Naethure's recent activity

  1. Comment on To cook a steak, first you must unlearn what you have learned in ~food

    Naethure
    Link Parent
    Yeah, I've seen 5 or 10 minutes depending on the source and the steak thickness. 30 minutes for a steak would be crazy, I think that was referring to larger roasts. I think the main...

    Yeah, I've seen 5 or 10 minutes depending on the source and the steak thickness. 30 minutes for a steak would be crazy, I think that was referring to larger roasts. I think the main counterargument I've seen is that the lost juice doesn't actually matter, but I don't think I really buy that -- I think it's likely a trade-off between the lost juices vs. the crust/temperature/other changes.

    I'll have to check that book out, thanks!

  2. Comment on To cook a steak, first you must unlearn what you have learned in ~food

    Naethure
    Link
    Another great article in a similar vein is Kenji's https://www.seriouseats.com/2013/06/the-food-lab-7-old-wives-tales-about-cooking-steak.html. I'm always happy to see these myths get debunked....
    • Exemplary

    Another great article in a similar vein is Kenji's https://www.seriouseats.com/2013/06/the-food-lab-7-old-wives-tales-about-cooking-steak.html. I'm always happy to see these myths get debunked. Definitely agree with the first two.

    I'm not so sure about the third one, however. There does seem to be quite a bit of science around resting meat: https://www.seriouseats.com/2009/12/how-to-have-juicy-meats-steaks-the-food-lab-the-importance-of-resting-grilling.html does some actual experiments and demonstrates the pros of resting pretty well. However, https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/more-cooking-science/science-juiciness-why-resting-and-holding-meat-are does a pretty good job with some counterarguments, though I think others are kind of weak (if your meat is overcooked because you rested it, it should have been pulled earlier to account for carryover cooking). I'm honestly not sure that there's enough information either way to definitively say that resting or not resting is better at this point -- it seems like there are some pros and cons of each, and maybe some more research is required.

    5 votes

  3. Comment on Defining and using "ask" tags in ~tildes

    Naethure
    Link Parent
    Ooh, I like that! It pretty much perfectly captures the essence of that tag.

    Ooh, I like that! It pretty much perfectly captures the essence of that tag.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on Defining and using "ask" tags in ~tildes

    Naethure
    Link Parent
    Hmm, I see the point about info not necessarily implying long-form as much as it could. I disagree with ask.academia, though, because I feel that it limits the tag in a way that likely was not...

    Hmm, I see the point about info not necessarily implying long-form as much as it could. I disagree with ask.academia, though, because I feel that it limits the tag in a way that likely was not intended: we should be able to have this type of an explanation/discussion about non-academic subjects as well. Think the Tildes equivalent of Reddit's /r/AskEngineers or /r/AskElectronics, or similar long-form in-depth factual Q&A format discussions about the practical/industry side of fields, rather than the academic side.

    I'd argue that long-form discussion is (or at least should be) the default response to any Tildes thread, though. It's not so much that the tag is for long-form discussion, as that it's for a thread that's asking a question with an answer that is A. objective and B. not something an average layperson is likely to know.

    2 votes

  5. Comment on Defining and using "ask" tags in ~tildes

    Naethure
    Link Parent
    The idea of assistance was to replace and disambiguate help, not to be in addition to it. But based on @Algernon_Asimov's sibling comment, ask.how might be a better name for it. As I said in my...

    The idea of assistance was to replace and disambiguate help, not to be in addition to it. But based on @Algernon_Asimov's sibling comment, ask.how might be a better name for it. As I said in my response to him, I think most of my point was that if help is ambiguous, maybe the answer is to split it or rename it, rather than to try to have a recorded/understood decision about what it means (which just doesn't scale as well as having names that are more precise and are immediately understood by new users).

    I disagree with info being redundant. There's a difference between reading a pre-written definition and getting an explanation tailored to you, with the ability to ask follow-up questions. This is the reason why subreddits like ELI5 or the academic Ask* subreddits are so useful and popular. I think there's definitely a space in tildes for those types of discussions, and, in fact, they may be some of the most useful ones to have on this platform given that we try to stay away from memes and low-effort posts.

    4 votes

  6. Comment on Defining and using "ask" tags in ~tildes

    Naethure
    Link Parent
    Yeah, I can definitely see how assistance becomes an overloaded term, especially coming from that context. I think upon further reflection I agree that ask.how is a pretty good name for that type...

    Yeah, I can definitely see how assistance becomes an overloaded term, especially coming from that context. I think upon further reflection I agree that ask.how is a pretty good name for that type of tag. I think most of my point was that if help is ambiguous, maybe the answer is to split it or rename it, rather than to try to have a recorded/understood decision about what it means (which just doesn't scale as well as having names that are more precise and are immediately understood by new users).

