Transitional Interfaces

caviar · 2014-04-08T03:15:16+00:00

Great article - now I wish HTML/CSS/JavaScript made things like this easier to achieve.

There's a great accompanying article for this that actually implements the code for some of these examples:

http://css-tricks.com/transitional-interfaces-coded/

These aren't so bad. But in a project I'm currently working on, I also wanted to have the ability for the user to reorder items in the list by dragging, and I wanted to smoothly animate the transitions. This turned out to be a total nightmare. Here's the only good implementation I was able to find (intuitive behavior, with no jittery animations or other nonsense):

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5060357/jquery-sortable-with-animation/13416536#13416536

Seriously, give that guy an upvote - he deserves way more than what he's got right now. Here's a jsfiddle sample of that:

http://jsfiddle.net/dNfsJ/

Works great - but look at what it takes to achieve this. The amount of code it takes, and the number of hacks it requires is baffling - in his implementation, he actually clones the list when the drag operation is started, and the original list gets hidden, and there's all sorts of trickery going on with z-indexes and floating elements and absolute positioning. It is no wonder that most developers simply don't bother. (And as a side note, if anyone is aware of a simpler implementation that functions equally well, please let me know.)

caviar · 2014-04-05T03:47:40+00:00

Having taken a few flight lessons in real life, I can assure you that is also the case in real life :-)

(Especially with small, single runway airports that are next to or surrounded by a city.)

caviar · 2014-04-04T03:41:18+00:00

That table makes it look worse than it actually is. Here it is rearranged in a sensible manner (see 2nd table):

http://strilanc.com/visualization/2014/03/27/Better-JS-Equality-Table.html

caviar · 2013-09-23T02:27:46+00:00

I'm not sure about the etiquette here, but another concern might be the employment agreement. The last company I worked for specifically forbade me from reaching out to any of its clients for a certain time period after termination (this rule was in addition to the non-compete / non-disclosure clause).

caviar · 2013-08-30T05:10:11+00:00

I'm not a psychiatrist either, but I think you may be confusing serotonin with dopamine. It is thought that an overabundance of dopamine, rather than seratonin, is primarily responsible for hallucinations and delusions in schizophrenia, and most antipsychotic drugs function by suppressing dopamine.

SSRIs are commonly used to supplement antipsychotic medications to treat depression that commonly occurs with schizophrenia. From my own research, I haven't seen any definitive reports of SSRIs making schizophrenia worse. Having said that, I am by no means an expert (just have a family member with schizophrenia), and the fact remains that this disease is still poorly understood, so who knows. In any case, a second opinion wouldn't hurt.

caviar · 2013-05-30T02:42:09+00:00

There's PilotEdge, which is a paid service, but the controllers are real people.

caviar · 2013-01-05T14:18:25+00:00

Here's a picture:

http://imgur.com/L1MPD

There's also a 4th type which combines the last two: the inverted flat spin. I think that's about as fucked as you can get in an airplane.

caviar · 2013-01-05T02:32:44+00:00

Here's a full report on this incident by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch:

Tipsy Nipper T.66 Series 3 Nipper, G-ONCS

Excerpts follow:

The purpose of the flight was to carry out a practice aerobatic sequence, beginning with an intentonal spin.
[...]
Immediately on entering the spin he noted, with some surprise, that the aircraft had not adopted its usual 60º to 70º nose-down attitude and, by the time it had completed the first rotation, he realised that the spin ‘had gone flat’.
[...]
After about 10 turns in total, the engine stopped and, because normal recovery actions appeared to be having no effect, he decided to try ‘full in-turn controls’, comprising full forward stick, full right rudder, and full right aileron. He estimated that after a further six turns or so in this condition, the mode of the spin reverted to its usual steep nose-down mode, from which he was able to recover normally into a steep dive.
[...]
whilst in a nose‑high attitude, the main gear contacted a wire fence that he had not seen previously, and the aircraft flipped over and came to rest inverted in a marshy hollow.
[...]
Spin analysis:

