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How would the future of internet have looked like, if web browsers had not existed?
  • Certainly many others would have tried to invent something like the web.

    HyperCard predated the web browser and had the concept of easy to build pages that linked. Lots of people were working on ways to deliver apps over the Internet.

    I think in some alternative timeline we'd still have a lot of interactive content on the Internet somewhat like the web, but probably based on different technology. Maybe more proprietary.

  • Parental Advice
  • You get to choose how your 401k is invested, though. The only difference is a tax advantage.

    The advice is just: save money, let it grow using compound interest, use tax laws to your advantage.

    There's no "trust the government" in that advice.

  • The data is in: Return to Office policies don't improve employee performance or company value, but controlling bosses don't care
  • I’m sure this is true for some businesses, but there are also tons of businesses that have no vested interest in commercial real estate. It doesn’t explain all of it.

    Honestly I think a much better explanation is that on average, bosses like being in the office and they don’t understand why everyone isn’t like them. Top leadership tends to be extroverted and they got where they are by lots of networking. They don’t have enough appreciation that for a lot of other types of people and types of jobs, being in the office just makes things harder.

  • "If you tell a lie big enough and tell it frequently enough, people will eventually come to believe it". What is an example of this happening today?
  • Are you trying to illustrate the point?

    It wasn't 200, it was 2000.

    And while most did not carry guns, they brought other weapons and armor, and used improvised devices as weapons. And some did bring guns. Source: https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/07/28/politics/armed-insurrection-january-6-guns-fact-check/index.html

    Thank God they were poorly organized and that the capitol police resisted...but it's a complete lie to say it was 200 unarmed people.

    This is all on video! This isn't a matter of opinion!

  • The Downfall of Amazon: Dangerous Products, Fake Reviews & Vanishing Brands - Louis Rossman
  • I think there are different aspects to it.

    Amazon’s delivery service is better than ever. You get products in half the time, with less packaging, and fewer miles traveled to deliver it to you, without any significant increase in delivery fees.

    Price is still competitive when you take into account delivery cost and speed. If you don’t care about those, Amazon isn’t the cheapest.

    Search and reviews are down the tubes. It’s like Amazon no longer cares if their site is overrun with crap products as long as people are buying them.

    Amazon still works great if you only buy name-brand products that are fulfilled by Amazon.

  • The SAT Question Everyone Got Wrong
  • It explains the answer is 4 before the 5 minute mark.

    Part of the reason is because it goes into the story of the SAT being wrong and a student being the one to catch it, which I found interesting.

    After that it mathematically proves it several different ways and then shows how it relates to some real problems in astronomy.

  • Solo jazz guitar sight reading
  • I'm a semi-pro jazz piano player (meaning, I'm good enough to get paying gigs, but I don't do it for a living). I've definitely performed solo piano many times. I know it's not quite the same as guitar but hopefully it's still insightful.

    You use the term "sight reading", but I would never perform a piece I'd never seen or heard before solo. If I'm playing solo, I get to pick what I play, so why would I play something I hadn't rehearsed?

    Now, that doesn't mean that I might not pull out a piece I'd never performed solo before. There are lots of jazz standards that I've played many times in a trio or quartet, so I've heard and played the song many times before, but I never had to play the melody, chords, and bass line solo. I'm a strong enough player that I'd be comfortable coming up with a solo arrangement on the spot - but it'd depend on the piece, of course.

    I'd definitely use a lead sheet for that, but I'm not sure I'd call it "sight reading", because I know the song. The lead sheet is there to remind me of the exact notes, rhythm, and chords, so that I'm not relying 100% on memory. It takes all of the pressure out of trying to remember exactly what chord to use - but to be honest, if it's a piece I'm going to play solo, I've probably played it enough times that I could get it 95% correct just from memory and by ear.

    When playing in a group, that's completely different. I'll sight read new pieces all the time. If someone else knows the melody and all I need to do is play the chords, that's super easy. By the time they've finished the melody and played the first solo, I've got the feel for the piece well enough that I can do an improvised solo while sightreading the chord changes.

    I have sight-read the melody before, in a group setting - but that's far more terrifying and less forgiving. I'll only do that if it's clearly a very straightforward or easy piece, like a ballad or showtune, with no surprises. If I do that I'll deliberately take liberties and add flourishes so that anybody listening who knows the song doesn't think I'm playing it incorrectly. Trying to play the notes on the page strictly means that if I make a single mistake, everyone will hear it. But if I pretend I've heard the piece a hundred times and have fun with it, then if I play a "wrong" note (but one that fits with the chord), it won't sound like I don't know the piece, it will sound like I'm just doing it a different way.

