unclebobmartin

Uncle Bob, Software Craftsman. http://cleancoder.com http://cleancoders.com

Public Key

npub19mun7qwdyjf7qs3456u8kyxncjn5u2n7klpu4utgy68k4aenzj6synjnft

NIP-05 Address

unclebobmartin@nostrplebs.com

NIP-57 Address

fittedrussia90@walletofsatoshi.com

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsza7flq8xjfylqgg66dwrmzrfuff6w9flt0s72795zdrm27ue3fdgpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsmjaz5y

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub19mun7qwdyjf7qs3456u8kyxncjn5u2n7klpu4utgy68k4aenzj6synjnft

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Last Notes

2024-10-19 13:30:36 UTC

This was hysterical. Full throated belly laugh stuff.
Donald Trump full speech at Al Smith Dinner in New York City (Oct. 17, 2... https://youtu.be/XI0MUoW28VE?si=Pwj2SrpF6yiGM2du via
#[1]

2024-10-18 15:07:08 UTC

Today is a good day. Yahya Sinwar is dead!

2024-10-18 15:06:46 UTC

Baer: "How many illegals did you let in?"
Kamala: "Let's get right to the point. Arugula, tomatoes, julienne carrots, sliced radishes, and Donald Trump. Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Donald Trump..."
Baer: "Was it one million, two million,...?"
Kamala: "I WAS SPEEEEEEEKIIIIIING you disgusting male chauvinist. Now shut up and let me SPEEEEEEEEEEEK!
Baer: "But you undid the remain in Mex..."
Kamala: "DAAAAAAAHHHHHHHNAAAAAAALLLLLD TRUUUUHHHHHHHHHMMMMMMMP!"
Baer: "Madam Vice Pres...."
Kamala: "YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M SAYING!!! It's TRUMP, TRUMP, TRUMP..... He's UNSTABLE..... TRUMP, TRUMP, TRUMP, DAAAAAAHHHHHHNAAAAAAALD TRUUUUHHHMP!"
Baer: "Um. Your handlers are ending the session."
Kamala: TRUUUUHHHHHMMMMMMP! TRUMP, TRUMP, TRUMP, Trump, Trump, trump, trump....trmp.......tmp.....tp......t.......

2024-10-15 18:22:18 UTC

- reply

The trick, in any language, is to make the code readable. Clojure is no worse than any other in this regard; and can be significantly better. It's a matter of experience.
From: (sova) at 10/15 13:00
> Clojure is neat but in my experience ends up being a bit unreadable for moderately complex code
CC: #[4]

2024-10-15 17:33:24 UTC

- reply

JS works. Clojure works better. ;-) And -- you can translate Clojure into JS using ClojureScript.
From: melvincarvalho<-D... at 10/15 12:12
> Skimmed it. So now I learnt a little closure :)
>
> Still prefer JS. I may be missing something.
CC: #[4]

2024-10-15 17:08:54 UTC

Everyone should learn a little Clojure.
http://cleancoder.com/a-little-clojure

2024-10-06 14:21:54 UTC

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I find it fascinating that this conspiracy has any legs at all. But, then, humans are humans.
From: (ynniv) at 10/06 08:43
> Not as interesting as whatever made his ear heal that fast.
CC: #[4]

2024-10-06 12:58:03 UTC

I find it fascinating, and frustrating, that the YouTube algorithm thinks it knows what I want to watch; and is inevitably, and persistently, wrong.

2024-10-06 12:57:38 UTC

Isn’t it remarkable that the solution of the differential equations that describe the implosion of the plutonium core of the first atomic bomb can be approximated with nothing more than: {one, zero, nor}.

2024-10-06 12:57:16 UTC

Isn’t it interesting how little we know about the shooter in Butler?

2024-10-06 12:56:48 UTC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssBS6KtzK_g

2024-10-06 12:55:45 UTC

Pilot Threatened with Arrest Over Hurricane Rescues
https://youtu.be/yjda3xkZ4cc?si=3IFazzUd_suiHsVA via
#[1]

2024-10-06 12:55:16 UTC

You may have missed it, in the VP debate, but Walz used the phrase "You can't shout fire in a crowded theater." while trying to parry Vance's criticism of Harris' position on free speech.
The irony is, of course, delicious. The sheer ignorance that our politicians have for our history is tragic.

2024-10-06 12:54:50 UTC

"There has to be a responsibility that is placed upon these social media sites that they understand their power. They are directly speaking to millions and millions of people without any level of oversight or regulation; and that has to stop." -- Kamala Harris.
Oh no! Directly speaking? We can't have that! What the people hear must be regulated and overseen by...by...

