DistractionRectangle's recent activity

  1. Comment on Rediscovering “Columbo” in 2020 in ~comics

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    Obliquely related: Columbo x Fraiser They still air regularly on antenna TV (at least in my local segment) and I'll watch it once in a while. They're neat in that they don't hit the usually...

    Obliquely related: Columbo x Fraiser

    They still air regularly on antenna TV (at least in my local segment) and I'll watch it once in a while. They're neat in that they don't hit the usually cliches and humanize the murderer. Sometimes you actually hope they'd get away with it. Alongside Columbo, you learn about their corner of the world; things about their profession, their passions, customs, etc which usually tie back to solving the crime.

    It's all very accessible, unlike CSI style shows where they found the killer by looking through the database of all flower shops in New York that carry orchids and cross referenced it with buildings made in the 1800's based on a picture containing an old radiator.

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

    DistractionRectangle
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    I feel like this is something bitwarden + emergency accessis good for. Mind, you have to setup emergency contacts in advance. Just have the passwords in the vault, and the pdf with instructions...

    I feel like this is something bitwarden + emergency accessis good for. Mind, you have to setup emergency contacts in advance.

    Just have the passwords in the vault, and the pdf with instructions for other things.

    Then just print out a generic instruction pdf like xk3 said and put it some place safe and your wife knows where it is.

    Something to the effect of:

    "In the event of my death/I'm incapacitated, go into your bitwarden account and request emergency access to my account" with some screenshots of how to do it.

    "aside from the passwords to <accounts>, there's also an instructional pdf which will help you with <things>, here's how to access it" more screenshots. Edit: for clarity, the pdf also lives in the vault, so it's all in bitwarden.

    You could also include the non sensitive things in the printed copy, like call Y for help with Z, how to decommission the smart home, etc

    I think this account walks the line between your goals and xk3's suggestion. Your sensitive information remains secure and she has to trigger it, it won't auto trigger, and as far as tech stacks go, I trust bitwarden to continue working. Also, if she triggers it and you're up and about, you can deny the request within the configurable emergency access delay if that's something you want.

    1 vote
  3. Comment on Advice on poor Linux performance vs Windows in ~tech

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    So I don't use NTFS drives from Linux, but a cursory review of kernel news suggests NTFS is enough of a mess to warrant (yet another) a new NTFS driver However, reading throughput is suggested to...

    So I don't use NTFS drives from Linux, but a cursory review of kernel news suggests NTFS is enough of a mess to warrant (yet another) a new NTFS driver

    However, reading throughput is suggested to be identical as the old driver. So unless you're doing heavy reading and writing at the same time, it shouldn't be cripplingly slow to read.

    Assuming you're using the ntfs-3g driver (it's the current, not the new one, and if you aren't, start there), they offer a slew of things to check under Performance -> WHY IS THE DRIVER SO SLOW

    9 votes
  4. Comment on Microsoft is adding AI facial recognition to OneDrive and users can only turn it off three times a year in ~tech

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    Honestly, that's the primary selling point of btrfs for me. I shoot myself in the foot at an embarrassing frequency, and once in a while arch updates come bite me. It's just soooooooooo nice being...

    Honestly, that's the primary selling point of btrfs for me. I shoot myself in the foot at an embarrassing frequency, and once in a while arch updates come bite me. It's just soooooooooo nice being able to go "uno reverse" and ignore the problem until it gets fixed upstream, or if I caused it... not do that again :P

    3 votes
  5. Comment on Cell phone advice in ~tech

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    The issue is the phone doesn't actually know what the new batteries real 10% is, so if you run it until it dies, it learns the full capacity - real 0% and real 100%. And no, it's not too late!

    The issue is the phone doesn't actually know what the new batteries real 10% is, so if you run it until it dies, it learns the full capacity - real 0% and real 100%. And no, it's not too late!

    8 votes
  6. Comment on Cell phone advice in ~tech

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    Have you done a couple of full charge/full discharge cycles? The phone has to learn the new battery's capacity, so you have to put it on the charger until it's full, and then use it until it...

    the new battery is even worse than the original

    Have you done a couple of full charge/full discharge cycles? The phone has to learn the new battery's capacity, so you have to put it on the charger until it's full, and then use it until it actually dies. Do that a few times and it'll figure things out.

    3 votes
  7. Comment on Microsoft is adding AI facial recognition to OneDrive and users can only turn it off three times a year in ~tech

    DistractionRectangle
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    Some unsolicited advice. Grub + btrfs + snapper + kde KDE is extremely customizable, but has sane defaults and should feel familiar if you're coming from windows. Having global hot key...

    Some unsolicited advice.

