SunSpotter's recent activity
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Comment on Volkswagen plans major cutbacks in Germany: 'We cannot continue as before' in ~transport
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Comment on Volkswagen plans major cutbacks in Germany: 'We cannot continue as before' in ~transport
SunSpotter LinkVolkswagen has certainly made some poor decisions in recent memory, but I had no idea their situation is so dire. Not sure if the article is just playing things up a bit, but cancelling union...Volkswagen has certainly made some poor decisions in recent memory, but I had no idea their situation is so dire. Not sure if the article is just playing things up a bit, but cancelling union contracts and closing down plants for the first time in decades sounds really bad.
I know their EV sales have been poor, and I’ve seen a lot of speculation as to why, but I had no idea their ICE sales were falling behind. Anyone know why? Or have a newish Volkswagen and have opinions on it?
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Comment on Is there an alternative to Nexus Mods? in ~games
SunSpotter Link ParentOn one hand, I get it. Nexus has operating costs and that money has to come from somewhere. But 90/yr is just…not something I have any interest in paying for when their Linux support is so poor....On one hand, I get it. Nexus has operating costs and that money has to come from somewhere. But 90/yr is just…not something I have any interest in paying for when their Linux support is so poor. Plus, in general I just don’t feel like I use Nexus often enough to justify any kind of subscription anyways.
So complaining about dark patterns and their relatively high subscription price seems justified unless you’re using them constantly. Reddit readying the pitchforks just seems like typical Reddit and I wouldn’t think anything of it lol. Taking a peak at Reddit every now and then after not looking at it for a year, makes me realize just how much content on there is obvious rage bait. I have to imagine that’s directly related to how hostile the user base can be.
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Comment on Iceland's valley of geysers mysteriously reawakens – some long dormant geysers are spouting up to two meters, with experts unsure as to the cause in ~enviro
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Comment on Goodbye, floppies - San Francisco pays Hitachi $212 million to remove 5.25-inch disks from its light rail service in ~tech
SunSpotter Link ParentIf it was designed in the mid 80s and just took a while to be realized, that would make sense. The most common type of floppy, the 1.44 mb 3.5” was first released in 1986 (a year before the first...If it was designed in the mid 80s and just took a while to be realized, that would make sense.
The most common type of floppy, the 1.44 mb 3.5” was first released in 1986 (a year before the first CD-ROM, coincidentally) and was accepted to have completely surpassed the 5.25” standard by the late 80s. So it may also be possible they saw it as a cost saving measure since the drives (presumably) became cheaper after 3.5” became the new hotness.
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Comment on Goodbye, floppies - San Francisco pays Hitachi $212 million to remove 5.25-inch disks from its light rail service in ~tech
SunSpotter LinkCan anyone else verify they were using 5.25” disks? I’d heard they were using floppies, but I always assumed they were 3.5” disks. It’s actually kind of hilarious if made an investment this big...Can anyone else verify they were using 5.25” disks? I’d heard they were using floppies, but I always assumed they were 3.5” disks. It’s actually kind of hilarious if made an investment this big into 5.25” disks in 1998. It was already seen as a legacy technology at that point, and from what I can tell the drives were no longer being mass produced by 1995. So I’m reeeeally curious what could have led them to make a 25 year investment in an already dead/dying format.
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Comment on We spoke with the last person standing in the floppy disk business in ~tech
SunSpotter Link ParentCan confirm, as someone with ADHD who writes as a hobby in their spare time, this interview lives in my brain rent free lol. I think a lot about how a no distractions environment with a nice...Can confirm, as someone with ADHD who writes as a hobby in their spare time, this interview lives in my brain rent free lol.
I think a lot about how a no distractions environment with a nice keyboard and simple but effective UI could greatly enhance my ability to write for longer sessions. So I can completely understand the appeal. Saving actual work on floppy disks though (or vintage media in general)? Bit too risky for my taste.
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Comment on Reflections on Palantir in ~tech
SunSpotter Link ParentIt bothers me that a grey area implies the existence of a morally wrong area, but somehow there’s only 3 types? You can’t define where the line is without defining what lies beyond it....There's three types of projects - Morally neutral, like the Facebook News Feed, that's type 1; Unambiguously good like OpenPhilanthropy, that's type 2 - and grey areas like ICE and spy agencies, that's type 3
It bothers me that a grey area implies the existence of a morally wrong area, but somehow there’s only 3 types? You can’t define where the line is without defining what lies beyond it.
Categorizing companies like this feels like an attempt, either by the author or whoever taught them the idea, to dodge any sort of discourse on what entities you shouldn’t or wouldn’t do business with. Because realistically, I suspect Palantir would do business with just about anyone willing to pay for their services. The only definitive stance the author takes on ‘bad’ entities to work with are foreign adversaries like Russia or the CCP.
I’m no fan of Russia nor the CCP myself. But stating a US company which does work for the US government, and multiple tightly controlled US industries, shouldn’t work with adversarial foreign superpowers is such a non-statement. To such an extent that it just feels dishonest or lazy.
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Comment on Moving wikis away from Fandom in ~tech
SunSpotter LinkThere’s another reason to move away from fandom wiki that I was surprised to see wasn’t mentioned here: load time. At home on a modern day internet connection, I might not notice the difference in...There’s another reason to move away from fandom wiki that I was surprised to see wasn’t mentioned here: load time.
At home on a modern day internet connection, I might not notice the difference in time it takes to load a Fandom webpage vs webpages on other wikis (having ad-block enabled probably helps too). But playing my steam deck away from home, looking things up on my phone? Absolutely. Fandom isn’t just loading plain text and a couple images. It’s loading like 20 different ads and a video at the same time as it loads whatever content you actually want. If you don’t have a good signal, it’s almost unusable. What’s worse is that I have an older phone with a small-ish screen and all those ads take up most if not all of my screen, meaning I have to try to dismiss some of the more obtrusive ads without clicking on them before I can see anything after the page finally loads.
I’m extremely glad to see more pushback against Fandom finally happening. For years it felt like every wiki was just bowing down and migrating to Fandom and it was depressing.
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Comment on Paradox must refocus to rebuild trust and survive, bosses say, after Life By You cancellation in ~games
SunSpotter Link ParentWhen I was a kid playing The Sims, it always irked me that I couldn’t follow my sims everywhere. That sometimes they just went into a building and did things I couldn’t see. Reading this, I feel...The poor office lady opening her laptop at work and immediately crying was relatable, but no way would I want to pay to experience what I can get for free by actually going to work.
When I was a kid playing The Sims, it always irked me that I couldn’t follow my sims everywhere. That sometimes they just went into a building and did things I couldn’t see. Reading this, I feel like it’s finally clicked for me that sometimes this is better lol.
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Comment on Libgen must pay publishers $30M [following a US court ruling], but no one knows who runs it in ~tech
SunSpotter Link ParentOff topic, but are the business professors the ones who were doing that? I never experienced it personally but always heard about the dreaded $300 textbook required by the guy who wrote it.Off topic, but are the business professors the ones who were doing that? I never experienced it personally but always heard about the dreaded $300 textbook required by the guy who wrote it.
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Comment on Libgen must pay publishers $30M [following a US court ruling], but no one knows who runs it in ~tech
SunSpotter Link ParentMy university had a good relationship with publishers. I seem to recall there was very little you couldn’t actually gain access to through our library portal, assuming you were actually a student....Even within a university network, plenty of papers are still locked behind a damn paywall
My university had a good relationship with publishers. I seem to recall there was very little you couldn’t actually gain access to through our library portal, assuming you were actually a student. But oh my god was it cumbersome. Useless search functionality. Multiple different accounts/networks you would have to log into depending on who published the paper, and just a shit load of buttons you’d have to click to actually “request” to view the paper.
I gave it a good shake after our school librarian gave us a speech begging us to use library resources. But I gave up after realizing how bad it was compared to the simplicity of just copy pasting urls from google scholar into Libgen. I never went back, and I personally feel like using Libgen actually helped me. It allowed me to effortlessly include academic references in all my papers which were all legit, and the professors who actually checked appreciated that.
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Comment on Los Angeles police raid goes bad after gun allegedly sucked onto MRI machine in ~news
SunSpotter Link ParentMore or less what I hear living in the area. Personally, it’s hard to say with certainty what drives the market for illegal grow ops since I’m not into weed (no judgement against anyone who is, it...More or less what I hear living in the area. Personally, it’s hard to say with certainty what drives the market for illegal grow ops since I’m not into weed (no judgement against anyone who is, it just doesn’t mesh well with my specific brand of ADHD) and don’t follow information about the market closely. Still, I have a suspicion that it’s more nuanced than weed being highly taxed. Mostly just because widespread market phenomenon are usually more complicated than a single reason.
But I know for certain that said grow ops are around. I hear about police raiding a house in the neighborhood every so often, or hear similar stories from friends and family. I once had the opportunity to ask a cop about it directly and they told me some growers are getting wise and setting up in remote areas of the surrounding hills and mountains where they can’t easily be seen. So, clearly there’s a strong demand if people are willing to go through that kind of effort.
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Comment on The iPhones 16 in ~tech
SunSpotter Link ParentEvery product that sells, even bad ones, sell because someone has a use case for it, however niche or ubiquitous that use case may be. In that context, I agree that Apple taking away choice is an...Every product that sells, even bad ones, sell because someone has a use case for it, however niche or ubiquitous that use case may be. In that context, I agree that Apple taking away choice is an overall negative for consumers. There’s plenty of reasons why someone would want to continue using wired headphones regardless of how good Bluetooth is. There are people who can just barely afford an iPhone and just want cheap wired earphones they already have laying around. On the other end you have people who already spent $1,000 on fancy wired IEMS, who don’t have any incentive to switch. And plenty of reasons in between.
