Joshua Otti
@joshuaotti.bsky.social
Hi, My name is Joshua Cook Otti. I am a PhD in theoretical computer science, software engineer, and the author for stemforest books.
My website: joshuaotti.com
Stem Forest Books website: stemforestbooks.com
My website: joshuaotti.com
Stem Forest Books website: stemforestbooks.com
Pinned
Joshua Otti
@joshuaotti.bsky.social
· Nov 7
Want to teach stem concepts to your elementary age children? Teach them binary search with my book, Leaf's Library. It's about brown fairies who learn binary search to find books faster.
Do I even want a vr treadmill anymore? Now I just play video games while I'm waiting for my program to finish. Being too emersed could stop me from working.
Anyway, yes I do.
Anyway, yes I do.
November 12, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Do I even want a vr treadmill anymore? Now I just play video games while I'm waiting for my program to finish. Being too emersed could stop me from working.
Anyway, yes I do.
Anyway, yes I do.
I'm looking through my previous experiment, and I think I accidentally approximated the normal distribution using only 7 points, instead of the 121 I meant to. Maybe. Oops.
It doesn’t invalidate the earlier result either way, but woops.
It doesn’t invalidate the earlier result either way, but woops.
November 11, 2025 at 12:55 PM
I'm looking through my previous experiment, and I think I accidentally approximated the normal distribution using only 7 points, instead of the 121 I meant to. Maybe. Oops.
It doesn’t invalidate the earlier result either way, but woops.
It doesn’t invalidate the earlier result either way, but woops.
It's weird. The time changed and all of a sudden I'm at work 9 till 5 and eating lunch at lunch time. I guess I've always just been on standard time.
November 5, 2025 at 8:58 PM
It's weird. The time changed and all of a sudden I'm at work 9 till 5 and eating lunch at lunch time. I guess I've always just been on standard time.
Revamped my imaginary calendar system to make sunrise approximately zero o'clock. Two major consequences:
1: time zones are now based on longitude and latitude.
2: days have more minutes in summer and fall than winter and spring.
Not sure if it's better or not.
1: time zones are now based on longitude and latitude.
2: days have more minutes in summer and fall than winter and spring.
Not sure if it's better or not.
November 2, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Revamped my imaginary calendar system to make sunrise approximately zero o'clock. Two major consequences:
1: time zones are now based on longitude and latitude.
2: days have more minutes in summer and fall than winter and spring.
Not sure if it's better or not.
1: time zones are now based on longitude and latitude.
2: days have more minutes in summer and fall than winter and spring.
Not sure if it's better or not.
I get why we pinned time to noon and midnight. It makes timezones much simpler, plus sundials.
But an alternative reality where we defined time of day based on sunrise would fix most of our stupid daylight savings time issues, even if it would mean way more time zones.
But an alternative reality where we defined time of day based on sunrise would fix most of our stupid daylight savings time issues, even if it would mean way more time zones.
November 2, 2025 at 9:39 AM
I get why we pinned time to noon and midnight. It makes timezones much simpler, plus sundials.
But an alternative reality where we defined time of day based on sunrise would fix most of our stupid daylight savings time issues, even if it would mean way more time zones.
But an alternative reality where we defined time of day based on sunrise would fix most of our stupid daylight savings time issues, even if it would mean way more time zones.
It is wild that game streaming now has less input latency than my TV. Like, why the heck is input latency on some of these TVs so high?
How is it cheaper to store the image for like 5 frames before displaying it then just displaying them as they get in (with maybe 1 buffer)?
How is it cheaper to store the image for like 5 frames before displaying it then just displaying them as they get in (with maybe 1 buffer)?
November 2, 2025 at 9:25 AM
It is wild that game streaming now has less input latency than my TV. Like, why the heck is input latency on some of these TVs so high?
How is it cheaper to store the image for like 5 frames before displaying it then just displaying them as they get in (with maybe 1 buffer)?
How is it cheaper to store the image for like 5 frames before displaying it then just displaying them as they get in (with maybe 1 buffer)?
Does anyone out there know why hdrhistogram is so popular? It seems like it is just exponentially sized buckets (so larger values have larger buckets) and only the number in each bucket is stored.
Why doesn't it store more things in a bucket, like average values in that bucket, or higher moments?
Why doesn't it store more things in a bucket, like average values in that bucket, or higher moments?
October 28, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Does anyone out there know why hdrhistogram is so popular? It seems like it is just exponentially sized buckets (so larger values have larger buckets) and only the number in each bucket is stored.
