0x29A's recent activity

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

    0x29A
    Link Parent
    Yeah, i have an open air printer though i know there are aftermarket enclosures. For now i think that's going deeper into things than I want to at the moment. I will probably stick to the safer...

    Yeah, i have an open air printer though i know there are aftermarket enclosures. For now i think that's going deeper into things than I want to at the moment. I will probably stick to the safer stuff for now. I do have a HEPA purifier with a carbon filter but it's not such a dire need I have to print stuff for hot temp environments anyway.

    It is a bit unfortunate that if i want to replace some small part in my car that might not be feasible. Maybe it's fine if it's in the trunk or glove box or somewhere not in direct sun but who knows. Either way it's inexpensive enough to try and test if it comes to that. That and I will make sure to print anything for those uses in white because that itself should make somewhat of a difference since it will absorb less

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

    0x29A
    Link Parent
    Hell yeah, nice! Server rack parts is a great idea (I've also seen some cool completely-printed entire mini racks which are neat). I love 3D printing so much. Definitely a fun learning experience,...

    Hell yeah, nice! Server rack parts is a great idea (I've also seen some cool completely-printed entire mini racks which are neat). I love 3D printing so much. Definitely a fun learning experience, and I'm still fairly beginner level. Starting to learn CAD has been great too and yeah I've realized if I ever wanted to print something for outside or for my car or GPU or something, PLA won't be the right thing because enough proximity to heat for long enough and it's gonna be a problem.

    I don't know how easily I can print ABS with my setup, might be fine, I do think ABS is quite a bit more toxic while printing IIRC though which might not work for my particular situation. I am fascinated by how many different filaments and material types there are now- there are some really wacky ones out there. I watch Zack Freedman's videos and sources some of the most rare and strange ones and does videos on big batches of them and comments on each one, it's really interesting.

    ...this reminds me I need to make a list of links to all my favorite resources for 3D printing (videos/channels, CAD tutorials, etc) so i can easily share it or put it on my site

    It's been a super fun process overall to find and print others' functional designs and also design my own and upgrade/fix tons of stuff I need (adapters, attachments, clips, etc) among the occasional rare decorative print.

    Longest prints I've done are about eight hours and I definitely checked in on those periodically because they were so long, and one of them was PETG which is fussy to print for me, but it came out generally fine. I've definitely had some failed prints too, though.

    I've also done some inexpensive or basically free upgrades to my printer to make it better (both 3D printed mods and buying a replacement nozzle and build plate) and that's been fun too

    1 vote

  3. Comment on RomM: an open source, self-hosted emulation platform in ~games

    0x29A
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    I have always leaned towards managing my rom libraries manually just in folders of files and running emulators separately at least on regular desktop (the frontends like RetroArch or Batocera...

    I have always leaned towards managing my rom libraries manually just in folders of files and running emulators separately at least on regular desktop (the frontends like RetroArch or Batocera don't always vibe with me except on handhelds or hidden-desktop kiosk type of machines). I find RetroArch extremely annoying to configure and set up via its UI

    This looks enticing enough to actually at least try out. Even if only used for metadata and management. It may not end up working for me but I think it's really neat. Sync is cool too. Maybe this solves enough problems to make it worth it, idk. Ultimately I am just excessively picky about these types of things, but I can envision a nice setup where I move between different machines in my house and everything (saves, etc) is synced and ready to play

    Always looking for cool new useful things to try out on the home server, especially since stuff like this I don't want to trust to cloud servers and companies and subscriptions and all that. Trying to get away from that in all the places where it's reasonable

    3 votes

  4. Comment on Moderna, Merck say mRNA vaccine prevents melanoma from returning in ~health

    0x29A
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    Putting aside all of the problems or concerns with cost, the industry, etc I will gladly take some good news like this! Especially in the fight against cancer. F cancer so much. I will take...

    Putting aside all of the problems or concerns with cost, the industry, etc I will gladly take some good news like this! Especially in the fight against cancer. F cancer so much. I will take whatever wins we can get

    11 votes

  5. Comment on What server location should I use for a VPN? in ~tech

    0x29A
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    Link Parent
    I'm sure you know this, but for additional clarity to the discussion in case there's any confusion from readers about the different setups- a VPN self-hosted inside your home network (and not a...

