Ciro Santilli @cirosantilli 40

Java is good.

Its boilerplate requirement is a pain, but the design is otherwise very clean.

But its ecosystem sucks.

The development process is rather closed, the issue tracker obscure.

And above all, Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. killed everybody's trust in it once and for all. Thanks Oracle.

Video 1.

Java for the Haters in 100 Seconds by Fireship (2022)

Source.

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JavaScript Updated 2025-07-16

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The language all browsers converted to as of 2019, and therefore the easiest one to distribute and most widely implemented programming language.

Hopefully will be killed by WebAssembly one day.

Because JavaScript is a relatively crap/ad-hoc language, it ended up some decent tooling to make up for that, e.g. stuff like linting via ESLint and reformatting through Prettier is much more widespread than in other languages.

JavaScript data structure are also quite a bit anemic, which makes libraries such as lodash incredibly popular. But most of that stuff should be in the stdlib.

Our JavaScript examples can be found at:

Node.js example: examples that don't interact with any browser feature. We are just testing those on the CLI which is much more convenient.
JavaScript browser example: examples that interact with browser-specific features, notably the DOM

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Ciro Santilli's hardware / Laptop Updated 2025-07-16

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Stone garden Updated 2025-07-16

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zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/假山

The literal Chinese name says it all: "Fake Mountain". The stones evoke the feeling of the beautiful rock mountains of China.

The term "奇石假山" (qi2 shi2 jia3 shan1, lit. "weird shaped stone fake mountain") is also used, almost as a synonym by many people, since the stones are often chose in interesting shapes. Choosing the right stone is basically an art form in itself.

The stones used are generally limestone, which as a sedimentary rock is weaker, and more likely to be eroded into interesting shapes.

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Quadratic form Updated 2025-07-16

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Multivariate polynomial where each term has degree 2, e.g.:

f (x, y) = 2 y^{2} + 10 y x + x^{2}

(1)

is a quadratic form because each term has degree 2:

$y^{2}$
$x y$
$x^{2}$

but e.g.:

f (x, y) = 2 y^{2} + 10 y x + x^{3}

(2)

is not because the term

x^{3}

has degree 3.

More generally for any number of variables it can be written as:

f (x_{1}, x_{2}, \dots, x_{n}) = \sum_{i, j} a_{i} a_{j} x_{i} x_{j}

(3)

There is a 1-to-1 relationship between quadratic forms and symmetric bilinear forms. In matrix representation, this can be written as:

x^{T} B x

(4)

where

x

contains each of the variabes of the form, e.g. for 2 variables:

x = [x, y]

(5)

Strictly speaking, the associated bilinear form would not need to be a symmetric bilinear form, at least for the real numbers or complex numbers which are commutative. E.g.:

[x y] [0210] [x y] = [x y] [y 2 x] = x y + 2 y x = 3 x y

(6)

But that same matrix could also be written in symmetric form as:

[0 1.5 1.5 0]

(7)

so why not I guess, its simpler/more restricted.

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Photoelectric effect Updated 2025-07-16

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No matter how hight the wave intensity, if it the frequency is small, no photons are removed from the material.

This is different from classic waves where energy is proportional to intensity, and coherent with the existence of photons and the Planck-Einstein relation.

Video 1.

Photoelectric effect by UCSB Physics Lecture Demonstrations (2021)

Source.

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JavaScript browser example Updated 2025-07-16

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js/confirm-close.html: stackoverflow.com/questions/7317273/warn-user-before-leaving-web-page-with-unsaved-changes
web-cheat/js-image-load.html: load an image from JavaScript dynamically: stackoverflow.com/questions/226847/what-is-the-best-javascript-code-to-create-an-img-element
web-cheat/js-image-load-viewport.html: load an image from JavaScript dynamically when it would become visible on the viewport: stackoverflow.com/questions/2321907/how-do-you-make-images-load-only-when-they-are-in-the-viewport
html/img-load-lazy.html: stackoverflow.com/questions/2321907/how-do-you-make-images-load-lazily-only-when-they-are-in-the-viewport/57389607#57389607
web-cheat/esm.html: ESM modules
- web-cheat/esm1.js
- web-cheat/esm2.js
js/keydown.html: stackoverflow.com/questions/16006583/capturing-ctrlz-key-combination-in-javascript

External libraries

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Jazz fusion band Updated 2025-07-16

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JCVI-syn3A Updated 2025-07-16

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essential metabolism for a minimal cell (2019) mentions:

JCVI-syn3A, a robust minimal cell with a 543 kbp genome and 493 genes, provides a versatile platform to study the basics of life.

NCBI: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nuccore/CP016816.2

Based on JCVI-syn3.0, they've added a few genes back to give better phenotypes, including slightly faster duplication time. Because the development cycle time is your God is also true in biology.

