Today I Learned

[collinsmark]

Specifically for US borders: You could travel between US <==> Mexico or US <==> Canada with just a drivers license (no passport required) by air until ~2007 or by land/sea until ~2009. This passport requirement is a pretty recent thing.

 

[Borg]

TIL that IBM patented a technique created by Euler.

https://leetarxiv.substack.com/p/ibm-patented-eulers-fractions

IBM Slapped the Buzzwords 'AI Interpretability' on Generalized Continued Fractions and their Series Transformations and was awarded a Patent.

The paper takes 13 pages to assert: continued fractions (just like mlps) are universal approximators.

The authors reinvent the wheel countless times:

1. They rebrand continued fractions to ‘ladders’.
2. They label basic division ‘The 1/z nonlinearity’.
3. Ultimately, they take the well-defined concept of Generalized Continued Fractions and call them CoFrNets.

 

[fresh_42]

TIL that IBM patented a technique created by Euler.

https://leetarxiv.substack.com/p/ibm-patented-eulers-fractions

Time to patent addition! A goldmine!

 

[Jonathan Scott]

TIL that IBM patented a technique created by Euler.

In the late 1980s, working for a university, I wrote some terminal graphics routines for the IBM PC which among other things drew arcs without needing multiplication or division, and I was told I couldn't include them in the terminal program I was selling because the algorithms had been successfully patented by someone else, despite the basic stated principle that algorithms are not patentable. That was a shock and very annoying; I ended up omitting that functionality from the program, making it emulate a less capable device (which still worked, but required the mainframe programs to draw the arcs as sequences of line segments, impacting performance).

When I worked for IBM later, I was told that even though pure software and algorithms should not be patentable, others had patented such ideas by claiming the patent applied to an example hardware implementation, so we needed to protect our software by the same approach.

A few of my IBM software inventions (mostly relying on particular hardware features) were patented (including at least two which I thought were obvious but which were initiated by others who included me as a shared inventor). I also participated in invention reviews to decide whether other ideas should be submitted for patents. (One of my reviews consisted solely of "That's the DOS APPEND command").

To start with (early 1990s) we were really careful with our own searches for prior art, and only let through ideas which really seemed novel, non-obvious and useful. (With my diverse range of computer experience, I tended to find prior art rather too easily, which was discouraging for the applicants, as was my general attitude to trying to patent something which appeared to be pure software, so I was quite relieved when I stopped being asked to do reviews). The review process took a lot of internal skill and effort, and others pointed out that it's really the job of the patent examiner to check whether it's valid, so we reduced our internal checks and started submitting more stuff that hadn't been fully checked. It then turned out that patent examiners were so overloaded that they started to let stuff through without much checking, so that in the end real checking would only occur if someone decided to challenge the patent, and that's probably still the situation now. (I was still sometimes asked by IBM whether I was aware of any prior art which could help to challenge someone else's dodgy patent).

So the position at IBM when I was there appeared to be that if you do anything you consider ingenious, you're expected to submit some patents to protect it, preventing anyone else from doing so. The pre-submission checks are no longer very thorough, and neither is the external patent review process, but if there is a problem the patent can be overturned if you have the resources to challenge it, which is somewhat unfair as that is usually a costly process.

In 2001, an Australian managed to patent the wheel, although it was revoked in 2014 after a challenge!

 

[Hornbein]

I worked with IBM a little bit in about 1990 and they were preoccupied with patents. It's just a basis for bullying/extortion, blocking small competitors from entering the market. But that's the game so you've got to play or else.

 

[symbolipoint]

I worked with IBM a little bit in about 1990 and they were preoccupied with patents. It's just a basis for bullying/extortion, blocking small competitors from entering the market. But that's the game so you've got to play or else.

That gives us a new appreciation for trade secrets or corporate secrets.

 

[Hornbein]

Today I learned of the Laguna Garzon Bridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laguna_Garzón_Bridge. I thought it was so senseless it had to be fake but insofar as I can tell (with minimal effort) it really exists.

They say the design is to slow down drivers. Why is this any more necessary here than anywhere else? And it seems to me that drunks at night will drive straight into the drink, taking out a section of the guardrail. I think they spent all that money just because it looks cool, which it does. I approve.

 

[Hornbein]

Today I learned how bloody expensive it is to get decent business suits

I still have the one I bought off the rack in 1978 for $200. It still looks new, though perhaps not stylish. I don't keep track of such things.

 

[Janus]

Today I learned of the Laguna Garzon Bridge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laguna_Garzón_Bridge. I thought it was so senseless it had to be fake but insofar as I can tell (with minimal effort) it really exists.

They say the design is to slow down drivers. Why is this any more necessary here than anywhere else? And it seems to me that drunks at night will drive straight into the drink, taking out a section of the guardrail. I think they spent all that money just because it looks cool, which it does. I approve.

This made me think of I-94, the freeway that crosses North Dakota. It runs pretty much straight East-West. I been on it a good number to times, both as a passenger, and driver. ND is, for the most part. pretty flat, so you'll get long stretches of straight road, and then, for no apparent reason, a jog to the left or right. Almost as if they are put there just to mix things up.

 

[Hornbein]

Today I learned that James Joyce married Nora Barnacle.