2024-10-06 12:54:27 UTC

This is a note from a young woman programmer in Pakistan who is hoping to join a wider network of fellow programmers. Write to her. Encourage her. Even just a "Hi Maria" would help to make her day. cc:
@KentBeck
Hello Everyone!
I’m Maria Zulfiqar.
Senior Software Developer and Technical Lead.
Today, I’d like to share my story with you.
Over the last 11 years, I've worked my way up to becoming a Senior Software Developer and Technical Lead, through countless challenges and countless hours of learning, coding, and problem-solving.
Basically! I started my life in a village and, thankfully, I've reached a destination. However, I know this is not my final goal. I believe I have the potential to achieve something new and bigger. After all, what is impossible with hard work?
Migrating from village, I earned a place in my new school, built respect, and even received salutes from my teachers. It wasn’t easy, especially with the challenges of a village education. I became a top student and after that graduated with BS in Computer Science. Along the way, I worked and had the honor of being a guest speaker in several live technical sessions. I even had the incredible opportunity to meet Uncle Bob and Kent Beck online in one-on-one sessions. Is there any greater luck than that? From zero to here!
Today, I am a Senior Developer, and I owe it all to the opportunities that came my way. My parents did their best to support me. But this is not my stopping point. I want to move forward and connect with those who embrace ideas and growth. I want to surround myself with people who are open to trying new things, who listen to your voice, and who don’t silence it. Anyone who is agreed to O Yes! Let’s try that. Let’s do something New. (e.g. Let’s do it.! Yes! Try TDD)
I’m eager to Meeting those I admire, whose knowledge I'm passionate about learning from, and meeting them is a dream. Right now, I feel like I'm trapped in a cage, and through my story, I hope to break free, just as Uncle Bob has inspired me to do. I need people who will give me a chance to achieve something greater. There’s a fire of passion burning inside me, but the environment around me doesn’t nurture it
Now, as I look beyond borders, I'm seeking an opportunity to bring my expertise to a new environment, where I can grow, collaborate, and contribute on a global scale. It’s not just about a job, it’s about finding a place where I can truly make an impact while embracing new ideas. My belief is that whatever you do, you should take it to the highest level, push the limits, and don’t stop until you’ve achieved something you’re truly proud of.
My biggest wish in life is to meet Uncle Bob and Kent Beck in person. I have a deep admiration for United States people, as I have been working with them as well, and many of whom I connect with on LinkedIn. I simply believe that in the right environment, I could achieve something even greater.
Once I tried Bug Bounty Hunting and through hardwork protected many companies from serious bugs and earned HALL OF FAME from them. What’s impossible with determination?
You can connect with me on LinkedIn:
https://linkedin.com/in/maria-zulfiqar-29485436/).
Or at : Mariazulfi4#[1].com

2024-10-06 12:52:13 UTC

You should listen to this. GOP Lawmaker Gives Update On The Investigation Into January 6th, Accuses...
https://youtu.be/AAR5ePPTmvo?si=Hmi3CONiY6k81ayh… via #[1]

2024-09-30 23:09:22 UTC

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Yeah, that's the risk. I figured someone would be snarky enough to post that. However, I do it to remind everyone that #[4] put a lot of work into Damus, and deserves to be compensated.
From: (AaNon) at 09/29 10:04
> https://image.nostr.build/2b286833f155677d3298ae25701cabc7322496390db5e2f659e06753de929e7f.jpg
CC: #[5]

2024-09-30 23:06:38 UTC

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D @CommancheHead
You found me. How can I help?
From: (CommancheHead) at 09/29 12:03
> I’m not even sure I sent anyone a message? Are you a real person “unclebobmartin”? I am, I assure you I won’t dox myself but I’m real!! I’m also real interested in learning how to use Nostr!
CC: #[3]

2024-09-29 14:24:36 UTC

Zapped 20K to @jb55. Monthly contribution for Damus.

2024-09-26 14:40:21 UTC

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I wrote my own Nostr browser. You can get it on github.com/unclebob/more-speech. It's a bit out of date right now because I've been busy with other things.
More-speech allows me to open tabs that have filters on them. I can add people, or text matches, to those tabs.
To see this in action see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3gQ42aUhls
From: PeterNSteinmetz<-... at 09/25 19:06
> What do you mean by a “tab”? I am still trying to figure out how one created the equivalent of a MeWe group in Nostr - so any pointers appreciated.
CC: #[4]
CC: #[5]
CC: #[6]

2024-09-25 14:28:13 UTC

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Flying _is_ next level. If you live in the US then there are a million flight schools all over the country. Just go to a nearby small airport and walk into one of the flying clubs or flight schools. Finding a pilot to take you for a discovery flight will not be hard, nor will it be very expensive.
Learning to fly requires a significant level of dedication, and a large investment of time and money. You should plan on taking at least two lessons per week for a half year or more. Once you get your license you have to keep flying at least once per week just to stay sharp. Piloting skills are perishable and have to be constantly refreshed. You do not dare let them languish.
Airplane rental is not cheap. Depending on the aircraft you can expect to spend $100-$200 per hour. Instructors are also expensive at ~$80-$100/hour. Many people find it more economical to buy a small airplane instead of paying rental fees. You can pick up an old Cesna or Piper Warrior for ~$30K or so. It'll cost you another few thousand in maintenance each year.
Once you get your private pilot's license you should definitely go on to get your IFR license. Once you are instrument rated it makes using an airplane a lot more practical. Weather is always going to be a factor, but an instrument license vastly opens your options.
Owning and flying an airplane is _freedom_. No TSA. No X-ray. No crowds. No parking hassle. No rental car busses. You can carry a pocket knife or a leatherman. (Hell you can carry a gun if you are legal to carry). You can get anywhere in the US at one half to one third the time of driving. I can fly from Chicago to DC in three hours while listening to Pink Floyd in my bluetooth headset and watching the scenery go by. It's the best seat in the house!
The FBOs at the airports scattered around the country are very convenient. They have food, coffee, and louges with wifi. They often have courtesy cars that you can take for an hour or two, and they'll arrange car rentals for you too. I mean there's nothign like landing 10 miles from a business meeting, walking from your plane into the FBO to grab a cup of coffee and then hopping in the rental car that's there waiting for you. After your meeting you drive back to the FBO, park the rental, pay your bill, and then inspect and hop into your plane that they've already pulled out for you.
From: (AbstractEquilib...) at 09/24 21:20
> How does a normie go about getting a license & training to fly? Motorcycles are fun and all, but flying seems next level
CC: #[4]

