smithsonian's recent activity
-
Comment on Nova Launcher discontinued in ~tech
-
Comment on Looking for advice on setting up computer case fans in ~comp
smithsonian LinkYeah, I'd say you would probably want the side fan to be intake. The general rule of thumb is that you always want more fans pushing air in then you have pulling out. The only alternate layout...Yeah, I'd say you would probably want the side fan to be intake. The general rule of thumb is that you always want more fans pushing air in then you have pulling out.
The only alternate layout would be to turn the right-most exhaust on the top to an intake and then have the side fan as exhaust. This will put the general airflow a more consistent right-to-left flow. If there is a built-in dust filter on the top (but not the side), then I would definitely go that route, instead.
-
Comment on Peacemaker season 2 opens by retconning Zack Snyder's Justice League out of existence in ~tv
smithsonian Link ParentI understand that, but if we agree that a spoiler is any information that removes or reduces the surprise or impact of a story plot or moment, or otherwise undermines the ability of a person to...I understand that, but if we agree that a spoiler is any information that removes or reduces the surprise or impact of a story plot or moment, or otherwise undermines the ability of a person to enjoy consuming a given piece of media, then my point was to reassure you that this specific instance really isn't a spoiler—even though the article's headline makes it appear that way—because it won't negatively impact your ability to enjoy the episode.
I can't really elaborate further without actually spoiling anything, so once you watch the episode, please come back and tell me whether or not I was correct.
I am betting your actual reaction will be more along the lines of "Oh, that's it?" because that's how I would have reacted if I had my expectations set up by this headline before watching the episode.
-
Comment on Peacemaker season 2 opens by retconning Zack Snyder's Justice League out of existence in ~tv
smithsonian Link ParentIt's not really a spoiler and the title is overly dramatic by saying it was retconned "out of existence." The first season ended with an appearance from the Justice League—which we know doesn't...It's not really a spoiler and the title is overly dramatic by saying it was retconned "out of existence."
The first season ended with an appearance from the Justice League—which we know doesn't exist yet in the new DCU—yet Peacemaker Season 2 exists in the new DCU, so there is a fundamental incompatibility that needs to be addressed to allow that to be true.
I'll refrain from elaborating how they do it to avoid an actual spoiler, but I assure you that, when you watch it, you'll agree it was a non-event.
-
Comment on What happened to your first car? in ~transport
smithsonian LinkA 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix SE. Man, I loved that car. Black with red accents. I lucked out and found a pair of rear bucket seats and rear center console from one of its sister models (a Bonneville,...A 1995 Pontiac Grand Prix SE. Man, I loved that car. Black with red accents. I lucked out and found a pair of rear bucket seats and rear center console from one of its sister models (a Bonneville, maybe?) in immaculate condition from a junk yard, and I bought a Driver's Information Center (DIC) display that was a rare, optional feature off someone on the Grand Prix forums, which displayed fun info like real-time MPG to the left of the dash.
I drove it from 2000 until 2013. Bought it with 96,000 miles on it and it had over 220,000 miles on it when I said goodbye to it. Incredibly, I had basically zero mechanical issues with the car.
In the end, though, it was rust that did me in: the struts on the rear wheels rusted through the frame. The alignment on the back tires got out of whack and there was ultimately no way to fix it. Definitely should have washed it more frequently, especially during winter; all of the salt and brine from Midwest winters really took its toll.
R.I.P., sweet prince. You saved my sanity in high school, coming from a small little backwater town and being able to go somewhere that wasn't a cornfield.
-
Comment on Over twenty-one days of talking with ChatGPT, an otherwise perfectly sane man became convinced he was a superhero in ~tech
smithsonian Link ParentI'm kind of split on the follow-up suggestion/questions at the end of responses. Many times (like in your example) they're completely obnoxious, but there are other prompts where I've found them...I'm kind of split on the follow-up suggestion/questions at the end of responses. Many times (like in your example) they're completely obnoxious, but there are other prompts where I've found them useful or had them spark additional lines of thought I hadn't previously considered.
I do hope that the models get better at determining when these counter-prompts¹ are actually productive vs when they are just plain silly.
