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Show HN: I was curious about spherical helix, ended up making this visualization

visualrambling.space

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Re: Show HN: I was curious about spherical helix, ended up making this visualization

#92

Post by coreyp_1 »

The content is good, but the weird dither effect is giving me a horrible headache! I'm glad you created it (it's always good to see someone bring an idea to fruition!), and I hope that you continue to create cool things. But please, please, please turn off whatever effect you're using.

Re: Show HN: I was curious about spherical helix, ended up making this visualization

#93

Post by addaon »

> …which we know isn't actually chaotic. It's just a path defined by mathematical functions.

I don't know what function is being presented, so I can't speak to whether it demonstrates chaotic behavior -- but the whole /point/ of chaos is that it's an emergent property of deterministic mathematical functions. Perhaps the author meant "random" or "non-deterministic" rather than "chaotic"?

Re: Show HN: I was curious about spherical helix, ended up making this visualization

#94

Post by fsckboy »

when it gets past the "intro" slides and into the A-B-C explanation, slide 11 says "A helix is a shape that loops around and around, like a spring." Unfortunately, what is shown is not a helix nor a normal spring, it's just yet another spherical helix progression.

also, the progress dots at the bottom should be toc nav buttons, single stepping backward to find the slide above was torture.

and the derivation of a circle from two sines and a sphere from three, to me should really be separated out as a "pre req" presentation. this thought goes along with the above "hey, where's my helix" thought

Re: Show HN: I was curious about spherical helix, ended up making this visualization

#95

Post by pavel_lishin »

netdur wrote: post #87
latexr wrote: post #23

> If you like this, please consider following me on Twitter and sharing this with your friends. I do like this and will share with a couple of friends. But I no longer have a Twitter account and will definitely not rejoin. Would you consider adding an RSS or JSON feed to your website? Or make a Mastodon account, those provide RSS feeds by default.

Man, that whole ‘please make an RSS or JSON feed for me’ request reads like Richard Stallman emailing himself a webpage to print out later, let them use Twitter or whatever medium they wants

But it's not "for me", it's for everyone who'd be interested in getting regular updates from OP.

Twitter is the absolute worst way to get that, even if I had an account.

Re: Show HN: I was curious about spherical helix, ended up making this visualization

#98

Post by skalidindi3 »

addaon wrote: post #93

> …which we know isn't actually chaotic. It's just a path defined by mathematical functions. I don't know what function is being presented, so I can't speak to whether it demonstrates chaotic behavior -- but the whole /point/ of chaos is that it's an emergent property of deterministic mathematical functions. Perhaps the author meant "random" or "non-deterministic" rather than "chaotic"?

^^^ This is an extremely underrated nitpick.

I am guessing that the HN audience would be / should be interested in that distinction. Mathematically speaking, chaos is an extreme sensitivity to initial conditions, and is very much still in line with deterministic systems. The resulting output, while seemingly random (since there is no easily identifiable pattern), is mathematically and conceptually different from actual randomness.

Re: Show HN: I was curious about spherical helix, ended up making this visualization

#99

Post by taco_emoji »

srean wrote: post #3

These used to be super important in early oceanic navigation. It is easier to maintain a constant bearing throughout the voyage. So that's the plan sailors would try to stick close to. These led to let loxodromic curves or rhumb lines. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhumb_line Mercator maps made it easier to compute what that bearing ought to be. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection This configuration…

Don't forget this post, which spawned a discussion of Rhumb lines etc. in the comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44962767

Re: Show HN: I was curious about spherical helix, ended up making this visualization

#100

Post by grimgrin »

coreyp_1 wrote: post #92

The content is good, but the weird dither effect is giving me a horrible headache! I'm glad you created it (it's always good to see someone bring an idea to fruition!), and I hope that you continue to create cool things. But please, please, please turn off whatever effect you're using.

the dithering is lovely and the OP better not touch it. they can give you a toggle though :P
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