Howeveeerrr…personally I had a very similar experience to Weldawadyathink. I’ve never been good at managing wired headphones. They always turn into a rats nest in my pocket that I eventually have to spend 5 minutes untangling. I don’t think I ever seriously considered Bluetooth before the headphone jack was taken out, but it’s all I use for mobile devices now. They’re just too dang convenient, and I’ve never really had issues with them falling out like I thought they would.
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Comment on [SOLVED] Need help troubleshooting computer in ~tech
SunSpotter LinkOut of curiosity, can you verify your old GPU still works correctly? As in, does it still work correctly in a working computer?Out of curiosity, can you verify your old GPU still works correctly? As in, does it still work correctly in a working computer?
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Comment on 47-year-old Voyager 1 spacecraft just fired up thrusters it hasn’t used in decades in ~space
SunSpotter Link ParentIt’s not a dumb question! Honestly, it makes me wonder if maybe it wouldn’t be the end of the mission, just the end of regular contact with the probe. Eventually the probe has to be well-ish...It’s not a dumb question! Honestly, it makes me wonder if maybe it wouldn’t be the end of the mission, just the end of regular contact with the probe.
Eventually the probe has to be well-ish aligned enough to make contact in a “stopped clock is right twice a day” kind of way. The only question is how often that might happen, if it’s possible at all.
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Comment on 47-year-old Voyager 1 spacecraft just fired up thrusters it hasn’t used in decades in ~space
SunSpotter LinkWow, this makes it seem like the Voyager 1 mission is coming to an end. A couple years left on one set of thrusters and a couple years on another? That’s not all that much in the face of how long...Wow, this makes it seem like the Voyager 1 mission is coming to an end. A couple years left on one set of thrusters and a couple years on another? That’s not all that much in the face of how long the mission has been going so far.
The Voyager team has pulled some incredible saves to get this far, and there’s a (perhaps irrational?) part of me that expects they’ll do it again somehow to keep the probes alive. I guess only time will tell.
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Comment on Tesla Cybertruck owners shocked that tires are barely lasting 6,000 miles in ~transport
SunSpotter Link ParentGiven that they’re expensive and rely on charging infrastructure that’s far from ubiquitous, I imagine they’re almost non-existent outside of wealthy urban areas or EV havens like California. But...Given that they’re expensive and rely on charging infrastructure that’s far from ubiquitous, I imagine they’re almost non-existent outside of wealthy urban areas or EV havens like California.
But as someone who does live in a fairly urban area of California, I see them all the time. Not at every stoplight, not even every day. But probably every 2-3 days, which is often enough to know that they aren’t nearly as uncommon amongst EV drivers as one would think. I probably see them more often than I do Volkswagen EVs, for reference.
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Comment on We found North Korean engineers in our application pile in ~tech
SunSpotter Link ParentI was thinking about that guy. You never know of course, but him being an ordinary American man makes me think it did start out fairly tame. The problem is that the North Korean government cares...I was thinking about that guy. You never know of course, but him being an ordinary American man makes me think it did start out fairly tame. The problem is that the North Korean government cares 0% for your well-being. They probably started demanding more from him over time, with no real way to back out. Probably threatened him not to at some point.
Tennessee is a fairly low cost of living area, especially in the more rural areas. I could easily see someone living there taking the 25% on a 6-figure job because doing so would allow them so much flexibility.
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Comment on Burners eat big losses in desperate race to sell unwanted Burning Man tickets in ~arts
SunSpotter Link ParentReally depends on the seller. For instance the guy I worked for made it a point to never accept low-ball offers. He straight up didn't want low-ballers showing up to his sale; his philosophy was...So at an estate/yard sale it makes sense to lowball
Really depends on the seller. For instance the guy I worked for made it a point to never accept low-ball offers. He straight up didn't want low-ballers showing up to his sale; his philosophy was that it overall didn't hurt his bottom line since bad offers don't make money, and it saved him time since he didn't want to deal with low-ballers anyways. Yes...he himself was an insufferable asshole, and that's not a defense of him by any means. But it did sort of work in his favor, he played hardball and I watched it work more often than not, even if it meant some things never sold.
Estate sales are kind of the wild west of the resale market. I've walked away with $200 worth of stuff myself for $10. I've also paid $20 for something that didn't even work lol. Every company has its own blind spots and its own strategy/personality when it comes to the sale, and they vary pretty wildly. You have to remember that these are companies which have operating costs (labor, commission fees etc.) and they have to get something out of the sale somehow.
Yard sales are usually a lot less pressure, but that goes both ways. Sometimes the seller doesn't have pressure to sell because they can just hold onto something if they don't get the offer they want.
Notcoffeetable had a similar takeaway, and both your opinions match what I know has been said about their EV lineup. Just kind of uninspired designs that aren’t really good at any particular thing. As an example, there’s cheaper EVs that charge just as fast, and there’s EVs that charge way faster for the same price. So if charge time is something you care about, Volkswagen just doesn’t make sense.