The h Bar

Swapnil Das

7:00 PM

Christmas excitement at its top :)

heather

@DanielSank, hello =)

Swapnil Das

@heather Did you have a look at the site?

heather

oh, wait, i'm thinking about this the wrong way - i can install it on the linux side of my computer, okay. nvm.

DanielSank

I got a snowman hat!

heather

@DanielSank cool!

hmm...32 bits, 64 bits, or ARM...

ah, figured that out.

DanielSank

7:07 PM

awww heather you're a hat ahead of me.

Swapnil Das

You people are damn smart when it comes to comps :P

DanielSank

"smart" has nothing to do with it.

Swapnil Das

(And other stuff too, of course)

DanielSank

It's all about trying stuff and getting experience.

Swapnil Das

But still, that needs brains

heather

7:08 PM

@SwapnilDas, think about it more as a minimum, fairly low level of intelligence, and then the rest is google (at least in my case) =P

DanielSank

@SwapnilDas Not much.

heather

google and @DanielSank/@BernardoMeurer, I should say.

DanielSank

This is a very, very common misconception held by people who have little experience with computers.

"Computer people" aren't geniuses, they're just people who sat down and tried.

@heather lol

Swapnil Das

Might be...

I'm OK with my notebooks and pen :P

DanielSank

@SwapnilDas notebook/pen + computer = awesome.

ArmaGeddON

7:11 PM

@DanielSank true

DanielSank

Why reject a useful tool?

You know, most of these hats are just not designed for octopuses.

Swapnil Das

Lol

Well never rejected, but not into comps either. Internet connection is enough :P

DanielSank

Whether you like theory or experiment, you will one day either be "into comps" or be rather strongly limited in what you can do.

In other words, I encourage you to make some basic foray into comps.

Swapnil Das

Basic stuff like?

DanielSank

It might not happen for a while. I didn't realize I needed computers until I was a grad student.

@SwapnilDas Well, what are you interested in?

Swapnil Das

7:15 PM

@DanielSank oh

Physics and math :P

DanielSank

@SwapnilDas Yes, but then suddenly I really needed them and I knew nothing. It was unpleasant.

heather

@DanielSank they're not really designed for rockets either

DanielSank

@heather Haha, indeed not.

heather

@SwapnilDas then maybe try to do simulations in mathematica, or python or something.

Swapnil Das

Simulations, OK. But why?

DanielSank

7:17 PM

Don't do anything you don't want.

Swapnil Das

Hmm.

heather

@SwapnilDas, it makes your life easier? Have it do your homework for you or something, I don't know. I'm just suggesting stuff.

Do something you think is cool.

Swapnil Das

Oh fine.

DanielSank

When I was in high school, I wanted to play a computer game where I could fire rockets from one place to another. To make it realistic, I had to program the equations of motion for a flying object. That was the first time I did physics in a computer.

But see, it was motivated because I actually wanted to play a computer game.

Don't just program for no reason. Wait until you have a motivation.

But don't avoid programming.

Swapnil Das

Ic

heather

7:21 PM

i started programming in js because it looked really cool, but i didn't get super-serious about programming until i started python because i wanted to solve the euler problems. it only got crazier from there =)

(don't start with js; i did because i started on khan academy.)

Swapnil Das

@DanielSank does theoretical physics have programming apps? :P

heather

@SwapnilDas, yeah! My dad simulates fusion reactors and all sorts of other madness using Wolfram Mathematica

DanielSank

@SwapnilDas Of course.

Swapnil Das

That's experimental sis, no?

heather

okay, let me rewind: what in theoretical physics are you interested in?

DanielSank

7:24 PM

js is a pile of garbage (although it's getting better)

heather

@DanielSank, I've been told so many times =)

DanielSank

@SwapnilDas What? No. Plasma physics involves both theory and experiment.

heather

hmm, that's weird...why isn't it showing that as a directory?

