eddielomax's recent activity

  1. Comment on Favorite hobby / subculture YouTube channels? in ~hobbies

    eddielomax
    Link Parent
    Oh geez. Didn't know that. Unsubscribed.

    Oh geez. Didn't know that. Unsubscribed.

    1 vote

  2. Comment on Favorite hobby / subculture YouTube channels? in ~hobbies

    eddielomax
    (edited )
    Link
    You and I have a lot of the same interests! Here are some of my favorites I regularly tune in to: Travel Kurt Caz - solo traveler who effortlessly integrates with locals-- socially fascinating...

    You and I have a lot of the same interests! Here are some of my favorites I regularly tune in to:

    Travel

    • Kurt Caz - solo traveler who effortlessly integrates with locals-- socially fascinating

    Science

    Music

    • Kendrick Lamar - I'm a 48 year old white dude and just started listening to him last year. Holy shit
    • Spectre - just... go watch some videos. Take the titles literally. It is... beyond impressive

    Making

    • I did a thing - hilarious and describes my sense of humor perfectly

    The following ones are just really interesting to me and its cool to watch them... well, make stuff.

    Software

    Foreign Language

    Bushcraft - All of these people kick ass and I love watching them do cool stuff in the woods.

    Learning

    Fitness kind of but not really

    5 votes

  3. Comment on Favorite hobby / subculture YouTube channels? in ~hobbies

    eddielomax
    Link Parent
    I absolutely love him-- he is a genius. Besides the premise of "making a knife out of crazy things", I really appreciate the quietness, camerawork, subtle humor, and if captions are turned on, you...

    I absolutely love him-- he is a genius. Besides the premise of "making a knife out of crazy things", I really appreciate the quietness, camerawork, subtle humor, and if captions are turned on, you get the science lesson behind whatever he is doing and why he's doing it, and why it works. His equipment looks straight out of a lab, too-- he has a very interesting process. And yes, keep your eyes open for his ever-present tester, Cucumber, who can be sneaky and likes to hide in the darndest places.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on RSS users - how do you use, organize and maximize your enjoyment of RSS? in ~tech

    eddielomax
    Link
    My favorite reader was Google Reader (RIP). The thing that comes closest to that feeling of minimalism, but nice, is CommaFeed. It's open source and available as self-hosted or hosted....

    My favorite reader was Google Reader (RIP). The thing that comes closest to that feeling of minimalism, but nice, is CommaFeed. It's open source and available as self-hosted or hosted.

    https://www.commafeed.com
    https://github.com/Athou/commafeed

    The default screenshot looks a little bleak-- it's customizable and has non-dark modes as well. Here's an example of mine, just for comparison's sake:

    https://ibb.co/YRdrJyr

    As far as content, it originally was oddball blogs that I had no other way of reading about, but many of those over time became extinct. I found a random post on Hacker News that listed like 500 top blogs that were somehow categorized as worth reading, so I pared through some of those as well. That is available here:

    https://github.com/outcoldman/hackernews-personal-blogs

    I also like Uncrate because it shows me ridiculous things like $34 million dollar estates up for auction, as well as titanium sporks, which I could (probably) afford.

    https://uncrate.com/

  5. Comment on What's your favorite Wikipedia page and why? in ~talk

  6. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    eddielomax
    Link
    I made a thing that grabs the latest news headline, checks my calendars for any upcoming events, looks up if today is a holiday (happy Bill of Rights Day) or other day you might not celebrate...

    I made a thing that grabs the latest news headline, checks my calendars for any upcoming events, looks up if today is a holiday (happy Bill of Rights Day) or other day you might not celebrate (today, for example is both Esperanto Day and National Lemon Cupcake Day), pairs all of that with a random style, and then generates two images with DALL-E: one landscape, one portrait. I also always have the prompt include my cat Hobbes. I open sourced it if anyone wants to clone/experiment with it. It's made some really interesting and hilarious images.

    The code isn't very complicated-- it's basically using Python to generate prompts and images, and Javascript handles some UI controls for the webpage.

    For a desktop, you can use the arrow keys to go back and forward in time; hitting ? will show the day's prompt. You can also shrink your browser width and you'll see a portrait oriented image.

    For mobile, the controls are swiping left and right for history, and double tapping for the prompt. Flipping your phone sideways will reveal the other image.