2024-09-25 13:58:39 UTC

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Pilots! I think I'll set up a pilot tab.
From: mazin at 09/25 08:19
> Hey 👋 welcome. I’m an instrument rated single engine pilot and fly a cirrus. @npub19mu…jnft is also a pilot and @npub16am…6569 a student pilot.
CC: #[4]
CC: #[5]
CC: #[6]

2024-09-24 19:58:06 UTC

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Yeah. Hezbollah indiscriminantly launches 10,000 rockets into Northern Isreal, driving 100,000 people from their homes and killing little kids playing ball. And it's Israel that has a complete disregard for innocent lives? Sure.
From: TristanBriceVello... at 09/24 14:54
> This uncle is downbad.
>
> This is what the cult of empire looks like - A complete disregard for inoocent lives and their private property.
CC: #[4]
CC: #[5]
CC: #[6]

2024-09-24 19:43:13 UTC

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I'm happy to sign Zelensky's bombs. I want Russia held at bay.
I'm also happy to sign Israel's bombs. I want Hezbollah held at bay.
And nobody _can_ speak for bitcoiners -- and that's by design. Bitcoint/Nostr is a free speech movement bro.
From: mleku<-semisol at 09/24 11:37
> peter, if you are condoning killing people, you have completely lost your credibility with bitcoiners bro
>
> i watched uncle bob try to side with israel recently and now israel is about to bomb the shit out of lebanon
>
> you cheer for murderers you are not any more part of our peaceful movement, you dumbass
>
> #nevent1q…fk28
CC: #[4]

2024-09-20 21:09:29 UTC

https://x.com/Motabhai012/status/1835559913348845988

2024-09-20 21:09:07 UTC

https://x.com/alexbunardzic/status/1835714487103697067

2024-09-20 21:08:43 UTC

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1836265669631053838

2024-09-20 21:08:14 UTC

I have to say that the Israeli's pulled off the best, and funniest, targeted strike of all time. They managed to put little tiny bombs into the pagers of Hezbollah fighters, and simultaneously blow their balls off. Nicely done guys.
https://x.com/unclebobmartin/status/1836481913063698758

2024-09-20 21:07:36 UTC

https://x.com/unclebobmartin/status/1836746567513977039

2024-09-20 21:07:10 UTC

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1836595786655641739

2024-09-20 21:06:35 UTC

https://x.com/unlimited_ls/status/1836747654996328747

2024-09-20 21:05:10 UTC

""Remember as a developer, you are a stakeholder. You have a stake in the software that you need to safeguard. That's part of your role, and part of your duty. And it's a big part of why you were hired" -
#[4]
Clean Architecture
#teams #agile #foodforthought

2024-09-20 21:04:23 UTC

Pro-Life Laws DID NOT KILL Amber Thurman | Kristan Hawkins https://youtu.be/gRvVBbm144s

2024-09-20 21:03:28 UTC

Yeah, I know it’s two hours long, but just listen to the first 10 minutes. I dare you to turn it off after that. This was spectacular!
DHH Is Right About Everything https://youtu.be/mTa2d3OLXhg

2024-09-15 16:21:26 UTC

- reply

That was the last time I uploaded a binary version to github.
From: 0xtr at 09/15 10:48
> Off-topic: What is the date in your client tag? Compile datetime?
CC: #[4]

2024-09-15 15:44:33 UTC

I saw "Am I Racist" yesterday. It was pretty funny.

2024-09-07 12:41:20 UTC

You _know_ you're going to have to learn Clojure, don't you? It's inevitable. So you might as well get started now.
Here are two resources that will help you. They're both easy, and fun.
For those who like to read:
http://cleancoder.com/a-little-clojure
And for those who like to watch:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB2PP9uiaifw4QGXYQBiHICr_bn6nStjq

2024-09-07 12:31:57 UTC

Hey! I’ve got a really great idea. Get this.
First, let’s demoralize and defund the police nationwide reducing their numbers to the point of being ineffective.
Then let’s throw the southern border wide open so that Venezuelan gangs and Islamic terrorists can pour, unimpeded, into the country.
Then, let’s make sure the cities elect radical prosecutors who will refuse to charge and hold criminals; making sure that those gang members and terrorists stay on the streets.
Oh yeah, and then let’s make sure the city legislators declare their cities to be sanctuaries that refuse to turn criminal illegal immigrants over to ICE for deportation.
Sound like a plan?

2024-09-07 12:31:05 UTC

What would possess an American politician to decide that America should not be energy independent?

