Eric_the_Cerise's recent activity
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Comment on US households using Ozempic spend less on groceries in ~health
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Comment on US discussing options to acquire Greenland, including use of military, says White House in ~society
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentA good "middle-ground" solution would be for the EU to quickly build up a large military presence on and around the island, nominally to satisfy Trump's (nominal) concerns about Russia invading...A good "middle-ground" solution would be for the EU to quickly build up a large military presence on and around the island, nominally to satisfy Trump's (nominal) concerns about Russia invading ... but practically, to be ready to defend the island from anyone that tried to take it, including the US.
The problem is with the word "quickly". The EU seems fundamentally incapable of doing anything, w/o spending 3-25 years discussing it, first.
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Comment on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shoots and kills a woman during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown in ~society
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentJust a quick drive-by comment ... moving from the US to the EU via boat is a very viable option (generally -- IDK about your specific circumstances). Typically around a 2-to-3-week trip. More...Just a quick drive-by comment ... moving from the US to the EU via boat is a very viable option (generally -- IDK about your specific circumstances). Typically around a 2-to-3-week trip. More expensive than a plane ticket, but also generally affords much more room for luggage. When I moved to the EU, I seriously considered this option for my dog's sake; unfortunately, there were plenty of berths open for me, but getting an open spot for the dog was an 18-month wait.
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Comment on Judge to Texas: You can’t age-gate the entire internet without evidence in ~tech
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentI haven't dug into the details of this bill, and only skimmed the linked article (which may well be accurate, but is also highly opinionated). Could you clarify the "everywhere and all the time"...I haven't dug into the details of this bill, and only skimmed the linked article (which may well be accurate, but is also highly opinionated). Could you clarify the "everywhere and all the time" aspect? I assume it would not apply, eg, to European minors living in Europe, nor Asian kids, etc.
I'm asking, in particular, because Wisconsin is trying to push thru an anti-VPN law which literally would target "everyone, everywhere" in the sense that no website that works in Wisconsin, and no one on Earth that visits a website in Wisconsin, could use a VPN to do it ... which, broadly, seems like the result would just be "okay, let's just geoblock every website on Earth to not work in Wisconsin", but who knows how it'll play out.
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Buying a lotta RAM now, as an investment ... thoughts?
Just a passing thought, came up in conversation. I'm not talking about warehouses-full, nor even "retirement savings" quantities, but like, all the RAM you and your friends and family could...
Just a passing thought, came up in conversation. I'm not talking about warehouses-full, nor even "retirement savings" quantities, but like, all the RAM you and your friends and family could possibly need for the next 3-4 years.
Pros, cons? Too late? Too volatile? Too ___?
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Comment on I sell onions on the Internet (2019) in ~food
Eric_the_Cerise LinkDefinitely a cool read. A bit of an aside. For those that don't know, you can't just buy "Vidalia onion seeds" and grow 'em anywhere. They only come out tasting like Vidalia onions, if they are...Definitely a cool read.
A bit of an aside. For those that don't know, you can't just buy "Vidalia onion seeds" and grow 'em anywhere. They only come out tasting like Vidalia onions, if they are grown in the right soil, which traditionally means, in/around Vidalia, Georgia.
Presumably, there are other locations where the soil is correct to get Vidalia-like onions, but it's kinda like the "Champagne vs Sparkling Wine" meme-jokes. If it ain't grown in Georgia, it's not a Vidalia Onion; it's just a sparkling allium.
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Comment on Meet the biggest heat pumps in the world in ~engineering
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentA couple of other points ... heat pumps can be designed to be much more efficient, when they can count on a steady source temperature. Residential heat pumps (most of 'em) are air-to-air,...A couple of other points ... heat pumps can be designed to be much more efficient, when they can count on a steady source temperature.
Residential heat pumps (most of 'em) are air-to-air, extracting heat from outdoor air and moving that heat indoors ... but the outdoor temps (obviously) vary significantly. The Mannheim pump is using water from the Rhine as its source heat, where the water temp will only vary by a few degrees. That gives the engineers the opportunity to design a much more efficient heat pump.
The other thing I don't think has been pointed out ... the Mannheim project is replacing an existing coal-fired district heating system. In other words, they were already pumping hot water (or steam?) thru miles of pipes t/out the city ... the piping system is already there. They're just replacing the system that heats that water.
Honestly, reading about all the ways they can improve the efficiency and flexibility with these industrial-sized heat pumps, it's actually surprising they didn't start using them decades ago. Once they're up and running, it'll probably end up being a lot cheaper than the old coal-burning systems.
Like, literally, even burning coal to make the electricity to run the heat pumps would have been a lot cheaper and more efficient (and even more environmentally friendly) than just burning coal for heat.
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Comment on Statement from Mozilla's new CEO in ~tech
Eric_the_Cerise LinkHaving skim-read it, my takeaway ... I think that he thinks that, if he uses the word "trusted" enough times, the trust will simply seep into us thru osmosis.Having skim-read it, my takeaway ... I think that he thinks that, if he uses the word "trusted" enough times, the trust will simply seep into us thru osmosis.
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Comment on Statement from Mozilla's new CEO in ~tech
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentAs I read this thread, I can also see the far-left line of browser-icons installed on my laptop -- LibreWolf Waterfox Zen Browser Tor (Ungoogled) Chromium Mullvad I unreservedly recommend all of...As I read this thread, I can also see the far-left line of browser-icons installed on my laptop --
- LibreWolf
- Waterfox
- Zen Browser
- Tor
- (Ungoogled) Chromium
- Mullvad
I unreservedly recommend all of them.
Edit to Add: I don't have it yet, but Helium Browser is on my "Someday Soon" list.
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Comment on I need to tell you why coffee makes you poop in ~food
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentFlashback to Pink Floyd's The Wall, specifically the song "The Trial" "The way you made them suffer -- Your exquisite wife and mother -- Fills me with the urge to defecate!"Flashback to Pink Floyd's The Wall, specifically the song "The Trial"
"The way you made them suffer --
Your exquisite wife and mother --
Fills me with the urge to defecate!" -
Comment on The US Government unconstitutionally labels Immigration and Customs Enforcement observers as domestic terrorists in ~society
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentWait 'til They get going!!!Wait 'til They get going!!!
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Follow-up on that drunk raccoon in VA; apparently, he has a history
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Comment on Without looking, do you have a vague idea of your coordinates? in ~talk
Eric_the_Cerise LinkLatitude, yes, within 4-5 degrees. Longitude, no; pretty sure I'm "something-" east, and I feel like I could guess fairly closely from having looked it up at some point, but I might be close, or I...Latitude, yes, within 4-5 degrees.
Longitude, no; pretty sure I'm "something-" east, and I feel like I could guess fairly closely from having looked it up at some point, but I might be close, or I might be 50+ degrees off (w/o re-checking now).
Edit: I just checked ... I was off on latitude by < 1/2 a degree, off on longitude by ~40 degrees.
So, at least I know what I don't know.
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Comment on I fixed my lactose intolerance -- by chugging all the lactose in ~health
Eric_the_Cerise (edited )LinkNot validating this idea, but anecdotally ... I regularly fast for a few days at a time, usually 3-7 days ... and after I start eating again, I am generally lactose intolerant for a week or two,...Not validating this idea, but anecdotally ... I regularly fast for a few days at a time, usually 3-7 days ... and after I start eating again, I am generally lactose intolerant for a week or two, until my intestines remember how to digest the stuff.
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Comment on Collapse of critical Atlantic current is no longer low-likelihood, study finds in ~enviro
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentFWIW, I actually found this report to be somewhat comforting. I am already well in the camp that the tipping point for the AMOC--if it's going to collapse at all--is either too soon for humans to...FWIW, I actually found this report to be somewhat comforting. I am already well in the camp that the tipping point for the AMOC--if it's going to collapse at all--is either too soon for humans to prevent (not technically, but politically), or already actually in the past.
The "good news" (such as it is) from this report is that, even if the tipping point is already behind us, the actual slowdown/shutdown of the AMOC is still, likely, a century or more away. Additionally, whenever it does happen, these models strongly suggest that it will be a slow shutdown (in human terms, at least) of multiple decades ... providing a generational timeframe to adapt.
We have had previous studies and reports suggesting that A) the AMOC could shutdown within the next decade or three, and that B) it could happen extremely fast, potentially in under a decade -- both circumstances that would have been utterly devastating for Europe.
So, IDK what human society will look like a century from now, but I am confident that we will have plenty of other climate- and resource-related catastrophes to deal with long before the AMOC shuts down (if it ever does).
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Comment on Have you ever designed/created a spaceship for fiction, RPGs, etc? How did you do it? in ~creative
Eric_the_Cerise LinkIt might be overkill for your needs, but there was a recently-completed "generation ship" design competition called Project Hyperion, the idea being to design a ship that could get humans (over...It might be overkill for your needs, but there was a recently-completed "generation ship" design competition called Project Hyperion, the idea being to design a ship that could get humans (over the course of multiple generations) to Alpha Centauri or another nearby solar system.
I was fascinated by the whole thing, got lost for a couple of days in the design details -- not just of the winners, but all of the submissions, each of which comes at the challenge from a very different perspective, different philosophy, different foci and priorities, etc. So, lot of cool ideas in there on spaceship design.
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Comment on Reality check: EU Council chat control vote is not a retreat, but a green light for indiscriminate mass surveillance and the end of right to communicate anonymously in ~society
Eric_the_Cerise LinkSide-note: I'm not saying this article is incorrect or dubious or anything ... however, am I the only one who finds the reporting style weird, at the very least, if not downright suspicious? By...Side-note: I'm not saying this article is incorrect or dubious or anything ... however, am I the only one who finds the reporting style weird, at the very least, if not downright suspicious?
By which, I mean ... No author is attributed to the article. That said, it appears that Patrick Breyer wrote it -- it is his website, "patrick-breyer.de", and it looks like everything on the site is his work. And yet, the writing style keeps referring to him(-self?) in the 3rd person, as though some unnamed 3rd party was reporting, after witnessing or investigating the actions of Patrick Breyer.
I may not be explaining it well, and I know that sometimes, single-person sites try to give the impression of being a larger, more communally run organization ... but this one really comes across as sketchy, at least to me.
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Comment on Views on over-posting? in ~tildes
Eric_the_Cerise LinkMoar Space please! I read a lot of space exploration and rocket tech articles ... I should be sharing more of it here, as well. Just at a glance, I see we had 6 space articles in the entire month...Moar Space please!
I read a lot of space exploration and rocket tech articles ... I should be sharing more of it here, as well.
Just at a glance, I see we had 6 space articles in the entire month of November (to date). That seems (to me, at least) extremely low. I would like to be an average of at least one-a-day.
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Comment on EU countries must mutually recognise same-sex marriages, European Court of Justice rules in ~lgbt
Eric_the_Cerise Link ParentWho, Tusk? He's good, we like him.Who, Tusk? He's good, we like him.
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Comment on Peter Watts on Margaret Atwood and the hierarchy of contempt (2003) in ~books
Eric_the_Cerise LinkFor the past few weeks, I've actually been contemplating a closely-related question on my own. And that is, if a story is set in the future (of something akin to the Real World -- ie, not...For the past few weeks, I've actually been contemplating a closely-related question on my own. And that is, if a story is set in the future (of something akin to the Real World -- ie, not obviously Fantasy), does that automatically mean it is sci-fi? I'm still pondering it, though I'm leaning towards 'no'.
So, I had to look this guy up, Peter Watts, to see if I should actually care about his opinion ... I guess I should; he's got credentials.
I'm inclined to believe that there is some fuzzy line between speculative fiction and "real" sci-fi ... and I would also agree that Atwood is way over at one end of that fuzzy line. Much of her work that she wants to call speculative, I--and most people--would call sci-fi.
So, nutshell ... the guy has a point.
But also, to paraphrase, "methinks the sci-fi guy doth protest too much" ... rather like he's trying really hard to justify and validate his own chosen genre. At the very least, his diatribe here irritates me a lot more than Atwood's over-broad labeling of speculative fiction.
The grocery-study actually has a note in it somewhere near the end, about how people that quit taking the drugs, have their grocery bills go up to even more than they were paying before they started, and explicitly due to buying unhealthy fat-and-sugar-rich foodstuffs.
Someone else already noted that these drugs need to be used as part of a lifestyle change in dietary and health/exercise habits. Broadly speaking, I think the worst problem with these drugs is that they appeal to exactly the kind of people who either can't--or simply aren't willing--to make those kinds of hard lifestyle changes. They want/need the "quick fix".
I guess it's good to have them available as an option, but they really should be treated as a last resort, right up there with lap-band surgery and the like.