Swapnil Das

@heather You'll go mad if you hear bout my deep interest. Something that drives me crazy, donno why.

vzn

@heather no kidding! for his job? is he working for industry/ corp or govt?

heather

7:25 PM

@vzn, not for his job exactly, long story

Swapnil Das

@DanielSank Plasma isn't that interesting :P

vzn

@heather have been tracking fusion intermittently last few years, major advances, exciting. try making long story short )( :)

heather

@SwapnilDas (::plasma cannon reloads and aims::)

Swapnil Das

Lol, RIP me

heather

@vzn he's highly interested in it as a very qualified amateur.

@SwapnilDas indeed. you best reconsider those incorrect statements.

vzn

7:27 PM

@heather huh. ask him if hes ever heard of farnsworth

heather

@vzn i can answer that without even asking him: yes. pretty much everyone who's read about fusion knows about farnsworth - cool dude.

okay, not everyone. rephrased: everyone who's seriously into fusion.

vzn

@heather which is not a whole lot of ppl it seems

heather

@vzn eh, you'd be surprised...heard of fusor.net?

Swapnil Das

ias.edu/ideas/2014/minwalla-dynamics

heather

@SwapnilDas yeah, you could use programming to help simulate systems that would assist you in researching that.

Swapnil Das

7:29 PM

@heather These kinda stuff are cool to me :P

heather

@SwapnilDas, it does indeed look interesting =)

DanielSank

Simulations are only one possible application of computers in physics.

I use computers to check my calculations all the time.

vzn

@heather what do you/ he think of "cold fusion"? ever heard of that mag "infinite energy"?

Swapnil Das

@heather Haha, thanks.

DanielSank

I had to compute an analytic expression for a probability distribution, and to check it, I generated random numbers on the computer and did stuff to match the process I was calculating.

I guess that's a simulation...

Swapnil Das

7:31 PM

Oh.

ArmaGeddON

i use computer to play clash of clans

DanielSank

I also use computers to type up my calculations in LaTeX.

Right now I'm working on a book.

Swapnil Das

@DanielSank Same hr

DanielSank

I use computers to generate the figures too.

ArmaGeddON

By the way, has anyone played saints row IV?

Swapnil Das

7:32 PM

LaTex is one thing I'm using frequently

@ArmaGeddON No

ArmaGeddON

oops sorry wrong chatroom :p

and i was wondering why all gamers are so serious today

Swapnil Das

Why? Everyone likes having fun

ArmaGeddON

the study stuff i meant

heather

@SwapnilDas, I use my computer to type stuff in LaTeX as well. I use it for assignments - makes my messy handwriting a non-issue. It makes all sorts of things easier.

Swapnil Das

@DanielSank Indeed experimentalists like you are damn energetic

@heather ooh

heather

7:35 PM

@SwapnilDas, yeah, it's super helpful to use a computer for everything.

Swapnil Das

You've specs? @heather

I got my specs when I was in grade 5, damn.

heather

@SwapnilDas, you mean my computer's specs, or something else?

Swapnil Das

Your spectacles lol

heather

@vzn from what I've read, cold fusion isn't a thing

DanielSank

I got specs in 3rd grade.

Swapnil Das

7:37 PM

For poor eyesight

heather

oh, sorry =P

DanielSank

My vision is horrible, but I have very good hearing.

heather

yeah, i have glasses, got them in 3rd or 4th grade.

how'd you guess? @SwapnilDas

Swapnil Das

Computer addiction.

DanielSank

Bah! I had glasses in 3rd grade but I didn't have a computer.

heather

7:39 PM

@SwapnilDas what does that have to do with anything? also, i'm not addicted, just deeply in love. besides, i just got the computer this year.

DanielSank

lolololol

Heather isn't addicted, just "deeply in love".

heather

well, it's true.

Swapnil Das

You were a math geek perhaps @DanielSank

heather

linux is awesome

DanielSank

~sigh~ what little the young people know about the nature of love...

Swapnil Das

7:40 PM

Rofl

heather

@SwapnilDas, yes, I love math/science, but actually didn't really start getting into that until 5th-ish grade. besides, what's that got to do with anything?

Swapnil Das

Indian stereotype

heather

@DanielSank ask Bernardo and his calculators, he knows =)

Swapnil Das

Lol

heather

@SwapnilDas what is?

Swapnil Das

7:41 PM

Indians: Have comps, eye bomps

heather

"bomps"?