¹: While writing this, "counter-prompt" just came to mind to describe it. Is that what these are? Are these LLMs starting to prompt us at the end of their own responses? -
Comment on Weekly thread for casual chat and photos of pets in ~life.pets
smithsonian LinkHere is Pepper, perched in her favorite spot. One of the things that cracks me up about her is how frequently she will put her head on a pillow, arm rest, or something else in order to elevate her...Here is Pepper, perched in her favorite spot.
One of the things that cracks me up about her is how frequently she will put her head on a pillow, arm rest, or something else in order to elevate her head when laying down. It's just not something I've seen other dogs do really consistently. If there's a pillow or pile of blankets on the floor, she'll even take her Nylabone over to it and chew on it with the pillow/blanket under her front paws.
On Monday, she gets her next heartworm treatment injection. We adopted her from a rescue in January. She tested negative at the time of her rescue, but it can take six months after infection before a positive test result and her second test in April came back positive. It's been especially tough because she's had to be on exercise restriction (and will be until October) and she loved her daily runs. She's got a lot of energy (Pitbull, Belgian Malinois, Husky mix), so we've had to utilize pharmaceuticals to help keep her sane and calm.
She had her first injection last month and she's finally just starting to seem like her normal self this past week. But at least we're finally getting to the end of things. I'm really looking forward to being able to let her loose in the backyard, playing doggy soccer with her, taking her out for runs, having playdates with the neighbor's Newfoundland-Poodle mix, and all of the other fun stuff we started doing this spring.
-
Comment on Ncuti Gatwa on leaving ‘Doctor Who’: ‘It takes a lot out of you — physically, emotionally, mentally’ in ~tv
smithsonian Link ParentLooking at the IMDb scores for individual episodes, I would say that they're pretty accurate and not overly affected by review bombing. Gatwa was one of the best, most consistent parts of the RTD2...Looking at the IMDb scores for individual episodes, I would say that they're pretty accurate and not overly affected by review bombing.
Gatwa was one of the best, most consistent parts of the RTD2 era, so I don't think his career is in any danger by leaving (and, in truth, there was probably more risk to his career by staying because he'd have to pass up other commitments while in renewal limbo).
-
Comment on Ncuti Gatwa on leaving ‘Doctor Who’: ‘It takes a lot out of you — physically, emotionally, mentally’ in ~tv
smithsonian Link ParentThe speculation is that the real reason he left is because he got sick of waiting for the third season to be picked up, officially. (Which, by the way, still hasn't happened.) Disney+ had been...The speculation is that the real reason he left is because he got sick of waiting for the third season to be picked up, officially. (Which, by the way, still hasn't happened.)
Disney+ had been dragging their feet on committing to a third season but Gatwa couldn't keep turning down other commitments while holding out for Doctor Who. It's one of the things that caused them to need to do a bunch of reshoots for the finale and change the ending.
I think it was a mistake to get Disney+ to commit to a spin-off series instead of committing to ask three seasons from the start.
The whole RTD2 era has really been disappointing in a lot of ways... so much squandered potential.
-
Comment on Box office: ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ lifts off with heroic $118 million domestic debut, $100 million overseas, $218 million worldwide in ~movies
smithsonian LinkI went and saw it yesterday with my soon-to-be 7 year old son. (We went and saw Superman the weekend before.) I really think I enjoyed Superman more, and my son was definitely more invested in...I went and saw it yesterday with my soon-to-be 7 year old son. (We went and saw Superman the weekend before.)
I really think I enjoyed Superman more, and my son was definitely more invested in Superman (but that could be attributed more to the amount of action and pacing).
It's definitely a promising step up toward returning to Marvel's prior quality, but I still feel like it suffers in that the movie wasn't telling a story for the sake of telling a story—because they had a story they needed to tell about those characters—but, instead, it feels like a story that was written because they needed to introduce the Fantastic Four into the MCU. Even the action was quite light, so chalking it up as being a "fun action movie" feels disingenuous.
