Stuff You Should Read

[Nacey]

That Time We Disabled Ranked

http://euw.leagueoflegends.com/en/news/riot-games/editorial/total-recall-or-time-we-disabled-ranked

This is a really good read about a gamebreaking bug that appeared in LoL and how they went about fixing it. For those outside of the software industry it gives a succinct insight into how complicated and time-consuming it can be to fix this kind of issue.

[NATO]

Neither a thing to read or of the level of interest of other links, but this amused the hell out of me.

 

https://youtu.be/kOjUL8LwUsE

Edited February 27, 2016 by NATO

[Sharp]

https://mjg59.dreamwidth.org/40505.html

 

[Sharp]

http://espn.go.com/esports/story/_/id/14971219/infinite-apm-artosis-deepmind-starcraft-part-1

http://espn.go.com/esports/story/_/id/15019778/infinite-apm-artosis-deepmind-starcraft-part-2

 

For those that haven't kept up, after the Go victory there was some talk of Starcraft 1 being next for AI vs human challenges.

Edited March 21, 2016 by Sharp

[Sharp]

 

 

Might be interesting for those interested in how the netcode is done and what tradeoffs are made. Has examples with chibi models!

Edited April 5, 2016 by Sharp

[Brynneth]

http://classicprogrammerpaintings.tumblr.com/ - Classic artworks retitled for the world of programming.

Ex: “Understaffed team maintaining Oracle Enterprise features based solution”

William Blake, Pen and watercolor, ca 1810

[Brynneth]

Interesting article for anyone who cares about neural network AIs; in which one was fed a shitload of Sci-Fi scripts and instructed to write its own: http://arstechnica.com/the-multiverse/2016/06/an-ai-wrote-this-movie-and-its-strangely-moving/

On the theme of Sci-Fi movies, an incredibly dense but very well thought out dissection of Star Trek VI: http://www.ew.com/article/2016/06/07/star-trek-vi-undiscovered-country-geekly

Note that the author of this one is doing all the Star Trek movies, good or bad, in order, one per week.

[NATO]

Video rather than text but have "A full re-reun of the Apollo 13 mission from launch to splashdown using the entire air-to-ground audio coupled with existing film footage and photos and the Orbiter Spaceflight Simulator."

 

I found this super intersting, but then I really like the space thing and the having something in the background while working thing. In total it's ~45hrs I believe.

Edited June 26, 2016 by NATO

[Nacey]

Amazingly cool, thanks for sharing.

[NATO]

Cool

 

There's a lot of back and forth with com checks and transferring changed protocols, which can be a bit dull but there are some great moments; lift off and separation, Lunar transfer burn, the 'Houston, we've had a problem' moment, manual course correction burns using the LEM descent engine etc.

 

There's also this which is a 'as it happened' of the accident; unlike the playlist it contains the flight directors loop (which the spacecraft can't hear) which has some particularly haunting discussion about max life support hours for 3 manning the LEM.

 

Edit: It's also only an hour long and covers the most interesting phase of the mission

Edited June 27, 2016 by NATO

[Nacey]

We built voice modulation to mask gender in technical interviews. Here’s what happened.

http://blog.interviewing.io/we-built-voice-modulation-to-mask-gender-in-technical-interviews-heres-what-happened/

Title is self-explanatory, results are very interesting.

[Brynneth]

That's a discovery worth investigating. I've seen statistics which suggest that even though girls outperform boys slightly on STEM subjects at all levels, and gender parity in number of students exists at the beginning of Secondary school, this shifts to favour males at GCSE and gets geometrically more disproportionate at each level of increasing difficulty.

If the reason isn't some kind of bias in those systems that pushes women out but simply that STEM is hard and will fail people eventually and that women are more likely to give up at that point, then there needs to be a study into what causes that mindset.

Or maybe it's just that we men are too thick to know when we "should" give up...

[NATO]

posted this on the facebook but decided to share here. It's very gender politics heavy but parts of it mirror my personal experience with this stuff.

 

https://medium.com/@jencoates/i-am-a-transwoman-i-am-in-the-closet-i-am-not-coming-out-4c2dd1907e42#.2nkpjr761

 

edit: also related to gender stuff, I have a blog about it. I don't remember if I've linked it on here but here you go: http://boxofwings.blogspot.co.uk/

Edited July 12, 2016 by NATO

[Myrrh]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Economics-Users-Guide-Pelican-Introduction/dp/0718197038/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1468398059&sr=8-3-fkmr1

 

A lucky impulse purchase while I was waiting in Foyles. I've been wanting to pick up some economics but found most "pop" books too fluffy and text books too dense on mathematics.

 

It's really an excellent read. Does not enshrine neoliberal economics as the only school of economical thought. Does not attempt to water down intellectual content but at the same time does not attempt to pass off economics as a hard science like physics. He very accurately describes the "physics-envy" of economists and why it became so mathematically heavy. A funny guy (watch his talks!) all round.

[dangphat]

This should probably be in "stuff you shouldn't read".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37316967

This is the worst BBC article I have ever read and to save you reading it, here is a synopsis:

• There was a beer festival in North Korea which the author wasn't invited to
• He therefore drank the same beer they drank but in South Korea
• He didn't like the beer because it wasn't British enough
• British beer is brilliant isn't it
• The rest of the world's beer isn't as good
• It would taste better if it was more British
• The author went to a bar in North Korea which was "rough" which he explains meant it was "working class"
• Can't go wrong with British beer
• People who like foreign beer have "their hair bunched in topknots"
• Britain is great
• Ad Nauseum

[Nacey]

It's a video and it's not totally serious but this thread seems the best fit.

A masterclass in business seminar parody from a software developer at Google. He's well known in the community for being a cool guy and he often does these kind of joke talks in the evening slots of various conferences.

Really Important Things About The Business of Technology Business

https://skillsmatter.com/skillscasts/8621-really-important-things-about-the-business-of-technology

You do have to sign in but you can do so with Twitter or just make a free account in like five seconds. Skills Matter is legit and good and they don't spam.

[Nacey]

Pro cyclist retires and immediately sets out on mission to beat known doper's KOMs (the fastest time of any user for a given road section) on Strava (ride/run tracking app that everyone uses).

https://cyclingtips.com/2016/12/gaimon-begins-retirement-by-hunting-banned-riders-strava-koms/

[Fyria]

On 11/12/2016 at 6:23 PM, Nacey said:

Pro cyclist retires and immediately sets out on mission to beat known doper's KOMs (the fastest time of any user for a given road section) on Strava (ride/run tracking app that everyone uses).

https://cyclingtips.com/2016/12/gaimon-begins-retirement-by-hunting-banned-riders-strava-koms/

The man is a legend.

[Brynneth]

A surprisingly good (for its creepiness) explanation of Quantum computing: http://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/the-talk-4

[Brynneth]

Not so much a read as watch, but I've just discovered a YouTube channel named noclip, founded by ex-Gamestop journo Danny O'Dwyer with the intent of producing monthly long-form high-quality documentaries on gaming of the sort you'd see about literally every other fucking form of entertainment on regular TV. I've watched the DOOM one so far and there's a Rocket League one too, with more coming on a monthly basis. 

Edited January 6, 2017 by Brynneth

[Lagrosh]

That's really cool. Thanks for that.

[Largi]

https://www.twitch.tv/seebotschat

[Nacey]

Obituary of the journalist who scooped the imminent Nazi invasion of Poland, has some fun stories and anecdotes and seems like she has a bit of a wicked sense of humour.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13960347

[Largi]

 

[Largi]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sugar-Free-Jellies-Gums-Sweets/dp/B00DQR7Y2G/
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