Swapnil Das

Sounds 'lollish'

DanielSank

^ ?

heather

"lollish"?

Swapnil Das

They mean explode

heather

7:42 PM

eye explode? what?

Swapnil Das

Poetic license you know lol

heather

i am so confused right now, lol

Swapnil Das

Lol.

DanielSank

^ me too

Maybe he meant bombs.

heather

eye bombs? what does that even mean?

exploding eyes? gross.

Swapnil Das

7:43 PM

They mean: If you have comps, then your eyes explode with pain

heather

computers -> eyes explode -> much confusion

DanielSank

Meh. Some day soon we'll all have bionic eyes anyway.

Swapnil Das

Due to stress perhaps.

DanielSank

and brains.

heather

well, i'll grab the mop

DanielSank

7:43 PM

That'll be cool.

heather

@DanielSank, positronic brains, according to Asimov =)

DanielSank

Indeed.

heather

but ACM is a bit ahead of us, being an AI and all.

DanielSank

@heather ?

Swapnil Das

U guys read novels ?

DanielSank

7:44 PM

@SwapnilDas Of course.

Swapnil Das

Cool enough.

DanielSank

You cannot find an American who has not read novels. It's part of our schooling.

(for better or worse)

Swapnil Das

Same here. But still I don't

heather

Dec 17 at 19:10, by Bernard Meurer

Silly AI

@DanielSank ^ one reference

among many

DanielSank

Yes but we all know that @BernardoMeurer is a drama queen.

heather

7:45 PM

@SwapnilDas yup (::looks at language arts teacher::)

Dec 4 at 4:13, by MAFIA36790

@Skyler ACM is an AI.

Swapnil Das

I had Gulliver's last year and Keller this time in English. Not turned a single page.

heather

Oct 17 at 20:50, by 0celo7

@ACuriousMind aka Dr. AI doesn't seem to know it

DanielSank

@heather But that's all just hearsay.

heather

@DanielSank, I was joking =)

DanielSank

Do we have any hard evidence?

Swapnil Das

7:47 PM

Those lengthy sentences just make me sick.

heather

it just seems to be a hbar wide joke.

DanielSank

I understand that it's a joke, but I wonder if there's any evidence behind it.

Swapnil Das

Wait, Dr. Al?

DanielSank

Has anyone every subjected @ACuriousMind to a Turing test?

Here, let's see what happens:

vzn

@DanielSank ACM is too emotional to be an AI... unless its also emotional intelligence :P

DanielSank

7:48 PM

@ACuriousMind What gives you joy in life?

Swapnil Das

Physics :P

DanielSank

gtg

Swapnil Das

(Rough guess)

DanielSank

Going to see Rogue One.

Swapnil Das

Bye @DanielSank

vzn

7:49 PM

@DanielSank tell us how the new robot is. its an awful lot to live up to r2d2/c3p0... or bb8

Swapnil Das

Even I gtg, its 1: 19 am here :P

Bye guys, good day all.

heather

@DanielSank, have a good day

@SwapnilDas, good night (morning?)

enjoy Rogue One

Swapnil Das

Night :P

Slereah

hey hey

heather

hello

heather

10:25 PM

hmm, anyone around?

Sanya

@heather yup

heather

@Sanya, o/

Sanya

@heather \o/

what are you up to? :)

heather

nothing much

i got the arduino ide installed

which is good

Sanya

I assume it's some kind of program? :D

heather

10:36 PM

yep

the arduino is a microcontroller

you can plug it into your computer, download programs onto it

and connect it to electronics

it's super cool

see arduino.cc

Sanya

so you can kind of program small electronic devices?

heather

yep

you can blink LEDs, automatically water plants, make a robot...

Sanya

that's cool :)

heather

the arduino ide is where you write the programs to download onto the arduino

Sanya

:)

heather

10:38 PM

@Sanya yeah! =D

I'm also messing around with scheme a bit

the parentheses trapped me =P

Sanya

scheme? I feel like I am very unknowledgeable speaking to you

heather

Scheme (programming language)

Scheme is a functional programming language and one of the two main dialects of the programming language Lisp. Unlike Common Lisp, the other main dialect, Scheme follows a minimalist design philosophy specifying a small standard core with powerful tools for language extension. Scheme was created during the 1970s at the MIT AI Lab and released by its developers, Guy L. Steele and Gerald Jay Sussman, via a series of memos now known as the Lambda Papers. It was the first dialect of Lisp to choose lexical scope and the first to require implementations to perform tail-call optimization, giving stronger...