2024-09-07 12:30:01 UTC

This is rich.
https://x.com/unclebobmartin/status/1832015574139859278

2024-09-04 20:50:01 UTC

Twenty three hundred years ago Aristotle described the universe as a series of concentric spheres made of a crystalline material called "Quintessence" (The Fifth Element). The Sun, Moon, planets, and stars were all embedded into their own individual spheres which rotated around the Earth at different rates.
Four hundred years later, the Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy could not reconcile his observations with the circular motions implied by Aristotle. But circles were perfect, and the heavens must also be perfect, so he invented "epicycles". He said that the heavenly bodies each moved in small circles around a point, and that point moved in a circle around the Earth.
Over the centuries, as observations improved, Ptolemy's epicycles weren't enough. So more were added. Wheels within wheels. And even they were not enough so other contrivances of speed and angle were added.
In the middle of the sixteenth century Copernicus, who believed that God lived in the Sun, moved the Sun to the center and found he could eliminate some of the epicycles and other contrivances used to match observations. But many still remained.
In the early part of the following century Johannes Kepler showed that the shapes of the orbits of the planets were not circles, but were ellipses, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse.
Just a few decades later Isaac Newton collapsed all the previous centuries of observation and reasoning down to one simple formula. F=Mm/r^2.
A century later, Einstein, stimulated by the work of Maxwell, Michaelson, and Morley showed us that Newton's formula was an approximation of a rather more complicated rule having to do with time, space, and the speed of light. He called it his general theory of relativity.
Two decades later, using the best theories of gravity at his disposal, and Hubble's distance laws for galaxies, Fritz Zwicky noticed that the galaxies in the Coma cluster were moving too quickly for gravity to hold them together. He proposed that there must be more material in the cluster than was visible. He called that material, Dark Matter -- a term first coined by Henri Poincaré to describe a different phenomenon.
By the 1960s there were many observations that galaxies rotated too quickly to hold themselves together. The speed of the stars at the outskirts of the galaxy move well beyond the escape velocity of the visible matter.
Today we conclude that the universe is full of something we call Dark Matter. It forms the seeds of galaxy clusters, and it's shape outlines the webs of those clusters that are woven through space. We think that this dark matter outweighs visible matter by a factor of nearly six to one.
And we have not the slightest clue what this stuff might be.

2024-09-04 15:21:55 UTC

- reply

It's not analogous. Not even close.
From: (-Marakesh) at 09/04 10:11
> I thought you would understand the analogy.
CC: #[4]
CC: #[5]

2024-09-04 14:43:48 UTC

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Hypotheticals are fun aren't they? They have no bearing, at all, on reality.
From: (-Marakesh) at 09/04 09:26
> I once heard Dave Smith, who is a member of (((The Tribe))), compare the Palestinian situation to what it would be like if America still had it's Japanese concentration camps from World War II, and four generations of people had now grown up in them, still being oppressed...
CC: #[4]

2024-09-04 14:17:04 UTC

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And simpler than many people would like us to believe.
From: (kuba16) at 09/04 09:05
> The war in the Middle East is more complicated than some people think..
CC: #[4]

2024-09-04 13:30:51 UTC

They kidnapped, imprisoned, tortured, and after 300 days they finally shot those innocent jews in the back of the head. They are Nazis. And like their spiritual forebears they must be destroyed, utterly.

2024-09-04 13:30:12 UTC

This!
https://world.hey.com/dhh/free-speech-isn-t-guaranteed-to-be-forever-e7654685

2024-09-03 20:11:03 UTC

In the late 90s a team of researchers studied a large number of these events, reaching extreme distances, and therefore extremely far back in time. By measuring the red-shift of the spectra of those events they calculated how fast they were being carried away from us by the expanding universe -- and they discovered something very strange.
We expected that the mutual gravity of all the galaxies, and all the matter in the universe should be slowing the expansion of the universe down. After all it takes energy to climb against a gravitational field; and that energy loss must be slowing things down.
What the researchers found, instead, is that the expansion of the universe is speeding up. This means some kind of energy is being pumped into the universe that opposes the inward tug of gravity and pushes the galaxies away from each other ever faster and faster as time goes by.
We call that new energy "Dark Energy" -- and we have no idea what it is or where it comes from.

2024-09-03 20:10:28 UTC

I wrote a book about how to effectively combine procedural, OO, and Functional programming. The title is "Functional Design"

2024-08-27 21:13:46 UTC

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Foreflight! The best iPad app ever written.
From: mazin at 08/27 14:15
> Also @npub16am…6569 is a (student?) pilot and foreflight dev!
CC: #[4]
CC: #[5]
CC: #[6]

2024-08-27 18:08:10 UTC

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Censorship guarantees that the only form of speech allowed is the form that is beneficial to the censor. Since power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, then we are guaranteed that the power of censorship will lead to only corrupt speech.
On the other hand if a free exchange of ideas is tolerated -- even ideas that are terrible and hateful, then we can evaluate them all together and select those we wish to adopt. The bad idea will fall to the wayside as the better ideas gain success.
From: (supdave98) at 08/27 12:49
> It has been said that the solution to hate speech or bad speech isn’t censorship but more speech. Analyze and engage.
CC: #[4]

2024-08-25 12:18:07 UTC

This is fun!… Where does punctuation come from?!
https://youtu.be/k9Re5otW-v0?si=uMZJFtA2h2N8SnRo… via #[1]

2024-08-25 12:17:44 UTC

Getting ruby to work is a gigantic pain. I think the whole Ruby module management system went off the rails a long, long, time ago. (No pun intended.)