As of essential metabolism for a minimal cell (2019) it had only 91 genes of unknown function! So funny.

Bibliograpy:

Figure 1.
JCVI-syn3A during cell division by David Goodsell (2022)
Source. A description is present at: cdn.rcsb.org/pdb101/goodsell/2022_JCVI-syn3A.pdf Integrative Illustration of a JCVI-syn3A Minimal Cell by David Goodsell (2022) which describes everything in the picture.

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Ciro Santilli's hardware / Lenovo ThinkPad P51 (2017) log Updated 2025-07-16

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cirosantilli.com/linux-kernel-module-cheat/#p51 (permalink)

battery life:
- 2023-04: on-browser streaming + light browsing on Ubuntu 22.10: about 2h45. Too low! Gotta try buying a new battery.
2022-01-04 updated firmward after noticing that ubuntu 21.10 does not wake up from suspend seemed to happen every time when not connected to external power. dmidecode diff excerpt:
```
 BIOS Information
        Vendor: LENOVO
-       Version: N1UET40W (1.14 )
-       Release Date: 09/28/2017
+       Version: N1UET71W (1.45 )
+       Release Date: 07/18/2018
```
used the "Ubuntu Software" GUI as mentioned at: support.lenovo.com/gb/en/solutions/ht510810-how-to-do-software-updates-linux. Kudos for making this accessible to newbs.
After doing that, another update became available to: 0.1.56, clicked it and was much faster than the previous one, and didn't auto reboot. After manual reboot, dmidecode diffed again:
```
 BIOS Information
        Vendor: LENOVO
-       Version: N1UET71W (1.45 )
-       Release Date: 07/18/2018
+       Version: N1UET82W (1.56 )
+       Release Date: 08/12/2021
```
plus a bunch of other lines.

2021-06-05 upgraded to Ubuntu 21.04 with a clean install from an ISO. Selected

"Minimal installation"
"Erase disk and install Ubuntu". Notably, this erased the Microsoft Windows that came with the computer and was never used not even once
"Erase disk ans use ZFS"
Encrypt the new Ubuntu installation for security

After this, the GUI felt fast, who would have thought that erasing a bunch of stuff would make the system faster!

lsblk contains:

zd0               230:0    0   500M  0 disk
└─keystore-rpool  253:0    0   484M  0 crypt /run/keystore/rpool
nvme0n1           259:0    0 476.9G  0 disk
├─nvme0n1p1       259:1    0   512M  0 part  /boot/efi
├─nvme0n1p2       259:2    0     2G  0 part
│ └─cryptoswap    253:1    0     2G  0 crypt
├─nvme0n1p3       259:3    0     2G  0 part
└─nvme0n1p4       259:4    0 472.4G  0 part

and lsblk -f:

zd0               crypto_LUKS 2
└─keystore-rpool  ext4        1.0   keystore-rpool
nvme0n1
├─nvme0n1p1       vfat        FAT32
├─nvme0n1p2       crypto_LUKS 2
│ └─cryptoswap
├─nvme0n1p3       zfs_member  5000  bpool
└─nvme0n1p4       zfs_member  5000  rpoo

Then:

grep '[rb]pool' /proc/mounts

contains:

rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq / zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/USERDATA/ciro_czngbg /home/ciro zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/USERDATA/root_czngbg /root zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/srv /srv zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/usr/local /usr/local zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/games /var/games zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/log /var/log zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/lib /var/lib zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/mail /var/mail zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/snap /var/snap zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/www /var/www zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/spool /var/spool zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/lib/AccountsService /var/lib/AccountsService zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/lib/NetworkManager /var/lib/NetworkManager zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/lib/apt /var/lib/apt zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq/var/lib/dpkg /var/lib/dpkg zfs rw,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0
bpool/BOOT/ubuntu_uvs1fq /boot zfs rw,nodev,relatime,xattr,posixacl 0 0

which gives an idea of how the above map to mountpoints.

Had two GUI freezes since installation, a fixed images shows no matter what I do, possibly graphics only, but impossible to tell (next time I'll try SSH access). No Nvidia drivers installed yet.

2020-06-06: dropped some lemon juice on the bottom left of touchpad. Bottom left button not working anymore... I'm an idiot. There are many other alternatives, but very aggravating, I'll replace it for sure. Can't find the exact replacement part or any videos showing its replacement online easliy, dang. For the T430: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3lzV9uXRjU Asked at: forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-P-and-W-Series-Mobile-Workstations/P51-left-bottom-button-below-trackpad-mouse-left-click-stopped-working-possible-to-replace/m-p/5019903 Also I could not access it because you need to remove the HDD first: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Klawxc7T_Y and I can't pull it out even with considerable force, unlike in the video... And OMG, those button caps are impossible to re-install once removed!!! Then when I put the whole thing back together, the upper buttons were not working anymore. FUUUUUUUUCK. When first opening I pulled on it without properly removing the cap and it came off, but it didn't look broken in any way and I put it back in. Keyboard works thank God, so right black connector is fine, left white one oppears to be the one for upper keys and trackpoint, both of which stopped working. The hardware manual confirms that they are both part of the same device, so basically a mouse :-) TODO can it be bought separately from te keyboard? Doesn't look like it, photo of keyboard part includes those buttons. The manual also confirms that the bottom buttons are one device with the trackpad "trackpad with buttons", thus forming the second entire mouse.

