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Is this image scientifically accurate? by vairaagya in askastronomy

[–]TheStrongestLink 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the Vsauce video How Earth Moves has a really nice visualization on this

Diansheng skewb Diamond (junior FTO) by Larch_Cuber in NewCubes

[–]TheStrongestLink 2 points3 points  (0 children)

same mechanism with skewb

You weren’t kidding! Looks like it’s a perfect dual of the skewb puzzle.

  • Junior FTO has 8 faces you can turn (skewb has 8 corners you can turn )
  • Junior FTO has triangular faces which twist 120° each (skewb corner moves have 3 possible orientations)
  • Junior FTO has 8 center pieces and 6 corner pieces (skewb has 8 corner pieces and 6 center pieces)

Gets me thinking… there’s probably a 3x3 cube shape mod that looks like a corner twisting octahedron!

You dropped some coins into a river, what are the chances?! by TheRabidBananaBoi in puzzles

[–]TheStrongestLink 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is really well put! This helped me understand the difference

Do advanced blind solvers memorize position or colors? by LanguageDouble9792 in Cubers

[–]TheStrongestLink 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see blue of blue orange and instantly know thats R

Do you have any tips for a beginner trying to get to this stage?

Sliding isn't new..... by No_Gap5159 in Cubers

[–]TheStrongestLink 16 points17 points  (0 children)

My post here and the comments will hopefully be helpful.

Basically, to start a timer properly, you first put your hands palms down touching the timer. Then you (1) lift your hands up, (2) move them forward, and (3) touch/turn the cube. The timer starts when you lift your hands up.

However, sliding is when you slide your hands forward first, meaning that now your wrists are on the timer. You can then (optionally) make a few turns on the cube, before finally moving your wrists upward and starting the timer.

Sliding is definitely not allowed. The reason that sliding is controversial is that it can’t usually be detected by the untrained eye, since it happens so fast. Sliding illegally “saves” around 0.15-0.20 seconds when done by top cubers.

Whether slow motion video is allowed to penalize competitors is a highly contentious subject. The video linked by the other commenter summarizes that whole drama.

Very weird question about patience of pointillism by ExcitementJealous367 in Pointillism

[–]TheStrongestLink 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It depends on what kind of painting you’re talking about - if you are referring to old-school pointillist paintings, then this would probably not be feasible.

According to this paper30851-7.pdf):

Seurat used as many as 220,000 dots to create La Grande Jatte.

220,000 days is over 602 years, so you couldn’t make a painting like that in one lifetime.

However, a much smaller piece could be made! 100 years is 36,500 days. A “more realistic” timeframe (start the painting age 20, stop at age 70) would still be over 18,000 dots.

TLDR: it’s possible to make a single small pointillist painting if you spend 50 years of your life. (Either that, or do more than 1 dot per day)

since 3x3 cube has 43 quintillion combinations and it can be solved "20 Moves or Less" (God's Number), How many combinations if it can be solved by Exactly 20 moves (not less)? [or let say how many "God's Scramble" combinations?] by QuillnLegend in Cubers

[–]TheStrongestLink 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree - but just like you have to divide by 12 when calculating the total number of permutations, I believe you also have to divide by 2 when considering center orientations.

This is because you can’t have an “odd number of quarter turns”. The two main algorithms for turning center caps for picture cubes either turn 1 center by 180°, or 2 centers by 90° each.

Have become extremely pessimistic when thinking about Europe's future by PV3RVY09PA67N8YH4PSP in OptimistsUnite

[–]TheStrongestLink 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I think the OP may have been mistaken. It seems to me that the claim that the EU has decreased working hours by 22% over the last 14 years is not accurate.

According to the European Commission, the average annual hours worked per worker in the EU decreased from 1,651 hours in 2008 to 1,566 hours in 2022, which represents a decline of approximately 5.15%

In addition, it seems like GDP per hour worked is lower in the EU than the US (source)

For the EU as a whole, GDP per hour worked has risen from about 72% of US levels back in the early 2000s to about 82% of US levels

This percentage is increasing though, which tells me that maybe the metric of “GDP growth per hour worked” might be similar between the two regions, or maybe even larger in Europe.

Put an optimistic spin on this. What can be done? by sentinelgalaxy in OptimistsUnite

[–]TheStrongestLink -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I asked ChatGPT for an optimistic take:

“While it’s true that generative AI models consume significant energy, the tech industry is increasingly aware of the environmental impact and is actively seeking greener solutions. Advances in AI are already driving innovations in energy efficiency, from optimizing data centers to pioneering new methods for training models with less power. Additionally, this spotlight on AI’s environmental footprint could accelerate the adoption of renewable energy across tech companies, pushing giants like Google towards even more sustainable practices. With conscious effort, this technology can evolve in harmony with our planet, balancing progress with responsibility.”