    I'm sure you know this, but for additional clarity to the discussion in case there's any confusion from readers about the different setups- a VPN self-hosted inside your home network (and not a DIY one in a VPS or a service by a VPN company) is going to provide basically zero usefulness / extra privacy for someone accessing the internet from home specifically though since the endpoint is going to be the same IP as your real home IP... someone wanting to avoid their ISP's snooping or get any other VPN upsides for home-originating traffic will get no benefit from that setup

    so i think such a setup only works for someone very specifically looking to only get an extra layer of protection when on public / non-home internet locations and to specifically route that traffic back through their home network. for those that don't trust their home ISPs, this is actually sending even more data through them

    the other options will be better for someone that wants to add an extra privacy layer for any traffic originating from their home network

    13 votes

  6. Comment on Keto ice cream brand filed for Chapter 11 after a judge found it copied a Brooklyn rival's packaging in ~food

    0x29A
    Link Parent
    Yeah and of course I don't mean the entire public, there are plenty of people that do care and I hope that number is increasing, and so on, but I do still think for all the millions of egregious...

    Yeah and of course I don't mean the entire public, there are plenty of people that do care and I hope that number is increasing, and so on, but I do still think for all the millions of egregious sins corporations commit, a number of consumers can also be rightfully criticized for not doing their due diligence

    Sometimes stuff is very much the customer or consumer's fault and the lack of effort is frustrating (and actually kind of insulting) to those that do pay attention (or the front-line workers that deal with their BS).

    So, tbh the "karen" in this situation is less the person who is critical of an unthinking public and more often the unthinking public themselves who then have unreasonable demands borne out of their ignorance

    2 votes

  7. Comment on Keto ice cream brand filed for Chapter 11 after a judge found it copied a Brooklyn rival's packaging in ~food

    0x29A
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    Link Parent
    To be honest, they don't even look that similar to me. Sometimes in situations like this there is a legitimate ripoff going on trying to imitate a brand very closely to intentionally cause...

    To be honest, they don't even look that similar to me. Sometimes in situations like this there is a legitimate ripoff going on trying to imitate a brand very closely to intentionally cause confusion.

    Just from comparing these designs side-by-side I really don't get that vibe at all. Even the names of the damn companies are so different, both in sound and length.

    There is no way I am looking at a pastel ice cream package with the word Rebel on it and confusing that with one that says Van Leeuwen, even if the fonts were identical, and that's not even the case here.

    Sure, they had evidence that store employees got them mixed up but to me that's more because the employees are working quickly and likely aren't paying that close of attention, whereas, while I know it's naive to expect any amount of care out of the general consumer public, if you're shopping for a particular brand you know the name of, it's really not difficult to get the right thing

    I don't know what Rebel costs but I sure as hell would never pay Van Leeuwen prices. They aren't even similar products. IMO you have to be the most willfully oblivious consumer to get these mixed up

    (Disclaimer this is me going into rant mode and speaking out of my ass:) I am very unsurprised that the VL design is by Pentagram though. While I am sure they have good work too, they are veterans of "likely overpriced minimalist design work" and some of their portfolio is so dull and minimal no wonder it makes everything else look like a copy. If the thing you make barely has any character in the first place, of course it's going to be similar to another bare design

    10 votes

  8. Comment on Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker in ~tech

    0x29A
    Link Parent
    Yeah I do have some installed for Safari in case that browser ever opens on my devices. I mostly was just speaking of the state of alternatives to the first-party option

    Yeah I do have some installed for Safari in case that browser ever opens on my devices. I mostly was just speaking of the state of alternatives to the first-party option

  9. Comment on Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker in ~tech

    0x29A
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    Link Parent
    I think the catalyst for this conversation though is that a lot of times when someone emphasizes the point that "it is piracy", it comes pre-loaded with a moral/ethical judgement (it's loaded with...

