Month: March 2024

March 26 2024, 07:59

I just came across a video from a Chinese restaurant styled like a moving train carriage and remembered a letter to a friend from 2008 where I described this idea. One downside is that in the video, they eat right next to televisions, which creates a different effect from the perspective of those sitting compared to the viewpoint of the person filming. For better immersion for the seated guests, a projection screen should be placed three meters behind the window, but a much cheaper solution is to not place the “windows” so close to the people. Simply moving them back by a meter to a meter and a half would suffice, as it then tricks the peripheral vision.

March 25 2024, 20:48

It turns out that in English, “нога затекла” translates to “the leg/foot fell asleep” – as if it “went to sleep.” The process of it coming back to sensation is called waking up.

Scientifically, this is called paresthesia. The process is as follows: due to pressure, the blood flow in areas where nerves are located worsens, and without enough blood, the nerves cannot send signals to the brain. As a result, the brain receives mixed signals, which it cannot correctly interpret, causing a sensation of tingling or numbness. Thus, the cause is inadequate blood supply to the nerves.

March 24 2024, 09:18

I am watching the news about the “boy who led 100 people out of Crocus” and it occurred to me that whenever heroism emerges in such situations, it indicates that normal function has completely failed, and for every hero, there is always an anti-hero thanks to whom heroism was necessary. The one who, as we see, is still in the shadows. Emergency exits, security, the whole “Pavshino” police station in the same building, just opposite the Crocus Mall complex of buildings of the Moscow and Moscow region government and assembly.

Normal life should not include anything heroic at all. In a normal country, there is absolutely no need to march and shout slogans at a forcibly convened rally, glorifying the next father of the nation.

All this is required when the government fails to enable normal development and needs heroism as the last resource and cohesion as a substitute for normally functioning structures and institutions.

As soon as the authorities start talking about heroism and exploits, it is quite certain to say that they are thereby shifting the “blame”. A properly organized process does not require any heroism to overcome difficulties. On the contrary – a good leader does not like heroes and tries to avoid dealing with them.

Heroism is used to patch up holes and failures, and the worse the process is organized, the higher the demand for deeds and bravery, and the louder they are talked about, diverting attention from the mess and ineptitude of the leadership itself.

I wonder if anyone has heard about the building owner’s involvement in any case? It could, for instance, be compared with “Winter Cherry”. Snips-cries turned out to be needed after all.

P.S. By the way, why do Tajiks need rubles in Ukraine on the Russian “Mir” map?

March 22 2024, 13:05

At the age of 10, I came up with the design for a submarine with torpedoes, and only at 46 did I learn that 1) torpedoes on submarines predominantly use electric motors and this has been the case for about 70-90 years. For example, the USET-80 torpedo is powered by an electric motor, fed by a copper-magnesium battery, activated by seawater. 2) It turns out that the typical guidance method still involves an unwinding wire. Well, it’s clear why—interference protection, stealth, etc. For instance, the last long-term construction project “Physicist”/”Case” has a spool of wire 25km long. There are discussions about Western developments, where the distance can be 50-70 km, but the wires are not ordinary, they are fiber optic.