Weldawadyathink's recent activity
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Comment on Amtrak steadily continues upgrading Wisconsin stations for level boarding - improving access and travel time in ~transport
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Comment on US President Donald Trump rolls back tariffs on dozens of food products in ~society
Weldawadyathink Link ParentYou mentioned beef elsewhere, so I won’t beat a dead horse. Nuts? Avocado? Citrus? Tomatos? Peppers? The US, and California in particular, produces those in huge quantities. Tea, Coffee, and Cocoa...You mentioned beef elsewhere, so I won’t beat a dead horse.
Nuts? Avocado? Citrus? Tomatos? Peppers? The US, and California in particular, produces those in huge quantities. Tea, Coffee, and Cocoa are probably the only thing that the US doesn’t produce on that list. The US produces 40% of the pistachios worldwide. Similar numbers are true for many of the products on that list.
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Comment on How long do homemade olives stay safe? in ~food
Weldawadyathink Link ParentThat is what I was going for, but I didn’t phrase it very well. I should have phrased it like « there are no microbes that can digest honey within the chemical matrix of honey ». There is no...That is what I was going for, but I didn’t phrase it very well. I should have phrased it like « there are no microbes that can digest honey within the chemical matrix of honey ». There is no fundamental reason a microbe couldn’t evolve to handle the matrix of honey. Saccharomyces cereviciae, the yeast that ferments wine, beer, cider, mead, and bread, originally could not handle more than a few percent alcohol. As it has been domesticated by humans, it can handle much higher alcohol. Alcohol laws in the US after prohibition had a higher tax on wine above 14% because anything higher was fortified, since yeast would die around 14%. But today we have yeast that can ferment reliably up to 15 and 16%.
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Comment on How long do homemade olives stay safe? in ~food
Weldawadyathink LinkOlives are outside my expertise, but microbial stability is incredibly important for winemaking. I can’t give you a definitive answer, but I can give you some information. First, some olives are...Olives are outside my expertise, but microbial stability is incredibly important for winemaking. I can’t give you a definitive answer, but I can give you some information.
First, some olives are apparently brined, not fermented. A short internet search suggests the brining method involves salt and ph neutral water. Since yours are in vinegar, they likely used one of the methods that involve fermentation. Can you confirm? Also, it may have involved fermentation even if you didn’t know you were fermenting it. I made a fermented garlic paste that involved putting garlic through a food processor, adding some salt, and leaving it out for a few weeks. This is a lactofermentation, which is one of the most common types of fermentation (excluding alcoholic fermentations).
If your olives are brined, I can’t help you. But if they are fermented, I can say they are probably safe. Food doesn’t just « go bad » on its own. It can oxidize through contact with the atmosphere or get exposed to a microbe that can grow on it. Honey famously never spoils. This isn’t because of some special property of the honey. It is just that no microbes exist that can digest honey. As soon as one evolves that can digest honey, it will start spoiling. That is the same reason plastic never breaks down.
This type of fermentation is completed by a bacteria called lactobacillus. They ferment the single ring sugars into lactic acid. They do this because it provides energy, and because it makes the environment less hospitable to other microbes. On an evolutionary scale, if you can kill all the competitors you have a huge advantage. This is also the reason why yeasts produce alcohol from sugars: most microbes can’t survive in alcohol.
I don’t know the process for making olives, but many fermentations just add the items to a solution of vinegar and salt. This creates a solution where lactobacillus can flourish and most other microbes can’t grow. Fresh crops are like a ball at the top of a mountain. They could roll off in any direction. We just push the ball in the direction we want, and natural processes will take over. The vinegar is just this first push in the right direction, allowing our preferred microbes to take over instead of a different one.
There are only two microbes that can survive in finished wine: brettanomyces and lactobacillus. For Brett, we just try and make sure the wine is never exposed. For lactobacillus, we add preservatives to prevent it from being able to survive. But for both of these, they never make wine unsafe to drink. Spoiled wine is never unsafe, just unpleasant. I don’t know if the same is true for fermented olives, but I would imagine it is.
So here would be my recommendation: if they look good, smell good, and taste good, they are probably fine. The human body is pretty good at telling us if things are bad by having them smell or taste bad. It can fail at times (stinky cheeses smell bad but aren’t). But it is still pretty good.
