The_Blackthorn's recent activity
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Comment on Question for those in colder climates: Pellet HVAC/boilers? in ~life.home_improvement
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Comment on Question for those in colder climates: Pellet HVAC/boilers? in ~life.home_improvement
The_Blackthorn (edited )LinkSomewhere in the NE I'm guessing? Sounds like you're in the same situation as I am and feel you. We've got an ancient oil boiler that to its credit still works well, but the costs of oil and age...Somewhere in the NE I'm guessing? Sounds like you're in the same situation as I am and feel you. We've got an ancient oil boiler that to its credit still works well, but the costs of oil and age of the boiler is making me start planning.
We installed a pellet stove last year as supplementary heat in case our furnace died in the middle of winter. You can have it automatically turn on and off, run to a set temp, and its largely hand free except for a daily tidying and weekly ash vacuum. Yearly Spring clean of the stove and flue from the installers for around $180. Dealing with the pellets is a pain though. We order two pallets of pellets from our local hardware store and that gets us through the winter, but I have to haul a couple 40 lbs bags from the garage and top the thing up on the regular. I think having a pellet stove is good for supplementary heat and its cozy, but can be finicky and I wouldn't rely on the technology for primary heating. I didn't know a pellet furnace was a thing, but it sounds like a huge pain and from owning a pellet stove I wouldn't go pellet furnace.
We're likely leaning towards heat pumps at this point, but there a few blockers.
- The house has hydronic heating with the oil fired boiler, so there's registers all over the place that I'm not overly enthusastic about removing because of the mess and cost (aesthetically It would be amazing).
- Being an old farmhouse, we have to upgrade the electrical to carry the load of more than one heatpump. It's halfway there with new wiring in most of the house, but we'll need a new panel.
- Before we can upgrade the electrical entirely, we'll have to abate some asbestos that's hidden deep in the attic (ugggh).
That all equals a fairly large price tag, so it sucks.
Our other option would be propane, which would be nice because we can just pop in place of the oil furnace and not have to worry about all of the above. But then we'll still have to deal with fuel deliveries and fluctuating costs (albeit cheaper than oil). We live in a rural area that can be tricky to access during winter storms, so it's not ideal in that respect either.
I don't have an answer yet, but we're saving to tackle it one way or another next year. My ideal set up if I could wave my wand is to have heat pumps supplemented by the pellet stove. Both those things rely on electricity, but I have a whole house backup generator so outages of mid to moderate length are not too much of an issue. Of course that relies on fuel, but a move to solar/batteries would definitely be in the cards after we sort out the HVAC situation.
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Comment on Folks in those $100k+ jobs, corporate types, office workers... What would you say you actually do? in ~life
The_Blackthorn Link ParentAh, I see we work at the same company. AI initiatives as far as the eye can see, no matter how dubiously useful they end up being.C-suite seems to still believe in witchcraft though and believe that all things are solve-able with AI.
Ah, I see we work at the same company. AI initiatives as far as the eye can see, no matter how dubiously useful they end up being.
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Comment on Marvel Comics announces "Uncle $crooge and the Infinity Dime" in ~comics
The_Blackthorn Link ParentThere's still Disney Publishing Worldwide has a bunch of imprints, like Disney•Hyperion which does all the Percy Jackson books and I imagine National Geographic is under their umbrella as well.There's still Disney Publishing Worldwide has a bunch of imprints, like Disney•Hyperion which does all the Percy Jackson books and I imagine National Geographic is under their umbrella as well.
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Comment on You are horrible people in ~life
The_Blackthorn Link ParentFor what it's worth, I just posted it because I thought it might generate some more nuanced discussion in a more place like tildes. I place myself in the gray area in the middle with this issue. I...This terrible, sanctimonious, thoughtless article has been making the rounds recently on the various Canadian subreddits and it would be disappointing to see its ideas get any traction here. (NB: nothing against OP, we can share articles for a variety of reasons.)
For what it's worth, I just posted it because I thought it might generate some more nuanced discussion in a more place like tildes.
I place myself in the gray area in the middle with this issue. I think we can probably both agree, calling 911 to complain about the alert is inappropriate. That said, like you said yourself, I'm not sold on the forced "presidential alert" as being the best carrier of this information. That kind of alert should really only be used for immediate threats to the life of the citizenry and used as rarely as those events happen.
Most people were in a position where they had absolutely zero chance of being able to help
I think it should be noted that a tip from someone who received the alert directly led to the capture of the father.
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You are horrible people
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Comment on The long-awaited moment... Dracula theme added! Oh also, the site is publicly visible now (but let's not be too noisy about it yet). in ~tildes.official
The_Blackthorn Link ParentWhat kind of improvements and additions are you wanting for the docs site? I'm a technical writer for $megacorp and can lend a hand if needed. I poked around the static site repo, but didn't see...What kind of improvements and additions are you wanting for the docs site? I'm a technical writer for $megacorp and can lend a hand if needed. I poked around the static site repo, but didn't see any specific contribution requests other than not touching legal and privacy stuff.
