I spent about 15 minutes staring at this
What’s wrong with this code: 959 // we don't have a lot of entropy to work with here :\ 960 RtPoint2 random_pt( deterministic_float( node->center_luminance, rnd1, (uint32_t)(1280498143 * rnd0) ),...
View ArticleImproving IMU attitude estimates with velocity data
This was last week’s project: Building a Kalman filter-based IMU. IMUs (inertial measurement units) are clever little devices which try to estimate an object’s absolute orientation (and sometimes its...
View ArticleHow to pronounce hexadecimal
This bit from HBO’s Silicon Valley cracked me up: Some kid is pitching his revolutionary startup idea to entrepreneur Elrich Bachman: Kid: Here it is: Bit… soup. It’s like alphabet soup, BUT… it’s ones...
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How a Kalman filter works, in pictures
I have to tell you about the Kalman filter, because what it does is pretty damn amazing. Surprisingly few software engineers and scientists seem to know about it, and that makes me sad because it is...
View ArticleSecond Order FizzBuzz
The FizzBuzz problem requires the construction of a well-known list of interleaved numbers and nonsense words. The list has been studied extensively, and recent work at CERN has constrained its utility...
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Infinitely Aged Christmas Pudding
While somewhat difficult to make, this recipe for extra-long aged Christmas pudding is rich in flavor! 1 lb raisins, currants, chopped apples, prunes 1 oz candied peel 4 tbsp brandy 4 oz bread crumbs...
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12 trail runs under 10 miles in SF and the East Bay
I can’t overemphasize the rewards of starting a running club. About a year ago, I started one nearly by accident— a routine of solo running morphed into a weekly social event. Every Saturday or Sunday...
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What Bitcoin Shows Us About How Money Works
There seems to be some longstanding confusion about Bitcoin. Not about how it works; there are plenty of articles which explain that quite lucidly— it is confusion about what Bitcoin represents, and...
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Some interesting napkin math about SpaceX’s passenger ICBM
You might have heard that SpaceX is working on a giant rocket. No, not that one that launched the car— that’s the Falcon Heavy. They’re working on another one that’s significantly bigger, called the...
View ArticleInterview tips for moving up to leadership
At my previous job I sat on both sides of an interviewing table on various occasions, and over the years I wrote down a few things I learned or noticed and put them into this guide. I posted it to the...
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