John BS @johnabs@social.cleverlibre.org

@freemo @zpartacoos Well yes, but we have a few advantages over how groups formed in the past. We aren't physically, intellectually, or even culturally insulated, and we are in the position here to "grow our own foundation" from the foundations of everyone who brings something a little different to the table.

Since we're on the internet, I bet we have a nice heterogeneity of culture. Thus, we can extract the commonalities among them, choose the best between them, and see what comes out the other side. This does not logically necessitate xenophobia or discrimination. It simply provides a guiding ethos, and a set of criteria people can evaluate to determine whether or not they want to participate.

@freemo @zpartacoos I'd contend it depends on the values. (I agree with your point on mob size though).

If the values are "we respect each individuals right to do what they want with themselves, and whoever they interact with consensually". That is a value that is hard to abuse.

However, there are values which can be abused, and there are behaviors that we may not want happening that fall into that previously mentioned value. Thus the need for debate and determination of what values are reasonable, and which contradictory values need to be in place as exceptions to the general rule.

Example: "don't kill people":
Exception: "unless in self-defense"

And so forth.

Ultimately it may even be a difference between whether the values are affirmative or prohibitory:

"We affirm your right to x,y,z, and anything outside that will be handled on a case-by-case basis."

Or

"Here's what's prohibited, the rest is allowed on a case-by-case basis."

Or some combination thereof.

So ultimately I think it depends on how it's implemented as to whether or not it is easier or harder to abuse, but ultimately any system of authority can be abused. So we either reduce the scope of the authority so the abuse is less damaging, or we hang the abusers without fixing anything like the French lmao.

@zpartacoos @freemo I think a key issue with respect to countries, or collectives of any sort, is the idea of shared values and incentives: from my perspective, a large reason for the seemingly tenuous nature of western countries at the moment is due to the lack of shared beliefs/a value structure for people to align themselves toward.

While you wish to build a country or community on the idea of rationalism and logic, fundamentally there are going to be some values we must accept (and agree on) that may or may not have a provable foundation in a strictly logical sense; thus, they may contradict other rational beliefs (see Godel's incompleteness theorem and its implications). E.g. the current debate over pronouns and the idea of the gender spectrum vs the gender binary. Some would say the spectrum is the only answer and those who disagree are unwelcome in their social circles, and vice-versa. These are both values that can be supported rationally and with sound logic, and either view is ultimately reasonable depending on the axioms you use to justify your position. (Whether or not the axioms are reasonable is a different question, but assuming they are the point as it is stands.) So how would we handle this politically charged, philosophical schism?

I would argue the strict, explicit definition of these values and axioms would be step 1, so individuals could reasonably evaluate if they want to take part in such a system. If this is going to be done democratically, it further stands to reason that people cannot (and should not) be held to standards of offense either at all, or until the standards are finalized. Perhaps an anonymous discussion is in order up front. This allows potential members to hash out difficult topics without fear of retribution for their input, which is critically important for good ideas to gestate.

After this initial process is ironed out (and maybe repeated in the future as things change), I would argue the rest is easy, at least philosophically, though probably not so much in the implementation.

If you don't mind @zpartacoos, I would enjoy helping you put "pen-to-paper" and formalizing some of these ideas. I think this would be at the very least, a fun exercise, regardless of whether or not it bears fruit eventually :)

@freemo I was looking in the markdown section for it....when it was the first thing on the list. Thanks for pointing that out! xD

@freemo By fencing do you mean something like:

"""math
math_stuff
"""

?

@zpartacoos I'm just using the web client atm.

Test: does LaTeX work in the markdown here?

$i\bar{h} \frac{\partial}{\partial t}|\psi(t)\rangle = \hat{H}|\psi(t)\rangle$

So light roast, cold-brewed, filtered coffee tastes more like "coffee tea" and dark chocolate than the typical drek my family drinks. If you can't tell, I've never been a fan of coffee until now.

I have an extraction method, amber storage glassware, and an incredible cup of joe... Now all I need is a vacuum flask, a Buchner funnel and lab grade filter papers and this process will take a lot less time (2 hours to filter a half gallon today).

I guess 8 years of training in chemistry and chromatography is finally paying off

@academicalnerd Would you like me to send you some literature on the topic? I appreciate your position, but modern medical "standard of care" lags behind the literature by a significant margin.

The mental benefits of fasting have been known anecdotally for millennia, and have been studied more in-depth recently. BHB is just a way to mimic that naturally occurring metabolic state, as it is produced in high concentrations during fasting as a product of the beta-oxidation of lipids.

@freemo I could be wrong on the reasoning, but I believe the term sapphire exclusively referred to the blue variant (and possibly lapis lazuli) from an etymology perspective. It is a VERY old word, in fact.

Maybe it's not a marketing gimmick just natural language evolution, but in that case, why call them sapphire or ruby at all? Just call em *Corundum(or *Sapphire), where * is the RGBAOCCCC (rgba+optical orientation+the 4Cs) of the gem. Maybe it doesn't roll off the tongue? XD

WHO DEVISED THIS TERRIBLE NAMING SCHEME? I NEED ANSWERS FREEMO, WHY ARE PEOPLE LIKE THIS?!

@freemo I didn't forget, I was just saying that applying the term "sapphire" to a piece of corundum without any colored impurities is likely just a marketing gimmick, since most people don't know what corundum is, but they recognize the terms ruby/sapphire. The problem is rubies MUST be red by definition, whereas sapphires used to refer to blue corundum, the term has been relaxed to include any color including clear (which kind of defeats the point of the term corundum/sapphire completely).