    1 vote

  7. Comment on Defining and using "ask" tags in ~tildes

    Naethure
    Link Parent
    Based on what you wrote in this comment and in your post, how does something like this sound? ask (for anything that doesn't fit into another category) ask.survey (for questions about preferences...

    Based on what you wrote in this comment and in your post, how does something like this sound?

    • ask (for anything that doesn't fit into another category)
    • ask.survey (for questions about preferences and favorites, same as you said in your initial post)
    • ask.recommendations (for questions where the OP is asking for a specific recommendation or set of recommendations, same as you said in your initial post)
    • ask.info (for asking about facts or information about something, this would include the "teach" questions)
    • ask.assistance (for asking how to do things or for assistance in solving a specific problem, this would include the "fix it" or "how to" questions)
    • ask.advice (for questions about life situations or asking about resolving more open-ended problems where the answers are more subjective)
    4 votes

  8. Comment on XOR Swap Explained Visually in ~comp

    Naethure
    Link Parent
    Wikipedia has a few good reasons where it could be useful: But in practice, it's not really used often, at least directly. The next section on that page has a few good reasons why, including that...

    Wikipedia has a few good reasons where it could be useful:

    • on a processor where the instruction set encoding permits the XOR swap to be encoded in a smaller number of bytes
    • in a region with high register pressure, it may allow the register allocator to avoid spilling a register
    • in microcontrollers where available RAM is very limited.
    • in cryptographic applications which need constant time functions to prevent time-based side-channel attack

    But in practice, it's not really used often, at least directly. The next section on that page has a few good reasons why, including that it's harder to read, is often not more efficient (especially on modern processors), and that check has to be performed to make sure you aren't swapping two pointers pointing to the same location.

    6 votes

  9. Comment on Trying out different HTML tags in ~test

  10. Comment on How Do I Make A Database? in ~comp

    Naethure
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Also, an extra note to try to answer the root question rather than the database-specific one is that a database may not be the best solution to store files like images, music, or videos. You may...

    Also, an extra note to try to answer the root question rather than the database-specific one is that a database may not be the best solution to store files like images, music, or videos. You may want a hybrid solution with a database containing a file name reference and the relevant metadata your service needs (owner, permissions, timestamps, user-friendly name, description, etc.) and using either files or some form of cloud storage (Azure Blob/Files, AWS S3, etc.) to store the actual files, especially if they can be large.

    8 votes

  11. Comment on How Do I Make A Database? in ~comp

    Naethure
    Link Parent
    That's...not really true. It's true that getting a database fully optimized is a skill and can be difficult, but the degree to which database optimization is necessary is going to vary greatly by...

    That's...not really true.

    It's true that getting a database fully optimized is a skill and can be difficult, but the degree to which database optimization is necessary is going to vary greatly by use-case. You can definitely get an unoptimized database to perform just fine, especially for a proof-of-concept or small release. There are small optimizations that you can then do to push it significantly farther, and unless you're doing something really stupid, by the time you grow to the point that you'll need extreme optimizations, you can probably afford to spend some time optimizing it (or hire someone who is a database expert). It may surprise you just how much headroom you can get simply by increasing the database server's processing power.

    The compiled vs interpreted language thing is completely incorrect. That has absolutely no bearing on the database, which is accessed via remote calls (either to a different server or at least a different service on the same server). While it's typically true that you can get more performance out of a compiled language when fully optimizing, you significantly overstate the effect. With the exception of some extremely high-performance use-cases and applications with significant resource constraints, performance isn't really a good reason to choose between an interpreted and compiled language per se, especially with the efficiency of modern interpreters (and JIT compilers).

    There's honestly not enough information in this post to start focusing on speed like you are. And the correct answer isn't to pick a type of database and then try to make it work for this purpose, it's to better understand the use-case in order to properly select a type of database.

    But all of this answers a different question to the one OP seems to have asked, which, at least from my read, is just about how to actually host a database! And the answer to that depends entirely on how OP is hosting the webserver. So, @OhHaiMark, to answer that question: Azure or AWS can be excellent options if you're considering hosting in the cloud (this has a lot of benefits, especially to scalability, redundancy, and maintenance/development costs, and is the path I'd most recommend). If you're using some web hosting provider to host the frontend, they may also have a database hosting option (though I wouldn't recommend this option in the long-run). If you are hosting it on a server you control, you would simply download and install the database much like you did your webserver. MERN as a stack actually contains a database: MongoDB, so any guide to setting up a MERN stack should walk you through installing, creating, and connecting to it.

    13 votes

  12. Comment on Spice expert guesses cheap vs expensive spices | Price Points in ~food

    Naethure
    Link Parent
    I suppose it's just general skepticism of any entertainment that's been heavily "produced", if that makes any sense. I've heard enough behind-the-scenes information about any kind of "reality" TV...