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Comment on Pennies are being canceled and the US Mint won't make any more. What does that mean? in ~finance
Weldawadyathink Link ParentI don’t know. It seems like a prisoner’s dilemma type situation. A single small business going against the trend might just fail to competitors who do pricing BS, and not make any real change in...I don’t know. It seems like a prisoner’s dilemma type situation. A single small business going against the trend might just fail to competitors who do pricing BS, and not make any real change in the world. That being said, I try to live by the ideal of « be the change you want to see in the world ». If everyone just sticks with the status quo, the status quo never changes. If I were in your position, I would probably try round pricing and see if it will cause enough lost sales to threaten profitability significantly. My guess is it won’t matter, so charging $200 to not be part of the problem would be good. But if it actually changes sales enough to matter, I wouldn’t think poorly of a small business owner trying to make things work out.
As a side note, I would also include tax in the list price. The fact that tax isn’t included is absolutely asinine. Comparing cost of living between France and California was sometimes quite annoying, since everything in CA was 10% higher than the actual list price.
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Comment on Valve announces new hardware: Steam Frame, Steam Controller, and Steam Machine in ~games
Weldawadyathink Link ParentFrom the LTT video, it uses ddr5 sodimm memory, so you can upgrade the ram as well. The CPU is BGA, so no upgrades on that without very extensive board repair experience.From the LTT video, it uses ddr5 sodimm memory, so you can upgrade the ram as well. The CPU is BGA, so no upgrades on that without very extensive board repair experience.
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Comment on Pennies are being canceled and the US Mint won't make any more. What does that mean? in ~finance
Weldawadyathink LinkThe US used to mint a half penny coin. We stopped minting it in 1857 because it was considered to be too little value to be worth it. At the time of cancelling it, it had the spending power of 12...The US used to mint a half penny coin. We stopped minting it in 1857 because it was considered to be too little value to be worth it. At the time of cancelling it, it had the spending power of 12 to 17 cents. Let that sink in for a moment. A dime is less valuable than a half penny. So let’s cancel nickels and dimes too. Round everything to the nearest 25 cents.
As an added bonus, it would prevent companies from nickel and diming us consumers ;)
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Comment on Valve announces new hardware: Steam Frame, Steam Controller, and Steam Machine in ~games
Weldawadyathink Link ParentThe Apple Vision Pro uses foveated rendering, and does it quite well.The Apple Vision Pro uses foveated rendering, and does it quite well.
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Comment on PIGS, an opinionated unmarketable personal calculator in ~creative
Weldawadyathink LinkThis is really cool! I love the percentage mode. It’s one of those things that seem like such a simple interface idea, but I don’t think anyone has done it before. This would be far more work than...This is really cool! I love the percentage mode. It’s one of those things that seem like such a simple interface idea, but I don’t think anyone has done it before.
This would be far more work than it’s worth, but having one in an hp-11c form factor with an Apple Watch style Digital Crown on the side would be sick!
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Comment on Advice on poor Linux performance vs Windows in ~tech
Weldawadyathink LinkAre you sure it isn’t confusion between MBps and Mbps? 300MBps is 2400 Mbps. The fact that you say the difference is about 10x matches this, since the B to b difference is 8x.Are you sure it isn’t confusion between MBps and Mbps? 300MBps is 2400 Mbps. The fact that you say the difference is about 10x matches this, since the B to b difference is 8x.
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Comment on Microsoft is adding AI facial recognition to OneDrive and users can only turn it off three times a year in ~tech
Weldawadyathink Link ParentThe walled garden accusation gets thrown around a lot in conversations like these. Apple’s mobile operating systems are definitely walled gardens. But macOS is absolutely not. To keep the analogy...The walled garden accusation gets thrown around a lot in conversations like these. Apple’s mobile operating systems are definitely walled gardens. But macOS is absolutely not. To keep the analogy running, it’s a fenced in garden with a knee-high fence. If you want to install unsigned software, you just have to enable it the first time you run it in system settings. You get root access by default. You can disable system integrity protection to modify the underlying operating system. As far as being a walled garden, Android is more of a walled garden than macOS.
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Comment on California voters pass Prop 50 to redraw the state's congressional maps in ~society
Weldawadyathink Link ParentI agree it isn’t a healthy trend, but this law has some good checks on it that don’t seem to be talked about much. It expires in 2030 when the next redistricting would happen. In 2030, unless we...- Exemplary
I agree it isn’t a healthy trend, but this law has some good checks on it that don’t seem to be talked about much. It expires in 2030 when the next redistricting would happen. In 2030, unless we vote another similar law in, our districts will again be set by the independent group that has done them in the past. Also, the law only applies if the Texas redistricting actually happens. If Texas backs off, our districts stay exactly the same as they were. Those two checks are the only reason I was willing to vote yes for a proposition that intentionally gerrymanders.
