smores's recent activity
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Comment on Why are 38 percent of Stanford students saying they're disabled? in ~life
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Comment on Pluribus S01E01 - “We is Us” in ~tv
smores Link ParentOh, yikes, thanks for the heads up. I often only have small chunks at a time to watch and have lost all sense of what happens in what episode. Removed the potential spoilery bit!Oh, yikes, thanks for the heads up. I often only have small chunks at a time to watch and have lost all sense of what happens in what episode. Removed the potential spoilery bit!
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Comment on Pluribus S01E01 - “We is Us” in ~tv
smores (edited )Link ParentFirst of all, thanks for the overview of different hive structures in nature, that was neat. Also, thank you for expressing this sentiment! I agree that this seems to be how the hivemind in...First of all, thanks for the overview of different hive structures in nature, that was neat.
Also, thank you for expressing this sentiment! I agree that this seems to be how the hivemind in Pluribus is represented (so far, at least), and it's been kind of a trip seeing people liken it to something authoritarian.
I think one of the most fascinating things about Pluribus so far is that it hasn't really leaned into very many existing tropes, but I've seen a lot of viewers seem to bring their favorite tropes with them. There have been assumptions that They must be behaving insidiously or nefariously, or that this virus must be some sort of pre-strike infection from an alien force. And, maybe! But I think it's pretty interesting that, so far, the biggest tension in the show is between two fairly reasonable philosophies of socialization — this brand new psychological assimilation, and bog standard human individualism. "Who is right?" is not a trivial question to answer with the information we have so far.
There's an aspect of The Vampire Problem here, too. Carol seems, by and large, miserable — even before her only loved one died in front of her and the entire human species was forever transformed. An entity, with seemingly iedetic memory of nearly every moment of her life that was shared with another person, tells her that she, personally, would be infinitely happier if she "became a vampire," and she can't actually imagine the other end of such a transformative experience.
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Comment on This climbing gear is designed to fail in ~hobbies
smores LinkThat was fascinating! Those folks look like a blast to hang out with haha. I hadn't heard of these devices — it took me a second to understand the purpose, but they're pretty cool. It seems like...That was fascinating! Those folks look like a blast to hang out with haha. I hadn't heard of these devices — it took me a second to understand the purpose, but they're pretty cool. It seems like only the G Screamer actually managed to keep the load at around 4kN, though the other devices obviously still helped to some extent. It's definitely prompting me to think about how meaningful various factory test load numbers really are for aid devices.
Also, super interesting how much more load was placed on the rope by the rock than the bag of water! Obviously humans are able to absorb some amount of shock by both having compressible anatomy and by actually moving our bodies in response to force, but I wasn't expecting over a kN of difference!
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Comment on This climbing gear is designed to fail in ~hobbies
smores Link ParentOh, hi! Yeah, I've been climbing indoors and outdoors (mostly top rope and sport lead) for about a decade. Looking forward to watching this video (even though trad scares the poop out of me, and...Oh, hi! Yeah, I've been climbing indoors and outdoors (mostly top rope and sport lead) for about a decade. Looking forward to watching this video (even though trad scares the poop out of me, and I'm not sure I'll ever try it 😅)
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Comment on Core Devices keeps stealing our (Rebble) work in ~tech
smores LinkJoshua (the friend whose text messages Eric shared screenshots of) wrote his own blog post. I found it measured, reasonable, and reassuring.- Exemplary
Joshua (the friend whose text messages Eric shared screenshots of) wrote his own blog post. I found it measured, reasonable, and reassuring.
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Comment on Goo Goo Dolls: Tiny Desk Concert (2025) in ~music
smores (edited )Link Parent"Slide" has been stuck in my head for the past 20 minutes since I saw this post title. I can't decide whether to thank or curse you for that? I also enjoy the Goo Goo Dolls as something of a..."Slide" has been stuck in my head for the past 20 minutes since I saw this post title. I can't decide whether to thank or curse you for that?
I also enjoy the Goo Goo Dolls as something of a guilty pleasure. It was the first real concert I went to, with my dad and brother! I still think about how many guitars they had backstage sometimes.