I feel like this is the single greatest thing that distinguishes whether a Post-Endgame project is any good: did they write it because they needed to move the meta-story forward (e.g., Doctor Strange 2, Ant-Man, Captain America) or because they actually had an interesting story to tell about the character(s) (e.g., WandaVision/Agatha, Thunderbolts*)?
I'm glad that they glossed over the origin story parts, but I'd struggle to define what the movie was ultimately about beyond setting up Avengers: Doomsday.
It's a solid enough movie, and there aren't a lot of things I could really nitpick about other than just feeling like it lacks heart.
Based on these last two offerings, I'm more excited about the future of the DCU than the MCU. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
-
Comment on Sleep discipline in ~life
smithsonian LinkDo you have a strict wake-up time? If not, then it will always be a fight to go to bed at a consistent time. What helped me more than any alarm clock (or combination of clocks) was putting bedroom...Do you have a strict wake-up time? If not, then it will always be a fight to go to bed at a consistent time.
What helped me more than any alarm clock (or combination of clocks) was putting bedroom lights on a timer to turn on 30 minutes before my alarm. With smart bulbs, you can have them gradually get brighter and simulate sunrise, which will naturally cause you to go into lighter stages of sleep and wake up.
Just make sure you continue this even on the weekends, and that you don't turn the lights off and go back to sleep; starting the day with less than a full charge is what will make getting to bed at your target time easier.
Once you're waking up at the same time consistently, it will be significantly easier to go to bed consistently.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
smithsonian Link ParentI highly recommend Ideology. One of the best things about it is that you can go as complex or as simple as you want, and you can also basically use it to customize your difficulty (i.e., you can...I highly recommend Ideology. One of the best things about it is that you can go as complex or as simple as you want, and you can also basically use it to customize your difficulty (i.e., you can use different precepts to override normal mood debuffs like from eating nutrient paste).
Royalty is definitely the most meh of them all, but the biggest thing it has going for it is the Vanilla Expanded Psycasts, which builds off the mechanics added by Royalty.
-
Comment on Rimworld announces the upcoming release of their new expansion named Odyssey in ~games
smithsonian Link ParentThat's not really fair. Apart from fishing, new animals, and building a spaceship, the other things you listed are just part of the 1.6 upgrade. Incorporating popular QoL mod features into the...That's not really fair. Apart from fishing, new animals, and building a spaceship, the other things you listed are just part of the 1.6 upgrade.
Incorporating popular QoL mod features into the base game is logical instead of continuing to rely on unpaid mod developers to maintain those features.
There have also been a ton of performance improvements (e.g., multithreading pathfinding, variable tick refresh rates for entities) that are coming to the base game for free that really can't be undersold.
Not to mention that, given how incredible RimWorld's mod community is, the devs would be hard pressed to ever come up with a new DLC that didn't already exist as a mod in some form.
-
Comment on Slay the Spire board game and other fun co-op board games in ~games.tabletop
smithsonian Link ParentThere's a whole Forbidden trilogy! There's also Forbidden Island (you have to go around to collect the relics before the island sinks) and Forbidden Sky (you have to, uh... yeah, I played it a few...There's a whole Forbidden trilogy! There's also Forbidden Island (you have to go around to collect the relics before the island sinks) and Forbidden Sky (you have to, uh... yeah, I played it a few times but I don't really remember what you're doing... something about connecting lightning rods, I think?).
Forbidden Island is my favorite of the three. I think it just strikes the best balance of mechanics and complexity. Forbidden Sky is a lot more complicated than the other two, from what I recall, but it's still interesting.
-
Comment on 'Steven Universe: Lars Of The Stars' sequel in works for Prime Video in ~tv
smithsonian Link ParentI'm really excited about this, too! I kind of stumbled across the show last year, kind of half-watching the first season with my son. At some point, though, it shifted from some quirky kids show...I'm really excited about this, too!
I kind of stumbled across the show last year, kind of half-watching the first season with my son. At some point, though, it shifted from some quirky kids show to something with a lot more world building and depth than I ever expected.
What really blew me away about the show is how fully fleshed out the universe really feels... like the creator had already worked out all of the details and history of the universe ahead of time. There's just something unique about those kinds of worlds that's different from worlds that are built around the story as it goes along.