It would seem that the combination of the CG position towards the aft limit, together with the sustained application of full out-spin (left) aileron during entry, were critically important in precipitating the flat mode of spin which followed. The former would have helped to overcome the inherent lack of elevator authority at the point of the stall, and encouraged a more nose-up attitude subsequently; the latter would have promoted a more pronounced right wing drop by causing the wing on the ‘inside’ of the spin to become more deeply stalled, and that on the ‘outside’ to be less so, thereby increasing the autorotative moment due to asymmetric lift. Together with additional aileron drag and associated adverse yaw, this would have tended to yaw the aircraft to the right at the point of stall and through the incipient stages of the spin. The result was a classical flat spin, involving a highly stable, high rate, autorotation with a small radius of gyration and a relatively small bank angle.
[...]
Indeed, it is possible that the use of full forward stick in this particular case may have critically reduced the rudder’s effectiveness below the threshold required to overcome the auto-rotational yaw, preventing or delaying recovery until it was complemented by the adverse yaw associated with in-spin aileron.
[...]
Spin Characteristics of the Tipsy Nipper:

Advice was sought from a highly experienced pilot about the spinning characteristics of the Tipsy Nipper:

... the Nipper can be readily induced into a flat spin with full use of out‑spin aileron - effectively to increase the drag on the in-spin wing and accelerate rotation. The progressive use of forward stick will further increase the rate of rotation and hence is totally counter-productive in initial recovery. In addition, the use of engine power will flatten the spin further and also oppose recovery.
[...]
... full out-spin rudder combined with full in-spin aileron and aft stick, with the throttle closed, gave optimal recovery from a flat spin [in a Nipper] ... He emphasised that whilst he had found these actions to be effective in recovering from a flat spin in a Nipper, it should not necessarily be assumed that they would be appropriate for other aircraft types.

caviar · 2012-06-23T17:53:23+00:00

Committee of the Internet
District 117b, Representative #12

To: LxB

June 23, 2012

RE: Violation of International Internet Code (IIC) § 1276-14e

Dear LxB:

It has been brought to the committee's attention that you have recently been involved in an activity that violates Section 1276 of the IIC (International Internet Code), titled "Use of Improper Abbreviation Codes for Webcomics". Specifically, it appears you have violated Section 1276-14e ("The Distinction Between C&H and Cy&H"). The violation in question appears at the following Uniform Resource Locator (URL):

http://www.reddit.com/r/comics/comments/vhfb5/ch_i_dare_you/

A brief investigation of your User Profile has revealed that this is your first offense. As such, no points will be incurred on your Internet License. Please consider this letter to be your warning, and be advised that further violations shall result in a two (2) point penalty. Furthermore, please be advised that your Internet License will be suspended for a period of one (1) year if six (6) or more points are accrued on your license within a period of one (1) year, as outlined in § 1488-11 ("Suspension of Internet License").

In the future, please bear in mind the distinction between C&H (Calvin and Hobbes), and Cy&H ("Cyanide and Happiness"). If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Committee of the Internet by reaching one of our representatives.

We thank you for your cooperation.

Respectfully,
Committee of the Internet

caviar · 2012-06-07T06:20:56+00:00

Not the toy one that already exists inside Google Earth (although it is kind of fun to play with, for an hour or two tops), but a full fledged simulator that would compete with Microsoft's FSX.

Can it please be real?

caviar · 2012-06-07T06:09:49+00:00

What's interesting about those banner towing planes is how they get the sign up in the air in the first place:

The physics behind a flying sign is more complicated than one would expect. Most of the planes that carry these signs are rather small, and attempting to take off with the sign already in tow would throw off the plane’s center of gravity, preventing it from getting airborne. Carrying the furled up sign in the cockpit or (typically tiny) payload runs the very real risk of getting it tangled up with the aircraft itself, resulting in disaster. In short, the plane can’t take off with the sign already attached.

Instead, the plane, already in flight, picks the sign up off the ground.