@freemo "hardened aluminum oxide for increased hardness"

I'm leaving this 2AM typo in because I'm hoping someone may find another reason to produce harder X, than just making X harder lmao

@freemo It appears this 4nm layer is amorphous (or at least polycrystalline), not corundum/sapphire, unless produced by plasma oxidation with the express purpose of producing hardened aluminum oxide for increased hardness. Additionally, while clear, pure, alpha-crystalline aluminum oxide is often called sapphire (for what I think must be a marketing gimmick) it is actually just pure corundum, as sapphire is corundum with the metal ion inclusions that aren't red (which is ruby).

But the aluminum passivity layer is pretty sick from a materials/chemical perspective for sure :3

@academicalnerd Have you considered supplementing exogenous Beta-Hydroxybutyrate? It's also a brain booster (increases production of BDNF) and an alternative fuel source for cells. You may know this already, but it's naturally produced and metabolized during a ketogenic state.

@freemo P.S. For suggestions on other tools, hit me up, I'm slowly building out my new garage with woodworking/soldering/etc tools, and love to make suggestions where I can :)

@freemo Hey Freemo! I did a lot of 3d printer modding to my current machine, and I've got a few suggestions.

1. For brands, I'd check out Prusa(high quality, high pricetag) or Ender (medium quality, low pricetag). I personally have an Ender 5. It has a modded mainboard with trinamic drivers which make it completely silent. The Prusa board has said drivers, but costs nearly double (even though some parts are 3d printed), whereas my board upgrade was ~30-40 dollars and my machine is all aluminum/steel. I would suggest against a Reprap, the quality tends to be a bit of a crap-shoot. BTW this is all FDM printing, for a plug and play option with high quality, I'd suggest looking at resin printers. They are excellent, and prices have dropped comparable to FDM printers, but the resin process requires some extra equipment (UV lights for curing, a way to store/dispose of waste resin, etc.) But strength, and resolution on resin printers is unmatched by FDM.

2. For CAD software, I use FreeCAD, especially for "engineering" parts. For decorations/sculpting, use blender. FreeCAD is **decent** at what it does, but if you're willing to pay for nicer ones like Fusion360 etc. I'd likely suggest those (especially since there are loads of tutorials on them). I'm just cheap and won't shell out for it. For 3D printer slicer software, I'd heavily suggest Cura (or the Prusa software if you get their hardware). For CNC tool-paths, it depends on which machine you buy typically.

3. For metal CNC, especially if you want steel, you'll need a serious upgrade, probably even a plasma cutter just for sheet metal. If you're willing to stick with aluminum and other softer metals, you can try to build it yourself or order something instead. For the DIY route, I'd check out a plan on [OpenBuilds](https://openbuilds.com/),then source your parts from AliExpress/BangGood (or OpenBuilds, but their prices are high). If you just want to buy one, you can easily grab a cheapo off aliexpress/banggood/amazon, or you can go absolutely wild and buy an AVID machine for $5-10K, and throw in that dual plasma cutter head for fun [like this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OTwT0WFBmg).

I hope this was somewhat helpful :)

The new tarantula babies came in today!

I'm worried two of them are psychos but the others behaved nicely during their transfer into their new homes.

My H Pulchripes bolted for like 30 continuous seconds, which is some **serious** stamina for a tarantula. The M Balfouri decided to do a Cirque du Soleil and jumped off the inside of the catch cup, which could have been fatal for the poor girl. Fortunately, it seems fine nearly 14 hours later, so I'm hoping all is good. My P. metallica, known to be "teleporters", was a sweetheart and super easy to get into its enclosure.

Here are some pictures, one of them is absolutely tiny.

I've got some striking blue tarantulas coming in the mail this week, and I'm quite excited to get them set up in their new enclosures. All their names are derived from Quenya from LOTR. Links to pictures of full grown specimens are below for anyone interested.

(Also, I picked up a sweetheart that's very gentle and handle-able! She's not blue, but she gets extra points for her personality 😍 I caught her drinking today, and she's such a cutie!)

I'll post pictures of my spiderlings when they come in if anyone is interested.

[M. balfouri](https://www.reptileforums.co.uk/attachments/mbalfouri-jpg.46080/)
[H. pulchripes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpactira_pulchripes#/media/File:Harpactira_pulchripes01.jpg)
[P. metallica](https://www.flickr.com/photos/d0gmatic/2578525672)
[P. sazimai](https://arachnoboards.com/gallery/freshly-molted-p-sazimai.41096/full?d=1495719966)
[Bonus A. chalcodes](https://arachnoboards.com/gallery/new-female-a-chalcodes.48276/full?d=1519515726)

Pro tip: [Julia](https://julialang.org/) is an amazing language, use it.

Reasoning: I got a 25x performance increase for multiple functions by converting from R code to Julia, even with the same or very similar syntax.

They have great implementation of higher order functions like map,reduce, zip, etc. with loads of LLVM optimizations to make declarative syntax as performant as imperative. Multiple dispatch lets you write overloaded code easier, and the type system is really nice imo.

Package management is great like R, it's a pleasure to install new stuff and it doesn't screw up your system or write in the wrong places (*COUGH* PIP *COUGH*).

They also have a CAS system, which integrates beautifully with a simulation framework, which is known in the industry as HECKIN' SICK.

(See this [article] (https://notamonadtutorial.com/modeling-complexity-with-symbolics-jl-and-modelingtoolkit-jl-df923129996b) )

Their [YT channel](https://www.youtube.com/user/JuliaLanguage) is full of awesome innovation by people in loads of different fields from Quant Finance to ML/AI and more.

Finally, it integrates well with python and R, so if there's some library you REALLY want, without needing to re-write the code into Julia, you can still use it (though your performance may not be as good).

Let me know what y'all think. I'm trying to get people onboard; it seriously deserves way more love than it's currently getting, even though MIT is developing it, and doing an amazing job with it.