The M4 is a type of surface-to-air missile that is primarily used by the United States military. It is an advanced air defense system designed to engage and destroy various aerial threats, including enemy aircraft and missiles. The M4 missile employs advanced guidance and targeting technologies to improve its effectiveness. It is often integrated into larger missile defense systems, contributing to the overall defense capabilities of military installations.
"Malevil" is a novel written by French author Robert Merle, first published in 1972. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world following a nuclear catastrophe. It follows a group of survivors in a remote farmhouse as they navigate the challenges of their new reality, dealing with both external threats and internal conflicts. The book explores themes of survival, human nature, and the moral dilemmas faced in extreme situations.
The list of United States nuclear weapons tests refers to a compilation of nuclear detonations conducted by the United States from the early days of nuclear development during World War II through subsequent decades. The tests included atmospheric, underground, and underwater detonations, and were predominantly carried out as part of the U.S. nuclear weapons program. Here’s a brief overview of significant categories and details related to U.S. nuclear weapons tests: ### Key Categories 1.
A Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) is a proposed international treaty aimed at the comprehensive prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons. The concept of an NWC is rooted in the idea of a legally binding agreement that would establish a framework for the complete disarmament of nuclear arsenals globally.
A list of nuclear power stations would typically include various nuclear reactors around the world that generate electricity. These power stations can be categorized by their country, type of reactor, and operational status (operating, under construction, decommissioned, etc.).
The list of nuclear weapons tests refers to the documented instances in which nuclear weapons have been detonated, either for experimental purposes or military testing. These tests have been conducted by various countries since the inception of nuclear weapons in the 20th century. The first such test was the Trinity Test by the United States on July 16, 1945.
The term "nuclear whistleblowers" refers to individuals who expose illegal or unethical practices related to nuclear safety, security, and environmental issues, often within governmental or corporate contexts. These whistleblowers can come from various sectors, including government agencies, private companies, and research institutions. Some notable nuclear whistleblowers include: 1. **Karen Silkwood**: A worker at a plutonium processing plant, Silkwood raised concerns about unsafe working conditions and contamination.
Nuclear marine propulsion refers to the use of nuclear reactors to generate propulsion for vessels, typically submarines and aircraft carriers. This technology relies on the heat generated by nuclear fission to produce steam, which then drives turbines connected to propellers. Here are some key features and benefits of nuclear marine propulsion: 1. **Endurance**: Nuclear-powered vessels can operate for extended periods without the need for refueling, often for years at a time.
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is an international treaty that aims to ban all nuclear weapon test explosions and any other nuclear explosions. The treaty was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 10, 1996, but has not yet entered into force because it requires ratification by 44 specific countries that are nuclear-capable or part of the nuclear supply group.
Treaties establishing nuclear-weapon-free zones (NWFZs) are international agreements that create specific regions where the development, testing, deployment, and possession of nuclear weapons are prohibited. These treaties serve to promote global peace, security, and non-proliferation of nuclear arms by creating designated areas where states collectively agree not to acquire nuclear weapons. The establishment of NWFZs is seen as a way to enhance regional security, prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, and promote disarmament.
The Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty was a key arms control agreement signed between the United States and the Soviet Union on May 26, 1972. The treaty aimed to limit the deployment of anti-ballistic missile systems, which are designed to intercept and destroy incoming ballistic missiles. Key features of the ABM Treaty included: 1. **Limitations on ABM Systems**: The treaty allowed each signatory to deploy only a limited number of ABM systems.
A Bomb Tower is a defensive building in the mobile strategy game "Clash Royale." It serves as a structure that can defend against enemy troops and deal area damage. When placed, the Bomb Tower targets ground units and has a long range, making it effective at deterring and damaging incoming enemy troops, particularly swarm units or ground-based attackers. The Bomb Tower has a moderate hit points and can withstand a fair amount of damage from enemy attacks.
Emu Field is a locality in South Australia, situated in the north-western part of the state. It is primarily known for its proximity to the Emu Field Nuclear Research Facility, which has been used for various scientific and defense-related purposes, including nuclear testing in the past. The area is characterized by its arid environment and is part of the larger region of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands, known for its Indigenous cultural heritage.
The AN-52 is a type of tactical nuclear bomb developed by the United States in the mid-20th century. Specifically, it was designed for use by the U.S. Air Force and was a part of the U.S. nuclear arsenal during the Cold War. The bomb was developed to be carried by strategic bombers, and it featured a relatively low yield compared to larger thermonuclear weapons.
In meteorology, a "blank" on a weather map typically refers to an area that lacks specific weather data or forecasts. This could indicate several things, such as: 1. **Data Absence**: There might be no weather stations in that area providing real-time data. 2. **Limited Forecast Models**: Certain regions may not be covered adequately by forecasting models, leading to a lack of predicted weather patterns.
Ciro Santilli believes that there is a close link between the ability to create disruptive technology, and the desire to find bugs/exploits in systems.
Both of them destabilize society and enterprises.
Some examples:
And yes, this sometimes leads into a fine line between legality and illegality:
Ciro feels that this resonates a lot with his OurBigBook.com.
Supercut:
The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked far more interesting.
And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on.
Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life.
If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts.
Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backward 10 years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
Then:
You've got to find what you love.
And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers.
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work.
And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking.
Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it.
And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on.
So keep looking until you find it.
Don't settle.
And:
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right."
It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"
And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Mirror and morning are not required though, a computer screen will do just fine: www.reddit.com/r/depression/comments/6jtamj/im_at_work_just_staring_at_my_computer_screen/
And then he quotes form the Whole Earth Catalog, a paper Atlas from the '70s he admired:
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish
Backward design by Ciro Santilli 40 Updated 2025-07-16
This is one of Ciro Santilli's most important principles.