    I think the catalyst for this conversation though is that a lot of times when someone emphasizes the point that "it is piracy", it comes pre-loaded with a moral/ethical judgement (it's loaded with the assumption that piracy is bad or some kind of unethical activity) and that is often the reason someone makes that point in the first place. There's often an implication that specifically because it is piracy, people shouldn't do it. It often feels like the entire motive for most people that bother needing to define adblock as a form of piracy. Even if it's semantically correct it's erroneous to leap from that to an ethical imperative like some do

    If there is no ethical component to the argument then I agree with the parent that then it's just essentially a meaningless discussion of semantics and a more meaningful discussion is about piracy itself and dismantling the assumptions about the ethics around it (and the irrelevance of whether something constitutes piracy or not ultimately doesn't matter to that conversation)

    (That doesn't mean I am interested necessarily in having that meaningful conversation here as I am fully fine with adblock and the high seas also and such a discussion isn't useful to me, just making meta commentary on the discussion)

    2 votes

  10. Comment on Trying to identify a Yixing Teapot, need help in ~arts

    0x29A
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    Heh... in doing some searching online i stumbled upon a subreddit dedicated to yixing identification and then found you posted there already lol. Looks like some of the comments there did...

    Heh... in doing some searching online i stumbled upon a subreddit dedicated to yixing identification and then found you posted there already lol. Looks like some of the comments there did potentially provide some info or at least were able to determine the characters and who they potentially refer to (if genuine).

    One comment said the bottom is 壺中一怪, the lid is 王一怪, and supposedly that bottom seal is linked to a potter by the name of 王銘東 (Wang Mingdong?) and a reply to it shows another pot that matches that bottom seal.

    The little bit of extra info i found and can add after checking and searching the romanization of the name:

    Whether it's genuine or not it does seem to match the style of Wang Mingdong - "while making decorative teapots, he uses lifelike cane branches as well as vivid and spreading leaves to create natural effects"

    So if it's not his work then maybe some imitation of it

    5 votes

  11. Comment on Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker in ~tech

    0x29A
    Link Parent
    Somehow, browsers like Orion have found a way to allow extensions even on iOS, despite Apple's engine restrictions. I'm not sure what they've had to do to work around the restrictions (or if the...

    Somehow, browsers like Orion have found a way to allow extensions even on iOS, despite Apple's engine restrictions. I'm not sure what they've had to do to work around the restrictions (or if the WebKit requirement is even a "block" to having extensions), but it appears to be possible to do.

    2 votes

  12. Comment on Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker in ~tech

    0x29A
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    Link Parent
    Agreed, we should always have full control of what is able to render or be received in our browser software/OS and modify our system to affect that in any way we choose. Sites / platforms / etc...

    Agreed, we should always have full control of what is able to render or be received in our browser software/OS and modify our system to affect that in any way we choose. Sites / platforms / etc are free to modify their behavior in response to that, of course, and so be it, but we should always have that option and any effort to control that I view as hostile. I can and do make compromises and use restrictive platforms from time to time, but I do so knowingly and begrudgingly

    Yeah, more than likely the original reason it didn't support extensions was probably born out of how restrictive Apple has been on alternative browsers on iOS or something like that (I can't remember so I'm just speculating, I don't know for sure), but some browsers have been able to successfully build their iOS apps with extension support regardless, so it is possible, but I don't know if there's some compromise in the process Firefox has been unwilling to make.

    Agreed about MV3. It was gross. I did permanently move to Firefox (and now, forks) and discontinued use of nearly all chromium-based browsers (except in rare circumstances) after the manifest v3 announcement and the slow rotting of that browser and company (and also my active choice to de-Google my life in a number of ways)

    Separately, I won't go into it here, but I unfortunately don't support Ladybird personally because of the politics/behavior of some of the people behind it (this has been written about by Drew Devault among others if anyone wants to search and come to their own conclusions, it's not really something I want to spend energy to discuss on this forum). There are a number of browser and OS projects run by individuals fairly extremely at odds with my values and political stances (and unfortunately, some companies end up funding those individuals' efforts- some of which are companies that I otherwise think make good products, sadly). I also understand people draw their lines about these things differently, and we all make some level of compromise to some degree with our consumption of any products or services. But I'm probably more personally strict than others, mostly in places where the things I find iffy are easy to avoid / elective in the first place (and aren't a genuine need)

    5 votes

  13. Comment on Firefox for iOS now has a native adblocker in ~tech

    0x29A
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    Link Parent
    The more hostile users and browsers are to ads, the better. I fully welcome more of this. Even, and especially, as a default setting. I understand it will have some impacts but I think that's a...