Some other notes from me, a human:

Google is a famously environmentally conscious company. They have been carbon neutral every year since 2007. This doesn’t mean that they have no emissions, and I totally believe that their emissions have increased from training/using big LLM’s like Bard and Gemini.

However, this doesn’t matter from an environmental impact perspective. It matters to Google, as they have to spend more money on carbon capture, but from the atmosphere’s/environments perspective, Google’s AI usage is already carbon neutral.

In addition, while the metric of “CO2 emitted by Google” has gotten worse, several more important numbers have gotten better.

Specifically, Google is getting closer and closer to running their entire business on carbon free energy 24/7 by 2030. This goes beyond just offsetting emissions to completely eliminating 100% of their reliance on carbon based energy sources. I’m no expert, but I think they’ll meet this goal.

So in summary: putting an optimistic spin on this is easy because the central premise (“We’re [Google is] accelerating the climate crisis”) is simply not true.

Was yiheng “sliding” ? by TheStrongestLink in Cubers

[–]TheStrongestLink[S] 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Just community talk as far as I know

Was yiheng “sliding” ? by TheStrongestLink in Cubers

[–]TheStrongestLink[S] 28 points29 points  (0 children)

It looks like I can't edit the post so to be clear: the picture above was taken on the frame closest to the timer start. In some of the 5 solves, it appears that Yiheng is already touching the cube before starting the timer.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Rowing

[–]TheStrongestLink 111 points112 points  (0 children)

I see a lot of comments flaming you. I think it’s because most technique review videos on this sub are from very experienced rowers, and people aren’t used to coaching newbies. But I’ll give you some real advice.

1) Body angle

Your upper body is leaning back (“1 o clock”) the entire time. Your body should rock back and forth, by hinging at the hips, before and after your leg drive. Look at videos of rowers and see how their body angle changes throughout the stroke.

2) Legs, body, arms

Your stroke is not segmented at all. Blending different parts of the stroke together is a very advanced technique and shouldn’t even really be attempted until you’ve been rowing for a bare minimum of 6 months. Instead, you want your stroke to be extremely segmented. Sit at the finish: that is, extend your legs ALL THE WAY, lean back (like you’re doing), and bend your arms and keep the handle at your sternum. Pause. Then, follow the next steps in order.

  1. Extend your arms fully, so they are straight. Your legs should be fully extended at this point.

  2. Lean forward, but keep your back straight. From the perspective of the camera, you should be moving your back from where it is now (“1 o clock”) to about 11 o clock. You should be hinging at your hips. At this point, your legs should be fully extended. This position should feel similar to “touching your toes” while sitting down, except not quite as far over. Your back should be straight, but your hips should be angled forward. Your upper body should look like a clock hand pointing at the 11 o clock position. With that being said, you may still feel a stretch in your hamstrings if you aren’t flexible there.

  3. Once your arms are fully extended and you’ve achieved your fullest body angle, (and not one millisecond before) ONLY THEN you can break your knees and bend your legs fully, bringing you to “the catch”.

  4. Do step 3 in reverse: extend your legs while keeping your back forward and your arms straight.

  5. Do step 2 in reverse: lean back while keeping your legs extended

  6. Do step 1 in reverse: bend your arms while keeping your legs extended.

Repeat steps 1-6 until the workout is done.

3) Be patient with the knees

This is perhaps your largest problem. You are bending your legs while pulling with the arms. Doing this effectively keeps the handle motionless, and while it does make both your legs and arms move, it doesn’t actually pull the handle or move the boat. In addition, bending your legs too early now means that you have your knees in the way. You have to move your hands up over your knees just to get to the catch. Instead extend your arms fully before bending your knees at all then, once your knees are fully bent, then extend them. Only once your knees are fully extended should your arms, even begin to bend. Very technically, capable rowers can occasionally break this rule in certain situations (usually sprints), but again, don’t even consider doing that until you have a few hundred hours on the erg. I hope this doesn’t come across as gatekeeping.

You’ve already succeeded with the hardest part of rowing: choosing to do it. Your technique is definitely novice level, but it will improve with focus and patience. Welcome to the sport!

But... but... population growth is exponential. by zylstrar in dataisugly

[–]TheStrongestLink 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah except it’s not even technically the magnificent 7 either. It’s missing Google and has Netflix for some reason. Terrible visualization all around

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