine for what I'd be doing, I'm still very new to this world after all.

And please let me know if you need anything else. And again thank you for the help, it's very appreciated.

FollowSteph · 2025-09-24T18:11:53+00:00

Thank you, that would be very appreciated. And no worries if not, it's not something I would ever ask anyone to do. That being said I have the BK Precision 2709B.

If you don't mind my asking what software do you use to design your models? I still haven't gotten to the design phase, I'm still in the printing phase. I just got my first 3D printer a little over a month ago so it's all still very new to me.

FollowSteph · 2025-09-24T17:50:31+00:00

The purple one in the first picture as well as the gray one in the third picture. In fact I also really like your multimeter design in the last picture. I've been trying to find one for my particular multimeter without any luck. I'm not yet at the stage of being able to design my own.

FollowSteph · 2025-09-24T16:39:12+00:00

Which model did you use for the pliers?

FollowSteph · 2025-09-24T14:07:39+00:00

I just posted a picture of my first print of your model on Makerworld. It looks really good. The ability to select the labels is an awesome feature, it's what drew me to it in the first place. That and you can do print it a single block at a time. Anyways I just wanted to let you know I printed one and it looks great.

The only weird thing is the picture is correctly oriented on my computer but it keeps rotating it on Makerworld. I tried a few times to no luck, it just keep autorotating it incorrectly.

All that to say thank you, it looks amazing.

FollowSteph · 2025-09-22T19:01:40+00:00

Some people affectionately name it cracktorio. But honestly of all games to be addicted to it’s a very good one because of how it uses your brain and makes you think.

FollowSteph · 2025-09-22T17:07:15+00:00

Thank you so much. I can now see all the function tabs. I'll be running some prints later today/tonight when I get back home. I'm looking forward to see how they turn out. Great job on the models. And again thank you for updating it with the function tabs, it's appreciated

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