Why doesn't it store more things in a bucket, like average values in that bucket, or higher moments?
Why doesn't it store more things in a bucket, like average values in that bucket, or higher moments?
It's kind of wild that AWS advertises more than 3 nines of availability on any service. Like, these outages happen, and eliminating them is practically impossible while still delivering new features (which they have to do to stay competitive).
October 21, 2025 at 7:56 AM
It's kind of wild that AWS advertises more than 3 nines of availability on any service. Like, these outages happen, and eliminating them is practically impossible while still delivering new features (which they have to do to stay competitive).
I'm trying to implement a concurrency counter for a rust rocket server. But the workload has no IO, so often times it is scheduled so that no two requests are processing at once. Great from an architectural POV, but annoying for what I want.
October 18, 2025 at 6:19 PM
I'm trying to implement a concurrency counter for a rust rocket server. But the workload has no IO, so often times it is scheduled so that no two requests are processing at once. Great from an architectural POV, but annoying for what I want.
Just ordered food from McDonald's online. I was denied entry at the door. Yes. I am now angry man complaining on the internet.
October 18, 2025 at 5:10 AM
Just ordered food from McDonald's online. I was denied entry at the door. Yes. I am now angry man complaining on the internet.
Got an excuse to write a bit more Rust today, and I finally won the lifetime achievement.
October 17, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Got an excuse to write a bit more Rust today, and I finally won the lifetime achievement.
Remember when basically every kids or action movie had a console game? They weren't very good, but it was kind of nice for the kids who liked the movie way too much.
I believe these still exist, but they are much cheaper and generally redskins of basic mobile games.
A better time.
I believe these still exist, but they are much cheaper and generally redskins of basic mobile games.
A better time.
October 16, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Remember when basically every kids or action movie had a console game? They weren't very good, but it was kind of nice for the kids who liked the movie way too much.
I believe these still exist, but they are much cheaper and generally redskins of basic mobile games.
A better time.
I believe these still exist, but they are much cheaper and generally redskins of basic mobile games.
A better time.
The monthly subscription gets you unlimited content makes sense when giving people more content is cheap.
This is not the case for AI video generation. I can't see a way that subscriptions could be profitable. It has to be a short term strategy to get users hooked and make their numbers look better
This is not the case for AI video generation. I can't see a way that subscriptions could be profitable. It has to be a short term strategy to get users hooked and make their numbers look better
October 14, 2025 at 6:22 AM
The monthly subscription gets you unlimited content makes sense when giving people more content is cheap.
This is not the case for AI video generation. I can't see a way that subscriptions could be profitable. It has to be a short term strategy to get users hooked and make their numbers look better
This is not the case for AI video generation. I can't see a way that subscriptions could be profitable. It has to be a short term strategy to get users hooked and make their numbers look better
Some games on hard mode feel unfair and not fun (oblivion comes to mind). But I rarely get that feeling in a game designed from the ground up to be hard (like dark souls or hollowknight).
October 12, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Some games on hard mode feel unfair and not fun (oblivion comes to mind). But I rarely get that feeling in a game designed from the ground up to be hard (like dark souls or hollowknight).
High resolution textures and models (the kinds only used on very high settings) should be an optional download. I shouldn’t double disk usage for a feature I don’t use.
October 10, 2025 at 4:48 PM
High resolution textures and models (the kinds only used on very high settings) should be an optional download. I shouldn’t double disk usage for a feature I don’t use.
The Nobel peace prize honestly should not be given much weight. It is regularly given to people who have in the past, and will in the future, commit atrocities. Is Trump truly less deserving than Henry Kissinger?
October 8, 2025 at 4:50 PM
The Nobel peace prize honestly should not be given much weight. It is regularly given to people who have in the past, and will in the future, commit atrocities. Is Trump truly less deserving than Henry Kissinger?
I'm looking for information on this, and it doesn't look like the new york gifted program is accelerated. It's one grade above the standard grade. That's not acceleration, that's a head start at the same pace.
If that's all it is, skip a grade. Solved.
If it isn't, please clarify what it is.
If that's all it is, skip a grade. Solved.
If it isn't, please clarify what it is.
His argument here is that every child deserves the highest quality education. And that true. But gifted ed programs aren't higher quality, they're accelerated. Gifted kids get bored and tune out in a regular classroom because it doesn't move fast enough, but it's the right place for other kids.
October 4, 2025 at 12:55 AM
I'm looking for information on this, and it doesn't look like the new york gifted program is accelerated. It's one grade above the standard grade. That's not acceleration, that's a head start at the same pace.