I've just received word that the Emperor has dissolved the MIT computer science program permanently.

^this caught my eye

Sanya

ah programming

heather

yup

Sanya

my old enemy

heather

10:40 PM

what did you learn in?

what language, I mean.

Sanya

hmm... nothing really :D that's why it's my enemy :D

heather

try python - it's the best =)

right now, i can't even figure out how to define variables using scheme =P

Sanya

if I look around on the job market, I should probably go for java or C/C++/C#

heather

C is good

Sanya

but I'm happy you're already programming before your studies - it'll come in handy :)

heather

10:43 PM

Java (according to @BernardoMeurer) is terrible

Sanya

well, most likely, knowing me, I'll end up not programming until I have to

heather

@Sanya I find it fun, so =)

Sanya

@heather that's even better :)

heather

@Sanya that's why you should learn Python - because there's less madness. And it's neater. And it's just plain awesome.

Sanya

can it solve partial differential equations?

heather

10:45 PM

probably

(::googles::)

2

Q: differential equations calculating

I need to calculate some phrase as below. d/dx(sin^2(cos(x)) = 2sin(cos(x))*-sin(x)*cos(cos(x)) it is differential equations calculating. each phrase can place in d(phrase)/dx. is this ability in python and if is not, how can I calculate this kind of phrase? Thanks.

^as far as I can tell, yep

with a fairly common package.

Sanya

hmm ... that might be worth trying out

heather

there's a python chat room that might come in handy too

chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/6/python

Sanya

thanks :)

heather

not a problem, best of luck

Sanya

there's always a place for help on the SE network :D

well, it will probably still take a bit before I can really devote time to it :/ but maybe I'll get around to it

heather

10:53 PM

if python turns out to be too much of a pain, you could try wolfram mathematica. i'm not as familiar with mathematica, but my dad swears by it =P there's a mathematica stack exchange, a mathematica tag on SO

wait, actually, if you just want to solve a differential equation...

what do you want to solve?

Sanya

yeah, I've worked a bit with mathematica over the last year

but I ended up exceeding its abilities a bit

heather

ah

well then.

nvm =)

Sanya

no worries, thank you instead :) mathematica is indeed awesome as it's very accessible

but it has its limits if you start doing more complicated things

heather

okay =) I hope python helps. what equations are you trying to solve?

Sanya

well, there would be some equations from my thesis that I in the end did never solve

heather

11:04 PM

cool! what was your thesis on? (sorry, i can't remember if you said this earlier.)

Sanya

I'm not sure I ever did; do you know 3D printing devices?

heather

sure, yeah

Sanya

there's a kind using polymer powders and lasers to selectively melt structures into the powder bed layer by layer (Selective Laser Sintering). The real physical modeling of the process is still a bit unsatisfying (though there is a lot of engineering Finite Elements simulations which do a great job in their way) and so we basically tried to improve existing models for it.

heather

wow, that's really interesting!

Sanya

well, yes and no - in the end, the engineers all use their finite element models and just try things out until they work; and physicists usually don't care about polymers or continuum mechanics that much, so it doesn't really interest too many people :D but yeah, I liked the topic well enough :)

and polymers are pretty fascinating in themselves :)

heather

11:18 PM

polymers are a type of plastic, right?

Sanya

I'd say pretty much any plastic is made up out of polymers

Polymers are long (usually chain) molecules which are built up of relatively small units that are repeated very often

heather

oh, okay.

Sanya

for example, polyethylene is (-CH2-)_{n}

heather

quick sidebar:

-2

Q: the vacum of of the universe, its existance, (the vacum).and its (the same) origin

the expansion of space is faster then spacetime. will present a vacum because of the speed of the expansion is(faster then time and light). inside the bang. merry C boww