    Grub + btrfs + snapper + kde

    KDE is extremely customizable, but has sane defaults and should feel familiar if you're coming from windows. Having global hot key configuration as a first party feature is reaaally nice, and I've bound a few to be similar to windows (E.g. Ctrl + shift + esc to bring up system monitor + window rules to make it appear on always on top)

    Btrfs + snapper + grub allows for restore point like functionality. Arch is a bleeding edge distro, and every so often (rare, but it happens) you'll hit a breaking change - either the system is foobar'd or some program/feature is. Being able to rollback and deal with the breakage later instead of "I can't do my work/use my system until I fix this now!!!!" is oh so nice.

    Btrfs also has lots niceties, namely atomic filesystem snapshots (which has benefits beyond restore point like functionality), transparent compression, and CoW (copy on write).

    5 votes
  8. Comment on Windows 11 videos demonstrating account and hardware requirements bypass purged from YouTube creator's channel in ~tech

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    Nope. They suck even for businesses. It's one of those things where if the algorithm decides to close your account, your only recourse is to loudly complain on HN and Twitter until a Googler...

    their non-existing, except for businesses) customer support

    Nope. They suck even for businesses. It's one of those things where if the algorithm decides to close your account, your only recourse is to loudly complain on HN and Twitter until a Googler decides to champion your case through back channels. It boggles the mind that the absolute one time it would be critical to be able to reach customer support is the time you're explicitly banned from it.

    E.g. Terraria dev using Twitter to escalate

    7 votes
  9. Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of October 26 in ~games

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    Welcome to BasingStoke is $1.99 until 11/05! This just got a recent content/bug fix update, and has gone through a few rounds of polish since it's 2018 release. I don't think I can do it justice,...

    Welcome to BasingStoke is $1.99 until 11/05!

    This just got a recent content/bug fix update, and has gone through a few rounds of polish since it's 2018 release. I don't think I can do it justice, so I encourage you to explore the trailers/pitch/reviews on steam to see if it's for you. https://store.steampowered.com/app/336940/Welcome_to_Basingstoke/

    2 votes
  10. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

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    So apparently there's a page of tips with dubious benefit I think the big ones are at the very bottom of the page: from bta launcher, install corgis performance fix and multi cpu rendering reduce...

    So apparently there's a page of tips with dubious benefit

    I think the big ones are at the very bottom of the page:

    • from bta launcher, install corgis performance fix and multi cpu rendering

    • reduce props in urban environments

    • change the steam launch option to mesa_glthread=true %command%

    I really need to get back to Battletech. It was such a joy discovering new mech parts and Frankensteining various monstrosities that were a sneeze away from catching fire. I played near launch when mods were in their infancy, so I imagine the community has greatly increased the scope of BattleTech content.

  11. Comment on Controllers that work well with CachyOS? in ~tech

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    It has been a minute, but you may need to go into steam controller settings and explicitly opt in for generic/switch/Playstation controller support. Edit: arch wiki link + snippet

    It has been a minute, but you may need to go into steam controller settings and explicitly opt in for generic/switch/Playstation controller support.

    To enable Steam Input for a controller, go to Steam > Settings > Controller > External Gamepad Settings. Here you will find toggles to Enable Steam Input corresponding to your controller.

    Edit: arch wiki link + snippet

  12. Comment on Controllers that work well with CachyOS? in ~tech

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    I just add everything as a non steam game and let steam input handle it. Getting big picture overlay to work sometimes takes a little fiddling (looking at you, Dolphin Emu) but it usually all just...

    I just add everything as a non steam game and let steam input handle it. Getting big picture overlay to work sometimes takes a little fiddling (looking at you, Dolphin Emu) but it usually all just works.

  13. Comment on Not sure if coincidence or I should give up (on USB flash drives) in ~tech

  14. Comment on Not sure if coincidence or I should give up (on USB flash drives) in ~tech

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    I really, really like enclosures + Intel optane drives. A decent enclosure is $15-20 and the drives can be had for $3-10 on ebay (for 16GB). Certainly expensive by flash drive standards, but you...

    I really, really like enclosures + Intel optane drives. A decent enclosure is $15-20 and the drives can be had for $3-10 on ebay (for 16GB). Certainly expensive by flash drive standards, but you get what you pay for. High speed, high endurance drives.

    One thing of note, and probably someone else knows the answer, I'm uncertain how long SSDs/nvmes can go unpowered before bitrot sets in.

    4 votes
  15. Comment on Upgrade desktop to win11 when hardware isn’t supported? in ~tech

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    It's been a minute, but you could update so long as the CPU supports sse4.2 and popcnt instructions Just use Rufus to create the install media and select the relevant options Overview of the...

    It's been a minute, but you could update so long as the CPU supports sse4.2 and popcnt instructions

    Just use Rufus to create the install media and select the relevant options

    Overview of the situation:

    https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-upgrade-your-incompatible-windows-10-pc-to-windows-11-2-free-options/

    Edit: as others pointed out, extending windows 10 support is also an option. The win 10 IoT ltsc gets support through 2032 and is an in place upgrade.

