Emil Briggs
@emilbriggs.bsky.social
Physicist, dog dad and rock climber. Research interests include electronic structure methods and high performance computing.
Google Scholar.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=ooB4aXMAAAAJ&view_op=list_works
Google Scholar.
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=ooB4aXMAAAAJ&view_op=list_works
Math and physics papers were another whole level of pain back then. Swapping type heads over and over again on an IBM Selectric in order to get an equation on the page and having to start over if you messed something up.
November 12, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Math and physics papers were another whole level of pain back then. Swapping type heads over and over again on an IBM Selectric in order to get an equation on the page and having to start over if you messed something up.
LaTeX has a steep learning curve but is hands down better than anything else for equation heavy documents once you do learn it. Even Microsoft figured this out eventually and incorporated LaTeX into Word
November 12, 2025 at 1:19 PM
LaTeX has a steep learning curve but is hands down better than anything else for equation heavy documents once you do learn it. Even Microsoft figured this out eventually and incorporated LaTeX into Word
You didn't have a lot of options back then with only 3 networks which I guess let some pretty lousy shows survive longer than they should have.
November 11, 2025 at 9:08 PM
You didn't have a lot of options back then with only 3 networks which I guess let some pretty lousy shows survive longer than they should have.
You're a couple of years older than me but when I went to college you could still work a full time job in the summer, part time in the school year and graduate from a flagship state school with no debt. That's not possible today and it shows in reduced social mobility since the 70s.
November 11, 2025 at 12:22 AM
You're a couple of years older than me but when I went to college you could still work a full time job in the summer, part time in the school year and graduate from a flagship state school with no debt. That's not possible today and it shows in reduced social mobility since the 70s.
It's not making sense to me. If driven hard most datacenter GPUs won't physically last more than 3 years. If you're just stockpiling or lightly using them they'll last but won't be generating much revenue and will still be depreciating given a new generation comes out every 2 years.
November 11, 2025 at 12:08 AM
It's not making sense to me. If driven hard most datacenter GPUs won't physically last more than 3 years. If you're just stockpiling or lightly using them they'll last but won't be generating much revenue and will still be depreciating given a new generation comes out every 2 years.
Wait a sec. They're claiming a useful lifetime of 6 years for compute equipment?
November 10, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Wait a sec. They're claiming a useful lifetime of 6 years for compute equipment?
This is an overly simplified take. Some things are certainly cheaper but others are not. Technology has fallen drastically in price but higher education and housing costs have risen. A particular individuals view is going to depend in large part on what they need at this point in their life.
November 10, 2025 at 5:34 PM
This is an overly simplified take. Some things are certainly cheaper but others are not. Technology has fallen drastically in price but higher education and housing costs have risen. A particular individuals view is going to depend in large part on what they need at this point in their life.
This kabuki theatre isn't fooling anyone.
November 10, 2025 at 2:40 AM
This kabuki theatre isn't fooling anyone.
News sources are reporting you caved and abandoned protecting the ACA subsidies. I hope that's not true as I'm sure you know Dem voters understand a promise to hold a vote in the future is a sham.
November 10, 2025 at 12:30 AM
News sources are reporting you caved and abandoned protecting the ACA subsidies. I hope that's not true as I'm sure you know Dem voters understand a promise to hold a vote in the future is a sham.
And if you cave on this as politico is reporting those premiums will skyrocket. I'm not from Georgia and can't vote in a primary but I'll donate to anyone who does primary Dem senators who sign on to this.
November 10, 2025 at 12:14 AM
And if you cave on this as politico is reporting those premiums will skyrocket. I'm not from Georgia and can't vote in a primary but I'll donate to anyone who does primary Dem senators who sign on to this.
If you cave on the ACA subsidies you're a disgrace. An agreement to have a vote at a later date isn't fooling anyone. And you wonder why the party approval is in the toilet.
November 10, 2025 at 12:02 AM
If you cave on the ACA subsidies you're a disgrace. An agreement to have a vote at a later date isn't fooling anyone. And you wonder why the party approval is in the toilet.
