Author here. We checked for APIs like this at the time, but since approximately every laptop has a webcam, the cv approach is much more accessible. It would be a fun rewrite though; I’m sure polling this would be a few orders of magnitude more efficient. There was definitely lag if you ran the app on a very underpowered machine which did impact the “playability” of the velocity parameter.
One comment regarding Wikipedia: you may be aware of the “Simple English” language option, which can help with making some pages more accessible. It’s in the language menu, or you can just change the language prefix in the URL, such that your example above becomes https://simple.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_series. Granted, it’s not immediately obvious that it’s there, but perhaps it’s one reason that the main article can be more precise off the bat rather than explanatory. Furthermore, I wonder if Wikipedia math editors are less concerned with the notion of an encyclopedia as learning device and treat an article as a canonical overview of a topic, with all of the baggage that comes with that.
I’ve been using wikipedia for years and never knew about this. I wish there was a prominent link on the page “Switch to simplified explanation” or something. As someone who knows barely enough maths to get by this would have helped me immensely over the years.
If you're interested, researchers from the University of Bologna have been working on virtual acoustic models of that space in its current form [0] as well as past configurations [1] that you might be able to look into. It is truly huge reverberation! And thus, pretty difficult to simulate.
Offline audio-rate convolution (particularly with shorter impulse responses) has been plausible for a while, but real-time convolution reverb has definitely come into its own over the last ten or fifteen years. Overlap-adding blocks of audio that have been processed in the frequency domain with a low enough latency so as to feel instantaneous is a more recent capability that likely had an influence on this work.
I think the reason they used balloon pops was because that was all they were allowed to use: many heritage or archaeological sites can be nervous about researchers bringing in large loudspeakers and amplifiers, whereas a portable recorder and a bag of balloons can feel a little more harmless. Most acoustics researchers are aware of and use those new techniques whenever it's possible!
Some of you may find the recently-staged monodrama focused on Hugh Thompson with the Kronos Quartet of interest. The NYT wrote it up [1], but excerpts can also be found elsewhere. I found it a fitting tribute to his memory.
As a recent grad myself, this is the only comment that rings true for me. Anecdotal for sure, but most people that I went to grad school with and stayed in the bay are doing fine, even at mid-size companies. You can find someplace to live (especially with a significant other) that enables a moderate amount of saving / investing with a little frugality; however, there's a lot of luck and privilege that plays into being a successful young engineer in the bay, and in no way do I want to downplay the seriousness of these issues for other groups.
Lots of people stay here despite the costs because of the positive externalities that come with living in the bay. There are many alternatives to a highway commute (bike in the city, Caltrain, work from home) that many new grads are able to take advantage of. There's easy access to nature, culture, and for a lot of people, an extended network of family and friends that probably wouldn't be so welcoming in other places that don't have the same strains on housing.
I expect that many will move away for opportunities elsewhere before ultimately returning, but that seems to be a desire for exploration rather than dissatisfaction with quality of life. Certainly, few of the people I know are itching to leave the city for even low-density suburban living, and that's a preference that just can't be squared with many of the commenters here that rave about living on their 3 acres of land for $200k in the middle of nowhere while working remotely.
There are a lot of problems in the bay (and even more in the city) that I hope we can address, but making it out to be unlivable for young engineers (again, a very privileged class) is ridiculous. Are there better places to raise kids? Yes. Are there cheaper places to live? Yes. Are there other urban areas that provide some of the same benefits? Yes. Do I want to live anywhere else? Not right now.
Thr bay is a great place for young people to quickly grow their careers. The issue is that once you want to settle and raise children it’s impossible without an executive salary or some kind of inheritance.
Living with roommates is fun when you’re young, but nearly everyone tires of it eventually. You can also get a one or two bedroom with a partner and good salaries, but try adding a kid and that place is packed to the brim.
To counter your anecdote, I’m 30, and have been in the bay about 4 years. I believe I grew my career in the bay faster than I could have anywhere else, and am very happy to have come here.
I’m still single, so have no plans to leave, but _none_ of my friends my age looking to start families are expecting to stay here.