    I have a home Ubuntu server kick off a cron job at midnight that generates images, writes the prompts to text files, then uploads them to S3. The web site is already pointing to the image and prompts, so the "deployment" is really just assets being uploaded to S3.

    Website here:
    https://aical.art

    Github here:
    https://github.com/ehamiter/aicalart

    2 votes

  7. Comment on Movies you enjoy that nobody else does in ~movies

    eddielomax
    Link Parent
    I loved The Crow. Damn shame Brandon died on set. He was great in it.

    I loved The Crow. Damn shame Brandon died on set. He was great in it.

    2 votes

  8. Comment on Movies you enjoy that nobody else does in ~movies

    eddielomax
    Link Parent
    Well, then give it a shot! I'm curious what you think about it.

    Well, then give it a shot! I'm curious what you think about it.

    1 vote

  9. Comment on Movies you enjoy that nobody else does in ~movies

    eddielomax
    Link
    The Greasy Strangler. It's like if Napoleon Dynamite was directed by John Waters. It's super weird and gross and I kinda love it. My wife hates it. I think most normal people would hate it as...

    The Greasy Strangler. It's like if Napoleon Dynamite was directed by John Waters. It's super weird and gross and I kinda love it. My wife hates it. I think most normal people would hate it as well. If you haven't seen it and are inclined to give it a shot, be forewarned there's a lot of gratuitous nudity, in the form of a ridiculous looking prosthetic penis, that is in a lot of shots. So... perhaps not the best family film.

    1 vote

  10. Comment on What are your plans for the first six months of 2023? in ~talk

  11. Comment on Let's talk about ChatGPT in ~tech

    eddielomax
    Link
    Give painstakingly minute instructions on how to cross a busy street in the speech of a 1920s gangster. Alright, listen up, you mugs. I'm gonna tell you how to cross a busy street like a real pro....
    Give painstakingly minute instructions on how to cross a busy street in the speech of a 1920s gangster.
    Alright, listen up, you mugs. I'm gonna tell you how to cross a busy street like a real pro.

    First things first, you gotta find yourself a good spot. Look for a traffic light or a crosswalk, if you can find one. If not, just pick a place where you think you can make a break for it without gettin' creamed by a car.

    Once you've found your spot, you gotta watch the traffic. Look for gaps between the cars and trucks, and try to time your move so you don't get run over.

    Now, when you're ready to make your move, you gotta be quick. Don't dawdle, and don't look back. Just bolt across the street like your life depends on it, 'cause it just might.

    And when you finally make it to the other side, take a deep breath and pat yourself on the back. You just survived the busiest street in the city, and you did it like a boss.

    But don't get too cocky, kid. The next time you gotta cross a busy street, you better follow these instructions to a tee, or you might end up as roadkill.

    So remember, watch the traffic, time your move, and move like lightning. And you'll be crossin' busy streets like a pro in no time.

    You got that, kid? Good. Now get out there and show the world what you're made of.

    3 votes

  12. Comment on Have you ever met a psychopath? in ~talk

  13. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    eddielomax
    Link
    I've been working on a book about IPython called "IPython for Web Devs", and I think I'm pretty much done, so I wanted to share it. I focus on things that I think can help a web developer be more...

    I've been working on a book about IPython called "IPython for Web Devs", and I think I'm pretty much done, so I wanted to share it. I focus on things that I think can help a web developer be more efficient, and talk about some lesser-known things you can do with IPython, including integrating the black code formatter, changing syntax highlighting, persisting objects to a new shell session, and even executing different languages like Perl or Ruby in the shell.

    https://ipythonbook.com

    2 votes

  14. Comment on What's the coronavirus like where you are? in ~health

    eddielomax
    Link
    I'm in Nashville, Tennessee. We have 155k cases total with 1,800 deaths. I am one of the few who I see wear masks in public, and in the more rural areas of my state, you will get dirty looks for...

    I'm in Nashville, Tennessee. We have 155k cases total with 1,800 deaths. I am one of the few who I see wear masks in public, and in the more rural areas of my state, you will get dirty looks for wearing a mask. People don't know what social distancing is, and nothing really is off limits. Most places are open for business. The majority of Tennesseans are conservatives who think that COVID is either a hoax or not a big deal. It sucks having to be around people of that mindset.

