th0mcat's recent activity
-
Comment on Must see touring artists? in ~music
-
Comment on How to tell if a conspiracy theory is probably false in ~science
th0mcat Link ParentOh I 100% agree, for the record, but it's not hard to see how someone might make the leap from "the US government secretly released pathogens into the air a couple hundred times over two decades"...Oh I 100% agree, for the record, but it's not hard to see how someone might make the leap from "the US government secretly released pathogens into the air a couple hundred times over two decades" to chemtrails.
-
Comment on How to tell if a conspiracy theory is probably false in ~science
th0mcat Link ParentLike a number of conspiracy theories, there's a kernel of truth in that the US military in the past has dispersed pathogens into the air. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Sea-Spray...Like a number of conspiracy theories, there's a kernel of truth in that the US military in the past has dispersed pathogens into the air.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Sea-Spray
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_LAC
-
Comment on Ana de Armas turns 36: How the Oscar nominee jumps between dramas and action movies in ~movies
th0mcat Link ParentWhoevers fault it is (my beef is with studios asking for too much money from theaters for ticket sales, which causes theaters to way overprice their food/snacks to compensate), going to...Whoevers fault it is (my beef is with studios asking for too much money from theaters for ticket sales, which causes theaters to way overprice their food/snacks to compensate), going to new-release movies more than once a month is not affordable for the general public anymore. Why drop $40 for 2 tickets and food when I can wait 3 months and the same movie will be out on the subscription service I'm already paying for?
-
Comment on A US drugmaker’s feud with the DEA is exacerbating the ADHD meds crisis in ~health.mental
-
Comment on The hidden world of undersea cables in ~tech
th0mcat Link ParentI used to work in a NOC and learned a lot about OTN/fiber. There's one question about undersea fiber that I never learned the answer to, maybe you can help me out. So light levels need to be...I used to work in a NOC and learned a lot about OTN/fiber. There's one question about undersea fiber that I never learned the answer to, maybe you can help me out.
So light levels need to be amplified after X miles, which is where erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA) come into play and make a lot of sense for undersea fiber. However, amplifying signal will also amplify the noise, which means after 9(?) EDFAs, the signal itself will need to be regenerated. What is the solution for light regeneration on an undersea fiber bundle? Or am I mistaken in the EDFAs also amplifying noise?
-
Comment on I'm gonna be a dad! in ~life.men
th0mcat LinkI'm in the hospital holding my two-day old son in my arms right now as my wife naps in the hospital bed. This experience has overwhelmed me in every way possible and I have tears coming down my...I'm in the hospital holding my two-day old son in my arms right now as my wife naps in the hospital bed. This experience has overwhelmed me in every way possible and I have tears coming down my face as I write this. This is the best experience of my life.
I'm too tired to give any advice except to enjoy it, and do skin to skin contact as much as you can to get the oxytocin flowing.
-
Comment on Eruption has started in Iceland in ~enviro
th0mcat LinkThankfully, the eruption occured North-east of Grindavik, and the lava is flowing away from Grindavik, The Blue Lagoon, and the Svartsengi power plant....Thankfully, the eruption occured North-east of Grindavik, and the lava is flowing away from Grindavik, The Blue Lagoon, and the Svartsengi power plant.
https://twitter.com/SquigglyVolcano/status/1737091025057755286
There is some incredible video of the eruption, I've seen reports that the fissure was up to 4km in length.
-
Comment on Google promises unlimited cloud storage; then cancels plan; then tells journalist his life’s work will be deleted without enough time to transfer the data in ~tech
th0mcat Link ParentOhhhhhhhhh, I see what you mean. Yes, the functionality has gone way down hill. I use ours for two things: 1.) Turning on/off lights 2.) Asking what the forecast for the day is We will sometimes...Ohhhhhhhhh, I see what you mean.
Yes, the functionality has gone way down hill. I use ours for two things:
1.) Turning on/off lights
2.) Asking what the forecast for the day is
We will sometimes ask a question about an actor or something we read about in the news, and it's a coin flip whether it will even give us an answer. We almost hate doing that because then we might get a very unwanted "And by the way" response and have to start screaming "Hey Google, stop!" (like you said).
-
Comment on Google promises unlimited cloud storage; then cancels plan; then tells journalist his life’s work will be deleted without enough time to transfer the data in ~tech
th0mcat Link ParentI have an OG Google Home that still works, did yours stop working?I have an OG Google Home that still works, did yours stop working?
-
Israel knew Hamas’s attack plan more than a year ago
38 votes -
Comment on Israeli spyware firm NSO demands “urgent” meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken amid Gaza war lobbying effort in ~tech
th0mcat (edited )Link ParentI didn't want to necro this thread because of various reasons, but I just read this NYTimes article that says Israel knew. Now, to directly respond to your comment. Do I think thousands of people...I didn't want to necro this thread because of various reasons, but I just read this NYTimes article that says Israel knew.
Israeli officials obtained Hamas’s battle plan for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack more than a year before it happened, documents, emails and interviews show. But Israeli military and intelligence officials dismissed the plan as aspirational, considering it too difficult for Hamas to carry out.
The approximately 40-page document, which the Israeli authorities code-named “Jericho Wall,” outlined, point by point, exactly the kind of devastating invasion that led to the deaths of about 1,200 people.
Now, to directly respond to your comment.
The implication that the Israelis intentionally allowed the 8 October attacks is just as ridiculous as the implication that the US secretly did 9/11.