2024-08-24 15:09:16 UTC

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Very rarely. Most religious people are not anti-science.
From: (Antonius1) at 08/23 18:26
> Good post.
> Btw have you ever had pushback from religious people?
CC: #[4]

2024-08-23 16:40:48 UTC

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I think it's just two right angle rotations that cancel each other out. The first is the ciculation of the charged particles at right angles to the magnetic field. The second is the right angle propogation of the electromagnetic waves induced by those circulating particles.
From: Giszmo at 08/23 11:36
> Each of these details makes sense. I studied physics after all 😅 But it's still not intuitively clear. I guess I need to get an intuition for synchrotron radiation.
>
> I asked Chat-GPT about the beam's focus and tend to doubt it's correct with this example:
>
> https://i.nostr.build/9MKHMV2m0a2moa5h.png
CC: #[4]

2024-08-23 13:10:32 UTC

- reply

All that comes from Maxwell's laws (which eventually derive from Special Relativity). A moving magnetic field creates a stationary electric field. A moving electricc field creates a stationary magnetic field, etc.
If we start with the premise that the neutron star is a spinning magnet then the moving magnetic field creates a stationary electric field aligned with the spin axis of the star. Any charged particle within that electric field will be accelerated along the electric field lines. Charged particles that move through a magnetic field are acclerated at right angles to the that field. That translates to circular motion around the magnetic field lines. So the combination of the electric field accellerating those particles linearly outward, and the magnetic field accellerating them circularly around the field lines, casues the particles to move in a tight spiral outwards.
Each such charged particle has it's own electric field which is being accelerated both linearly and circularly. This creates a circularly rotating magnetic field at right angles, which ceates a circularly rotation electric field, which creates a circularly rotation magnetic field -- or, to say this differently, an electromagnetic wave. The propogation of an electromagnetic wave is perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the wave, and is therefore outward along the magnetic field lines of the star.
I think I got that all right. ;-)
From: Giszmo at 08/22 13:57
> This was a fascinating read start to finish! Inspiring to read more.
>
> The part where the rotating magnet induces a current that emits EM waves in the direction of the poles is not clear. Is that because those particles are trapped to the magnetic field lines that themselves wobble around the axis of the rotation?
CC: #[4]

2024-08-22 17:49:56 UTC

Neutrons in isolation are unstable. They will energetically decay, becoming a proton, electron, and an anti-electron-neutrino with a half-life of about 10 minutes. This is called ß-decay.
This reaction is reversible through a process known as electron capture. If a proton and an electron are forced into near proximity, they can combine to form a neutron, emitting a normal electron-neutrino.
In the collapsing iron core of a high mass star, in the last microsecond before it blows itself to kingdom come as a type 2 supernova, the electrons and protons within the iron are forced together and undergo this inverse ß-decay becoming neutrons and emitting an overwhelming barrage of neutrinos.
The newly formed neutrons rapidly sort themselves out into energy shells. Neutrons are fermions. Identical fermions cannot co-exist together in the same system. Thus the neutrons in the collapsed core separate into a vast number of different energy shells. Low energy neutrons are deeper in, higher energy neutrons are farther out. There is no way for the higher energy neutrons to lose energy since all the lower shells are full.
All those neutrons are in a constant state of vibration and collision. Higher energy neutrons vibrate and collide faster than lower energy neutrons. All that vibration and collision creates an outward pressure that holds back the inward crush of gravity. So the object, now only a few miles in diameter, settles into a stable state called degenerate matter.
This object is often called a neutron star; and the degenerate matter within it is sometimes referred to as neutronium. A teaspoon of neutronium would weigh several billion tons.
Much of the angular momentum of the original star remains within the neutron star. However, since the radius has shrunk by three or four orders of magnitude, the angular velocity has increased by a corresponding factor. These objects can spin at thousands of RPM. Moreover, much of the original star's magnetic field is trapped within the neutron star, and has likewise been compressed by several orders of magnitude. Thus, the neutron star is a very powerful spinning magnet.
When you spin a magnet you create an electric field. The electric field across a newly formed neutron star is enormous. That field accelerates vast numbers of charged particles to stream outwards from the magnetic poles. However, the powerful magnetic field lines force those particles to move in a spirals as they stream outwards. When charged particles move in spirals they induce electromagnetic waves -- light. And those light waves travel in straight beams emitted from the magnetic poles of the neutron star.
Those beams of light carry away some the rotational energy of the Neutron star. This creates a drag on its rotation. But given that the star contains a solar mass of neutronium spinning at thousands of RPM, it has plenty of kinetic energy to spare and so the reduction in rotational velocity is very gradual.
If the magnetic poles of the neutron star are not perfectly in line with its spin axis, then those beams of light swing around through space like a lighthouse beacon. If they happen to be in line with the Earth, we see the object emitting pulses of light as the beams pass by. We call these pulsating stars Pulsars.

