site banner
naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   2582 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for December 30, 2022

Welcome to the final regular thread of 2022!

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

4
Bottom New Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I have not personally used any phone-based systems (or point clouds from such systems). However, based on some YouTube videos that I've watched (1 2), it's my understanding that phone-based lidar systems work only at short range, and therefore are not suitable for scanning large swaths of terrain.*

For your purposes, photogrammetry may be more convenient. The OpenDroneMap software (1 2 3) can digest aerial photos and spit out a point cloud. (Disclaimer: I do not have a UAV and have not used this software.)

*Phone-based systems can be useful, though. I recall attending one presentation at work (several years ago) where our resident tech guru gushed over his test of a phone-based system (I don't remember whether it was lidar or photogrammetry) in surveying the corner of an intersection, which would be very convenient for designing ADA-compliant curb ramps.

No new information to add here, just thanking you for the helpful response. I think I'm going to dive a little deeper into the world of photogrammetry.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats