DynamoSunshirt's recent activity
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Comment on How has your industry changed in the past decade? in ~talk
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentHonestly, I felt like book 5 sped me up because it was so single-minded! But in later books I was really happy to return to the 'OG' cast. Book 6 is such a good place to be, though -- the next...Honestly, I felt like book 5 sped me up because it was so single-minded! But in later books I was really happy to return to the 'OG' cast. Book 6 is such a good place to be, though -- the next three books are quite the roller coaster!
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentNever seen as many Malazan fans as I've seen on this site. If you want to discuss book 6 when you're done, consider posting a discussion thread here! I don't have many IRL friends who've read the...Never seen as many Malazan fans as I've seen on this site. If you want to discuss book 6 when you're done, consider posting a discussion thread here! I don't have many IRL friends who've read the series.
If you're looking for another palate cleanser, I strongly recommend Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself (and the rest of the trilogy). Also grimdark, but a very easy read compared to Malazan! Someone here recommended it to me when I finished book 10 very early this year. I should track 'em down and thank 'em.
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Comment on Heat pumps used to struggle in the cold. Not anymore. in ~enviro
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentGreat data points. I wonder what's pushing electricity costs up so high, if renewables are getting so much cheaper and so many grids are incorporating renewables? Something in my mental model must...Great data points. I wonder what's pushing electricity costs up so high, if renewables are getting so much cheaper and so many grids are incorporating renewables? Something in my mental model must be wrong, because it just doesn't add up. Unless it's just corporate greed.
I do worry that solar is somewhat pointless in much of the USA during the cold half of the year. In the Northeast, we get so little daylight and so much cloud coverage I doubt we coud meaningfully rely on solar October-April. Unless we massively overbuild it, I suppose?
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Comment on Tips for increasing online privacy (without going insane)? in ~tech
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentWhat's wrong with F-Droid from a security perspective? Maybe the single-point-of-failure build system? FairMail is treating me really well as an email client; I didn't love any of the ones you...What's wrong with F-Droid from a security perspective? Maybe the single-point-of-failure build system?
FairMail is treating me really well as an email client; I didn't love any of the ones you suggest above.
While I understand your perspective on Firefox, IMO full-fat uBlock Origin beats Chromium security every day of the week. My privacy is threatened much more by creepy companies than actual exploits, at which Firefox is at least reasonable, AFAIK. Fennec and Mullvad help keep Mozilla from creeping, too.
Overall a damn excellent list, though.
One somewhat out-of-scope consideration: your ISP and your cell phone provider! You may not be able to change ISPs, but you should at least poke around in your account settings to disable personalised advertising and tracking from the ISP, if possible. If you do have choice, compare! Cell phone providers are easier. Personally I use Google Fi, which I know seems crazy, but as far as I can tell they protect my call, text, and location information better than any other cell phone provider. AT&T and Verizon sell all of it, even down to your location data, these days. MVNOs can sometimes act a bit like unions, contracting special user data protections. Worth looking into if you really care!
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Comment on Who's watching crypto at the moment? in ~finance
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentCryptocurrency: game theory, but with your savings!Cryptocurrency: game theory, but with your savings!
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Comment on AirPods or not? in ~music
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentKeeping an eye on those yellow Nothing Ear (a)s on Cyber Monday! Glad to hear they're serving you well. I'm mostly happy with my IEMs with a replaceable cord, but at some point I'll have to...Keeping an eye on those yellow Nothing Ear (a)s on Cyber Monday! Glad to hear they're serving you well. I'm mostly happy with my IEMs with a replaceable cord, but at some point I'll have to replace my phone, and when I lose the jack, I don't want to switch to USB-C.
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Comment on If you had to start a blog and post even though very few may read it, what would get you blogging weekly? in ~talk
DynamoSunshirt LinkWhy not all of those? I maintain a blog. I probably average about a post per month. But nobody reads it, as far as I know. I don't use analytics. I don't advertise. But writing posts, building the...Why not all of those?
I maintain a blog. I probably average about a post per month. But nobody reads it, as far as I know. I don't use analytics. I don't advertise. But writing posts, building the infrastructure for images, styling and organising, etc. is fun. And I love having a legacy and presence on the internet outside of the Digital Fiefdoms. In my mind, it's all a bit like Beorn in The Hobbit.
I write about bike trips, devices that I use every day, my self-hosting infrastructure, books, career, basically whatever. Been doing it for almost a decade now.
Blogs are like gardens and trees. When is the best time to start a blog? 10 years ago. When is the second best time? Right now.
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Comment on What are some good YouTube channels/shows/series related to travel? in ~travel
DynamoSunshirt LinkAs a lover of bicycles, I think bicycle touring might be one of the coolest ways to explore the world. My favourite channel is rolling existence: https://www.rollingexistence.com/ They spent...As a lover of bicycles, I think bicycle touring might be one of the coolest ways to explore the world.
My favourite channel is rolling existence: https://www.rollingexistence.com/
They spent months biking around europe, then southeast asia, then some of the americas. The videos are really basic, not at all 'influencer' content, feels like 2012 YouTube instead of modern stuff (in a good way).Alee Denham/cyclingabout had a really excellent video series that started at the southern tip of south america and was going to go all the way to Alaska... but Covid wound up trapping him in Mexico for a while. The videos are excellent, though, and show off a lot of parts of South America and Central America that I never knew existed: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRAekI_UpkJ9jO2BFM_TuBY8xexkH6M94
Unfortunately his channel is on life support now, occasionally churning out SEO-spam adjacent articles about hot button cycling issues. But the old stuff is still great.
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Comment on The online sports gambling experiment has failed in ~finance
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentVery fair, not many places to rent in much of the country for sure. Thanks for the answer!Very fair, not many places to rent in much of the country for sure. Thanks for the answer!
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Comment on How self-driving cars will destroy cities in ~transport
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentAgreed in some ways: a driverless car doesn't get road rage, doesn't roll coal, doesn't get distracted by texting, a phone call, or social media, and makes the occupant a lot less likely to shout...Agreed in some ways: a driverless car doesn't get road rage, doesn't roll coal, doesn't get distracted by texting, a phone call, or social media, and makes the occupant a lot less likely to shout profanities out the window just because I'm riding a bike or crossing the road. That's all very good!
Of course, driverless cars are just software-driven machines. The software has bugs, and design constraints, and bad QA, and sensors that don't always work perfectly. I'm glad that that software is less likely to kill me, but we still need to hold the companies producing this software to a very high standard of safety, especially for people outside the vehicle who are just trying to exist and haven't signed any legal agreement with the company building the car or software.
Because this software is produced by trillion-dollar companies, they should be held to the absolute highest standard. Every time a self-driving car hurts or kills someone or damages something, there should be a thorough, objective investigation, and obligatory hefty reimbursement (millions of dollars) for the effected, involuntary test subjects. (also known as 'human beings who happen to exist on the same planet where these trillion dollar companies deploy self-driving cars, and have no say in the safety trade-offs in the software that runs those cars').
I don't think self-driving is necessarily all doom and gloom -- personally, I'm hoping that by eliminating car ownership in a lot of parts of the USA, they can actually help us improve walkability and bikeability -- but we should be wary of enshittification, like what has happened with Uber and Lyft. Relying on the profit-seeking whims of trillion dollar companies just to leave your property is a very dangerous prospect; just ask anyone who's ever tried to live in the USA without a car!
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Comment on The online sports gambling experiment has failed in ~finance
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentWasn't that bad to budget out a decent place to live? Damn, I'd love to see where you think low-income workers can rent or buy within a reasonable budget in most of the USA. In most places I've...Wasn't that bad to budget out a decent place to live? Damn, I'd love to see where you think low-income workers can rent or buy within a reasonable budget in most of the USA. In most places I've lived (even the 'cheap' places), rent is easily 1500/mo for an individual at this point, a vehicle is required, and vehicle costs add up very fast.
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Comment on How self-driving cars will destroy cities in ~transport
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentAgree with most of your points, but self-driving cars are most definitely NOT cheaper than trains or buses. Perhaps if you compare them 1-to-1, but when you start considering operating at scale...Agree with most of your points, but self-driving cars are most definitely NOT cheaper than trains or buses. Perhaps if you compare them 1-to-1, but when you start considering operating at scale (say, even a small volume like 1000 people) self-driving cars become completely unaffordable and don't scale physically, either.
I suspect a lot of smaller cities will make this exact mistake in the coming decade, only to bankrupt themselves on maintenance costs. And then of course we'll lose even more services and beg the federal government to bail them out, just like we see today with sprawling sewer/water/gas services to unsustainable suburbs.
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Comment on How do people get over enshittification? in ~life
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentDarn Tough socks are very good. And you can send them back for replacements when you manage to wear through them (I've never managed this with a Darn Tough sock yet, but at least one friend, a...Darn Tough socks are very good. And you can send them back for replacements when you manage to wear through them (I've never managed this with a Darn Tough sock yet, but at least one friend, a prolific walker, has).
I know they're expensive, but they last a very long time. Best to just wait for major holiday sales at REI etc and pick up a bunch when you can get a 20%+ discount.
They used to do a sock sale at a big tent in Vermont, years ago. You could buy their missmatched odd socks with minor cosmetic issues for one dollar per sock! That was the real way to build out a sock wardrobe!
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Comment on How self-driving cars will destroy cities in ~transport
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentWhy is that the dream? I want someplace where I can just walk, bike, or take public transit wherever I want to go. The environmental impact is far less and I actually enjoy moving myself around in...Why is that the dream?
I want someplace where I can just walk, bike, or take public transit wherever I want to go. The environmental impact is far less and I actually enjoy moving myself around in the world. Not to mention the health benefits of even low-intensity exercise like walking daily.
Why would you dream of sitting in a self-driving vehicle, alone, for a cost similar per-mile to modern taxis and app-taxis for hours?
