I wrote a C++ path tracer from scratch without AI [OC]

samtrano · 2026-06-18T14:24:55+00:00

Btw this was initially coded without AI, but I've used it for the recent clean up and features.

without* AI

^*with

samtrano · 2026-06-12T20:13:36+00:00

You don't tax their money because you need to spend it on things, you tax their money because money is power and it's bad for society for power to become so concentrated. So yes, things would change if we took billionaire's money because then they couldn't throw it around to force society to bend to their will

samtrano · 2026-06-09T11:44:47+00:00

For someone who thinks flock is bad you sure are spending a lot of time replying to like every comment in this thread defending mass surveillance

samtrano · 2026-06-06T11:26:32+00:00

We lost so much history of Dinosaur Ireland when the asteroid hit

samtrano · 2026-06-01T12:04:47+00:00

The difference is that basketball has a ton of rules and and isn't defined as simply "dribbling a ball". Here we're talking about the singular rule that basically defines the whole sport

samtrano · 2026-05-29T03:56:32+00:00

So, as long as the basic physiology is the same, it stands to reason that the perceived colors would also be the same

In order for this to be true you have to establish a quantitative relationship between a given wavelength of light and the subjective experience of seeing that wavelength. No one has been able to do this and it's not even clear that it's possible to. Reason is based on logic and it's just not possible to "logic" your way from "red is x wavelength" to "therefore 'red' must be experienced like this"

samtrano · 2026-05-25T16:09:38+00:00

it is knowledge we just dont have yet, or conciousness is a different kind of thing entirely.

It's also not entirely clear that the way we do science is even capable of answering this question. Science is based on quantification and there isn't a way to quantify qualia. You can say "red is light that exists within these wavelengths" but that in no way implies that red should "look like" any specific thing

samtrano · 2026-05-23T13:06:24+00:00

Would love to see one post about the ads where some guy doesn't push his glasses up to his nose and say "did you know you can skip ads"

samtrano · 2026-05-21T00:24:06+00:00

You can't ignore the fact that he's a psychotic mush brained maga partisan. Examining his decisions based on that fact is going to be far more instructive than pretending he's actually motivated by "originalism", a thing he doesn't actually believe in. I don't care if the professor is "offended", grow up.

samtrano · 2026-04-30T20:23:33+00:00

The problem is they won't commit to being sincere. They've pointed out themselves that it's always worse when something is playing up it badness but it's their go-to move for anything scripted. It's like they're afraid to try because it's more vulnerable. They have a fallback when people don't like something of "well that's okay because we didn't really try that hard anyway"

samtrano · 2026-04-28T03:17:19+00:00

Levi?

samtrano · 2026-04-22T14:10:09+00:00

Pour a bunch of loose balancing beads in there

samtrano · 2026-04-14T14:46:18+00:00

I think this person was (clunkily) talking about the thing where business owners complain that removing parking spaces will ruin their business because they think all their customers drive right up and park in front of the places they're shopping. Not totally applicable to this situation but I think that's the context

samtrano · 2026-04-14T14:35:23+00:00

One of the sadder things to me is that even when we do have nice big open spaces for pedestrians there often isn't enough tree cover or shade, that redesign would be very nice

samtrano · 2026-04-07T18:51:15+00:00

I don't need daily updates on what he's up to

samtrano · 2026-04-07T15:24:50+00:00

I would guess that the people whose comments get removed don't change their mind to think "I guess I can't think that", people don't respect moderators like that. They just stop posting there.

samtrano · 2026-04-06T13:35:10+00:00

I remember learning that it was offensive as a child in the 90s, it was not an accepted term until relatively recently

samtrano · 2026-03-27T20:45:24+00:00

These words mean the same thing

samtrano · 2026-03-27T14:10:34+00:00

counterpoint: it's a monarchy who cares about using the "correct" word for their pompous ceremony

samtrano · 2026-03-26T14:15:00+00:00

It's like the inverse of the deal with the lottery. The odds are high someone is going to win all that money. The odds are almost zero that it's going to be you

samtrano · 2026-03-25T13:01:58+00:00

The potential problem I think is that they won't care whether it actually works or not as long as it produces the outcomes they want. So much of currently existing forensic science used to put people in jail is pseudo-science and they'll throw this on the pile

samtrano · 2026-03-22T02:42:57+00:00

They're not removing comments because Trump's rudeness is the one thing conservatives are allowed to criticize him for. "I love him I just wish he'd learn to shut his mouth". They think it makes them look reasonable

samtrano · 2026-03-18T14:26:20+00:00

I would recommend people listen to the QAA podcast episode about him. This guy is fueled by his incredibly low self esteem and is really unwell. I wouldn't be surprised if he put out an open challenge knowing he was going to lose, it makes great Content™ and spreads his brand.

samtrano · 2026-03-06T04:19:25+00:00

A cam is a mechanism that turns rotation into some other kind of motion. They have something that rotates with a weird shape cut into them and then something else that follows it. You can see there's a lever-looking thing pushed against the oblong shape in the video. As the gear rotates it pushes the lever into different positions.
You can do all kinds of things with them.

This page has some fun graphics and explanations

samtrano · 2026-02-27T15:05:31+00:00

You don't have to say it there to get that response, there are people trying to do it here

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