Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Teach me something new

news.ycombinator.com

401–410 of 782 posts

Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new

#401
post #377

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some French speaking countries use a more logic term for higher numbers. In Belgium and Switzerland 99 would be nonante-neuf which is ninety-nine. My uneducated guess is that at the time, it was easier to keep the base 20 to visualize a higher number. Just like we say "a few dozen eggs" to get an overall sense of the volume, it made more sense to keep it that way instead of a more arithmetic approach. Not sure why it…

> a more logic term Logical according to whom? Why is base 10 more logical than any of the other bases? I'd argue it's not , it's simply that it's what we're used to so we think it's more logical.

You're right, “coherent” would be more appropriate here

Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new

#402
post #119

In drug development, a lot of the engineering goes into making sure the pharmaceutical compound -- having been developed -- actually reaches the target area of the body. If the compound is a relatively large particle that needs to get into the blood stream, a nasal spray might result in the compound being deposited at the bottom of a person's lungs without ever getting absorbed. If stomach acids break the chemical do…

Grapefruit juice can also increase the amount of a drug absorbed into the bloodstream. It blocks an enzyme in the small intestine that breaks down many types of drugs.

Those are called bioactivators.

The other ones are piperine from white pepper and MSM which promotes nutrient digestibility.

Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new

#403
post #119

In drug development, a lot of the engineering goes into making sure the pharmaceutical compound -- having been developed -- actually reaches the target area of the body. If the compound is a relatively large particle that needs to get into the blood stream, a nasal spray might result in the compound being deposited at the bottom of a person's lungs without ever getting absorbed. If stomach acids break the chemical do…

that's pharmacokinetics right ?

Yes.

Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new

#404
post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fabulous addition. For anyone looking to see what a master harmonica player looks like, highly recommend looking up blues traveller / John Popper. In particular, there’s a live performance of no woman no cry that has John Popper alongside Ziggy Marley. Mind blowing. Watch it. You won’t regret it. https://youtu.be/9zk0HFG5mDw

Yep. And I'd add La Cavatina[1] among others. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Io0Ta9LzASs

(Pedantry) That's actually a chromatic harmonica, which is a somewhat different instrument from the diatonic harmonica / blues harp aspaviento is talking about. Chromatic harmonicas have a little lever that mechanically does some of the difficult tongue / breath stuff.

Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new

#405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the other weird things I referred to is best described as discovering that I could be awake and asleep at the same time. I think it might be another case of our naive ideas about cognitive processes being a little oversimplified. It sounds like nonsense, of course, but that's because we naively assume that sleep and wakefulness are opposites--that they are mutually exclusive. What if we're wrong about that? Wh…

I've been awake while asleep too, that's what sleep paralysis is. Sounds like it was a bit different for you, in that you didn't wake up to it, but it sounds like the same experience otherwise.

Right; in my case I would instead be awake but very tired, and I'd lie down and go to sleep without losing consciousness. The first time it happened I assumed it was a unique one-time experience, but it happened again several times.

It never happened, as far as I can remember, before I developed CFS. It never happened when I was not taking modafinil or armodafinil.

Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new

#406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the other weird things I referred to is best described as discovering that I could be awake and asleep at the same time. I think it might be another case of our naive ideas about cognitive processes being a little oversimplified. It sounds like nonsense, of course, but that's because we naively assume that sleep and wakefulness are opposites--that they are mutually exclusive. What if we're wrong about that? Wh…

Being aware while asleep is something that can happen to advanced meditators. The more aware you are the more you are there is no difference between being awake or asleep. I haven’t heard it brought up in any other contexts except maybe for lucid dream practitioners. I’ve also read accounts from those who have done dark room retreats where perception of being awake and asleep blur and the perception of what you are e…

I went to school at Naropa University, where a lot of meditation was part of the required curriculum (at least, when I was there; I have no idea what it's like now). I never experience the awake/asleep thing in connection with meditation, either at Naropa or in meditation practice outside the school, but I doubt that I could be in any way considered an advanced meditator.

Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new

#407
post #394
post #232

Ordering a typical printed circuit board with components placed on it is so cheap nowadays that this is a viable option for electeonic hobbyists nowadays (e.g. just ordered 50 pieces of audio output amplifiers at 3,49 € per piece (customs and shipping included), where 1.60 € would be the parts cost of the two chips on it. Only thing you need for this is: 1. An idea and some knowledge about electronics 2. An EDA softw…

What are the minimum order sizes like? Could I get two of something instead of 50, or would the per-piece price skyrocket?

The fab I use has a minimum order size of 3. It's a bit more expensive, but double digit monies for three decently complex boards.

Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new

#408
post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the other weird things I referred to is best described as discovering that I could be awake and asleep at the same time. I think it might be another case of our naive ideas about cognitive processes being a little oversimplified. It sounds like nonsense, of course, but that's because we naively assume that sleep and wakefulness are opposites--that they are mutually exclusive. What if we're wrong about that? Wh…

I could be wrong but the experience you're describing sounds like lucid dreaming.

No, it's different. I'm an experienced lucid dreamer. I'm also an experienced practitioner of shamanic drumming and the associated waking dream states. It's not the same as that, either.

Re: Ask HN: Teach me something new

#410
The earth's orbit is elliptical. However the orbit is much closer to a circle than to an ellipse (or at least the image that comes to mind when you say ellipse).

This image is taken from the wikipedia article mentioned below. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:EarthsOrbit_en.png

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth%27s_orbit

Post reply on HN