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I usually have multiple Bash tabs open in Terminal, and I needed a quick way to see what each tab contained. The following bash script will set the Title of the tab.

  #!/bin/bash
  # Sets the title of the Terminal Window / Tab.
  # title foo => Sets the title of the Terminal Window / Tab to foo. 
  echo -n -e "\033]0;$1\007"


Should anyone be wondering why this doesn't work in fish, it seems it overwrites the title back to the default pretty much instantly. So no custom tab names with fish, it seems!


I borrowed this book from the library, but before I finished it I bought it, I liked it that much. In short, I very much agree with this recommendation.


> It doesn't seem to be an airborn virus, but it does survive on surfaces.

I just read this last night, and from this I had the impression that it is an airborne virus, and that surface spreading is not the main vector:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/transmission...


The "airborne" transmission in that link is what I believe is called "aerosol transmission", not airborne. Because it relies on liquid droplets in the air, and not actually able to transmit on something like dist in the air.


Thank you for correcting that. Big difference between the two and people will happily play 'Chinese whispers' with these bits of information leading to a totally different overall picture.

Airborne transmission doesn't require any other medium than the air itself, even dust is optional.


There is also transmission (actually the first one mentioned) "Between people who are in close contact with one another (within about 6 feet)"--this does not mention liquid droplets at all, which is why I figured it to be airborne.


That's because many people are disgusting and don't give a fuck about proper hygiene. Just among my acquaintances I need both hands an a foot to count the number that don't even vaguely cover their mouth / nose -- let alone _properly_ cover -- while coughing or sneezing.

No amount of gentle reminder -> passive aggressive suggestion -> explicit suggestion had lasting effects on their behavior. All I could do is be vigilant and recluse myself from their company whenever one's clearly showing symptoms.


The number of people I've seen 'properly' covering their mouth when they sneezed, with their hand instead of, say, elbow sleeve, and then touching all the things, is worrying.


Wearing simple masks and glasses (!!!) would then protect against this vector.


Is any virus truly airborne?


Measles is indicated as airborn transmission on the R0 wiki[1]. It is pretty crazy with an R0 of 12-18.

[1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_reproduction_number


24 hours later, and I still get the same message from Al Jazeera!


It seems as if NBC (www.nbc.com) is in the same boat.


Am I the only one who got confused by the first sentence? "The Dragon spacecraft is on its way to the International Space Station this morning and is performing nominally...".

Is everything fine now, or is it not? "Nominally" in this sense to me means that something is amiss, but reading the rest of the article seems to imply that everything is on track.


It seems to have a special space meaning:

"Aerospace & Engineering. According to plan or design: a nominal flight check."

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/nominally


Having listened to 5 decades of rocket launches, I would say that nominal means that it is working within mission parameters. There may be glitches, but it is going to work, i.e. the payload is going into orbit. The engine failure wasnt planned, but there was enough redundancy in the system for it to succeed.


Ah. That explains it. I did not know that meaning of the word, and the explanation I checked at: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nominal only showed the meanings that I was familiar with.

Live and learn, I guess. Thanks frabcus!


I'm getting the sense that it's used because "numbers != reality", so it's a subtle reminder that they're basing their call on sensor data, rather than actually having their head inside the engine.

I find that to be a sufficient explanation, though I'm just guessing.


Wikipedia has a better explanation than I or others' comments, so far, could provide: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_versus_nominal_value, and it 's "secondary" meaning is not, at all, limited to aerospace linguistics.


I'm not sure where you get that sense of the word. Nominal = according to plan.


I see this confusion fairly often. Outside of the status of systems/missions etc., nominally often means something like 'in name only'. So to say it's proceeding 'nominally' to someone not familiar with its meaning in this domain sounds like "well, it's going according to 'plan', but ..."


Hm. I have never heard that meaning of the word previously, and the link I previously provided (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/nominal) also did not show that specific meaning (unless I am too blind to see it!). I do find it interesting though that you seem to think that it is commonly used in this sense, so I guess I am not moving in the right technical (aeronautics) circles :-) Thanks for the feedback.


Here’s the Oxford English Dictionary (funny how words work – I know of all five those meanings of nominal, but when I hear it I first think of the fifth, while you first seem to think of the first three):

nominal |ˈnɒmɪn(ə)l|

adjective

1 (of a role or status) existing in name only: Thailand retained nominal independence under Japanese military occupation.

• relating to or consisting of names.

2 (of a price or charge) very small; far below the real value or cost: they charge a nominal fee for the service.