    The more hostile users and browsers are to ads, the better. I fully welcome more of this. Even, and especially, as a default setting. I understand it will have some impacts but I think that's a necessary reckoning society and the internet need to have. I would still recommend the use of standalone ad-blocking extension or tools to avoid the "exceptions" built-in ones like to make for their own search engine results and whatnot. Choose a fully-functional one rather than one that has been purposely corrupted. That said, on iOS, Firefox doesn't support extensions (though it could if Mozilla wanted to, and alternatives on iOS do), so at least this is one way to get ad-blocking features in that browser

    Really the reckoning should be about advertising as a whole (including things like billboards, TV ad breaks, etc) as a business model and how we've let this mind poison be a primary form of subsidizing (and a maliciously acting one) of entire industries along with being a massive source of visual pollution. But the internet is a more pressing medium given how ads in that medium are far more actively dangerous (malware, spyware, making the web nearly visually impossible to ingest) than a mostly-inert (by comparison) billboard.

    I personally feel that advertising in most of its forms is a type of attention theft, manipulation, and imposing force that feels like a form of psychological attack. I'm not even saying I have all the answers, but I am willing to support a future in which society becomes as adversarial as possible towards most forms of advertising (I say most, because I can see types of exceptions to be carved out or lines to draw about what does and doesn't constitute advertising)

    16 votes

  14. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    0x29A
    Link Parent
    Yeah, what I've listened to of Forcefield so far, I like, and I'm not sure why I didn't really keep up with their releases, just forgot while getting into other stuff I suppose.

    Yeah, what I've listened to of Forcefield so far, I like, and I'm not sure why I didn't really keep up with their releases, just forgot while getting into other stuff I suppose.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on Epic Games Store will support Linux "soon" in ~games

    0x29A
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    Having official support would be nice, though I've been using Heroic Games Launcher for Epic/GOG on Linux and it has been fine. I'm sure it's missing things or has frustrations I don't notice that...

    Having official support would be nice, though I've been using Heroic Games Launcher for Epic/GOG on Linux and it has been fine. I'm sure it's missing things or has frustrations I don't notice that an official launcher would help solve, then again I like having it combined with GOG all in one interface, so Heroic + Steam gives me 99% coverage on everything I want to launch and play

    4 votes

  16. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    0x29A
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    A lot of Tokyo Police Club albums. Partially because I hadn't explored outside of Elephant Shell or Champ much, and it had been a while since I'd revisited them anyway. Great indie rock records....

    A lot of Tokyo Police Club albums. Partially because I hadn't explored outside of Elephant Shell or Champ much, and it had been a while since I'd revisited them anyway. Great indie rock records.

    The other reason is more depressing which is that the vocalist has decided apparently to sell himself out for tiktok clicks / viral marketing for some really unfunny metal "humor" project and I just wanted to remind myself of the good art they used to make and lament what has happened. I won't go into it because I don't want to bring the viral project any more attention than it has gotten already.

    Also:
    Noise Trail Immersion - Tutta La Morte In Un Solo Punto | avant/mathy/post-black/idk?
    Lab Rat - Lab Rat | hardcore punk
    DEATH. VOID. TERROR. - To the Great Monolith 2.5 | experimental metal (very unsettling noise / drone / black metal) like Schammasch on acid or something. great stuff.
    Hulder - Verbolgen | black metal | maybe my least favorite release of theirs to date tbh
    REPLICANT - Anti-Cosmic Spiral (Single) | death metal

    3 votes

  17. Comment on Waving goodbye, carrying my bundle on a stick in ~talk

    0x29A
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    Yeah some of us (well, I'll speak for myself here, in particular) definitely don't see this as some neutral debate club that needs to be open to all ideas or that level of discussion on some...

