Fortner's recent activity

  1. Comment on Transparent wood is stronger than plastic and tougher than glass in ~science

    Fortner
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    Every other story I've seen on transparent wood has said it doesn't last long. It turns yellow and brittle rather quickly.

    Every other story I've seen on transparent wood has said it doesn't last long. It turns yellow and brittle rather quickly.

    11 votes

  2. Comment on Pace of electric car adoption has markedly slowed in the US in ~transport

    Fortner
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    Have you seen the mining and refining processes? It is disastrous to the environment. Hopefully sodium batteries will really take hold and replace lithium. There's a lot less environmental impact...

    Have you seen the mining and refining processes? It is disastrous to the environment. Hopefully sodium batteries will really take hold and replace lithium. There's a lot less environmental impact on mining sodium. Also sodium is not as volatile as lithium. Large Li-ion batteries scare me. I've seen too many fires from them.

    3 votes

  3. Comment on Nebula reopens lifetime subscriptions for $300 USD in ~tech

    Fortner
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    I've bought some "lifetime subscriptions" before. It's for the lifetime of the business, not your lifetime. They're all out of business now. You have to both love the product, and understand the...

    I've bought some "lifetime subscriptions" before. It's for the lifetime of the business, not your lifetime. They're all out of business now. You have to both love the product, and understand the almost inevitability of not having it in the near future.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on US court rules automakers can record and intercept owner text messages (potentially misleading, see comments) in ~transport

    Fortner
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    Thanks for this. Even though I doubt most articles I read because journalism nowadays is more about "clicks" and narratives than the truth, there are times I get duped, and don't have the time to...

    Thanks for this. Even though I doubt most articles I read because journalism nowadays is more about "clicks" and narratives than the truth, there are times I get duped, and don't have the time to research the facts.

    3 votes

  5. Comment on Let us return to natural time in ~life

    Fortner
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    It's either a theory or a hypothesis, depending upon who you talk to. I've heard different evolutionary psychologists refer to it differently. I doubt it's something that could objectively be...

    It's either a theory or a hypothesis, depending upon who you talk to. I've heard different evolutionary psychologists refer to it differently. I doubt it's something that could objectively be proven either way, although some discovery in the future may lead to an answer.

  6. Comment on US court rules automakers can record and intercept owner text messages (potentially misleading, see comments) in ~transport

    Fortner
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    Our family has 5 cars and they're all between 2005 - 2008. I don't want a computer logging everything I do and say in my vehicle. There should be a sense of privacy in your home and vehicle, but...

    Our family has 5 cars and they're all between 2005 - 2008. I don't want a computer logging everything I do and say in my vehicle. There should be a sense of privacy in your home and vehicle, but that's not the case now.

    7 votes

  7. Comment on America's most controversial bike lane – a center-lane takeover in ~transport

    Fortner
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    In the city I live in, bikes don't have to stop at lights or signs. That doesn't make it a good idea, though.

    In the city I live in, bikes don't have to stop at lights or signs. That doesn't make it a good idea, though.

    1 vote

  8. Comment on Let us return to natural time in ~life

    Fortner
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    That's fair. It is just a hypothesis, obviously. There's really no way of proving it definitively.

    That's fair. It is just a hypothesis, obviously. There's really no way of proving it definitively.

  9. Comment on Let us return to natural time in ~life

    Fortner
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    That's not true according to evolutionary psychologists. People have evolved with different internal cycles. That's why some people do their best work at night, and others in the morning. This was...

    Human beings have evolved to do most of our work during daylight hours

    That's not true according to evolutionary psychologists. People have evolved with different internal cycles. That's why some people do their best work at night, and others in the morning. This was a necessary trait for ancient man because it would be dangerous for an entire group of people to sleep at the same time. Someone would need to be awake at all times to protect the group.

    7 votes

  10. Comment on This Austrian website exposes the truth about soaring food prices in ~food

    Fortner
    Link Parent
    When you shut down production of a huge percentage of items worldwide for 2 years, it can really throw a wrench in the economic gears. There were farmers killing their livestock and burying them...

    When you shut down production of a huge percentage of items worldwide for 2 years, it can really throw a wrench in the economic gears. There were farmers killing their livestock and burying them because the slaughterhouses were closed and they couldn't afford to feed them. Just that example alone affected food prices for everything from beef and chicken, to eggs, milk, cheese and other items coming from livestock including medicines.

    That is just 1 of thousands of industries that suffered huge losses because of government enforces shutdowns. Then there's mining shutdowns, which lead to shortages of metals for manufacturing of tons of items including electronics. That caused huge backups in vehicle manufacturing, phone manufacturing, and many many other things.

    This isn't even 1/1,000 of just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the devastating results of a worldwide shutdown.