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Comment on Aquaman’s Jason Momoa joins killer cast of Denis Villenueve’s ‘Dune’ in ~movies
The_Blackthorn Link ParentI with you on that count. It's so out there, but has some great moments. That said, a proper big budget two-part adaption is exactly what the book needs. I'm so pumped to see it get a full treatment.although TBH, for all their flaws, I am still pretty fond of the old David Lynch movie
I with you on that count. It's so out there, but has some great moments. That said, a proper big budget two-part adaption is exactly what the book needs. I'm so pumped to see it get a full treatment.
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Comment on The long-awaited moment... Dracula theme added! Oh also, the site is publicly visible now (but let's not be too noisy about it yet). in ~tildes.official
The_Blackthorn LinkThe Dracula theme is amazing. Thank you for your hard work on this site; it's really coming together.The Dracula theme is amazing. Thank you for your hard work on this site; it's really coming together.
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Comment on Reddit releases more details about the upcoming changes to Reddit Gold in ~tech
The_Blackthorn Link ParentOh, man I could totally see that. "Comment every day this week and get 10 coins!"Oh, man I could totally see that. "Comment every day this week and get 10 coins!"
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Comment on Netflix will now interrupt series binges with video ads for its other series in ~tech
The_Blackthorn LinkNo thanks. I watch Netflix because ads are intolerable. The autoplay videos on the landing screen are bad enough.In a statement given to Ars Technica, Netflix described the change as follows: "We are testing whether surfacing recommendations between episodes helps members discover stories they will enjoy faster." The reasoning, Netflix's statement says, comes from its last controversial decision: to add auto-playing videos, complete with unmuteable audio, while browsing through Netflix content.
Netflix offered one major rebuttal to at least one Reddit claim, pointing out that the ads for Netflix content are entirely skippable.
No thanks. I watch Netflix because ads are intolerable. The autoplay videos on the landing screen are bad enough.
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Netflix will now interrupt series binges with video ads for its other series
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Comment on Observatory by Mozilla in ~comp
The_Blackthorn Link ParentGoogle gets a D-Google gets a D-
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Comment on Where even Walmart won't go: How Dollar General took over rural America in ~finance
The_Blackthorn Link ParentThere are a handful of things that are worth it to get at the dollar store but the vast majority is overpriced poorly made crap that doesn't save anyone any money in the end.There are a handful of things that are worth it to get at the dollar store but the vast majority is overpriced poorly made crap that doesn't save anyone any money in the end.
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How the shared family computer protected us from our worst selves
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Comment on Subpoena for app called ‘Discord’ could unmask identities of Charlottesville white supremacists in ~tech
The_Blackthorn Link ParentHonestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of the Washington Post's readership has no idea what Discord is.Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of the Washington Post's readership has no idea what Discord is.
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Comment on What are your most trusted news sources and why? in ~news
The_Blackthorn LinkI get The Economist through my library and find it to be a good recap of the weekly news around the world. I find it to be fairly moderate politically with maybe a slight right bent.I get The Economist through my library and find it to be a good recap of the weekly news around the world. I find it to be fairly moderate politically with maybe a slight right bent.
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Comment on The Outline “slams” media for overusing the word in ~misc
The_Blackthorn LinkI also nominate "slap" when the media talks about tarrifs. It's like they're describing a Three Stooges skit half the time.I also nominate "slap" when the media talks about tarrifs. It's like they're describing a Three Stooges skit half the time.
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Comment on Slack is acquiring (and discontinuing) HipChat and Stride from Atlassian in ~tech
The_Blackthorn LinkI use MS Teams at work and have no problems with it. I honestly kinda prefer it to Slack, especially where threading is concerned, but Slack does seem more polished in superficial ways. I can't...I use MS Teams at work and have no problems with it. I honestly kinda prefer it to Slack, especially where threading is concerned, but Slack does seem more polished in superficial ways.
I can't imagine companies with local HipChat deployments are going to be happy - that was its big advantage over Slack (and it's integration into Atlassian products)
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Comment on Casual Conversation thread - for random chit chat and nonsense that doesn't fit elsewhere. in ~talk
The_Blackthorn Link ParentI'm next door in Nova Scotia and love it - a completely different pace of life than you will find elsewhere. The humidity lately is a bitch though.I'm next door in Nova Scotia and love it - a completely different pace of life than you will find elsewhere. The humidity lately is a bitch though.
Yeah, our place is from the 30's and has some old house problems (we wanted character and got it good and bad).
Having multiple systems for heat is the way to go for sure, especially if you experience frequent power outages. With the pellet stove it handles probably 80% of our heating needs and our primary living spaces, but the central boiler is for the further areas of the house (basement, far bedrooms, office). We can add one heatpump to the mix with our current electrical which would help, but the kicker is that all the government rebates and programs don't do much unless you transfer fully off of fossil fuels. It's kind of frustrating.
For what its worth, the current combination of wood burning, heatpumps and/or propane-based central heating seem to be the popular mix for new builds around here. As well as solar, but that's a separate bag.