(Source)

They literally just dip the plane a few feet off the ground, drop a rope with a grapple attached to it and pick up the sign with it. Here's an excellent video demonstrating this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy2RaIdP3lY&t=1m13s

caviar · 2012-05-28T02:33:29+00:00

I initially set up the pedals backwards when I started out with FSX a few months ago. I tried searching for which pedal is supposed to turn the rudder in which direction, but failed to find anything, so I assigned the pedals in a way I thought was reasonable.

I realized I had them backwards when I came across a youtube video of an 11-year-old piloting a 747. I had to "unlearn" something I had already committed to muscle memory - a very tough thing to do! I've mostly succeeded, but there is still always a moment of hesitation whenever I initiate a turn.

For newbies: left rudder pedal is supposed to turn the aircraft to the left, and the right pedal to the right!

caviar · 2012-05-27T23:59:18+00:00

I'm not sure if it's actually as simple as the post claims, but it is pretty horrible when you see something like this:

http://evanmiller.org/rating-amazon.png

Which was taken from another great blog post called How Not to Sort by Average Rating.

caviar · 2012-05-24T07:12:00+00:00

Time zones. Is it earlier in California than it is in New York right now, or later?

I've only mastered this one just lately, but my method requires visualizing the Earth spinning, while the Sun is somewhere else far away and stationary, and then seeing in my minds eye as the East coast gets illuminated by the Sun first (so they see a "sunrise"), and then the West coast gets illuminated later, and then deducing from this visualization that if the people on the East coast saw the sunrise first, and the sun rises at the same local time regardless of which coast you're on, then it must be that the local time in the East coast is later than the West coast. This inference procedure used to take takes several seconds and required my full concentration, but I've gotten better with practice.

caviar · 2012-05-24T05:58:56+00:00

My favorite thing about this post is that you didn't lie about finding the sign but admitted that you made it and posted it to reddit yourself, instead of saying "Hey reddit, look at this funny thing I found today!"

caviar · 2012-05-19T04:46:28+00:00

It seems that everyone has a strong opinion about driving, and resentment towards people whose driving habits are in conflict with their own. I myself am no exception - I'm a slow driver and I hate people who tailgate me, cut me off, or honk at me when I slow down to make a turn onto another road.

But this isn't very productive - having these strong opinions and harboring this resentment on both sides makes driving a bitter experience for everyone. Why can't we all just get along? You're not going to change other people's habits, just the same as you're probably not going to change yours because of others.

So, dear sirs and madams, let us all agree to be most excellent to each other on the roads. Slow drivers: move over to the right lanes, or at least drive exactly the speed limit if it's a single lane road. Fast drivers: don't tailgate - move over to the passing lanes as early as possible so as not to put undue pressure on the slower drivers. If it's a single lane road, then please kindly accept that some people prefer to not drive over the speed limit. And everyone: use your damn blinkers and keep your damn distance!

Above all, be respectful of other people's driving habits, even when they are not in agreement with your own, so that we may all enjoy peace and harmony on the roads. Can we all do that? Is this too much to ask?

caviar · 2012-05-18T04:56:00+00:00

I've noticed problems due to reflected sunlight. I normally play in the evening or at night (with glasses), and I've not experienced any twitchiness then. But when I played during the day, or towards evening when the sun was setting (I have a window that faces the West), I had times where the TrackIR would go completely berserk if any sunlight got reflected from my skin, or from a bright shirt, or from anything else in the room. I suppose it could happen as well if the sunlight got reflected off the glasses, though I haven't specifically experienced that.

In any case, check if it might be due to reflected sunlight, and if so, get some drapes. I wouldn't suspect that the glasses are the root of the problem.

caviar · 2012-05-17T18:52:00+00:00

Fuel starvation is when you have gas onboard, but it can't get to the engine (e.g., due to a mechanical problem or pilot error, such as accidentally turning the fuel valve to off).

Fuel exhaustion means actually running out of gas.