Steve Jobs has a great quote about this. He's totally right on this one!
You've got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology. You can't start with the technology and try to figure out where you're going to sell it.
Video 1.
Steve Jobs Insult Response excerpt from the 1997 WWDC
. Source. TODO understand the context of the question a bit better. It is something to do with an OpenDoc thing and Java.
Decide your goal first, and then do whatever is needed to how to reach it.
Don't start randomly learning tech, because that means you will waste a lot of time learning useless stuff.
There is of course some level chicken-and-egg paradox in this, as highlighted by Dilbert, since choosing an achievable goal in the first place requires some level of technical understanding.
Figure 1.
Dilbert cartoon about designing a nuclear power plant from user requirements (2002)
Source.
This cartoon illustrates well how when doing deep tech and fighting against the laws of physics, you can't just start from user requirements, but you also have to also think "what can we actually get done at all with this new technique".
The best research engineers are able to identify what is just on the cusp of the "possible", but which has the greatest value. This is the endless dance between the tech push, and the market/need pull.
However, it is much more common that people will get way too involved in learning useless stuff and lose sight of the useful end goals.
Rather, take an iterative approach:
There is some truth to the counter argument that "but if you don't spend a lot of time learning the basics, you can never find solutions".
However, these people underestimate your brain. The brain is beautiful, and human intuition is capable of generating interest towards the things that are actually useful to reach your goal. When you feel like learning something related to your goal, by all means, give yourself the time to do so. But this still be much more efficient than just learning random things that other people tell you to learn.
Bibliography:
Ivar Jacobson is a Swedish computer scientist known for his significant contributions to the field of software engineering. He is best known for developing the Unified Software Development Process (USDP) and for his role in the creation of the Unified Modeling Language (UML), which is a standardized way of visualizing the design of a system. Jacobson's work has had a profound impact on object-oriented software development and practices related to requirements engineering, software architecture, and iterative development.
Quote by Ciro Santilli by Ciro Santilli 40 Updated 2025-07-16
These are "original" thoughts that Ciro had which at some point in the past amused him. Some would call them pieces of wisdom, others self delusion. All have likely been thought by others in the past, and some of them Ciro thinks to himself after a few years: "why did I like this back then??".
After Ciro's colleague was doing that in a project:
On the theory vs practice of computer science:
Whereas Turing completeness is enough for mathematicians, humans need "run-on-Debian-complete".
On how human perception of media is completely unrelated to the computer's transmission mechanism:
Media for humans is not byte streams. It is magic.
On how you make the best friends in life when dealing with hardships together.
The bond between men is like the bond between two metals: it is better made under fire.
In Ciro's case, this in particular means going through high school/universities studies and work projects, though of course war would apply particularly well. Perhaps inspired by as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
This is of course just another version of one picture is worth a thousand words.

Pinned article: Introduction to the OurBigBook Project

Welcome to the OurBigBook Project! Our goal is to create the perfect publishing platform for STEM subjects, and get university-level students to write the best free STEM tutorials ever.
Everyone is welcome to create an account and play with the site: ourbigbook.com/go/register. We belive that students themselves can write amazing tutorials, but teachers are welcome too. You can write about anything you want, it doesn't have to be STEM or even educational. Silly test content is very welcome and you won't be penalized in any way. Just keep it legal!
We have two killer features:
  1. topics: topics group articles by different users with the same title, e.g. here is the topic for the "Fundamental Theorem of Calculus" ourbigbook.com/go/topic/fundamental-theorem-of-calculus
    Articles of different users are sorted by upvote within each article page. This feature is a bit like:
    • a Wikipedia where each user can have their own version of each article
    • a Q&A website like Stack Overflow, where multiple people can give their views on a given topic, and the best ones are sorted by upvote. Except you don't need to wait for someone to ask first, and any topic goes, no matter how narrow or broad
    This feature makes it possible for readers to find better explanations of any topic created by other writers. And it allows writers to create an explanation in a place that readers might actually find it.
    Figure 1.
    Screenshot of the "Derivative" topic page
    . View it live at: ourbigbook.com/go/topic/derivative
  2. local editing: you can store all your personal knowledge base content locally in a plaintext markup format that can be edited locally and published either:
    This way you can be sure that even if OurBigBook.com were to go down one day (which we have no plans to do as it is quite cheap to host!), your content will still be perfectly readable as a static site.
    Figure 2.
    You can publish local OurBigBook lightweight markup files to either https://OurBigBook.com or as a static website
    .
    Figure 3.
    Visual Studio Code extension installation
    .
    Figure 4.
    Visual Studio Code extension tree navigation
    .
    Figure 5.
    Web editor
    . You can also edit articles on the Web editor without installing anything locally.
    Video 3.
    Edit locally and publish demo
    . Source. This shows editing OurBigBook Markup and publishing it using the Visual Studio Code extension.
    Video 4.
    OurBigBook Visual Studio Code extension editing and navigation demo
    . Source.
  3. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook-media/master/feature/x/hilbert-space-arrow.png
  4. Infinitely deep tables of contents:
    Figure 6.
    Dynamic article tree with infinitely deep table of contents
    .
    Descendant pages can also show up as toplevel e.g.: ourbigbook.com/cirosantilli/chordate-subclade
All our software is open source and hosted at: github.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook
Further documentation can be found at: docs.ourbigbook.com
Feel free to reach our to us for any help or suggestions: docs.ourbigbook.com/#contact