Nathaniel Virgo
@nathanielvirgo.bsky.social
Researcher in applied category theory at Hertfordshire, UK, formerly at ELSI, Japan. Maths, science and random creative projects.
My ridiculous opinion: "in lieu of" is synonymous with "in stead of", but not with "instead of".
November 2, 2025 at 1:32 PM
My ridiculous opinion: "in lieu of" is synonymous with "in stead of", but not with "instead of".
Pick such a vertex and draw lines from it to the endpoints of the original edge. One such line might be perpendicular to the stripe, but they can't both be. So we found a diagonal that's longer than the original measurement, and if we measure the width in that direction we'll get a different value.
October 26, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Pick such a vertex and draw lines from it to the endpoints of the original edge. One such line might be perpendicular to the stripe, but they can't both be. So we found a diagonal that's longer than the original measurement, and if we measure the width in that direction we'll get a different value.
Yes, but probably not in one post- let's try two. Pick any edge and measure the width perpendicular to that edge. Imagine the polygon in a two-dimensional tube, or stripe, of that width. The chosen edge touches one side of the stripe, and there is at least one vertex in contact with the other side.
October 26, 2025 at 11:39 AM
Yes, but probably not in one post- let's try two. Pick any edge and measure the width perpendicular to that edge. Imagine the polygon in a two-dimensional tube, or stripe, of that width. The chosen edge touches one side of the stripe, and there is at least one vertex in contact with the other side.
It's true for any convex shape except for shapes of constant width like the circle or Reuleaux triangle. If it's not constant width then there is one orientation where it's wider than another, and the narrower one will fit through the wider.
October 26, 2025 at 12:53 AM
It's true for any convex shape except for shapes of constant width like the circle or Reuleaux triangle. If it's not constant width then there is one orientation where it's wider than another, and the narrower one will fit through the wider.
Related: how do I find feeds to follow? In 'saved feeds' it tells me to find them on the search page, but if I search I only get posts, not feeds. The only feeds I could find are the ones in recommended feeds, on the search page if I don't search for anything
October 20, 2025 at 2:44 AM
Related: how do I find feeds to follow? In 'saved feeds' it tells me to find them on the search page, but if I search I only get posts, not feeds. The only feeds I could find are the ones in recommended feeds, on the search page if I don't search for anything
It seems it doesn't work if I follow them on skywalker either. I added a feed and it does up in my saved feeds in Skywalker, but I still only see "following" when I click the down arrow on the main page, as in the screenshot upthread
October 20, 2025 at 2:42 AM
It seems it doesn't work if I follow them on skywalker either. I added a feed and it does up in my saved feeds in Skywalker, but I still only see "following" when I click the down arrow on the main page, as in the screenshot upthread
(Regarding the Boltzmann passage, I think that by "probability" he means equilibrium probability, i.e. high probability means high entropy. The phrase "struggle for entropy" is a translation error and should really be something like "struggle over entropy, see german.stackexchange.com/a/61760/46662)
Boltzmann's "ein Kampf um die Entropie"
There is a famous-ish quote from Ludwig Boltzmann, which, in English translation, reads (emphasis added):
The general struggle for existence of animate beings is therefore not a struggle for raw
german.stackexchange.com
October 19, 2025 at 1:15 AM
(Regarding the Boltzmann passage, I think that by "probability" he means equilibrium probability, i.e. high probability means high entropy. The phrase "struggle for entropy" is a translation error and should really be something like "struggle over entropy, see german.stackexchange.com/a/61760/46662)
However, Lotka does give some other Boltzmann references where Boltzmann might have said it more explicitly.
October 19, 2025 at 1:06 AM
However, Lotka does give some other Boltzmann references where Boltzmann might have said it more explicitly.
For Lotka I had mis-remembered, my apologies. I was thinking of his paper "contribution to the energetics of evolution" from 1922, but he actually just cites Boltzmann and then starts talking about ecology and evolution.
October 19, 2025 at 1:06 AM
For Lotka I had mis-remembered, my apologies. I was thinking of his paper "contribution to the energetics of evolution" from 1922, but he actually just cites Boltzmann and then starts talking about ecology and evolution.
For Boltzmann I was thinking of this passage, which is a translated transcription of a talk called "the second law of thermodynamics", given in 1886. It might not be as explicit as later authors, but it's clear he understood the point.