    5 votes

  15. Comment on Fuck you, COVID. I'm in love! in ~talk

    eddielomax
    Link Parent
    My wife and I are a little of both-- when pandemics aren't in full swing we like to travel and scuba dive, but most of the time we are DINGOs (Double Income, Never Goes Out) who prefer quiet...

    Some couples are adventurous doers; we instead are cozy domestics.

    My wife and I are a little of both-- when pandemics aren't in full swing we like to travel and scuba dive, but most of the time we are DINGOs (Double Income, Never Goes Out) who prefer quiet nights at home.

    5 votes

  16. Comment on What single-purpose, minimalistic web or mobile apps do you like? in ~tech

    eddielomax
    Link Parent
    I love Pinboard. I'm a bit of a bookmark hoarder, and have so many that I was sure some have died or changed names, so I wrote a Python script that checked for dead links within Pinboard:...

    I love Pinboard. I'm a bit of a bookmark hoarder, and have so many that I was sure some have died or changed names, so I wrote a Python script that checked for dead links within Pinboard:

    https://github.com/ehamiter/pindead

    1 vote

  17. Comment on What did you do this weekend? in ~talk

    eddielomax
    Link
    Went scuba diving in a quarry in Kentucky. Pretty chilly and the fish were having a great time nibbling my ears. My wife and I bought new regulators recently and wanted to try them out. We...

    Went scuba diving in a quarry in Kentucky. Pretty chilly and the fish were having a great time nibbling my ears. My wife and I bought new regulators recently and wanted to try them out. We normally go diving in the warm waters of the Caribbean, and were scheduled to go to Hawaii next month, but now we're not because of COVID. Hopefully next year that might be an option.

    3 votes

  18. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    eddielomax
    Link
    I made a website that is only really useful for me. It check the local river's gage and discharge rate and then tells me if today would be a good day to go kayaking or not. I rigged it where you...

    I made a website that is only really useful for me. It check the local river's gage and discharge rate and then tells me if today would be a good day to go kayaking or not. I rigged it where you could pass in another river (via USGS site ID) but the JSON that is returned is very persnickety and aside from my river, breaks more often than not with other river data. It's also not optimal for judging how suitable it is based on depth and discharge rate because it may be "normal" at one level versus some other location's "normal". But it's super useful for me, so it achieves that goal. If anyone is interested (github info in the "About" section) it's here:

    https://canikayak.com

    4 votes

  19. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    eddielomax
    Link
    My team at work begins each planning session with an icebreaker-- it's a great way to get to know everyone a little better, especially since we are all remote and located around the globe. Each...

    My team at work begins each planning session with an icebreaker-- it's a great way to get to know everyone a little better, especially since we are all remote and located around the globe. Each time it's my turn to come up with a question, I end up googling for "icebreaker questions" and have to sort through decent ones ("What skill do you think everyone should have?") to semi-not-great-for-work-ones ("Name something you hate about your boss.") to inappropriate ones ("What do you like best about women's bodies?") to outright illegal ones ("Are you religious?").

    Since I'm lazy and wanted one place to easily give me a question to propose to the group, I made a progressive web app that randomly picks a question out of a pool of around 700 questions (that I think I've mostly vetted to be considered "decent" questions). The neat thing about it being a PWA is it can be installed as a Chrome app (or saved to a home screen on a mobile phone) and it will still work offline. All that said, if anyone would be interested, here's the link:

    https://icebreakers.site/

    Full disclosure-- there's no ads or anything, but I do have a Google analytics script on it, simply out of curiosity if anyone is using it. So if you are anti-Google or anti-analytics, don't go there. Otherwise, I hope it sparks some good conversations for you and lets you learn a little more about your fellow teammates.

    2 votes

  20. Comment on I'm trying to get a programming job without a degree. Got any tips? in ~comp

    eddielomax
    Link Parent
    I saw a post about them on reddit the other day and it looked like a lot of folks have had bad times with them, unless they are in the top echelon of coders. Never used them myself so I can't say...

    I saw a post about them on reddit the other day and it looked like a lot of folks have had bad times with them, unless they are in the top echelon of coders. Never used them myself so I can't say if they are good or bad, but there are some interesting takes on the coding / interviewing experience:

    https://reddit.com/r/webdev/comments/cyd9q8/meta_i_will_never_use_triplebyte_based_solely/