    Re: upgrading with Rufus, you can perform an in place upgrade with Rufus, you just have to mount the install media with windows running and run the setup from the usb. If you boot from the install media, afaik you have to do a clean install. Should go without saying, backup the files + application data (E.g. Bookmarks) before you try any of the workarounds we're suggesting.

    3 votes
  16. Comment on Looking for feedback on a homelab design in ~tech

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    I like VMs, and by extension Proxmox, as they offer a nice abstraction for backups. VM backup/restore procedures are consistent and very batteries included. IaC and podman are great, but then you...

    I like VMs, and by extension Proxmox, as they offer a nice abstraction for backups. VM backup/restore procedures are consistent and very batteries included. IaC and podman are great, but then you have to write bespoke backup/restore procedures for each stack and often people make the blunder of A) not pinning their images B) not including the current on-disk images in the backup.

    4 votes
  17. Comment on Microsoft warns that Windows 10 reaches end of support today in ~tech

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    That's a good call out, that wasn't default last time I did a fresh win 11 install. Considering a lot of installs are win 10 converts with bit locker off and support ftpm which is toggleable via...

    That's a good call out, that wasn't default last time I did a fresh win 11 install. Considering a lot of installs are win 10 converts with bit locker off and support ftpm which is toggleable via the bios, I can't imagine they'll try and force a conversion in an update.

    That tpm support isn't constant, but a toggleable firmware feature makes relying on it for the OS flaky. If you're launching software, you can require it because worst case it just doesn't run, but making the OS unbootable without the user doing something technical (it's a low bar, especially for tildes demographic, but users never cease to amaze) is just support/pr nightmare.

    3 votes
  18. Comment on Nanoparticle vaccine shows cancer prevention and immunity in mice in ~health

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    I got my undergrad degree in nanoengineering (w/ EE focus, so the medical aspects are a bit beyond me), so I can speak a little to the "nano" aspect of this. Essentially, they have two essential...

    I got my undergrad degree in nanoengineering (w/ EE focus, so the medical aspects are a bit beyond me), so I can speak a little to the "nano" aspect of this. Essentially, they have two essential components required to invoke the immune response, but they aren't stable together (which they refer to as the adjuvants). What they do, essentially, is package them in "bubbles". Lipids have a hydrophobic and hydrophilic end, and when enough are present they tend to self assemble lipid bilayers (think two concentric spheres), where the lipids align themselves so the external and internal surfaces are lined with the hydrophilic ends, and the hydrophobic ends are between them. A picture is worth a thousand words

    And they're easy to form. We did a lab where you basically prepare a solution of whatever you want to package, introduce lipids, mix it, and then you can force the solution through filters to select for the size you want ( I forget all the details, this was over a decade ago and I ended up not pursuing work in that field/academia, but it wasn't a big deal to do). You can mix other things with the lipids to allow them to be activated/coalesce with other cells/release there contents when they encounter specific compounds/conditions.

    So you do this for both adjuvants, and then you can extract the encapsulated adjuvants and mix them together. This allows them to be stably stored together, as well as create a targeted release/delivery method (such that the compounds does degrade/undergo side reactions with other compounds before it reaches the desired place(s) in the body.

    I can't speak to the cancer/treatment aspects, but this is really cool as a storage/delivery method and broadly applicable.

    4 votes
  19. Comment on This site is fast in ~tildes

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    They're used to separate metal from some kind of liquid stream or flow of solid aggregate. E.g. The plastic vendor here should have used magnetic filters to extract metal bits from their aggregate...

    They're used to separate metal from some kind of liquid stream or flow of solid aggregate. E.g. The plastic vendor here should have used magnetic filters to extract metal bits from their aggregate before shipping.

    So think industrial flows like food processing, recycling, etc.

    4 votes
  20. Comment on Microsoft warns that Windows 10 reaches end of support today in ~tech

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    I'd argue the opposite, but it's all armchairing on my part. IMO, this was just a move to drop support for really old hardware and sell more licenses. There's not a lot fundamentally different...

    I'd argue the opposite, but it's all armchairing on my part. IMO, this was just a move to drop support for really old hardware and sell more licenses. There's not a lot fundamentally different from win 10 and win 11, aside from some features, Win 11 has dropped support for CPUs that don't support SSE4.2.

    The Tpm requirement is mostly for 3rd parties. They can safely require a TPM + secure boot now and it'll "just work" on the majority of win 11 installs. If you went out of your want to circumvent this, that's a you problem. Windows by itself doesn't have a real reason to enforce this requirement, and breaking installs over it doesn't serve a purpose for Microsoft.

    5 votes