    I suppose it's just general skepticism of any entertainment that's been heavily "produced", if that makes any sense. I've heard enough behind-the-scenes information about any kind of "reality" TV (especially stuff like cooking competitions) that heavily imply that, while they're not entirely faked, the end video result often doesn't really resemble what truly happened (things like changing the order something happened, or crossing shots of different people's cooking, or mistakes/fixes/etc. that are scripted or left out, etc.). Note that this doesn't necessarily diminish the entertainment or educational value of it.

    I guess it's not that I particularly think the expert went in with complete knowledge (and keep in mind, I did just say that I wasn't fully convinced they went into it blind, not that I was convinced they had prior knowledge), but the whole thing seems too clean. There's a lot of instant knowledge spoken very fluently, which makes me think that there's either a bit of time that the expert has to compose their thoughts that didn't make it into the final recording, or that some bits of what they say are scripted or at least bullet pointed. Especially in times when they say "there are # reasons for x" and then list the reasons. Typically if you can pre-state the number of things you're going to say, you've already thought through what they all are.

    Now, that may not necessarily mean that the expert is told which is which, but from the very beginning they seem to know which one to focus on the good qualities and which to primarily talk about the bad ones. I feel like they've already started comparing and contrasting the two before they even pick up the second one. Perhaps they had some time to examine the samples before recording to figure it out, perhaps they're told which is good beforehand, or perhaps they really are just that knowledgeable.

    Maybe part of it is that one is high-quality and one is decidedly low-quality, and knowing that fact in advance makes it easier -- maybe it would be harder if the low-quality one were medium-quality instead, and because of how easy it is to spot a low-quality one, they know that if it doesn't scream low-quality, it must be the high-quality one. I suppose that would mean they aren't going into it fully blind, but that they still aren't told which one is good and which is bad.

    Keep in mind, I haven't watched any other episodes of the series yet, so this is just based on the spice one.

    3 votes

  13. Comment on Spice expert guesses cheap vs expensive spices | Price Points in ~food

    Naethure
    Link
    I keep seeing these videos suggested and posted in various places but have never watched them because the titles and preview images have always looked a bit clickbaity. I figured that I'd give...

    I keep seeing these videos suggested and posted in various places but have never watched them because the titles and preview images have always looked a bit clickbaity. I figured that I'd give this one a shot because of OP's comment and the particular topic, and I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. Really interesting analysis and some good information, even if I'm not fully convinced that the expert went into it blind. Will definitely watch more of the series!

    3 votes

  14. Comment on What are you typing on? in ~tech

    Naethure
    Link
    I've been using the Microsoft Modern Keyboard for a few months and I love it. I had been looking for a good scissor switch keyboard for a long time, and had settled with the Microsoft Designer...

    I've been using the Microsoft Modern Keyboard for a few months and I love it. I had been looking for a good scissor switch keyboard for a long time, and had settled with the Microsoft Designer Keyboard for a couple of years. I love its keys, but hated the compact layout, so I was pretty happy when they released the Modern one with the same keys but a better layout. The fingerprint scanner is also pretty convenient for logging in to my computer, though that's secondary to the keys and layout.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on Anybody here play Hearthstone? Have tips for someone getting into it? in ~games

    Naethure
    Link Parent
    They recently added ranks 26-50 in which you can never lose stars, including at the end of seasons, that way new players only play against other new players until they hit 25 (at which point...

    They recently added ranks 26-50 in which you can never lose stars, including at the end of seasons, that way new players only play against other new players until they hit 25 (at which point there's no way to get back into 26-50). I haven't made a new account to try it (and in fact have stopped playing recently, started disliking the direction the game was going in Witchwood and pretty much flat out stopped playing when Druidsday Boomsday was released), but in theory at least it should help with many of the new player issues.

    1 vote

  16. Comment on Anybody here play Hearthstone? Have tips for someone getting into it? in ~games

    Naethure
    Link Parent
    I don't agree on Arena for a new player. Hitting 7 wins is doable and can even be frequent for someone who is good and experienced at the game, but it's not likely for someone just starting out....

    I don't agree on Arena for a new player. Hitting 7 wins is doable and can even be frequent for someone who is good and experienced at the game, but it's not likely for someone just starting out. Especially with the new 26-50 ranks, ladder is a better place for a new player to start and learn the fundamentals.

    4 votes

  17. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~life

    Naethure
    Link Parent
    I think you underestimate how normal, interesting, and non-ultra-nerd the people who work at the big 4 are :)

    I think you underestimate how normal, interesting, and non-ultra-nerd the people who work at the big 4 are :)

    1 vote

  18. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tildes

    Naethure
    Link Parent
    But if you fragment the different subtopics too far, are any of the communities large enough to generate any real content and discussion?

    But if you fragment the different subtopics too far, are any of the communities large enough to generate any real content and discussion?

    1 vote