October 19, 2025 at 1:03 AM
For Boltzmann I was thinking of this passage, which is a translated transcription of a talk called "the second law of thermodynamics", given in 1886. It might not be as explicit as later authors, but it's clear he understood the point.
Other people who also recorded the idea before Schrödinger include Ludwig Boltzmann (probably the first) and Alfred Lotka (~1920s)
October 18, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Other people who also recorded the idea before Schrödinger include Ludwig Boltzmann (probably the first) and Alfred Lotka (~1920s)
I don't know if there's a difference between pinning a feed as a favourite and following it, but I'm following them and they appear at the top of my timeline on web and on the default bluesky app
October 15, 2025 at 1:15 PM
I don't know if there's a difference between pinning a feed as a favourite and following it, but I'm following them and they appear at the top of my timeline on web and on the default bluesky app
If I click on "following" I just see this, I don't see any of my other feeds
October 14, 2025 at 1:47 AM
If I click on "following" I just see this, I don't see any of my other feeds
Is there an old version of your app on the UK Play store? I don't see any of this stuff and can only view the "following" feed as far as I can tell
October 14, 2025 at 1:44 AM
Is there an old version of your app on the UK Play store? I don't see any of this stuff and can only view the "following" feed as far as I can tell
I do not want to allow you or your partners to track me or collect data about me. I'm paying you. I don't want to be the product.
September 30, 2025 at 11:09 PM
I do not want to allow you or your partners to track me or collect data about me. I'm paying you. I don't want to be the product.
It'll settle into a higher orbit once the Earth becomes tidally locked to the moon, so it always shows the same face to the moon in the same way the moon always shows the same face to the Earth. It'll take a really long time though- I'm not sure if the sun will expand and swallow both of them first.
September 5, 2025 at 7:13 PM
It'll settle into a higher orbit once the Earth becomes tidally locked to the moon, so it always shows the same face to the moon in the same way the moon always shows the same face to the Earth. It'll take a really long time though- I'm not sure if the sun will expand and swallow both of them first.
Or it bubbles air through the water before sucking it into the sampling device at the bottom for some reason? The thing at the bottom looks kind of like lab equipment and the red tube looks like it's stuck into the water
August 31, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Or it bubbles air through the water before sucking it into the sampling device at the bottom for some reason? The thing at the bottom looks kind of like lab equipment and the red tube looks like it's stuck into the water
My guess is it's much more than the annual budget to run arXiv.org, so my proposal is that the UK should found its own archive server for disseminating publicly funded research and stop giving taxpayer money to private companies who charge thousands of £'s to put a pdf file on a web site.
July 15, 2025 at 3:29 PM
My guess is it's much more than the annual budget to run arXiv.org, so my proposal is that the UK should found its own archive server for disseminating publicly funded research and stop giving taxpayer money to private companies who charge thousands of £'s to put a pdf file on a web site.
A while back I made my own tool for conjugation drills, but it kept saying things like "死んでください" (a polite request to die)
July 15, 2025 at 11:48 AM
A while back I made my own tool for conjugation drills, but it kept saying things like "死んでください" (a polite request to die)
Flowers quash all bad feelings, indeed.
July 8, 2025 at 9:42 AM
Flowers quash all bad feelings, indeed.
In the Gremlins adventure game on the Commodore 64, if you type "run" in the first room you'll end up in a weird glitched out room whose description is "I'm in a." You can wander through these weird rooms a bit and get to a later part of the game, but you won't have the items you need to proceed.
July 5, 2025 at 9:49 PM
In the Gremlins adventure game on the Commodore 64, if you type "run" in the first room you'll end up in a weird glitched out room whose description is "I'm in a." You can wander through these weird rooms a bit and get to a later part of the game, but you won't have the items you need to proceed.
Oh, that looks very promising, thank you! I also stay away from subscription models, but I might try it.
July 1, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Oh, that looks very promising, thank you! I also stay away from subscription models, but I might try it.
(This thread brought to you by the fact that I just closed all my browser tabs in an effort to keep the room cool)
July 1, 2025 at 11:16 AM
(This thread brought to you by the fact that I just closed all my browser tabs in an effort to keep the room cool)