My biggest complaint is that, at the time, Disney+/Hulu only had Seasons 1-4... so, after finishing Season 4, we started watching the Steven Universe Movie... and I was very confused about all of the big reveals happening in the opening song. (You can imagine how pissed I was when I realized all of those big moments and reveals in Season 5 were effectively spoiled.)
Steven Universe: Future definitely hit differently, though... especially the latter half of the show. It was really good, but it got a bit too heavy/dark for my kid to relate to. It also makes me feel really sad for Steven because of much trauma he actually experiences without ever really being given the tools or skills to process it.
Guess it's time for a Steven Universe rewatch!
-
Comment on How do you decide when to buy a new computer, smartphone, etc.? in ~tech
smithsonian LinkThe last four phones I owned were the Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 6 Pro (XL), and Pixel 8 Pro (XL). For the 2, 4, and 6, I feel like they were solid upgrades with improvements over the prior...The last four phones I owned were the Pixel 2 XL, Pixel 4 XL, Pixel 6 Pro (XL), and Pixel 8 Pro (XL). For the 2, 4, and 6, I feel like they were solid upgrades with improvements over the prior models, so while I didn't need them, I felt there were enough benefits to make it worthwhile (which makes sense, as they were iterating on designs and still figuring out what works best).
For the Pixel 8, I held out until Black Friday to save a couple hundred more dollars on the phone since it was much less of an upgrade vs the 6.
I'm not sure what I'll do about the Pixel 10... I expect we'll start to hear more rumors about it pretty soon, so we'll have to see what it offers. Hopefully they have more in store than just "newer, better, built-in, dedicated Tensor chip to support Pixel 10 exclusive AI-powered features!" to entice me... but I'm not very optimistic that will happen. So when (or whether?) I upgrade to the Pixel 10 will probably really end up being a question of the price point.
It's worth noting that I do opt for the 2-year preferred care coverage for damages (not the recurring monthly subscription). I really probably shouldn't, but I feel like I will 100% drop and break my phone as soon as I opt to forgo the coverage.
For my PC, last year I finally gave in and rebuilt (which really just meant a new motherboard, CPU, and CPU cooler, and installing the Samsung 980 Pro NVMe drive I got on sale a year or two earlier as the new primary drive) in order to upgrade from an Intel Core i7 6700K to the 13700K.
My PC was still doing alright when I decided to rebuild, and I had done other upgrades since first building it (e.g., adding another 16 GB of RAM, Nvidia GTX 1080 to RTX 3080 (12 GB)), so it didn't stay feeling like an 8 year old PC, which also helped with the budgeting aspect of it. The 1080 to 3080 also felt like a great choice and, with the prices and power consumption of the newer series, I really haven't been tempted by any of the new GPU releases.
And, in January, I just upgraded to an Xbox Series X after 10 years with the Xbox One. I don't really do a ton of gaming anymore (mostly just twice a week with my son), but the loading times for some of the LEGO games we like to play together were downright painful, and with the expected tariffs coming from Trump, I figured it was probably a good time to upgrade (which, given their recently announced price increases, feels justified).
So, as you can see, I don't have a real strategy for when to upgrade... a lot of it depends on market conditions and prices, but "how big of an upgrade is this?" and "how much do I want this?" is definitely a big factor.
-
Comment on Convincing the new Digg not to use downvotes in ~tech
smithsonian Link ParentWhat about a system like private torrent trackers have, where you have to maintain a good upload-to-download ratio, except it would be upvotes-to-downvotes? You'd probably have to make it a...What about a system like private torrent trackers have, where you have to maintain a good upload-to-download ratio, except it would be upvotes-to-downvotes? You'd probably have to make it a rolling window so people couldn't bank up a ton of upvotes to go in downvote sprees later, but it would seem to democratize downvotes by giving more to those who are more active.
-
Comment on Wisconsin governor can create 400-year school funding increase using a partial veto, court says in ~society
smithsonian Link ParentThere are absolutely limitations to it, like not being allowed to strike out individual letters to create new words, and not being allowed to combine words from two or more sentences to create a...There are absolutely limitations to it, like not being allowed to strike out individual letters to create new words, and not being allowed to combine words from two or more sentences to create a new, single sentence.