2024-08-22 17:49:14 UTC

The collapsing iron core of a massive star that has exhausted its fuel will quickly reach densities at which electrons and protons can no longer remain separate. They combine to form neutrons in an extremely violent reaction that tears the rest of the star apart and blasts it's contents all over the sky as a type 2 Supernova.
At the time of the explosion the structure of the star looks like an onion. There is an outer shell of Hydrogen gas, then a shell of Hydrogen fusing into Helium. Below that is a shell of Helium fusing into Carbon and Oxygen. Deeper still is a shell fusing Carbon into Neon, Magnesium, Sodium, and Aluminum. Deeper still is a shell fusing Neon into Oxygen and Magnesium. Still deeper the Oxygen fuses into Silicon, Argon, Sulfur, and Calcium. And finally a shell that fuses Silicon into an isotope of Nickel that decays into Iron.
All this material is blown to smithereens when the barrage of outrushing neutrinos produced by the core's transmutation into neutrons collides with those shells. The over-pressures cerated in that collision stimulate even more fusion. The environment of the explosion is rich with free high energy neutrons, and alpha-particles (Helium nuclei). These particles are absorbed by the elements within the explosion, transmuting them further into the vast majority of the elements on the periodic table up to element 36.
All these nuclei are scattered amidst the rapidly expanding cloud of debris and eventually mix with the interstellar medium, polluting the existing clouds of neutral hydrogen and, if close enough, stimulating them to collapse into planetary systems.
The Oxygen and Nitrogen in our atmosphere. The Carbon and Calcium in our bodies and bones. The Sodium in our seas, and the Iron and Aluminum in our buildings, originated from this process. Those elements all came from stars that blew their guts up all over the sky, and seeded future stars with the elements of life and civilization.

2024-08-20 13:15:06 UTC

Most of the stars were see in the night sky are extremely luminous giants. Stars the size of our Sun are too faint to be seen beyond a few dozen light years. This is ironic because the Sun is much larger than the majority of stars. There are a vast number of nearby stars that we simply cannot see with the naked eye.
Giant stars burn very hot, and very bright, and for a very short time. A giant can fuse hydrogen into helium thousands of times faster than the Sun. It can exhaust its fuel in as little as ten million years.
In their cores, they first fuse hydrogen into helium, then helium into carbon and oxygen. However, unlike the Sun they are massive enough to continue the process and fuse carbon into a number of other elements, that eventually are fused into silicon
At each stage the rate of fusion must increase because the reactions become less efficient.
On the very last day of a giant star‘s life, it begins to fuse silicon into iron. This reaction is so feeble that the star will burn through a full solar mass of silicon in a matter of hours; all the while a nugget of iron, the size of the Earth, with the mass of the Sun, accumulates in its core.
Fusion reactions with iron are endothermic. They consume energy as opposed to producing it. So when the silicon is exhausted, and the iron begins to fuse under the weight of the star above it, the core cools.
The cooling core collapses, it can no longer produce the energy needed to hold up the mass of the star. The collapse proceeds so rapidly that the material at the center approaches a sizable fraction of the speed of light. The rest of the matter within the star is pulled down with it at a slower pace.
When the core has shrunk to approximately 10 miles in diameter the pressures are so great that the electrons and protons within it are forced to combine into neutrons. This reaction creates a barrage of neutrinos heading outward at the speed of light. Meanwhile the neurons in the core rapidly arrange themselves into an energy shell structure that resists any further collapse. The collapse stops dead.
The outrush of neutrinos carries a vast amount of energy that is more than sufficient to reverse the inflowing matter of the star and blow it out into space at a fraction of the speed of light. This reversal creates temperatures and pressures that stimulate even more fusion within the outrushing guts of the star.
The explosion is so energetic that the dying star’s luminosity increases by approximately twelve orders of magnitude. For several weeks it will outshine the galaxy it lives in.
This is a type 2 supernova, and we don’t want to be close to one. 50 light years is not far enough. Within that radius the radiation slamming into the Earth would be disastrous for life. Fortunately there are no stars within that radius that are likely to blow up soon.
But keep your eye on Betelgeuse — it’s likely to blow in the next few thousand years — maybe tomorrow. At 500 light years it would put on a hell of a show. It would be brighter than the full moon and you could read by it at night.