 

[Hornbein]

This made me think of I-94, the freeway that crosses North Dakota. It runs pretty much straight East-West. I been on it a good number to times, both as a passenger, and driver. ND is, for the most part. pretty flat, so you'll get long stretches of straight road, and then, for no apparent reason, a jog to the left or right. Almost as if they are put there just to mix things up.

It's because the Earth is a sphere. An truly East-West road would be a portion of a circle, not a straight line. Roads are made as straight lines. The error builds up and the jogs correct for it. There could be other solutions but that's not the way they do things.

 

[OCR]

It's because the Earth is a sphere. An truly East-West road would be a portion of a circle, not a straight line. Roads are made as straight lines. The error builds up and the jogs correct for it.

grid corrections - Google Search

 

[DaveC426913]

It's because the Earth is a sphere. An truly East-West road would be a portion of a circle, not a straight line. Roads are made as straight lines. The error builds up and the jogs correct for it. There could be other solutions but that's not the way they do things.

That, and possibly the fact that many roads start off as road segments and only get joined together afterward.

 

[gmax137]

I think the grid corrections are for north-south lines. East-West lines would follow lattitudes without needing corrections.

 

[Hornbein]

I think the grid corrections are for north-south lines. East-West lines would follow lattitudes without needing corrections.

The North-South thing is because of property lines. Property tends to be square. Let's say square miles. As one goes north in the northern hemisphere the number of miles that fits into a degree of longitude shrinks. Either shrink the squares as one heads north or have a mismatch of the squares that you have to kludge around. They went for option B. So the roads don't strictly follow lines of longitude.

It does seem that the East West curvature would be gradual enough to not be a problem. So maybe those jogs are because Farmer Brown wouldn't sell or something like that.

 

[gmax137]

See also
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_Land_Survey_System

 

[Hornbein]

Today I learned that Harvard is putting on a play about 1970s feminism. In the second act everyone is naked.

https://www.harvardmagazine.com/performing-recorded-arts/harvard-second-wave-feminism

 

[DaveC426913]

Today I learned that Harvard is putting on a play about 1970s feminism. In the second act everyone is naked.

https://www.harvardmagazine.com/performing-recorded-arts/harvard-second-wave-feminism

View attachment 367599

Did you mean to post a giant pic of Jeffrey Epstein?

 

[Swamp Thing]

TIL that certain marine animals "steal" chloroplasts from marine plants, after which they can live on sunlight for a pretty long time.

https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkxy3wH7ud6Cz15AGUej2NeEgADp-hm6xK7?si=h5C9r0lmHGKulVJX

Edit: The stolen chloroplasts are called kleptoplasts, and the propensity to steal them is called kleptoplasty.

Full video:

 

[OmCheeto]

TIL that you cannot laugh at your own posts here at PF.

 

[pinball1970]

T I.L. About Belgium's "Little Einstein."

https://www.brusselstimes.com/1846332/belgiums-15-year-old-prodigy-earns-phd-in-quantum-physics

 

[pinball1970]

How did this pass me by? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Watson

A thread of its own Bill surely? @BillTre

 

[BillTre]

Although central to understanding DNA, Watson got weird and left a highly conflicted legacy.

On the other hand, I just read that Jimmy Cliff, whom I have more appreciation for, died.

 

[gmax137]

I have listened to that album/soundtrack probably a thousand times since 1974. My freshman roommate had it and I was hooked. I still love it. I put the CD on in my workshop with the garage door open and blast it to the neighborhood.

RIP Jimmy Cliff

 

[fresh_42]

FB feed:

Urban raccoons are evolving to look cuter—and they're showing early signs of domestication.

Anyone who's been to North American cities may have noticed that the raccoons there often look strikingly cute. New research shows that urban raccoons have developed adaptations that help them cope better in densely populated environments. These include visible changes to their appearance: shorter snouts, smaller heads, and softer, slightly droopy ears compared to their rural relatives.

Scientists believe that urban raccoons have largely self-domesticated because they benefit from the constant supply of food found in garbage. This adaptation has resulted in them being generally calmer and less aggressive—almost like early domestication ancestors. Although they are still considered wild animals, one researcher said, "It would be quite fitting, and even amusing, if the next domesticated animal species were indeed the raccoon."

Source: Wang M. (2025).

 

[symbolipoint]

That self-domestication of urban raccoons reminds me of what I had read about early domestication of wolves, ultimately giving rise to the dog.

 

[gmax137]

You'd better be careful around raccoons, they can be very dangerous - especially if their youngsters are present. Cute is not always gentle.

EDIT: spelling

 

[fresh_42]

That self-domestication of urban raccoons reminds me of what I had read about early domestication of wolves, ultimately giving rise to the dog.

I wonder if a similar can be said about Germany. Raccoons have been counted as domestic animals for about a century here, and there are cities with considerable populations. On the other hand, there is still a chance that foxes will win the race on self-domestication. I mean, what worked for cats ...

 

[BillTre]

Beware, many raccoons in the US have rabies.

 

[BillTre]

I have listened to that album/soundtrack probably a thousand times since 1974. My freshman roommate had it and I was hooked. I still love it. I put the CD on in my workshop with the garage door open and blast it to the neighborhood.

RIP Jimmy Cliff

Many of Jimmy Cliff songs were upbeat and inspiring.
Here is one of my favorite Jimmy Cliff songs: