bdjewkes's comments

You form a bight, and tie an overhand knot with it. Sorry if that sounds facetious - that's really the answer. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fOKk1HPjbI

You can pick a NM right off the latitude scale on a marine chart with a pair of dividers. Its an eminently practical measurement for navigation.

edit: of course you could pick off distance with any kind of measurement; but my point is that it converts directly into minutes of latitude

> These days for proper navigational planning it is all ECDIS (or WECDIS for really fun stuff) and electronic.

Its not strictly true that 'proper' navigational planning happens entirely on ECDIS, especially on smaller vessels. My preference while working on offshore tugs was to work out the rough voyage on paper first, before transferring them to ECDIS; the 2nd mates I worked with in training had a similar preference.

That said, paperless navigation is becoming more and more common (and saves a ton of time on chart corrections), and in that case you don't have a choice.

That's effectively the conclusion that the series comes to in the end.

https://codeselfstudy.com/ is a similar concept of a broader scope. The group meets twice a week, and draws a nice mix in backgrounds. Attendance numbers are usually in correlation with the available space (usually cafes).

[edit]: primarily based in the SF east bay.

Lack of predictability.

I attended a maritime academy and worked in the industry for a year before switching to computers.

The modern transportation is built on reliable ETAs. Mechanical propulsion changed shipping from an industry of uncertainty to one in which you 'could make your own ETA'. Sail doesn't give you that kind of certainty.

It is worth noting that there are technologies (SkySail, for example) on the market now that use sail as a form of auxiliary power so that ships can save on bunkers.

(edit: formatting)

I can assure you that both the View-Master and helmets are still around. If you don't want to strap something to your head, then great: don't (although I really do recommend wearing a helmet while biking). Cardboard does fill the low-end 'view-master-like' niche, but until the display technology gets a lot smaller, strapping something to your head is the most practical solution.

GearVR doesn't have positional tracking, has a slightly worse field of view than the rift, and obviously can't compete with a gaming PC in terms of graphics performance. That being said, not being tethered is a huge plus. Carmack likes to talk about how great the Gear is with a swivel chair; I think he's completely right on that point. You're not going to get the 'presence' you can achieve in the vive, but there's something to be said for the type of immersion you get when not getting tangled up in a cord. Its great for viewing 360 photos and watching videos, and if you like the low-poly aesthetic there are some diversionary games.

Edit: also, as others have mentioned elsewhere, the focus wheel is fantastic feature on the Gear, especially if you're passing it around in a group.