If that's all it is, skip a grade. Solved.
If it isn't, please clarify what it is.
If that's all it is, skip a grade. Solved.
If it isn't, please clarify what it is.
This is why public research funding is important. Private companies rarely solve hard problems. Investors like Warren Buffet actively avoid it.
Private companies will sell you solutions at a good price, but usually after a public researcher does the hard part.
finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-...
Private companies will sell you solutions at a good price, but usually after a public researcher does the hard part.
finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-...
Warren Buffett Says Don’t Bother Investing in Companies Solving Hard Problems, ‘What We Have Learned Is to Avoid Them’
Warren Buffett’s reflections on business strategy highlight the power of simplicity, discipline, and choosing solvable problems over unnecessary complexity.
finance.yahoo.com
October 2, 2025 at 8:34 AM
This is why public research funding is important. Private companies rarely solve hard problems. Investors like Warren Buffet actively avoid it.
Private companies will sell you solutions at a good price, but usually after a public researcher does the hard part.
finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-...
Private companies will sell you solutions at a good price, but usually after a public researcher does the hard part.
finance.yahoo.com/news/warren-...
Shorter people should be better at video games. Shorter arms means lower brain to finger latency.
As a child, I always wanted to be tall. But honestly, being small just seems objectively better in many, many ways.
As a child, I always wanted to be tall. But honestly, being small just seems objectively better in many, many ways.
October 1, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Shorter people should be better at video games. Shorter arms means lower brain to finger latency.
As a child, I always wanted to be tall. But honestly, being small just seems objectively better in many, many ways.
As a child, I always wanted to be tall. But honestly, being small just seems objectively better in many, many ways.
Right now would be a very embarrassing time to be visited by aliens.
September 30, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Right now would be a very embarrassing time to be visited by aliens.
Teaching basic government to kids right now must be a trip.
"There’s separation of powers. The executive branch doesn't write laws or control spending. Except now it does. Because the Supreme Court is implicitly deciding there is no separation of powers."
"There’s separation of powers. The executive branch doesn't write laws or control spending. Except now it does. Because the Supreme Court is implicitly deciding there is no separation of powers."
September 27, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Teaching basic government to kids right now must be a trip.
"There’s separation of powers. The executive branch doesn't write laws or control spending. Except now it does. Because the Supreme Court is implicitly deciding there is no separation of powers."
"There’s separation of powers. The executive branch doesn't write laws or control spending. Except now it does. Because the Supreme Court is implicitly deciding there is no separation of powers."
A bit disappointed that the steam frame was not announced last week.
September 25, 2025 at 2:35 AM
A bit disappointed that the steam frame was not announced last week.
I'm kind of disappointed no one wants to take the mantle of science leader of the world from the US. We slashed education early this year and now we are pushing out high skill scientists in the private sector.
September 20, 2025 at 6:45 PM
I'm kind of disappointed no one wants to take the mantle of science leader of the world from the US. We slashed education early this year and now we are pushing out high skill scientists in the private sector.
Health care companies are struggling to adapt from the near instantaneous change cdc guidance being:
Rigorous, evidence based, conservative safety guidelines.
to
Incoherent rambling based on paranoid vibes without a clear medical interpretation.
Rigorous, evidence based, conservative safety guidelines.
to
Incoherent rambling based on paranoid vibes without a clear medical interpretation.
September 20, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Health care companies are struggling to adapt from the near instantaneous change cdc guidance being:
Rigorous, evidence based, conservative safety guidelines.
to
Incoherent rambling based on paranoid vibes without a clear medical interpretation.
Rigorous, evidence based, conservative safety guidelines.
to
Incoherent rambling based on paranoid vibes without a clear medical interpretation.
It's nice to finally have definitive proof that this administration hates immigrants of all kinds, except for ultra wealthy ones. There is no margin for interpretation here.
People fleeing violence? Hate, gangsters.
High skill tech and medical workers? Hate, steal jobs.
Low skill? Hate, always.
People fleeing violence? Hate, gangsters.
High skill tech and medical workers? Hate, steal jobs.
Low skill? Hate, always.
September 20, 2025 at 6:27 PM
It's nice to finally have definitive proof that this administration hates immigrants of all kinds, except for ultra wealthy ones. There is no margin for interpretation here.
People fleeing violence? Hate, gangsters.
High skill tech and medical workers? Hate, steal jobs.
Low skill? Hate, always.
People fleeing violence? Hate, gangsters.
High skill tech and medical workers? Hate, steal jobs.
Low skill? Hate, always.