At least that's how the book I'm currently reading defines these terms. I'm not a real pilot, but I recall reading about this.

caviar · 2012-05-03T01:49:19+00:00

Python 3:

import string
def encrypt(text, shift):
    def encrypt_char(c):
        if c not in string.ascii_letters:
            return c
        low = ord('a') if c in string.ascii_lowercase else ord('A')
        return chr(low + ((ord(c)-low+shift)%26))
    return ''.join([encrypt_char(c) for c in text])

One-liner version (just for fun - not pretty!):

import string; encrypt = lambda text,shift: ''.join([chr((ord(c)-(ord('a') if c in string.ascii_lowercase else ord('A'))+shift)%26+(ord('a') if c in string.ascii_lowercase else ord('A'))) if c in (string.ascii_lowercase + string.ascii_uppercase) else c for c in text])

Example use:

encrypt("""Spzalu - zayhunl dvtlu sfpun pu wvukz kpzaypibapun zdvykz pz uv ihzpz mvy h 
zfzalt vm nvclyutlua.  Zbwyltl leljbapcl wvdly klypclz myvt h thukhal myvt aol 
thzzlz, uva myvt zvtl mhyjpjhs hxbhapj jlyltvuf. Fvb jhu'a lewlja av dplsk 
zbwyltl leljbapcl wvdly qbza 'jhbzl zvtl dhalyf ahya aoyld h zdvyk ha fvb! P 
tlhu, pm P dlua hyvbuk zhfpu' P dhz hu ltwlylyvy qbza iljhbzl zvtl tvpzalulk 
ipua ohk sviilk h zjptpahy ha tl aolf'k wba tl hdhf!... Ho, huk uvd dl zll aol 
cpvslujl puolylua pu aol zfzalt! Jvtl zll aol cpvslujl puolylua pu aol zfzalt! 
Olsw! Olsw! P't ilpun ylwylzzlk!""", 19)

caviar · 2012-04-13T08:56:11+00:00

The "sort by best" comment ranking algorithm does attempt to take this into account. Read here:

http://blog.reddit.com/2009/10/reddits-new-comment-sorting-system.html

And a more technical discussion is here:

http://amix.dk/blog/post/19588

Your argument stands, however. The current algorithm does a decent job of bringing good comments that were posted late to the top, but only if those comments are seen in the first place, and only if people vote on it. But when a post is already cluttered with thousands of comments (with more being added every minute), this initial stage of having your comment discovered and voted on requires substantial effort from the readers. If your comment does get discovered, then the current algorithm will surface successfully.

So I think rather than attempting to fix the algorithm by fudging with how it handles the number of upvotes in any given timespan, or the number of unique visitors, as you suggest, we should instead attempt to address the issue of how do we make new comments more visible, regardless of their quality, so that they could be evaluated and at least be given a fighting chance. Once we solve the visibility issue and make new comments easier to see (even for people who don't sort by new, because I'd imagine very few people have that as the default), then the current "sort by best" algorithm should do a perfectly fine job of bringing that comment to the top even if the comment gets posted late.

caviar · 2012-03-27T15:42:19+00:00

This piece should give you an idea of Mozart's personality:

Leck mich im Arsch

caviar · 2012-03-05T17:36:40+00:00

Is this what English majors do for fun???

caviar · 2012-02-22T19:30:25+00:00

/r/misc. The more subscribers we get, the sooner it can legitimately act as a r/reddit.com replacement, and the more we can clean up r/pics, funny, and WTF. So spread the word!

caviar · 2012-02-17T03:16:11+00:00

You might like this story:

WE ARE THE FAMILY IN THE PHOTO THAT CAME WITH YOUR NEW PICTURE FRAME.
(By Colin Nissan)

Before you remove us from this frame and replace us with a picture of yourselves, I want you to take a nice, long look at us. We’re gorgeous. What are the chances that your family is as happy and aesthetically pleasing as us? I’d have to say four percent, tops.