This is great and matches something I've noticed where people with highly intellectual professional lives often gravitate towards manual or physical hobbies.
November 9, 2025 at 6:02 PM
This is great and matches something I've noticed where people with highly intellectual professional lives often gravitate towards manual or physical hobbies.
To be fair it's hard to be sure what's parody and what isn't these days. I mean 10 years ago "President appeals to Supreme Court to starve Americans" would have been something for the Onion.
November 9, 2025 at 2:19 AM
To be fair it's hard to be sure what's parody and what isn't these days. I mean 10 years ago "President appeals to Supreme Court to starve Americans" would have been something for the Onion.
LOL. It has been entertaining in a way not usually associated with trials.
November 5, 2025 at 9:09 PM
LOL. It has been entertaining in a way not usually associated with trials.
I've never thought that but yeah I've been worried. Tonight's results give me hope but I think increase the chance of something extreme from the R's.
November 5, 2025 at 2:29 AM
I've never thought that but yeah I've been worried. Tonight's results give me hope but I think increase the chance of something extreme from the R's.
My wife doesn't understand why I like listening to music in a language I don't know but this is a good explanation.
November 4, 2025 at 9:32 PM
My wife doesn't understand why I like listening to music in a language I don't know but this is a good explanation.
Any gains Dems make right now are far more likely to come about because of a backlash against the current administration.
November 2, 2025 at 8:14 PM
Any gains Dems make right now are far more likely to come about because of a backlash against the current administration.
If you look at this military record it makes sense. He was an infantry officer but never completed Ranger or Airborne school. Never served in any leadership position above the platoon level. Clearly substandard and he's trying to compensate for his feelings of inadequacy now with these workout vids.
November 2, 2025 at 7:02 PM
If you look at this military record it makes sense. He was an infantry officer but never completed Ranger or Airborne school. Never served in any leadership position above the platoon level. Clearly substandard and he's trying to compensate for his feelings of inadequacy now with these workout vids.
You need to know what interests they value the most. For a substantial part of the population it's not economic.
November 1, 2025 at 11:36 PM
You need to know what interests they value the most. For a substantial part of the population it's not economic.
I wonder about the cognitive dissonance that lets Trump supporters with even a minimal knowledge of networking square this statement with their belief that he's all there mentally.
October 22, 2025 at 11:32 PM
I wonder about the cognitive dissonance that lets Trump supporters with even a minimal knowledge of networking square this statement with their belief that he's all there mentally.
Maga defense of that cringe worthy workout video he posted is just as bad. Their typical response to criticism seems to be "He's 45 and you think you could do better". Well I'm in my 60s and yeah I can do better. But how many pullups you can do is irrelevant to running DOD.
October 22, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Maga defense of that cringe worthy workout video he posted is just as bad. Their typical response to criticism seems to be "He's 45 and you think you could do better". Well I'm in my 60s and yeah I can do better. But how many pullups you can do is irrelevant to running DOD.
Actually that bit about secession might not be a bad idea. After a few years without the subsidies blue states provide to red states they would likely come crawling back.
October 20, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Actually that bit about secession might not be a bad idea. After a few years without the subsidies blue states provide to red states they would likely come crawling back.
Anecdotally the one in Raleigh today was much bigger than the one in June which I also attended. There were people there who normally don't pay that much attention to politics other than right before an election.
October 18, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Anecdotally the one in Raleigh today was much bigger than the one in June which I also attended. There were people there who normally don't pay that much attention to politics other than right before an election.
Labels aside I'm curious how the effort to portray Portland as a war torn wasteland is going with the general public. Portland metro area pop is over 2 million. So it's a good bet the vast majority of people know someone at most 1 or 2 connections removed from a resident who will make clear it's BS.
October 14, 2025 at 1:11 AM
Labels aside I'm curious how the effort to portray Portland as a war torn wasteland is going with the general public. Portland metro area pop is over 2 million. So it's a good bet the vast majority of people know someone at most 1 or 2 connections removed from a resident who will make clear it's BS.