2019-04-17: popup asking about "ThinkPad P51 Management Engine Update" from from 182.29.3287 to 184.60.3561, said yes.

Ubuntu 17.10 setup after buying it:

partition setup: askubuntu.com/questions/343268/how-to-use-manual-partitioning-during-installation/976430#976430
BIOS:
- for NVIDIA driver:
- for KVM, required by Android Emulator: enable virtualization extensions
TODO fix the brightness keys:
- failed: askubuntu.com/questions/769006/brightness-key-not-working-ubuntu-16-04-lts/770100#770100

Battery life shown by Ubuntu battery app after installation:

before NVIDIA driver setup: 8h
after: 6.5h

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JCVI-syn3B Updated 2025-07-16

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www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.09.19.508583v1.full

CVI-syn3B strains differ from JCVI-syn3.0 by the presence of 19 additional non-essential genes that result in a more easily manipulated cell. JCVI-syn3B additionally includes a dual loxP landing pad that enables easy Cre recombinase mediated insertion of genes

It is also interesting to see how they are interested in co-culture with HeLa cells, presumably to enable infectious bacterial disease studies.

At biology.indiana.edu/news-events/news/2023/lennon-minimal-cells.html (2023) they let it re-evove to it it would regain some fitness, and it did.

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Phase transition Updated 2025-07-16

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TODO can anything interesting and deep be said about "why phase transition happens?" physics.stackexchange.com/questions/29128/what-causes-a-phase-transition on Physics Stack Exchange

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Eigendecomposition of a real symmetric matrix Updated 2025-07-16

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The general result from eigendecomposition of a matrix:

M = Q D Q^{- 1}

(1)

becomes:

M = O D O^{T}

(2)

where

O

is an orthogonal matrix, and therefore has

O^{- 1} = O^{T}

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Jean-Luc Ponty Updated 2025-07-16

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Many good albums, Ciro Santilli's favorites:

Video 1.

Jean-Luc Ponty Live in Chicago on "Soundstage" (1976)

Source.

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Jekyll (software) Updated 2025-07-16

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Phaser.js Updated 2025-07-16

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Likely the best JavaScript 2D game engine as of 2023.

github.com/photonstorm/phaser
phaser.io/
phaser.io/examples/v3.85.0/games contains the demo games

Uses Matter.js as a physics engine if enabled. There's also an alternative (in-house?) "arcade" engine: photonstorm.github.io/phaser3-docs/Phaser.Physics.Arcade.ArcadePhysics.html but it appears to be simpler/less robust (but also possibly faster).

TODO any 2D first person examples a bit like Ciro's 2D reinforcement learning games?

The examples are present under:

git clone https://github.com/photonstorm/phaser3-examples

but note that that repo is huge, about 4.5 GiB on local disk, as is has tons of assets.

The demos also include a Monaco-editor based sandbox mode where you can edit code directly on the web and see the game update which is a really sweet addition.

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E Ink Updated 2025-07-16

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Electronic Ink such as that found on Amazon Kindle is the greatest invention ever made by man.

Once E Ink reaches reasonable refresh rates to replace liquid crystal displays, the world will finally be saved.

It would allow Ciro Santilli to spend his entire life in front of a screen rather in the real world without getting tired eyes, and even if it is sunny outside.

Ciro stopped reading non-code non-news a while back though, so the current refresh rates are useless, what a shame.

OMG, this is amazing: getfreewrite.com/

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Jerry Sanders Updated 2025-07-16

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Video 1.

AMD Founder Jerry Sanders Interview (2002)

Source. Source: exhibits.stanford.edu/silicongenesis/catalog/hr396zc0393. Fun to watch.

youtu.be/HqWWoaA8pIs?t=779 Newton Minow mandated UHF on all television sets in 1961, and the oscillator needed for the tuner was one of the first major non-military products from Fairchild, the 28918 (?).
youtu.be/HqWWoaA8pIs?t=1053 Fairchild had won the first round of a Minuteman contract, but lost the second one due to poor management

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Jim Baggott selects the topics for his books by writing about things he wants to know more about Updated 2025-07-16

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Mentinoned at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Baggott quoting popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2012/09/jim-baggott-four-way-interview.html

Ciro Santilli and Jim would get along mighty well: there is value in tutorials written by beginners.

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