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π Long and short scales
The long and short scales are two of several naming systems for integer powers of ten which use some of the same terms for different magnitudes.
For whole numbers smaller than 1,000,000,000 (109), such as one thousand or one million, the two scales are identical. For larger numbers, starting with 109, the two systems differ. For identical names, the long scale proceeds by powers of one million, whereas the short scale proceeds by powers of one thousand. For example, one billion is one thousand millions in the short scale, while it is one million millions in the long scale. The long scale system introduces new terms for the intervening values, typically replacing the word ending -ion with -iard.
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- "Long and short scales" | 2015-07-27 | 18 Upvotes 4 Comments
π Liquid Democracy
Liquid democracy is a form of delegative democracy whereby an electorate has the option of vesting voting power in delegates as well as voting directly themselves. Liquid democracy is a broad category of either already-existing or proposed popular-control apparatuses. Voters can either vote directly or delegate their vote to other participants; voters may also select different delegates for different issues. In other words, individual A of a society can delegate their power to another individual B β and withdraw such power again at any time.
Liquid democracy lies between direct and representative democracy. In direct democracy, participants must vote personally on all issues, while in representative democracy participants vote for representatives once in certain election cycles. Meanwhile, liquid democracy does not depend on representatives but rather on a weighted and transitory delegation of votes. Liquid democracy through elections can empower individuals to become sole interpreters of the interests of the nation. It allows for citizens to vote directly on policy issues, delegate their votes on one or multiple policy areas to delegates of their choosing, delegate votes to one or more people, delegated to them as a weighted voter, or get rid of their votes' delegations whenever they please.
Most of the available academic literature on liquid democracy is based on empirical research rather than on specific conceptualization or theories. Experiments have mostly been conducted on a local-level or exclusively through online platforms, however polity examples are listed below.
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- "Liquid Democracy" | 2020-06-01 | 52 Upvotes 24 Comments
π The squircle is a shape intermediate between a square and a circle
A squircle is a shape intermediate between a square and a circle. There are at least two definitions of "squircle" in use, the most common of which is based on the superellipse. The word "squircle" is a portmanteau of the words "square" and "circle". Squircles have been applied in design and optics.
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- "The squircle is a shape intermediate between a square and a circle" | 2022-04-22 | 13 Upvotes 2 Comments
π Lowest temperature recorded on Earth
The lowest natural temperature ever directly recorded at ground level on Earth is β89.2Β Β°C (β128.6Β Β°F; 184.0Β K) at the Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica on 21 July 1983 by ground measurements.
On 10 August 2010, satellite observations showed a surface temperature of β93.2Β Β°C (β135.8Β Β°F; 180.0Β K) at 81.8Β°S 59.3Β°Eο»Ώ / -81.8; 59.3, along a ridge between Dome Argus and Dome Fuji, at 3,900Β m (12,800Β ft) elevation. The result was reported at the 46th annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco in December 2013; it is a provisional figure, and may be subject to revision. The value is not listed as the record lowest temperature as it was measured by remote sensing from satellite and not by ground-based thermometers, unlike the 1983 record. The temperature announced reflects that of the ice surface, while the Vostok readings measured the air above the ice, and so the two are not directly comparable. More recent work shows many locations in the high Antarctic where surface temperatures drop to approximately β98Β Β°C (β144Β Β°F; 175Β K). Due to the very strong temperature gradient near the surface, these imply near-surface air temperature minima of approximately β94Β Β°C (β137Β Β°F; 179Β K).
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- "Lowest temperature recorded on Earth" | 2016-01-06 | 28 Upvotes 11 Comments
π Aptronym
An aptronym, aptonym or euonym is a personal name aptly or peculiarly suited to its owner.
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- "Aptronym" | 2013-10-24 | 38 Upvotes 38 Comments
π MasterβSlave Morality
Masterβslave morality (German: Herren- und Sklavenmoral) is a central theme of Friedrich Nietzsche's works, particularly in the first essay of his book, On the Genealogy of Morality. Nietzsche argued that there were two fundamental types of morality: "master morality" and "slave morality". Master morality values pride and power, while slave morality values kindness, empathy, and sympathy. Master morality judges actions as good or bad (e.g. the classical virtues of the noble man versus the vices of the rabble), unlike slave morality, which judges by a scale of good or evil intentions (e. g. Christian virtues and vices, Kantian deontology).
For Nietzsche, a morality is inseparable from the culture which values it, meaning that each culture's language, codes, practices, narratives, and institutions are informed by the struggle between these two moral structures.
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- "MasterβSlave Morality" | 2019-11-26 | 47 Upvotes 62 Comments
π Beverly Clock
The Beverly Clock is a clock situated in the 3rd floor lift foyer of the Department of Physics at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand. The clock is still running despite never having been manually wound since its construction in 1864 by Arthur Beverly.
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- "Beverly Clock" | 2024-01-22 | 29 Upvotes 7 Comments
- "The Beverly Clock" | 2021-12-27 | 177 Upvotes 49 Comments
- "Beverly Clock" | 2018-02-20 | 289 Upvotes 53 Comments
π Spaceship Earth
Spaceship Earth (or Spacecraft Earth or Spaceship Planet Earth) is a worldview encouraging everyone on Earth to act as a harmonious crew working toward the greater good.
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- "Spaceship Earth" | 2021-03-14 | 127 Upvotes 95 Comments
- "Spaceship Earth" | 2020-08-23 | 11 Upvotes 3 Comments
π List of failed and over-budget custom software projects
This is a list of notable custom software projects which have significantly failed to achieve some or all of their objectives, either temporarily or permanently, and/or have suffered from significant cost overruns. For a list of successful major custom software projects, see Custom software#Major project successes.
Note that failed projects, and projects running over budget, are not necessarily the sole fault of the employees or businesses creating the software. In some cases, problems may be due partly to problems with the purchasing organisation, including poor requirements, over-ambitious requirements, unnecessary requirements, poor contract drafting, poor contract management, poor end-user training, or poor operational management.
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- "List of failed and over-budget custom software projects" | 2016-02-24 | 154 Upvotes 111 Comments
π Hashlife
Hashlife is a memoized algorithm for computing the long-term fate of a given starting configuration in Conway's Game of Life and related cellular automata, much more quickly than would be possible using alternative algorithms that simulate each time step of each cell of the automaton. The algorithm was first described by Bill Gosper in the early 1980s while he was engaged in research at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. Hashlife was originally implemented on Symbolics Lisp machines with the aid of the Flavors extension.
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- "HashLife β A memoized algorithm for Conway's Game of Life and cellular automata" | 2024-01-12 | 80 Upvotes 12 Comments
- "Hashlife" | 2017-06-11 | 10 Upvotes 2 Comments