2024-08-19 14:58:18 UTC

Out in the vast interstellar emptiness float huge clouds of dust and gas -- mostly neutral hydrogen, H2 molecules that are loosely bound together by their diffuse gravity. The masses of such clouds are sufficient to create hundreds of stars like our Sun; but the thermal energy of their temperature, and their weak but non-zero angular momentum, are sufficient to prevent their gravity from collapsing them. They are stable structures that will last hundreds of millions, if not billions of years, if not disturbed.
But disturbance can come in the form of a shock wave from a distant supernova or stellar explosion. That shock wave can compress portions of the cloud into densities with sufficient gravitational potential to enter a runaway collapse.
As the collapse proceeds it can stall if the collapsing fragment has too much angular momentum. The cloud, now spinning much faster because of the collapse will often assume a dumbbell shape and the two lobes will separate. With most of the original angular momentum having been shed into their mutual orbit, the two lobes are free to continue their collapse into a binary star system.
Most of these new stars are small, and will collapse into an object roughly the size of Jupiter with little or no internal energy. We call them brown dwarfs. They have been heated by their collapse to glow in the infra red, but will gradually cool.
Some clouds are larger and will collapse to the point where fusion reactions will begin in their cores. First it is the deuterium that fuses, generating quite a bit of heat. But deuterium is rare and that fuel is rapidly exhausted. If the new star is massive enough it may begin to fuse regular hydrogen into helium. Many of these objects are one tenth the mass of the Sun and glow in the red, and near infra-red. We call them red dwarfs. They burn slowly and will last for tens of billions of years.
Some have about the mass of our Sun. They are comparatively rare, but will shine brightly in the visible spectrum, fusing Hydrogen to Helium, and then eventually Helium into Carbon. In the final stages of their live they will become red giants, and will end their lives by repeatedly ejecting their outer shrouds of hydrogen, until only the white hot carbon core remains. These are White Dwarf stars.
But as noted earlier, stars often form in binary pairs. And sometimes the two partners are as massive, or even more massive than the Sun.
The first to die will spread into a Red Giant and disgorge massive amounts of material into the space around it as it pulsates through its death throes. Sometimes that material reaches the partner star, adding slightly to its mass, and reducing the distance between them through friction.
When the Red Giant finally become a White Dwarf, it may be close enough to the partner star to gradually steal material from it -- especially if the partner enters the Red Giant stage.
Matter, mostly hydrogen, builds up on the hot surface of the White dwarf. The White Dwarf may have half the mass of the Sun, and be only a few thousand miles in diameter, roughly the size of the Earth or Mars. Thus the gravitational potential at the surface is huge, and the infalling hydrogen is strongly compressed and heated.
This process continues until the hydrogen accumulating on the surface of the White Dwarf reaches the temperatures and pressures sufficient to ignite hydrogen fusion. This results in a massive thermonuclear explosion called a nova. The explosion is strong enough to blow all the accreted material off the White dwarf and re-expose the carbon core to begin the process again.
From our point of view the binary pair will brighten by many orders of magnitude every few decades. We may just see one of these this Summer or Fall in the constellation of the Northern Crown (Corona Borealis)

2024-08-16 18:18:05 UTC

- reply

Yes, it appears as though the window is pretty narrow. Complex life on this planet is only 500my old. It took a long time for photosynthesis to oxidize all disolved iron in the oceans so that oxygen could finally accumulate in the air.
From: AlanSiefert<-shawn at 08/16 13:08
> Makes you realize that the time allowed for intelligent life to evolve is actually pretty short (assuming ~4B years between genesis and intelligent life). Probably the reason we haven’t made contact yet - the window is very short. The best chances for contacting intelligent life will probably involve looking for civs that have transcended to Kardashev II+.
CC: #[4]

2024-08-16 17:59:51 UTC

The Sun, our local star, is just under a million miles in diameter. The surface temperature is about 5,000K, and the power output is about 4E26 watts.
All that power is coming from the innermost 10% of the star -- the core -- where the temperatures are around 17E6K, and the pressure is ...um... crushing.
At those temperatures the Hydrogen atoms cannot hold onto their electrons. So protons and electrons are free to zoom about without binding. The velocities of the protons are so high, and the pressures are so great, that every once is a great while two protons will get close enough that the strong nuclear force will bind them together into Helium. This happens to about 500 metric tons of Hydrogen each second. In that reaction a lot of high energy gamma rays are released.
Those gamma rays are trapped within all those charged particles in the core. They bounce around in the core, doing a random walk for thousands of years. But eventually they reach the outer shell of the core where they can heat the Hydrogen gas outside the core.
The bouncing around of all those gamma rays creates an outward pressure that keeps the core of the Sun from collapsing under the weight of the Hydrogen above it.
The hydrogen outside the core, heated by the gamma rays escaping the core, rises to the surface of the star in a massive convection current. Upon reaching the surface, the heat of that gas is radiated at 5000K and reaches us ~8 minutes later.
This process has been going on for nearly five billion years, and will continue for another five billion or so. However...
The Helium building up in the core takes up space. This impedes the fusion reaction. Fewer gamma rays are produced, causing the core to contract. This heats the core driving the fusion rate back up, but at a slightly higher temperature.
Thus, the Sun is gradually warming. It is about 10% hotter today than when it formed, and it will continue to get hotter and hotter as the eons pass. In about 200 million years, it will be too hot for water to remain liquid on the surface of the Earth.
So, I guess we'll have to move the Earth a bit farther out.

2024-08-16 17:58:47 UTC

Harris campaign caught editing WDAY Radio and other news outlets headlines | WDAY Radio - AM 970 and FM 93.1 https://x.com/unclebobmartin/status/1824287000519659624

2024-08-16 17:57:33 UTC

We're All Far Right Now (Official Music Video)
https://youtu.be/LsbRrTULpgA?si=Z0VYLAJ4SkuV8-ro… via #[1]

2024-08-15 13:57:37 UTC

Read the first paragraph.
https://becketnewsite.s3.amazonaws.com/20240813183534/injunction.pdf

2024-08-15 13:57:06 UTC

Imagine an empty room with 1000 coins on the floor. The room sits above a subway line, and when trains go by it jostles the coins and flips some over.
The room is locked and you have the only key to this room.
You come into this room for the first time on Tuesday and you count 300 heads.
On Wednesday you count 400 heads.
What do you believe the count was on Monday and why?
And what does this have to do with the universe at large?

2024-08-15 13:54:21 UTC

Self, self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self , self, Python.

2024-08-15 13:54:07 UTC

Kamala is tough on crime.
Kamala is tough on immigration.
Kamala will kill tax on tips.
Kamala will drill baby drill.
Kamala is Trump. Who knew?

2024-08-14 18:45:55 UTC

We are currently in an ice age, which is defined as any period during which there are ice caps.
The current ice age began 2.5 Mya. It is suspected that the cause was the gradual reduction in CO2 caused by the weathering of the Himalayas, the migration of Antarctica over the South Pole, and the closing of the isthmus of Panama blocking ocean heat transfer at the equator.
There have been over a dozen significant glaciations since the ice age began. They are likely driven by the orbital cycles of the Earth. In the last million years they’ve fallen into a regular pattern of ~90,000 years of advancing cold and ice, and ~10,000 years of retreating ice and relative warmth. We are in one of those warm periods now. It started ~12,000 years ago.
Winter is coming.

2024-08-13 19:51:55 UTC

- reply

Everything moves through spacetime at C, and only C. Inertia (momentum) is relative.
From: mleku<-semisol at 08/13 14:01
> what really does my head in though is when you start talking about light speed limit as well as inertia
CC: #[4]

2024-08-13 18:47:17 UTC

If the idea of curved space time, as described by General Relativity (GR), confuses you, consider the following analogy.
The theory of GR was sparked by Einstein’s “happiest thought”, that gravity and acceleration are equivalent.
That means that you, standing on the ground, are accelerating upwards. But you can detect no motion in that direction. How does that make sense?
Consider the amusement park ride sometimes known as “The Rotor”. It is a room sized cylinder that you walk into and stand against the back wall. Then the cylinder is spun up and you are pressed against the wall by centrifugal force. For you, gravity seems to shift and you feel as though you are lying on your back with the center of the cylinder above you.
Your acceleration vector is toward the center of the cylinder. But your velocity vector is parallel to the back wall, 90 degrees away from the acceleration vector.
So, when you are standing on the ground, accelerating upwards, your velocity vector, as you move through curved space time, is shifted 90 degrees into the dimension of that curvature, which is a dimension you cannot directly perceive.

2024-08-12 13:50:34 UTC

- reply

Yes, and no. The rush to get a vaccine was certainly started by Trump. The use of force (OSHA, and Federal Employees) was all Biden.
From: mleku<-semisol at 08/12 08:31
> to be fair, the rush to jab everyone started with trumpy tho
CC: #[4]

2024-08-12 13:30:05 UTC

OK, OK. Maybe my satire about the tax laws in the Great State of Bobolia might smell a tad of politics.

2024-08-12 13:29:26 UTC

It takes a little thought, and a little geometry, to explain this.
https://image.nostr.build/085b03f0454f01fed31581eeaff1e1f840acae44da52aa34a293bc7143575e18.png
Source: https://x.com/unclebobmartin/status/1822956128998658545

2024-08-12 13:28:40 UTC

It takes a little thought, and a little geometry, to explain this. http://image.nostr.build/085b03f0454f01fed31581eeaff1e1f840acae44da52aa34a293bc7143575e18.png
Source: http://x.com/unclebobmartin/status/1822956128998658545

2024-08-12 13:27:42 UTC

I am utterly amazed (and aghast) at the number of people who have told me that the lockdowns all happened under Trump. These folks have very short memories, and no clue how our federal government actually works. They must think the president is some kind of absolute ruler.

2024-08-11 13:36:37 UTC

image.nostr.build/63aae01fd03c9af1953d1ee2aa8169df0b7aa653b5ac696fa0090be865641f46.png

2024-08-11 13:36:07 UTC

I'm writing a chapter that contains a simple walk through of writing, and cleaning, a python application. What a hoot! It's been years since I wrote any significant python, but this is brining back to me why I love, and don't love, the language.

2024-08-10 14:59:39 UTC

- reply

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdO-elq4GaA
From: (Jon13) at 08/10 09:54
> What do we do?
CC: #[4]

2024-08-10 14:23:30 UTC

Western society was the salvation of this planet. Billions were hauled out of poverty and hunger. The rise of the middle class was a miracle.
Now Western society, in it's lazy ignorance and self-satisfied navel gazing, is on the verge of letting all that get torn down.

2024-08-10 12:55:16 UTC

This was a fun interview about my Clean Coder book.
https://youtu.be/wf68VDObVX0?si=gcrmXGMx6RIL8KDJ

2024-08-10 12:53:34 UTC

This was a fun interview about my Clean Coder book. image.nostr.build/7cb8bfec3f1e5c37db4863f87ba4a3fd3f873395ea94d0c83646669e3a471ae9.png Source: x.com/unclebobmartin/status/1821599857750241492

2024-08-10 12:52:38 UTC

Kamala Harris is NOT WINNING! Latest 2024 Trump v. Harris Numbers. youtu.be/ud1mP7aAWiM?si=Ceb2Pz6LnfxVxjQf… via #[1]

2024-08-08 11:39:15 UTC

It's been quite a few years, but I'm firing up a Python plugin for IntelliJ and starting to do some exercises. This is going to be fun!

2024-08-08 11:39:00 UTC

Cancel Culture is dead. It took over a decade to die; but it's gone now. Everyone knows that when democrats lose an argument they just fall back on throwing names like racist, or misogynist, or transphobe, or whatever ... and nobody cares anymore. Everyone just rolls their eyes and moves on.

2024-08-07 19:35:24 UTC

Did you watch, last night, as the JOY rained down upon us from the heavens? Oh! THE JOY! The thick, sweet, corn syrup JOY that spilled and splashed all over the stage. My God! It was so, so, sweet that the Dexcom on my arm caught fire and nearly took the arm off.