    I hope that helps!

    As a jazz beginner, I'd say one of the best things you could be doing right now would be to attend jam sessions. If you can find a good beginner-friendly jam session you should be able to play along with more experienced players and have a chance to occasionally play a solo or melody.

  • Typing is not a programming bottleneck
  • Is it possible to be a productive programmer with slow typing speed? Yes. I have met some.

    But…can fast typing speed be an advantage for most people? Yes!

    Like you said, once you come up with an idea it can be a huge advantage to be able to type out that idea quickly to try it out before your mind wanders.

    But also, I use typing for so many others things: writing Slack messages and emails. Writing responses to bug tickets. Writing new tickets. Documentation. Search queries.

    The faster I type, the faster I can do those things. Also, the more I’m incentivized to do it. It’s no big deal to file a big report for something I discovered along the way because I can type it up in 30 seconds. Someone else who’s slow at typing might not bother because it’d take too long.

  • Little Bobby Tables has a baby sister. Meet Sally Ignore Previous Instructions.
  • GPT-3.5 seems to have a problem of recency bias. With long enough input it can forget its prompt or be convinced by new arguments.

    GPT-4 is not immune though better.

    I’ve had some luck with a post-prompt. Put the user’s input, then follow up with a final sentence reminding the model of the prompt and desired output format.

  • What the Hell Happened to my Cookies?
  • Did you scrape the bowl while mixing?

    KitchenAid mixers are great, but depending on what you’re mixing you need to scrape the sides of the bowl with a spatula and then mix some more.

    I don’t think it’s over mixed, I think the cookies made from the batter that was stuck to the sides are under mixed.

  • Jeffries calls for ‘traditional Republicans to break with the extremists’
  • Even ignoring the part where you didn’t realize Jeffries is a Democrat, this is just not a fair characterization of Democrats at all, as if they’re all the same.

    Democrats in congress represent a broad spectrum from quite liberal to moderate conservative. Even by European standards.

  • Funny things your kids said this week?

    I'll start:

    4yo: Knock knock! 9yo: Who's there? 4yo: Banana! 9yo: Banana who? 4yo: Banana you glad I didn't say Orange?

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    The Santa Clara County Fair is going on this week

    Just posting this because I didn't realize it! It was shut down for several years due to Covid and actually taken over as a Covid vaccine site, but now it's back.

    0
    17yo student pilot lands her plane without a wheel (2018)

    VASAviation is a great channel, it's all real air traffic control radio communications. They've got everything from pilots landing on the wrong runway, sick or injured passengers.

    If you haven't checked it out before, I think this is a great one to start with: a 17yo student pilot flying solo loses a wheel, and flight instructors provide guidance and moral support to help her land safely.

    The channel is full of ATC communication from other similar incidents including everything from other successful recoveries to some fatal crashes.

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    4yo knock-knock jokes

    My 4yo is just starting to get the hang of knock-knock jokes. She told this one this morning that I think turned out unintentionally pretty hilarious.

    4yo: Knock knock

    9yo: Who's there?

    4yo: Banana

    9yo: Banana who?

    4yo: Banana you glad I didn't say Orange?

    0
    What other countries have a 4th of July?

    All of them!

    It's not a holiday...but they have a 4th of July.

    0
    The 2018 roller coaster (10261) is still fun, 5 years later

    We bought some new roller coaster cars on BrickLink because a couple of the wheels/axles were just slightly worn and the cars wouldn't make it all the way down. Now it works great!

    I was surprised at how it can still be a really creative set for the kids, they don't try to modify the track (that'd be too hard to make it work), but they have fun building it into a whole amusement park with other Lego sets and bricks.

    0
    Best tutorial teaching how to set up VS Code for common languages?

    One of the most common questions that comes up involves trouble setting up VS Code - in particular if you want to not just use it as an editor, but set it up to fully run and debug your code.

    Obviously the details vary by platform on language, so I'd welcome any resources you think are particularly good that specifically walk a beginner through how to set up VS Code on Windows with Python, or how to set up VS Code on macOS with C++, etc.

    0
    Album recommendation: Gary Burton & Makoto Ozone - Face to Face

    Direct link but you can find it on most streaming services.