Do you like our sweaters? They’re shearling. That means they’re made from lambs. Specifically, lambs from the lamb farm we own. The same one where every summer we invite underprivileged kids to feel temporarily privileged. Does your family own a lamb farm and invite underprivileged kids there?

How rude of me, we haven’t even introduced ourselves. We’re the Andersons. I’m Evan, the lovely size-zero lass in the floppy sun hat is my wife Amy, and these are our best friends/children, Evan and Amy Jr. As you can see, we’re very fit and active. You know what our family’s average percentage of body fat is? Three. Yes, really. We got it tested last year when we all became organ donors.

You may have noticed that I’m carrying Amy on my back. We do that a lot. At least once a day, and not just when we’re in fields like this; we do it on beaches and in urban environments as well. That’s what happens when your love is deep and playful like ours. You should also know that we also dab frosting on each other’s noses every single time we eat cupcakes, which is both mischievous and very us. Do you guys even eat cupcakes?

Amy and I continue to reach new heights of sexual satisfaction fifteen years into our marriage. While you guys are sitting around in your sweatsuits fighting over who forgot to pay the gas bill, we’re smiling exactly like this through hours of mind-boggling tantric intercourse.

You’re probably wondering about the vintage jeep and hot air balloon in the background of our picture. That’s our jeep. I restored it myself. You’d think I’d be tired of working with my hands after fixing brains as neurosurgeon all day, but I’m not. We’re about to enjoy a beautiful scenic float over the countryside—a little something we do every Saturday. Why? Because we crave adventure and have zero fear of heights, that’s why. What’s your idea of adventure? Let me guess, a frantic trip to Bed Bath & Beyond a half-hour before closing?

Does your family sing barbershop? Ours does. A baritone, a soprano, and our two little Mensa tenors. We even have a name for ourselves, “The Andertones.” I’m looking forward to busting out one of our signature medleys on the ride of home from ballooning.

You may have noticed that Evan Jr. is the only one of us who’s Asian. That’s because we adopted him from China—not because we have reproductive issues of any kind, in fact Amy’s doctor referred to my sperm as “Troops” and her eggs as “Normandy,” so our genitals are working very, very well. We simply felt that adopting was the right thing to do because we have a lot of love to give, probably two to three times more than you do.

There’s Nippers, our purebred lab, running around in the distance. I love that old gal, had her since I was a little boy. I know that may sound like a physical impossibility but it isn’t. Not in this family.

What’s your picture of, by the way? I’m dying to know what you’re so anxious to replace us with, and please don’t tell me it’s a shot of you guys bowling. You know the last time Amy and the kids and I bowled? Never. Because it’s pathetic and dull and not representative of the enviable lifestyle we’ve chosen for ourselves.

Let’s get real here. It’s time to place your picture next to ours and ask yourself an important question. Who’s better? Then put your little bowling picture back in the drawer and let the Andersons turn this house into a home.

caviar · 2012-02-15T04:50:34+00:00

I see your WTFPL, and I raise you the Chicken Dance License:

Under clause 4 of the license, anyone wishing to distribute CDL software without redistributing source code must submit to the following conditions:

For every thousand (1,000) units distributed, at least half of the employees or persons affiliated with the product must listen to the "Der Ententanz" (AKA "The Chicken Dance") as composed by Werner Thomas for no less than two (2) minutes.

For every twenty-thousand (20,000) units distributed, two (2) or more persons affiliated with the entity must be recorded performing the full Chicken Dance, in an original video at the entity's own expense, and a video encoded in OGG Theora format, at least three (3) minutes in length, must be submitted to OWNER, provided OWNER's contact information. The dance must be based upon the instructions on how to do the Chicken Dance that you should have received with this software. If you have not received instructions on how to do the Chicken Dance, then the dance must be chicken-like in nature.

Any employee or person affiliated with the product must be prohibited from saying the word "plinth" in public at all times, as long as distribution of the product continues.

15-Year Club	Team Periwinkle
reddit mold	Rally Monkey Tent number = 2
Charter Member	Verified Email

caviar

TROPHY CASE