This just seems like hand-wringing for the pitiful state of the rail system in the USA. A country can have many dense population centres separated by large distances, making HSR viable and worthwhile, but still have low population density overall - just like the USA. The only real obstacle is political will/public support.

Western China has around half the population density of the USA but is already served by a 1,900km HSR line.

If it’s something that people are using a lot then anything that improves the experience can be seen as increasingly important/valuable.

From a practicality perspective, they offer precision, feedback and speed advantages over membrane/rubber dome types which can be valuable in different use cases.

I haven’t used gamer brand mechanical keyboards in a while, but my previous impression was that they were overpriced and generally at the lower quality/poorer experience end of the spectrum. I think there are likely far better options out there at all price points.

For most users/use cases, there isn’t a need for for so many dedicated keys - if they are prepared to learn layouts with multiple layers. There are several notable advantages: cost, portability, reduced footprint (keeping hands closer together when using mouse and keyboard), and reduced finger travel/stretch. These last two are good preventative measures for carpal tunnel.

I chose a 40% ortholinear keyboard specifically because I make heavy use of the numpad in my work. I keep the numpad on one of four layers and I find using it to be quicker and more seamless to transition to than when using a full sized keyboard. I only wish that more manufacturers made ortholinear layouts…

Then grow your own. Your natural right of control over your own body doesn’t extend to the markets and industry of the society you live in.

And would you say that an idea formed from the combination of multiple old human ideas is not original? If the influence of an existing idea disqualifies it from being original then very little could be considered original. If something additional to existing ideas is needed for originality then that what is that thing which is beyond the capability of an AI?

Personally, I would argue that any new combination of existing ideas is inherently original (i.e. a fresh perspective.)

Talking specifically about image generators (rather than LLMs) which are trained on billions of images - some of which would be widely considered as artwork (old ideas?) and others documentary photographs.

Those ‘new’ ideas can be inputted as a prompt into an AI image generator. Would the output of that satisfy your criteria for OC?

How so? What is it that makes art OC that cannot be applied to AI created art? I think it would take an extremely narrow definition which would also exclude a significant amount of human created art.

My understanding is that metallic spherules from iron meteorites would be expected to include nickel. The absence of nickel in iron containing spherules like these would usually indicate a non-natural source i.e. human technology. The speed and trajectory of the meteor which may be the source, however, indicates an interstellar origin.

I believe that initial analyses of these spherules has revealed an absence of nickel.

The spherules were recovered from areas in the expected debris zone; none were recovered from the surrounding, control zones.

r/techno r/propertechno r/theoverload always on the lookout for new music recommendations, also tips for getting into Berghain.

r/snowboarding not so much in the off-season, but hopefully there will be something in the Fediverse when the season starts…