The h Bar

Ic

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.)

@DanielSank does theoretical physics have programming apps? :P

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

@SwapnilDas Of course.

That's experimental sis, no?

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

7:24 PM

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

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

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

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

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

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

7:25 PM

@vzn, not for his job exactly, long story

@DanielSank Plasma isn't that interesting :P

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

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

Lol, RIP me

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

@SwapnilDas indeed. you best reconsider those incorrect statements.

7:27 PM

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

@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.

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

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

ias.edu/ideas/2014/minwalla-dynamics

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

7:29 PM

@heather These kinda stuff are cool to me :P

@SwapnilDas, it does indeed look interesting =)

Simulations are only one possible application of computers in physics.

I use computers to check my calculations all the time.

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

@heather Haha, thanks.

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...

7:31 PM

Oh.

i use computer to play clash of clans

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

Right now I'm working on a book.

@DanielSank Same hr

I use computers to generate the figures too.

By the way, has anyone played saints row IV?

7:32 PM

LaTex is one thing I'm using frequently

@ArmaGeddON No

oops sorry wrong chatroom :p

and i was wondering why all gamers are so serious today

Why? Everyone likes having fun

the study stuff i meant

@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.

@DanielSank Indeed experimentalists like you are damn energetic

@heather ooh

7:35 PM

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

You've specs? @heather

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

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

Your spectacles lol

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

I got specs in 3rd grade.

7:37 PM

For poor eyesight

oh, sorry =P

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

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

how'd you guess? @SwapnilDas

Computer addiction.

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

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.

lolololol

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

well, it's true.

You were a math geek perhaps @DanielSank

linux is awesome

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

7:40 PM

Rofl

@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?

Indian stereotype

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

Lol

@SwapnilDas what is?

7:41 PM

Indians: Have comps, eye bomps

"bomps"?

Sounds 'lollish'

^ ?

"lollish"?

They mean explode

7:42 PM

eye explode? what?

Poetic license you know lol

i am so confused right now, lol

Lol.

^ me too

Maybe he meant bombs.

eye bombs? what does that even mean?

exploding eyes? gross.

7:43 PM

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

computers -> eyes explode -> much confusion

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

Due to stress perhaps.

and brains.

well, i'll grab the mop

7:43 PM

That'll be cool.

@DanielSank, positronic brains, according to Asimov =)

Indeed.

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

@heather ?

U guys read novels ?

7:44 PM

@SwapnilDas Of course.

Cool enough.

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

(for better or worse)

Same here. But still I don't

Dec 17 at 19:10, by Bernard Meurer

Silly AI

@DanielSank ^ one reference

among many

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

7:45 PM

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

Dec 4 at 4:13, by MAFIA36790

@Skyler ACM is an AI.

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

Oct 17 at 20:50, by 0celo7

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

@heather But that's all just hearsay.

@DanielSank, I was joking =)

Do we have any hard evidence?

7:47 PM

Those lengthy sentences just make me sick.

it just seems to be a hbar wide joke.

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

Wait, Dr. Al?

Has anyone every subjected @ACuriousMind to a Turing test?

Here, let's see what happens:

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

7:48 PM

@ACuriousMind What gives you joy in life?

Physics :P

gtg

(Rough guess)

Going to see Rogue One.

Bye @DanielSank

7:49 PM

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

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

Bye guys, good day all.

@DanielSank, have a good day

@SwapnilDas, good night (morning?)

enjoy Rogue One

Night :P

hey hey

hello

10:25 PM

hmm, anyone around?

@heather yup

@Sanya, o/

@heather \o/

what are you up to? :)

nothing much

i got the arduino ide installed

which is good

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

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

so you can kind of program small electronic devices?

yep

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

that's cool :)

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

:)

10:38 PM

@Sanya yeah! =D

I'm also messing around with scheme a bit

the parentheses trapped me =P

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

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

ah programming

yup

my old enemy

10:40 PM

what did you learn in?

what language, I mean.

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

try python - it's the best =)

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

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

C is good

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

10:43 PM

Java (according to @BernardoMeurer) is terrible

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

@Sanya I find it fun, so =)

@heather that's even better :)

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

can it solve partial differential equations?

Q: differential equations calculating

10:45 PM

probably

(::googles::)

2

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.

hmm ... that might be worth trying out

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

Python

Room rules: sopython.com/chatroom Code formatting guide: tinyu...

thanks :)

not a problem, best of luck

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

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?

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

but I ended up exceeding its abilities a bit

ah

well then.

nvm =)

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

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

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

11:04 PM

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

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

sure, yeah

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.

wow, that's really interesting!

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 :)

11:18 PM

polymers are a type of plastic, right?

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

oh, okay.

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