Do I think thousands of people in the United States federal government conspired to blow up the WTC in a controlled demolition and crashed 2 more planes (one of them into the Pentagon)? No.
Do I think a couple/small group of high-functioning sociopaths could have front-ran a puppet into the highest office in the country, and when presented with information a terrorist attack was imminent with some specifics allowed it to go ignored in the hopes they could make themselves and their friends in the military industrial complex obscenely rich? With everything we have collectively learned about our government's foreign policy and role in regime change in the 20th century, yes, I absolutely believe that is possible.
-
Comment on Israeli spyware firm NSO demands “urgent” meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken amid Gaza war lobbying effort in ~tech
th0mcat Link ParentI think it's working exactly as intended. https://archive.ph/H8LSL#selection-1139.0-1147.313 https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up-hamas-now-its-blown-up-in-our-faces/I think it's working exactly as intended.
https://archive.ph/H8LSL#selection-1139.0-1147.313
https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-years-netanyahu-propped-up-hamas-now-its-blown-up-in-our-faces/
Hamas as partner
Effectively, Netanyahu’s entire worldview collapsed over the course of a single day. He was convinced that he could make deals with corrupt Arab tyrants while ignoring the cornerstone of the Arab-Jewish conflict, the Palestinians. His life’s work was to turn the ship of state from the course steered by his predecessors, from Yitzhak Rabin to Ehud Olmert, and make the two-state solution impossible. En route to this goal, he found a partner in Hamas.
“Anyone who wants to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state has to support bolstering Hamas and transferring money to Hamas,” he told a meeting of his Likud party’s Knesset members in March 2019. “This is part of our strategy – to isolate the Palestinians in Gaza from the Palestinians in the West Bank.”
-
Comment on Companies knew the dangers of PFAS 'forever chemicals'—and kept them secret in ~enviro
th0mcat LinkFor more reporting on the DuPont schenanigans, watch The Devil We Know on Netflix, and read the long form article Welcome to Beautiful Parkersburg, West Virginia.For more reporting on the DuPont schenanigans, watch The Devil We Know on Netflix, and read the long form article Welcome to Beautiful Parkersburg, West Virginia.
-
Comment on Privacy is priceless, but Signal is expensive in ~tech
th0mcat (edited )Link ParentAs /u/kacey said,I badly screwed up my bandwidth calculations, so my entire post is worthless. Whoops, sorry about that!As /u/kacey said,I badly screwed up my bandwidth calculations, so my entire post is worthless. Whoops, sorry about that!
-
Comment on Privacy is priceless, but Signal is expensive in ~tech
th0mcat Link ParentWhoops! My bad! Also thank you for pointing out WolframAlpha does conversions like that!Whoops! My bad!
Also thank you for pointing out WolframAlpha does conversions like that!
-
Comment on Privacy is priceless, but Signal is expensive in ~tech
th0mcat (edited )Link ParentCrossing out my entire post since I screwed up the bandwidth calculations.Crossing out my entire post since I screwed up the bandwidth calculations.
From a bandwidth perspective on voice and video calls alone:At current traffic levels, the amount of outbound bandwidth that is required to support Signal voice and video calls is around 20 petabytes per year (that’s 20 million gigabytes) which costs around $1.7 million dollars per year in bandwidth fees just for calling, and that figure doesn’t include the development costs associated with hiring experienced engineers to maintain our calling software, or the cost of the necessary server infrastructure to support those calls20 petabytes ÷ 365 ÷ 24 ÷ 60 ÷ 60 is about 634Gb/sec, so they would need at least 2TB in uplink for redundancy and bursting at the bare minimum. Between peering costs, dark/lit fiber between DCs, high bandwidth (400GbE) DWDM optics, OTN hardware, power/UPSes, smart hands, hosting things themselves would probably cost at least an order of magnitude more for at least the first year, and probably every subsequent year. For example, pulling this somewhat out of my ass, but an Adva FSP-3000 with Mux, ROADM, service channel line card, other line cards, and optics would be over a million dollars by itself, and you'd need something like this in every data center you want to host stuff in.Source: started my IT career at an outsourced NOC and got to play with some seriously cool OTN gear. -
Comment on Young climate activist tells Greenpeace to drop ‘old-fashioned’ anti-nuclear stance in ~enviro
th0mcat Link ParentUnfortunately, Patrick Moore is now a climate change denialist that claims Round Up is safe to drink. https://youtu.be/ovKw6YjqSfM https://youtu.be/RLqXkYrdmjY (near the end of the video, don't...Unfortunately, Patrick Moore is now a climate change denialist that claims Round Up is safe to drink.
https://youtu.be/RLqXkYrdmjY (near the end of the video, don't have a timestamp)
-
Comment on The Reddit protest is finally over. Reddit won. in ~tech
th0mcat Link ParentAnecdotally, when I look at /r/Android, there seems to be a significant decrease in upvotes on postsAnecdotally, when I look at /r/Android, there seems to be a significant decrease in upvotes on posts
-
Comment on Meta is releasing AudioCraft: Generative AI for audio made simple and available to all in ~tech
th0mcat Link ParentFacebook's platform and complete lack of moderation assisted in the genocide of the Rohingya people in Myanmar. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingya_genocide#Facebook_controversy I'm begging you...Facebook is the little guy who has everything to lose right now and wants to disrupt the market.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingya_genocide#Facebook_controversy
I'm begging you to reconsider your misguided stance on Facebook.
The Battle of Alpine Valley (as they put on the merch) is a core memory for me.