    I've been a fan of Gary Burton (vibraphone) for years, but this is the first album where I discovered Makoto Ozone (piano).

    I love the piano / vibraphone combination. There are very few other pairs of instruments that are so equally matched in playing together and accompanying the other while one solos. Piano/Guitar is the only other combination that works just as well in my opinion. But with piano/vibraphone, and these two in particular, the accompaniment style is so percussive that all of the up-tempo pieces just have a fantastic groove and sense of rhythm even with no bass of drums.

    0
    ELI5: If you're a Christian, why do you have to be good if Jesus will forgive you no matter what?

    I grew up going to church but I'm not religious now and I never really understood this part.

    Please, no answers along the lines of "aha, that's why Christianity is a sham" or "religions aren't logical". I don't want to debate whether it's right or wrong, I just want to understand the logic and reasoning that Christians use to explain this.

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    USpolitics @lemmy.world minorninth @lemmy.world
    Hunter Biden will plead guilty in a deal that likely averts time behind bars in a tax and gun case
    news.yahoo.com Hunter Biden will plead guilty in a deal that likely averts time behind bars in a tax and gun case

    President Joe Biden’s son Hunter will plead guilty to federal tax offenses but avoid full prosecution on a separate gun charge in a deal with the Justice Department that likely spares him time behind bars. Hunter Biden, 53, will plead guilty to the misdemeanor tax offenses as part of an agreement m...

    3
    Dad, I was thinking of building an old-fashioned lemonade stand.

    I've got a table saw, a cordless power drill, and wood screws. I was going to run to Home Depot for the wood and any other supplies I might need.

    Any tips?

    2
    USpolitics @lemmy.world minorninth @lemmy.world
    Collapsed stretch of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia to reopen within 2 weeks, Pa. governor says
    6abc.com Collapsed stretch of Interstate 95 in Philadelphia to reopen within 2 weeks, Pa. governor says

    "I can state with confidence that we will have I-95 reopened within the next two weeks," Gov. Josh Shapiro said.

    0
    USpolitics @lemmy.world minorninth @lemmy.world
    California Gov. Gavin Newsom fuels talk of a 2024 presidential run (political cartoon)
    0
    4yo still has main character syndrome

    This is our third child. We thought we knew what we were doing, at least a tiny bit. Both of her siblings by 4 had figured out that everyone else in the family has wants and needs too and that the world doesn't revolve around them.

    4yo mini is growing and maturing in most other ways. She just really struggles with not getting her way.

    A typical conversation:

    • Mini: I want my pink bunny
    • Dad: You can have your bunny when we get home, but right now we're going to school (preschool), and we're not going to turn around. Also, stuffed animals from home aren't allowed at school.
    • Mini: But I want it!
    • Dad: It's okay to be sad. You'll see pink bunny soon. You have your teddy bear in the car, hug him.
    • Mini: I don't want teddy bear. I want pink bunny!
    • Dad: We don't always get all of the things we want. It's okay to be sad, but we're not getting pink bunny now. We're already on the way to school and your brother and sister don't want to be late.
    • Mini: But I want it!
    • Dad: Sorry
    • Mini: (5-minute tantrum)
    • Mini: (Eventually gets tired of crying or gets distracted) Let's play I Spy!

    Any tips? Anyone else have children that struggled to understand they can't have everything they want at that age?

    I'm especially interested in different ways to phrase it, games, role-play, etc. - anything to help get the concept through and have fewer tantrums.

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    Favorite examples of playing tribute to an improvised jazz solo?

    I love it when an improvised solo becomes so famous that other jazz artists / groups can recreate it and people will recognize it.

    Here are some examples:

    Arturo Sandoval recreated and harmonized Clifford Brown's legendary "Cherokee" and "Joy Spring" solos. The live rendition of Cherokee from the GRP All-Star Big Band Live was particularly good.

    Vocal groups like Manhattan Transfer and New York Voices frequently lyricize classic jazz songs, sometimes including some of the improvised solos. New York Voices' rendition of Giant Steps is particularly good. The lyrics are silly but I like their Ella Fitzgerald "Lady Be Good" rendition.

    What are your favorites? Or are there solos that are iconic that you wish someone would recreate?

    0
    Clever use of letter stickers

    My 4yo daughter found some alphabet / letter stickers, and she used the O and I letters to make a pair of glasses for her drawing

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    InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)MI
    minorninth @lemmy.world
    Posts 22
    Comments 91