    Yeah some of us (well, I'll speak for myself here, in particular) definitely don't see this as some neutral debate club that needs to be open to all ideas or that level of discussion on some topics. It really is a difference in how we view what Tildes is or what we want Tildes to be. And if that's what Tildes wants to become, it is free to do that, I'm not really entitled for it to be any certain way, but it will cease to become a place I want to be

    I think of it less like some big open free speech debate forum and more like a community and those things are very different, and I have personal requirements for communities I decide to be a part of

    I was mainly looking for a place to find like minds and other people that make cool things or share interests in music or electronics or whatever. Similar to how I used to use other forums (which I also did not use for debate). Whether it be tea, coffee, or whatever, and maybe some discussion of more dense topics that affect our lives. But I did expect it to operate a particular way as a baseline, even if views differed within the brackets of that baseline

    Part of what made me stay around is that for the most part it seemed to provide a relatively welcoming space for LGBTQ+ users (as one example) and kept out most of the horrors that absolutely wrecked a lot of other places ex-Redditors landed

    I don't fault people for having their guard up and wanting to leave when they experience what amounts to bad faith "just asking the question" contrarians or whatever else smuggling in what amounts to misogyny or transphobia or whatever else under a facade of good faith or things being "open to debate". There indeed may be the occasional actual good faith question on something like this, but enough people have experienced bad faith BS masquerading as otherwise, or they simply think it's not something at a baseline that this place needs to be open to

    And there is toxicity, plenty of it passive-aggressive, brewing beneath Tildes whether anyone wants to admit it or not. Having peoples' genuine concerns labeled as noise/off-topic is incredibly toxic, etc.

    13 votes

  18. Comment on Another week on Linux in ~tech

    0x29A
    Link Parent
    Yeah I probably should have clarified I don't recommend it to regular people mostly if myself or someone else is not going to be available and willing to help. My late grandma ran Linux on her...

    Yeah I probably should have clarified I don't recommend it to regular people mostly if myself or someone else is not going to be available and willing to help. My late grandma ran Linux on her machine and ended up liking it better than Windows. All she ever did was photos, email, and documents, so as long as I was there as a in-case tech support to set it up and if anything went wrong (rarely ever did), it was actually great for her.

    But say I have a friend or acquaintance that I can't really help in-person or often, that really doesn't know any computer tech at all, and they're used to running software that only runs on Windows, and they need it for a college class or something, they would have no idea where to even start, and the first hurdle they encounter would make them want to run back to something more familiar, and I wouldn't disagree with that feeling

    2 votes

  19. Comment on Another week on Linux in ~tech

    0x29A
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    That's fair and I can totally understand people encountering that very bumpy Linux experience for sure. No intention of being the "but it works on my machine so that means it should on yours!"...

    That's fair and I can totally understand people encountering that very bumpy Linux experience for sure. No intention of being the "but it works on my machine so that means it should on yours!" guy, just giving one piece of data from a very satisfied user that hasn't run into the same issues (and I do OBS recording, video editing, graphics editing, 3D printing/slicing/CAD, documents, games, voice chat, etc, so I use it for quite the variety of use cases).

    I truly wish the Linux experience people have had was better, because for those it works exceedingly well for- when the experience is nailed pretty well, I want that for everyone.

    And I totally gel with wanting things to "just work"- I feel that way about phones, which is why despite not liking Apple desktops anymore, I'm a long-time iOS/ipadOS customer and pretty happy. My phone just works and I don't need to think about most things. Sure some of their changes are annoying or whatever, but I basically never have to screw with it to have it work for what I need

    So I think I approach my mobile experience the way you approach the desktop, and it's also fair that techies don't always want to screw with things a lot either! (Trust me I've encountered enough frustration at tech jobs over the years that somedays i just want to sit down and have things work and not deal with it anymore! hahaha)

    I think I've just been probably incredibly lucky with my experiences. Linux is also varied enough in distros/DEs, configurations, wayland/x11, systemd/non, etc, and hardware too, and that means it's really hard for a large swath of people to have a unified experience free of problems. Part of my luck has probably been sticking with older stable versions of drivers and distros and things like X11. And I acknowledge that it hasn't always been smooth sailing and I occasionally have run into a big problem, it's just rare enough that the big problems are just as rare on Linux as they ever were on Win/Mac.

    1 vote

  20. Comment on Another week on Linux in ~tech

    0x29A
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    Both this and your other reply to me are totally fair! Maybe I was not generous enough in my reading (but I want to be clear I didn't mean any of my criticism maliciously). I just sort of got a...

    Both this and your other reply to me are totally fair! Maybe I was not generous enough in my reading (but I want to be clear I didn't mean any of my criticism maliciously). I just sort of got a "ugh Linux failed me again" vibe which I didn't fully gel with given its state on Apple hardware

    2 votes