Shahriar's recent activity

  3. Comment on Coast Guard arrests a man trying to run a giant hamster wheel across the ocean in ~life

    Shahriar
    Link
    I found the NPR article extremely funny. When it listed his other achievements as reported by the CNN in the same NPR article; it made me indulge further into this individual's history. This man...

    I found the NPR article extremely funny. When it listed his other achievements as reported by the CNN in the same NPR article; it made me indulge further into this individual's history.

    He ran away from his homeland, Iran, and spent seven years on a bicycle, pedaling 49,700 miles across 55 countries.

    [..]

    It’s been nearly 10 years since Reza Baluchi escaped from Iran. He has run across the United States twice and around its perimeter once. He sets out on every journey with the same mission: to spread a message of world peace.

    This man sought asylum in the United States, the way he went about getting there was interesting too.

    His life on the road – running in a security vest adorned with the American and Iranian flags – took him from China to Panama, France and New Zealand – 55 countries in all. Communicating the message of love and peace.

    Eighty-five flat tires later, Baluchi arrived at the U.S. border in Monterrey, Mexico, asking for a visa to enter America. After waiting three months with no document, Baluchi says he got lost while riding his bike in the desert.

    “I was 27 miles in Arizona and I had no idea,” he said. “I was awakened one morning by a helicopter hovering over my tent. It was border patrol. When they told me I was actually in the U.S. I started crying.”

    It was a year after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks, and a Middle Eastern man riding alone in the desert might raise suspicions.

    “I started speaking German, hoping they wouldn’t know my nationality. Once the officer searched my tent and saw one of the newspaper headlines ‘Iranian Runs Around the World for Peace,’ he jumped back and put his hand on his gun.”

    Baluchi was arrested for entering the United States illegally and spent five months in a detention center, unable to post $5,000 bail.

    A LA-based businessperson, David Hyslop, intrigued by his story wrote a letter of support to the detention center and ultimately became his agent for his cross-country marathon, alike Terry Fox for us Canadians, running an average of 29 miles a day for 124 days.

    They left Los Angeles on Mother’s Day, planning to arrive in New York City by the second anniversary of Sept.11. They were traveling with a $28,000 donation for the Children’s Aid Society, Baluchi’s bicycle and “Rocky,” a stray dog they picked up along the way.

    Baluchi arrived to a cheering crowd at Battery Park. The next day he presented his bike to Engine 33, Ladder 9, the closest fire station to Ground Zero. Ten of its 14 firefighters were killed in the response to the World Trade Center attack.

    “We found out these guys were also cyclists,” Hyslop said. “We pulled up to the fire house and they were standing outside waiting for Reza. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, it was unbelievable.”

    “These guys are true heroes,” Baluchi said. “They gave their lives to save others. So I wanted to donate my bike from the people of Iran, not from the government. I stay out of the politics.”

    There's so much more in the article, but wow, what miraculous achievements and character.

    16 votes

  4. Comment on What are some good, non-microtransaction riddled mobile games? in ~games

    Shahriar
    Link
    If you're a fan of the strategy series, Civilization, there's an open-source version for both Android and desktop. I haven't noticed any difference in feature parity.

    If you're a fan of the strategy series, Civilization, there's an open-source version for both Android and desktop. I haven't noticed any difference in feature parity.

  5. Comment on Sen. Mitch McConnell appears to freeze again at a Kentucky event in ~news

    Shahriar
    Link
    The United States is a gerontocracy.

    The United States is a gerontocracy.

    5 votes

  6. Comment on Apple announces the iPhone 15 launch event in ~tech

    Shahriar
    Link Parent
    Don't grip the phone like you're trying to squeeze air out of it. Jokes aside; I, like the other user, examined how I hold my phone and my fingers never hold onto the display except for the thumb...

    Don't grip the phone like you're trying to squeeze air out of it. Jokes aside; I, like the other user, examined how I hold my phone and my fingers never hold onto the display except for the thumb to scroll.

    2 votes

  8. Comment on A data breach at Christie’s revealed exact GPS coordinates of collectors’ artworks in ~tech

    Shahriar
    Link Parent
    If you're hosting user-uploaded media content then yes, the onus should be on you to protect the users from exposing personal information to your platform for public view by stripping the GPS from...

    If you're hosting user-uploaded media content then yes, the onus should be on you to protect the users from exposing personal information to your platform for public view by stripping the GPS from EXIF data. Offer an option to keep it stored if it's considered applicable with consent of the user.

    Discord had this issue early on in their history, and I'm assuming it lead to interesting scenarios for them to discover that wasn't a good idea.

    6 votes

  9. Comment on My city bus just had an onboard computer crash and shutdown while travelling in ~transport

    Shahriar
    Link
    That's interesting, who is the manufacturer of the vehicle?

    That's interesting, who is the manufacturer of the vehicle?