    All the people who said that this would happen were accused of caring more about money than lives. Now that it's happened people seem to have no clue why it happened, and just dismiss anyone that points out that they were trying to warn of this exact thing for years.

    5 votes

  11. Comment on This Austrian website exposes the truth about soaring food prices in ~food

    Fortner
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    When you shut down food production and most other manufacturing for 2 years in almost all major producing countries, then prices are inevitably going to go up when businesses reopen and are having...

    When you shut down food production and most other manufacturing for 2 years in almost all major producing countries, then prices are inevitably going to go up when businesses reopen and are having to recover from lost crops, livestock, and other capital. All the governments that shut down everything are acting like it's some grocery store conspiracy to raise food costs rather than the result of their actions.

    4 votes

  12. Comment on ‘Rebel canning’ is having a moment, whether or not it should in ~food

    Fortner
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    I REALLY recommend a stove top pressure cooker with jiggler weights for controlling the pressure. The fancy new electric ones are less reliable and not as accurate.

    I REALLY recommend a stove top pressure cooker with jiggler weights for controlling the pressure. The fancy new electric ones are less reliable and not as accurate.

    2 votes

  13. Comment on ‘Rebel canning’ is having a moment, whether or not it should in ~food

    Fortner
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    I've canned chicken and venison by themselves, but mainly it's been stews, chili, or spaghetti sauce with meat in them. You can also can "Hamburger Helper" type homemade meals. To be clear, not...

    I've canned chicken and venison by themselves, but mainly it's been stews, chili, or spaghetti sauce with meat in them. You can also can "Hamburger Helper" type homemade meals. To be clear, not actual Hamburger Helper, just meals in that same vein.

    4 votes

  14. Comment on ‘Rebel canning’ is having a moment, whether or not it should in ~food

    Fortner
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    It's not really as hard or dangerous as they make it sound. I have a water bath canner for things like jellies and tomatoes. I have a pressure canner for less acidic foods like meat. As you know...

    It's not really as hard or dangerous as they make it sound. I have a water bath canner for things like jellies and tomatoes. I have a pressure canner for less acidic foods like meat. As you know from working in the food industry, temperature and oxygen are the 2 main factors that you're interested in. As long as you hit the right temperature foemthenright amount of time for your specific food, and have the proper gap between the top of the food and the seal, then you're good to go. If the gap is right, the temp is right, and the lid pops when it seals, then there's nothing to worry about.

    I grew up watching my mom can because we had a huge garden. I was still a little intimidated the first time I did it myself. After a couple times it's not nearly as intimidating.

    14 votes

  15. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~life.women

    Fortner
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    Is this pertinent to the story?

    Balthrop is an assured, muscular woman with close-cropped cornrows and a tattoo of a feather running down her arm.

    Is this pertinent to the story?

    3 votes

  16. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~life.women

  17. Comment on Besides money, if the was the case, what might prevent you from have a fulfilling life? in ~talk

    Fortner
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    Alcoholism

    Alcoholism

    2 votes

  18. Comment on ChatGPT's odds of getting code questions correct are worse than a coin flip in ~tech

    Fortner
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    This just furthers my theory that there is little difference between AI and politicians in how they act, and how people react to them. Even though they're wrong most of the time, people still vote...

    "Our analysis shows that 52 percent of ChatGPT answers are incorrect and 77 percent are verbose," the team's paper concluded. "Nonetheless, ChatGPT answers are still preferred 39.34 percent of the time due to their comprehensiveness and well-articulated language style." Among the set of preferred ChatGPT answers, 77 percent were wrong.

    This just furthers my theory that there is little difference between AI and politicians in how they act, and how people react to them. Even though they're wrong most of the time, people still vote for them.

    7 votes

  19. Comment on ChatGPT's odds of getting code questions correct are worse than a coin flip in ~tech

    Fortner
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    I've had the opposite experience. I was simply trying to figure out how to exclude some symbols in an input, but include others. I spent hours asking ChatGPT. It gave me hundreds of results that...

    I've had the opposite experience. I was simply trying to figure out how to exclude some symbols in an input, but include others. I spent hours asking ChatGPT. It gave me hundreds of results that were all different and none of them worked.

    5 votes

  20. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~transport

    Fortner
    Link Parent
    The brake booster is connected to the intake manifold. You can pull the fuse on the fuel pump, disconnect the vacuum hose from the brake booster and run the engine by blowing carb cleaner in the...

    The brake booster is connected to the intake manifold. You can pull the fuse on the fuel pump, disconnect the vacuum hose from the brake booster and run the engine by blowing carb cleaner in the hose. I'm not sure about the actual issue with this vehicle, but if brake fluid gets into the booster, then it theoretically could get into the engine.

    2 votes