Edit: Following up now that I've watched the first song (which was, in fact, Slide!). I'm actually a bit stunned at how good they sound. Rzeznik really sounds just as good as he did when I saw him like 17 years ago. I will have to watch the rest to see if he makes it through the whole gig without forgetting any verses 😅
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Comment on Core Devices keeps stealing our (Rebble) work in ~tech
smores Link ParentYeah I think I basically agree with you. On a personal level, I would be extremely upset of someone that I considered a friend shared my private messages about my coworkers in public, without so...Yeah I think I basically agree with you. On a personal level, I would be extremely upset of someone that I considered a friend shared my private messages about my coworkers in public, without so much as a warning. I think that is ultimately a cruel-hearted thing to do, even after being blindsided by a public letter criticizing someone for things they feel they didn't do.
But, like, I'm not trying to be Eric's friend, I'm trying to buy a neat watch. And I imagine that he was very much put on his back foot by the Rebble post, which was also full of ad hominem criticism. The whole thing sucks, and I'm going to try to stop paying attention to it now haha
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Comment on Core Devices keeps stealing our (Rebble) work in ~tech
smores Link ParentWow, I truly assumed that Eric had checked with Joshua before posting those messages, and I thought it was interesting that there was dissent among the Rebble board. The fact that he didn't is, as...Wow, I truly assumed that Eric had checked with Joshua before posting those messages, and I thought it was interesting that there was dissent among the Rebble board. The fact that he didn't is, as Joshua puts it, gross.
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Comment on Is trying to become an author insane in times of LLMs? in ~tech
smores LinkAll I can really say is that I'm incredibly confident that in ten years I will still be exclusively reading books written by humans. I have no interest whatsoever in a book that is produced by an...All I can really say is that I'm incredibly confident that in ten years I will still be exclusively reading books written by humans. I have no interest whatsoever in a book that is produced by an AI agent (at least one that is not obviously conscious and having some sort of real, embodied experiences), especially LLMs.
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Comment on Any chance we can get a shorthand for the <details> tag? in ~tildes
smores (edited )Link ParentHahaha yes, I think we've actually chatted about this before! Yeah, I do contract work for https://moment.dev, who uses Markdown as the serialization format for their rich text editor. Their text...Hahaha yes, I think we've actually chatted about this before! Yeah, I do contract work for https://moment.dev, who uses Markdown as the serialization format for their rich text editor. Their text editor, of course, has things like comments, multicolumn sections, and live compute cells. Figuring out how to serialize those to markdown has been.. a journey haha.
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Comment on Advice on Fairphone in ~tech
smores Link ParentOh, me neither! De-googled Android OSes almost always rely on the Aurora Store, which is an alternative frontend for the Play Store that doesn't require installing Googe Play Services on your...Oh, me neither! De-googled Android OSes almost always rely on the Aurora Store, which is an alternative frontend for the Play Store that doesn't require installing Googe Play Services on your phone. You can use almost any Play Store app, but you can't make in-app purchases (because that infrastructure is built on Google Play Services), and you can't use some apps that rely on specific "integrity checks". The latter group includes many European banking apps, as I understand it, but it's not something I've run into at all, actually.
The Aurora Store is the flakiest piece of software on my phone (it's not entirely its fault — presumably Google doesn't really want it to exist), though it has been getting slowly more reliable over time. Using a de-Googled OS is not in any way a requirement for using the Fairphone though, and it's certainly less convenient than just using the stock Android that Fairphone comes with. I only use it because I'm personally very anti-Google and really don't want my phone spying on my all the time. I thought it may be helpful for you to know as someone concerned with side loading, in case Google every really does do away with it, but for now it seems like it will still be possible even on stock Android!
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Comment on Any chance we can get a shorthand for the <details> tag? in ~tildes
smores Link ParentTildes also uses Markdown! The problem with Markdown is that there is no formal specification for it, and so there are just as many Markdown languages as there are parsers. CommonMark is an...Tildes also uses Markdown! The problem with Markdown is that there is no formal specification for it, and so there are just as many Markdown languages as there are parsers. CommonMark is an attempt at a formal spec for Markdown, but most parsers that try to implement it don't do so perfectly (and even when they do, the spec itself is pretty chaotic). Another problem is that the original Markdown implementation and CommonMark are both very limited, and folks really want to be able to do a lot more with it than it initially had support for. This is why there exists "GitHub-flavored Markdown", which adds things like tables, and "Reddit-flavored Markdown", which has the
>!spoiler tags.Honestly I think that GitHub flavored markdown is probably the closest thing we have to a standard? But it doesn't have spoiler tags! It does support limited HTML tags, though, including details/summary
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Comment on Zen browser / chrome alternatives in ~tech
smores LinkI use Zen browser daily. It's great! I really like the visual style and customization, and I especially like that it's based on Firefox.I use Zen browser daily. It's great! I really like the visual style and customization, and I especially like that it's based on Firefox.