    11 votes

  10. Comment on San Francisco’s downtown becomes a wake-up call for other cities in the US in ~finance

    Shahriar
    Link Parent
    Similar effects are taking place due to the same reasons in Vancouver.

    Similar effects are taking place due to the same reasons in Vancouver.

  11. Comment on Lemmy.world has been hacked and is currently down [UPDATE: It's back up] in ~tech

    Shahriar
    Link Parent
    Wow, it's been two years since that thread, time sure flies. Deimos hit the nail on the head with that comment.

    Wow, it's been two years since that thread, time sure flies. Deimos hit the nail on the head with that comment.

    7 votes

  12. Comment on What browser extensions do you absolutely love to use? in ~tech

    Shahriar
    Link Parent
    Heads up, this is native in Firefox, no need for the extension. Came to that realization myself a few months back.

    Multi-Account Containers installed

    Heads up, this is native in Firefox, no need for the extension. Came to that realization myself a few months back.

    1 vote

  13. Comment on Canada to launch 'digital nomad strategy,' other measures to woo international talent in ~life

    Shahriar
    Link Parent
    Bingo, couldn't have said it any better myself.

    Bingo, couldn't have said it any better myself.

    3 votes

  14. Comment on Canada to launch 'digital nomad strategy,' other measures to woo international talent in ~life

    Shahriar
    Link
    These recent decisions made by the federal government is really worrying to me. It's often touted as a skill shortage, but in reality we've been experiencing a wage issue here in Canada. To the...

    These recent decisions made by the federal government is really worrying to me. It's often touted as a skill shortage, but in reality we've been experiencing a wage issue here in Canada. To the point where we just increased our immigration and population growth to record level of 3% of the population per 12-month average, 1.2 million new residents. We don't have the infrastructure nor housing for this, and it is frightening.

    20 votes

  15. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech

    Shahriar
    Link
    For a second I thought this was a new feature. I wish the link scraping included the date of the article being February 15, 2023.

    For a second I thought this was a new feature. I wish the link scraping included the date of the article being February 15, 2023.

  16. Comment on Microsoft wants to move Windows fully to the cloud in ~tech

    Shahriar
    Link Parent
    What issues are you facing with Windows 11? Anecdotally, I find the OS to be modern and bug-free.

    I got forced to update to W11 and it's such a mess. I'm running explorer patcher to fix the worst issues that W11 brought to the table.

    What issues are you facing with Windows 11? Anecdotally, I find the OS to be modern and bug-free.

    2 votes

  17. Comment on Megathread for news/updates/discussions about Reddit API changes and reactions to it in ~tech

    Shahriar
    Link Parent
    The blackout technically ends in 20 minutes from time of writing.

    The blackout technically ends in 20 minutes from time of writing.

    5 votes

  18. Comment on Bags and backpacks! What do you look for, what do you use? in ~life.style

    Shahriar
    Link Parent
    Fortunately, the water bladder is removable which grants space in the insulated compartment.

    Fortunately, the water bladder is removable which grants space in the insulated compartment.

    1 vote

  19. Comment on Bags and backpacks! What do you look for, what do you use? in ~life.style

    Shahriar
    Link Parent
    Yeah, I was going to purchase something that was borderline fast fashion and not needing to reuse it more than a couple of festivals but I figured let's do some research and away from Amazon. It...

    Yeah, I was going to purchase something that was borderline fast fashion and not needing to reuse it more than a couple of festivals but I figured let's do some research and away from Amazon. It seems like Lunchbox is in your alley as they offer the clear versions too.

    I'll warn you however, in your use case, the compartment area isn't like a full-fledged backpack which extends all the way to the bottom of the bag, it stops about half way. This is where I find the Lunchbox shines, especially when venue rules state you cannot bring backpacks and hydration packs are in a grey area, the only place I'd be able to roll a poster and fit it is on the side located on the outside of the bag. I'd check out videos that would show it better than my choice of words here.

    1 vote

  20. Comment on Bags and backpacks! What do you look for, what do you use? in ~life.style

    Shahriar
    Link
    One of my backpack purchases recently has been for raves or music festivals. Did a lot of research and when I was initially eyeing Osprey for their hydration packs, I ultimately settled on a...

    One of my backpack purchases recently has been for raves or music festivals. Did a lot of research and when I was initially eyeing Osprey for their hydration packs, I ultimately settled on a Lunchbox Pack. It uses the same hydration bladder as an Osprey, the Hydro Pak. Additionally, my concerns for pickpockets was mitigated by their feature set: ripstop nylon; inverted zippers, no external facing zippers; zipper clips. It's funny because I've seen them many times before at events but never paid much attention as to why or who made them. I gotta say it's very well made and for the specific purpose it was built for, it exceeded my expectations. They have a cool community who for many good reasons rep the brand, and I love their use of interchangeable backpack skins and electroluminescent wire to differentiate from others.

    2 votes