Elias Puurunen – My Thoughts on the World

StepMania Outfox on Raspberry Pi 3b+

Once upon a time, I was 250 pounds. In January 2009, I discovered Dance Dance Revolution. Over the next nine months, I shed 90 pounds. Through diet, exercise, and consistency, I’ve kept it off since.

DDR has been a huge part of my life.

For years, I’ve played it on my softmodded Playstation 2. Sadly, it’s starting to show it’s age. The hard drive is starting to fail. CRT monitors (the big old-school tubes) are harder to find. And most recently, my RedOctane Afterburner hard pad finally threw in the towel.

Performative Speaking with Robbie Crabtree! – Let’s Solve The Universe #33

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-jpajc-eb8cb6

What is Performative Speaking, and how can you use it to create a mood, feeling, or vibe in your audience to convince them of something? Developed during his career as a trial lawyer, Robbie realized that his tactics could benefit others in all areas of their life. His course, “Performative Speaking” launches September 2020. You can find it on his website, robbiecrab.com. Follow Robbie on social media, Twitter @robbiecrab.

NoCode, Fundamental Learning, and How to Start with Craig Burgess! – Let’s Solve The Universe #32

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-e6u9m-dcd8e0

Systems-based thinking can lead one to great success. But how do you learn it? Craig takes us through the fundamentals, along with some discussion of trends in NoCode software and more.

Craig Burgess is Genius Division’s creative director. At weekends, he likes to strangle and grapple fellow Brazilian jiu-jitsu enthusiasts throughout the country. In his down time, he peruses the internet’s finest cat videos.

Genius Division: https://www.geniusdivision.com
Get Doing Things: https://getdoingthings.com/

Dr. Roger Lee Ray Gives us a Christian Argument for Universal Basic Income – Let’s Solve The Universe #31

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-cdb7h-dcd8a8

With the pandemic upon us, there have been renewed calls for Universal Basic Income. Could it work? Are we morally obligated to implement such an idea? Dr. Roger Lee Ray takes us through his argument for UBI.

Dr. Roger Lee Ray is the pastor of the Community Christian Church in Springfield and the author of Progressive Faith and Practice and his recently released book, Meditations.

DR RAY’S BOOK – MEDITATIONS: https://www.amazon.ca/Meditations-Post-theistic-Prayers-Progressive-Congregations/dp/1532684169

Generation IV Nuclear Salvation with Mark Schneider! – Let’s Solve The Universe Podcast #30

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-icgrd-dcd898

Nuclear power. Both loved and feared by many. Could it be the ultimate solution in our fight against poverty? Mark Schneider, world-renowned expert on nuclear energy, makes the case for how nuclear could save humanity.

Mark Schneider is a nuclear futurist and a leading expert in emerging Gen IV Nuclear (www.genIVnuclear.com). He has a Bachelors Degree in Nuclear Engineering Technology and has spent 20 years working with advanced, small-scale nuclear reactors within the US Naval Nuclear Power Program.

Differences between switch and if at the IL level, continued

After I posted my first video about switch and if statement performance, I received some constructive criticism suggesting I may have oversimplified the problem.

They’re right. I did. I presented a trivial case that was going to perform about the same regardless of the scenario.

I decided to try this experiment again. This time, I generated a massive set of if/else statements and switch statements. There would be 200 conditions to check.

Differences between if and switch at the IL-level in C#

Once compiled, is there a significant difference between if statements and switch statements? I wanted to find out. Thanks to /u/sauce-control, I played with this example in the very awesome sharplab.io tool.

String Comparisons in C# – Which is faster?

C# subreddit question time again! This time, “Which string comparison method is faster?“

I took a bit of a deep dive to see what each code path does. I decided to compare string.Equals(a, b), string.Equals(b) , ==, and !=. Which one is faster? Which one runs less code?

Aside: I have a new YouTube channel called Elias Explains. I’ll be posting my videos up there from now on.

foreach() Loops and Functions in C#

Another great question from the C# subreddit. Say you have a foreach loop that looks like the following. Does the function in the foreach iterator get executed each iteration, or is the result cached?

foreach(var item in GetItems())
{
    Console.WriteLine(item);
}

There’s two parts to this question as I learned earlier.

Floating Point Division vs. Integer Division in C#

Another great question was asked on the C# subreddit about integer vs. floating point division in C#. In the post, the commenter essentially asked why, if they store the result of their division in a float, does the whole calculation produce the “wrong” answer?