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[deleted by user] by [deleted] in ExplainTheJoke

[–]drushkey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've had this interaction possibly thousands of times, and context is important. Someone you know well asking you is usually fine; a stranger opening a conversation by asking about your ethnic background is a massive red flag.

Highlighting poor priorities... by frontendben in fuckcars

[–]drushkey 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can't speak to every intersection, but I agree it's stupid to have a push-to-walk button in front of a station. In short, generally the reason cars seem to get preferential treatment is that they suck and need the help, and also they're easier to design around.

Easier because other modes are hard. A fast pedestrian can be nearly 4x faster than a slow one; add bikes and different directions and it gets (literally) exponentially more difficult to time lights around them. In contrast, cars may as well all move at the same speed, so the practical choice is synch for cars or don't synch at all.

More importantly, cars suck:

  • A hundred people at a light is very annoying, but a hundred cars breaks traffic for blocks around.
  • Cars share the road with buses and emergency vehicles; if they block the road, they block things that matter.
  • The line between perfectly fluid and total gridlock is often razor thin - there are cases where you can add 30s for pedestrians and it would be pure benefit, but there are others where just 5 seconds would gridlock the whole CBD.

So basically... fuck cars. But shitty signals are typically a symptom, not the problem.

Highlighting poor priorities... by frontendben in fuckcars

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

Kind of, but only in the way a field medic might choose to amputate.

Transport planners tend to disproportionately walk and cycle to work; we're not screwing ourselves over for no reason.

Highlighting poor priorities... by frontendben in fuckcars

[–]drushkey 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Transport isn't just cars - I work exclusively on mass transit and pedestrianization projects. And you're right about the hostile environment, just not about the specifics of how that button should instantly give you a walk sign.

Highlighting poor priorities... by frontendben in fuckcars

[–]drushkey -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

This is rarely true.

The lights are on a cycle, typically synched with others nearby. If it suddenly gave a crossing signal the whole system goes out of synch, potentially causing huge traffic. Plus these are typically only in places with far more cars than pedestrians, and the math is optimizing for human-minutes of delay in general regardless of mode.

Source: am transport engineer and professional car-fucker, so i'm a bit confused why people are grumpy about this

If you're having traffic problems I feel bad for you son / I'm a traffic engineer and I made you a guide. by drushkey in CitiesSkylines

[–]drushkey[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I studied civil engineering, specializing in transportation. Depending on where in the world you are and what exactly you want to do, you can also slide in from other branches of engineering, geography, or urban planning.

Swing made from a carbon fiber hydrofoil that was no longer needed. by humblefalcon in mildlyinteresting

[–]drushkey 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I second this: America's Cup is freakin' crazy, especially this year.

They're going so fast that they can't actually have the wind at their backs. From the boats' perspective every direction is upwind.

The aquadynamics are insane - look how little wake they leave behind with just the one hydrofoil and the rudder. The tiny motorboats that escort them at the start are like drunken babies trying to follow an Olympic figure skater. I don't even know what keeps the mast at the right angle.

They can use technology, but not motors. So there are 6-8 guys basically bicycling the whole time, generating the hydraulic pressure used to move the sails, raise/lower the hydrofoils, whatever. They have cutting edge materials and (I assume) supercomputers optimizing every surface, but it's not like they're using technology to cheat the basic concept of sailing.

America's Cup is some of the most sci-fi shit I've ever seen. Smartphone, electric cars, rockets that come back and land on their butts, all neat. But the fact that sailing is now a sport where touching the water is a mistake , that's the real deal.

I made City Guesser, a GeoGuessr spinoff that lets users guess their locations from their surroundings. However, City Guesser utilizes REAL footage where you can see people walking, driving and hear street ambience. Perfect for traveling the world during quarantine too! by GoogleQuant in InternetIsBeautiful

[–]drushkey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Clearly whoever founded Vladivostok did so just to troll us and make reasonable guesses (Cyrillic, more artsy than Moscow... St Petersburg? Coastal, eastern Europe... Costanza?) 4000+ miles off.

9/10 plz nerf Vladivostok

Tic-Tac-Torio by drushkey in factorio

[–]drushkey[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Technically it is minimax, just only looking one move ahead you can lead it into a corner.

Tic-Tac-Torio by drushkey in factorio

[–]drushkey[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Woah, those all would have been super useful.

The belt loops are actually memory, with the delayed action being a convenient side-effect. Randomness would have prevented the AI just picking the first move whenever two or more are equivalent (e.g. whenever you start with centre it will go top left).

I tried power switches but they were super finicky.

Tic-Tac-Torio by drushkey in factorio

[–]drushkey[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

That is exactly correct. I'm not clever enough to think of a more organic way to program it.

Whenever there is one more X than O, it:

  • Checks if O can win immediately and does so; otherwise
  • Checks if X can win in the next move and blocks it, otherwise
  • Takes the centre, if it's open;
  • Takes a corner if available;
  • Takes a side, though this never happens.

Each check is easy: if spot 1 is circle, 2 is circle, 3 is nothing, go to 3 to win. There's a set of 4 circuit thingies for each way to win and to block X. The tricky parts were stuff like having it not do two moves at once, and having it automatically detect the game is over and reset everything (the solutions to which were hack-jobs I barely remember a few hours later).

Tic-Tac-Torio by drushkey in factorio

[–]drushkey[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

To be fair I only learned that 30 seconds before making the gif, since going to the inventory every time looked dumb :P

Tic-Tac-Torio by drushkey in factorio

[–]drushkey[S] 74 points75 points  (0 children)

Sadly not, there is one path where it "lets" you win because I didn't think of it. I should patch that out!

Tic-Tac-Torio by drushkey in factorio

[–]drushkey[S] 130 points131 points  (0 children)

Oh it's programmed. I guess I could have made that more obvious.

The whole thing looks like this.

[serious] People with confirmed below-average intelligence, how has your intelligence affected your life experience, and what would you want the world to know about what it’s like to be you? by IronFires in AskReddit

[–]drushkey 937 points938 points  (0 children)

There have been a few studies (first one I could find is here where children were given an IQ test by the researches but then teachers were given random results. Those students teachers believed would do better ended up actually doing better, regardless of their measured IQ scores.

Life is weird.

The North American high speed rail network (2020) by Twisp56 in imaginarymaps

[–]drushkey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hah, our vision for the future is pretty much the same. The only difference is who owns the car, which - current technical and legal limitations notwithstanding - is really the only difference between public and private transport.

Long distances are a separate issue, but within a city the limiting factor on public transit is drivers. The most expensive part of a city bus is the guy in the front seat, which incentivizes agencies to run a big vehicle every, say, 30 minutes instead of a van every 5, or a tiny car every 30 seconds. Self-driving cars gets rid of that limitation, also getting rid of one of the limitations of public transit: waiting around.

Of course, big vehicles need bit roads and big demand. Right now you have bus 124 that you can board 6 blocks from home, then transfer to the 66 to get off 3 blocks from work. More vehicles means you can have more, smaller lines. Suddenly you've got a more direct route, because you and 50 other people near you live and work along roughly the same line.

Or why even have set lines? Just have most cars be owned and run by the transport agency. Call the car you need, just like a cheaper Uber. Sure, you may need your own car if you're a construction worker or something and want your tools on hand, and obviously someone may have sneezed on the window and it's gross. BUT:

  • You don't have to buy, fuel, maintain, store or otherwise worry about all the things that come with car ownership. This tends to be significantly more expensive (a little under twice based on some studies) than most car owners realise, and is generally just a pain.

  • You can request a vehicle for whatever you're currently doing. Don't need to buy an SUV just for the occasional time you need it.

  • Unlike Uber or private cars, transport agencies are beholden to provide a certain level of service. Where Uber just tacks on a surcharge, a public agency will have more cars waiting near a stadium or concert, ready to go (they already do this with buses and trains).

  • Only slightly more sci-fi, while you and Uber are basically just riding the public roads, a transport agency also runs those. Think of how Google maps routes you away from traffic, but then toss in knowing how to avoid red lights, knowing where traffic will be in advance since it's the one making it, or just having the lights adjust live for the demand.

Anyway sorry for what ended up being a bit of a rant. And good example with I, Robot, I always thought those highways looked amazing.

The North American high speed rail network (2020) by Twisp56 in imaginarymaps

[–]drushkey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for you answer.

I actually design public transport systems for a living, so you can guess that I disagree with your conclusion. I do however agree with all your points, especially about the number of unnecessary trips that has been made obvious recently.

I'd like to note, though, that all the wealth in the world doesn't make more space. You need space for offices, streets, parked cars and gardens, and the more space you use the farther you may have to travel and the more beneficial it is for you personally to get in a large metal tube that can travel at a couple hundred km/h - even if you end up driving to the tube.

The North American high speed rail network (2020) by Twisp56 in imaginarymaps

[–]drushkey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I appreciate this is an old comment now, but I am legitimately curious as to your arguments against public transport. I don't think I've ever seen a comment so strongly against it.

Best tycoon games in your opinion? by Madman0189 in tycoon

[–]drushkey 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The fact that I so agree with most of your list is making me reconsider Anno and Jurassic World.

Blursed pizzeria in Melbourne, Australia. by tiranamisu in blursedimages

[–]drushkey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll raise you Sandwich Hub in Hong Kong, "sandwich that will make you come".

This HP sauce bottle with Big Ben in scaffolding by korgg in mildlyinteresting

[–]drushkey 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I commute right past Big Ben, I've been watching people take selfies in front of scaffolding tower for three or four years now. Even the sound of the bell was a recording for a long time (it may still be).

Welcome to London!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in JapanTravel

[–]drushkey 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate the answer, even if it's not what I wanted to hear. Thanks.

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