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Comment on Advice on Fairphone in ~tech
smores Link ParentI dunno if I would take this review as representative of having a Fairphone. The Fairphone 5 and 6 seem to be much more stable devices, and honestly I don't experience performance issues on my 5...I dunno if I would take this review as representative of having a Fairphone. The Fairphone 5 and 6 seem to be much more stable devices, and honestly I don't experience performance issues on my 5 that I can notice (and I use my phone for a lot!). I also haven't had any issues getting replacement parts, and I live in the US (which Fairphone doesn't even sell to directly)
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Comment on Advice on Fairphone in ~tech
smores Link ParentYou can try iódeOS now if you want! It has a very similar security profile to CalyxOS, and it like... Actually exists haha. I have no complaints about the stock Camera app. I just tested, there's...You can try iódeOS now if you want! It has a very similar security profile to CalyxOS, and it like... Actually exists haha.
I have no complaints about the stock Camera app. I just tested, there's basically no delay between button press and capture, and the quality is pretty decent (like, to the point where I think the limitation is likely the hardware, not software)
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Comment on Advice on Fairphone in ~tech
smores LinkI have a Fairphone 5 that I got back in April. I used CalyxOS on it from the beginning and have used iódeOS since Calyx paused releases a few months ago. I am in the United States (using...I have a Fairphone 5 that I got back in April. I used CalyxOS on it from the beginning and have used iódeOS since Calyx paused releases a few months ago. I am in the United States (using T-Mobile).
I've never had any hardware or firmware issues with the phone. Definitely none of the more serious issues that @Pepetto reported, which I'm relieved about haha.
I used an iPhone 12 before this. I actually bought this phone as a development/test device, because I needed a physical device to debug issues with my open source app, Storyteller. But once I had it set up, I decided to give it a shot.
The camera is markedly worse than my iPhone, but I have a real camera for when I care about the quality of my photos. Phone camera is just for recording momrnets, anyway!
Battery life has been decent, I think. I bought a second battery that I charge up and put in my bag before long trips as a backup, which is cool.
The screen isn't quite as beautiful as my iPhone, but it's nice enough.
If you use an alternative OS, like Lineage, /e/os, or iódeOS, you will absolutely be able to side load apps indefinitely. If you use the stock Fairphone Android, it sounds like Google is walking back its strict ban on unverified apps, and will allow users to jump through some specific hoops to enable sideloading.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club - We are Legion (We are Bob) - How is it going? in ~books
smores Link ParentAh... Yeah. I tried reading this after a recommendation a year or two ago and also had to put it down, for exactly the reasons you called out here. I'm a little relieved that I'm not the only one,...Ah... Yeah. I tried reading this after a recommendation a year or two ago and also had to put it down, for exactly the reasons you called out here. I'm a little relieved that I'm not the only one, actually haha
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Comment on Leaker reveals which Pixels are vulnerable to Cellebrite phone hacking in ~tech
smores Link ParentAh, yeah. I like MicroG so far, but I've only been using it for about 6 months and it definitely has its limitationsAh, yeah. I like MicroG so far, but I've only been using it for about 6 months and it definitely has its limitations
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Comment on Leaker reveals which Pixels are vulnerable to Cellebrite phone hacking in ~tech
smores Link ParentThat stinks! They have both an automated installer and pretty straightforward manual install instructions for supported devices, which is anything Lineage supports. But yeah that doesn't seem to...That stinks! They have both an automated installer and pretty straightforward manual install instructions for supported devices, which is anything Lineage supports. But yeah that doesn't seem to include Nothing phones! I don't really know anything about what the process looks like for installing on unsupported devices.
So glad you pointed this out. Taking this completely at face value, these are students who got accepted to Stanford despite their disability. I would, in fact, expect them to do better than average (even Stanford average) when their disability is accommodated.