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Comment on How self-driving cars will destroy cities in ~transport
DynamoSunshirt LinkReally glad Jason made this video. He combines a lot of thoughts I already had on the subject of self-driving cars to paint an honestly pretty likely (IMO) picture of the near future. TL;DR...Really glad Jason made this video. He combines a lot of thoughts I already had on the subject of self-driving cars to paint an honestly pretty likely (IMO) picture of the near future.
TL;DR self-driving cars are, to cars, as cars were to horse-drawn carriages and walking. Given the deep-pocketed financial interests, self-driving car companies will completely take over our infrastructure and we should expect other forms of transportation to be sidelined just like walking, public transit, and cycling are now in the USA.
My favourite argument is perhaps the simplest, though: what's the point? Self-driving cars are just driverless taxis. If taxis are so great, why don't we all just pay them for every trip today? Probably a combination of 'i don't like dealing with a driver all the time' and 'it's really expensive.' Given what we've seen tech companies do over the last 20 years, you'd be insane to believe that tech companies will keep self-driving vehicles affordable in the long term, either for per-trip rental or for ownership. There is simply too much money to be made once everyone is dependent on your product.
We're very likely to see the classic tech monopolist pump-and-dump strategy in this space, like Uber, Lyft, and scooter rental companies tried before:
- Move into a city.
- Undercut all alternatives.
- Once the alternatives have gone extinct, boil the frog and gradually enshittify because you have no competition and consumers have no alternative.
Mix in the fact that self-driving cars can 'increase efficiency' if we remove analog cars, pedestrians, bikes, streetlights, and speed limits, and you have something very similar to the USA's notorious 20th-century city-destroying highways.
But there is hope. A lot of European cities are already walkable, bikeable, and safe, with great public transit. Self-driving cars will always be more expensive and more dangerous than these multimodal cities. A lot of these countries and cities already have emissions rules, speed limits, and safety regulations that seriously curb car usage in city centres. Hell, a lot of american trucks and SUVs are illegal on sane countries' roads. So we just have to hope that some pockets of sanity will persevere. I can't imagine London, Paris, Amsterdam, or Berlin backpedaling their current stance on cars in cities. So hopefully self-driving will simply never make inroads in those places.
In 20 years, when self-driving cars have taken over the USA and made life even more isolating and expensive, maybe Americans will finally start to rethink our car-centric infrastructure. Maybe.
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Comment on How self-driving cars will destroy cities in ~transport
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentThe video makes a great point that tire and road debris are a significant source of emissions from heavy electric vehicles. Not to mention the emissions produced during manufacturing. The only...The video makes a great point that tire and road debris are a significant source of emissions from heavy electric vehicles. Not to mention the emissions produced during manufacturing. The only zero emission vehicle is your feet, and analog bicycles are nearly zero emission. Electric trains amortise down to similar levels because they carry thousands of people simultaneously.
A single occupant personal car literally cannot be zero emission given current technological constraints.
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Comment on Elon Musk now says it's 'pointless' to build a $25,000 Tesla for human drivers in ~transport
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentOh I completely agree. Unfortunately once Google and Tesla and the other giant companies feel the need to make money off of this tech, we're probably going to get saddled with it whether we like...Oh I completely agree. Unfortunately once Google and Tesla and the other giant companies feel the need to make money off of this tech, we're probably going to get saddled with it whether we like it or not. I just hope we can limit it to environments where, as a pedestrian or cyclist, I'm less likely to pay the Iron Price for a tech companies shoddy QA and profiteering.
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Comment on Elon Musk now says it's 'pointless' to build a $25,000 Tesla for human drivers in ~transport
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentI can certainly imagine self-driving replacing a lot of truly boring highway commutes in the next few years. At this point, a lot of cars are very close to fully automating the (divided, limited...I can certainly imagine self-driving replacing a lot of truly boring highway commutes in the next few years. At this point, a lot of cars are very close to fully automating the (divided, limited access) highway experience. Which of course makes sense; you basically just have to drive in a straight line with minor adjustments for massive-radius turns, handle onramps, and not smash into other cars during traffic.
But it's fucking asinine and borderline sociopathic behaviour to get rid of the steering wheel in a consumer car. Self-driving tech, without a human backstop, is simply not at that level yet. Full-stop. We can't control so many factors in the average driving environment, from inclement weather to obstacles to pedestrians to cyclists to emergency vehicles to dirt and gravel roads... and given what we've seen of Tesla's tech, I can't imagine they feel it's actually prepared. Maybe Elon is banking on the federal government blocking a rollout so he can blame them instead of fessing up to his tech not working?
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Comment on AI is killing remote work in ~tech
DynamoSunshirt Link ParentXitter also seems to randomly block folks who aren't logged in from viewing tweets. I really wish we could just point all xitter links to archived copies, or copy/paste the (short!) text instead.Xitter also seems to randomly block folks who aren't logged in from viewing tweets. I really wish we could just point all xitter links to archived copies, or copy/paste the (short!) text instead.
I'm a developer so... enshittification.
Products used to do something useful for users. That has become increasingly rare.
I don't socialise on the internet any more, I pay subscriptions and consume 'recommended' content. Nobody I know posts anything to their personal social media pages any more because it's inevitably lost in the sea of ads and influencer jockeying.