It essentially means the legislature has to be very deliberate in how it writes its bills, as seen here. (Not that it's been that important, given that the Republican-controlled legislature has done as little as humanly possible since Evers became governor... but that's a different story.)
And this is the final step of the process, so there’s no recourse apart from the courts?
No, it works the same way as the federal government: the state legislature can override a veto with a 2/3rds vote.
This court case was just about whether or not this partial veto usage was within the already established limits of the power.
The article also mentions the different times that this veto power was amended via constitutional amendments (which aren't subject to the governor's veto) to limit the power, so there's certainly recourse to further limit it, if necessary.
-
Comment on Seeking new wireless router for high bandwidth streaming in ~tech
smithsonian LinkFor the most part, the biggest advantages of Wi-Fi 6* and Wi-Fi 7 come from situations with a lot of devices (e.g., a smarthome enthusiast, apartment dweller, or commercial setting). If you have...For the most part, the biggest advantages of Wi-Fi 6* and Wi-Fi 7 come from situations with a lot of devices (e.g., a smarthome enthusiast, apartment dweller, or commercial setting). If you have most/all of those devices connected to 2.4 GHz and are reserving the 5 GHz for stuff like your phone, Steam Deck, etc., then you'll see limited benefits on your 5 GHz devices.
*: An exception to this is Wi-Fi 6E, which adds the 6 GHz spectrum as channel options. But most devices still aren't even Wi-Fi 6 compatible, let alone Wi-Fi 6E where the 6 GHz channels aren't backwards compatible.The reason for recommending against going with a Wi-Fi 6E/Wi-Fi 7 router now as a way is future-proofing: Wi-Fi protocols don't change quickly, but cutting edge options are always going to be far more expensive. You'll likely spend x3+ more on the hardware for ultimately no near-term benefit and the chance the hardware will fail (and will most likely be end-of-life support from the manufacturer) before you even have devices that can support it. And hardware generally improves over time, becoming more powerful, more energy efficient, and less expensive over time, so there's really limited benefits to upgrading before you even have client devices that can support it.
As someone who upgraded to Wi-Fi 6 routers (and has an Ethernet-backhauled mesh network in my home), you'll honestly probably see more performance benefits by doing a Wi-Fi site survey and making sure your 5 GHz network is using bands that have the least noise from neighboring networks.
Other than that, for the most part, I'd recommend looking at routers that have third-party firmware support (e.g., Asus routers that are supported by Asus-WRT). I'm not sure if DD-WRT is still active, but that was another big router firmware project.
-
Comment on Superman | Sneak peek in ~movies
smithsonian LinkI'm really hopeful about this movie. And I really want it to do well so it can kick off DC's new universe. I don't buy Superhero Fatigue... it's just Mediocre Movie fatigue. We've proven...I'm really hopeful about this movie. And I really want it to do well so it can kick off DC's new universe. I don't buy Superhero Fatigue... it's just Mediocre Movie fatigue. We've proven repeatedly that people will show up if you give them a reason to instead of just assuming they will. I fully believe there's a whole demographic whose needs haven't been met by Marvel, giving Gunn and DC a chance to fill that hole.
DC has a deep bench of characters to draw from (yet it seems to be the same handful of characters that just keep being overused), so it's exciting to see that this Superman's universe is already lived-in (and that we're not doing yet another origin story).
Ordinarily, I'd be skeptical of another Superman movie/reboot... but with Gunn at the helm, my interest is definitely piqued. He's been able to consistently juggle a wide array of tones and emotions in the Guardians trilogy, so I am really interested to see what he does with this.
Thankfully, Gunn seems really focused on making sure that the individual stories are good and not worrying about how they're going to fit into the overall universe. I feel like that's what Marvel started doing wrong after Endgame; they were focusing so much on the next big Infinity War/Endgame culmination that they left the individual stories desperately lacking.
Lawnchair looks to be the closest that has/does most things I want except for being able to assign custom actions to swiping up/down on icons on my home screen. It's one of those little things that lets me access related apps without having to do extra taps or add extra clutter.