3 (of a quantity or dimension) stated or expressed but not necessarily corresponding exactly to the real value: EU legislation allowed variation around the nominal weight (that printed on each packet).

• Economics expressed in terms of current prices or figures, without making allowance for changes over time: the nominal exchange rate.

4 Grammar relating to or functioning as a noun: a nominal group.

5 informal (chiefly in the context of space travel) functioning normally or acceptably.


It's common enough for space launches that there was joking on twitter last night about playing a drinking game- take a drink every time someone said "nominal". But most people decided that might be a little too much alcohol even for a drinking game. :-)


Try the Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure drinking game. There's only a few rules, like "Excellent" and air-guitar.


Heh, no aerospace background for me, merely computer engineering. Maybe that's still close enough for the term to have crept around with that meaning. Now go forth and help spread this usage far and wide! ;)


"Nominal" is the favorite word of aerospace engineers. Both in the sense that they like to use it a lot, and in the sense that they very much like to hear that things are going according to the plan.


Unless reaching orbit with 8 engines was in the plan, I don't think your use of the term matches SpaceX's.


It may not be following the optimal path, but it is absolutely within the planned contingencies: "Falcon 9 is designed to handle an engine out situation and still complete its mission."


Right now, Anathem by Neal Stephenson is my favorite.

I read through the comments before adding my 2 cents. I saw a lot of my favorite books, including a few by Neal Stephenson. But I did not see Anathem. Hmmm...

I also saw a few references to James Clavell's Shogan. Excellent book. But I liked Tai Pan more, and in fact, I would say that this is my second favorite.

Just to add another title that nobody here is likely mention, the first book that I read that blew my mind (admittedly in my very young days) was "When the Lion feeds" by Wilbur Smith.


"The only other US president to receive the honor was Jimmy Carter and he received it for his work after he was president"

Woodrow Wilson won the Nobel Price in 1919 (while he was in office).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow_Wilson


After helping to end World War I and having done his utmost to secure a fair and lasting peace in Europe, including being instrumental in founding the League of Nations.

I like Obama, but what has he done so far to compare to that?


Roosevelt won in 1906, while in office.


For being the driving force behind ending a war that killed almost 200,000 people (just felt someone should make that point)


"Wilson secured passage of the Federal Reserve system in late 1913."

... that bastard!


The fact that they gave it to Wilson proves that the whole thing has been a farce since it started.


Wilson was the worst president of the 20th century. If it hadn't been for his getting the US involved in the First World War, it is unlikely there would have been a Second.


I like this!

Immediately I can also see that 1/5 + 1/25 + 1/125 + ... = 1/4

To generalize: 1/x + 1/(xx) + 1/(xx*x) + ... = 1(x+1)

'Proved' by looking at a picture :-)


You mean, = 1/(x-1) ;)

Can someone please post a non-visual proof of why this is the case? In the meantime, I am working on figuring out my own.


You can get the proof idea from the picture:

  1/4 is 1/3 of 3/4
  1/4 of 1/4 is 1/3 of 3/4 of 1/4
  etc.
In math:

  1/4   = 1/3*3/4
  1/4^2 = 1/3*3/4*1/4
  1/4^3 = 1/3*3/4*1/4^2
  etc.
Summing equations:

  (1/4^1 + 1/4^2 + ...) = 1/3 * 3/4 * (1 + 1/4^1 + 1/4^2 + ...)
  <=>
  (1/4^1 + 1/4^2 + ...) = 1/3 * 3/4 + 1/3 * 3/4 * (1/4^1 + 1/4^2 + ...)
  <=>
  x = 1/3 * 3/4 + 1/3 * 3/4 * x
  <=>
  x - 1/4 x = 1/4
  <=>
  3/4 x = 1/4
  <=>
  x = 4/3 * 1/4
  <=>
  x = 1/3


Infinite GP: a/(1-r)



This wouldn't happen on Digg.


Not a rigorous proof (I'll leave that to further investigation):

S(n) = 1/n + 1/n^2 + ...

= 1/n ( 1 + 1/n + 1/n^2 + ...) <--needs more justification in a rigorous proof

S(n) = 1/n ( 1 + S(n) )

Simple algebra from here:

n * S(n) - S(n) = 1

S(n) = 1 / (n-1)


Rats!

Yes, I did indeed mean 1/(x-1). Thanks for the correction.


Twitter is available again for me, so yeah, for me it was only down for a few minutes.

As for whether HN is the appropriate forum to "tattle tale" when a well known website is down? Hmmm... Dunno about this one, I just figured it would be newsworthy, sorry if I wasted anybody's time...


Not at all. I mean, here I am talking about the same thing.


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