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Comment on Paid e-mail providers - your experiences, how you use them and how I would use it in ~tech
Weldawadyathink Link ParentUmmm, this is wrong. I used proton for a bit many years ago. That was before the VPN existed at all. The service was called « Proton Mail ». It started out as just a mail service. I left proton...I mean, mail was always the secondary thing to VPN.
Ummm, this is wrong. I used proton for a bit many years ago. That was before the VPN existed at all. The service was called « Proton Mail ». It started out as just a mail service. I left proton for much the same reason as the person you replied to.
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Comment on Cyclist falls down 130-foot ravine in France, survives three days by drinking wine he had in shopping bag in ~life
Weldawadyathink Link ParentMost wine doesn’t actually contain sugar. Well, technically it does, but not much. Most wines are sold « dry », which means they have less than 2g/L sugar. Grape juice contains some complex sugars...Most wine doesn’t actually contain sugar. Well, technically it does, but not much. Most wines are sold « dry », which means they have less than 2g/L sugar. Grape juice contains some complex sugars that yeast can’t ferment into alcohol, and those are left over after fermentation. But 2g/L is well below the human detection threshold to actually taste sugar. Often when people perceive a wine as sweet, it is fruity aromas that are associated with sweet things. Ethanol itself also tastes sweet, despite not being sugar.
Some random internet source says ethanol has about 7 calories per gram, so a bottle would have about 750 calories from the ethanol alone. So it does have calories, but not many.
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Comment on Grieving family uses AI chatbot to cut hospital bill from $195,000 to $33,000 — US family says Claude highlighted duplicative charges, improper coding, and other violations in ~tech
Weldawadyathink Link ParentMostly just download LMstudio and start using it. There are other options like ollama and standalone llama.cpp, but LMstudio is the most user friendly. Run that for a bit, see if it’s something...Mostly just download LMstudio and start using it. There are other options like ollama and standalone llama.cpp, but LMstudio is the most user friendly. Run that for a bit, see if it’s something you want to do, and then explore the other options.
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Comment on Making liquid nitrogen from scratch (an absurd amount) in ~science
Weldawadyathink Link ParentSuction doesn’t work in a vacuum. When you drink through a straw, you lower the pressure in the straw, but that lower pressure doesn’t “pull” the liquid up at all. The atmospheric air pressure on...Suction doesn’t work in a vacuum. When you drink through a straw, you lower the pressure in the straw, but that lower pressure doesn’t “pull” the liquid up at all. The atmospheric air pressure on the rest of the liquid, which is now higher than the pressure in the straw, pushes the liquid up the straw. If you had the drink in a vacuum container with the straw exiting the vacuum (the same scenario as the dewer), and lowered the pressure in that straw, the liquid levels would happily stay the same. You need some pressure on the liquid to move it up the straw.
That being said, I am also confused about how the dewer is supposed to be used.
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Comment on Supermarket rewards card- yes or no? in ~finance
Weldawadyathink Link ParentSomeone got the reference! The song is apparently called 867-5309/Jenny. I guess it’s a fitting name. Apparently area codes came about in 1947, but I think phones defaulted to the local code for a...Someone got the reference! The song is apparently called 867-5309/Jenny. I guess it’s a fitting name.
Apparently area codes came about in 1947, but I think phones defaulted to the local code for a long time. I remember it switching to requiring an area code sometime in my lifetime. Maybe it was when we switched from pots (plain old telephone service) to VoIP (voice over ip/internet).
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Comment on Supermarket rewards card- yes or no? in ~finance
Weldawadyathink Link ParentAnother option is Jenny. 867-5309 in the local area code works for just about any loyalty program.Another option is Jenny. 867-5309 in the local area code works for just about any loyalty program.
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Comment on Suggestions for a new Steam Deck user looking to make Desktop mode pleasant to use? in ~games
Weldawadyathink LinkWhat makes you say it’s barebones? What exactly is missing? KDE is a pretty robust desktop environment. The only missing feature I can think of between Steam deck desktop and some KDE distribution...What makes you say it’s barebones? What exactly is missing? KDE is a pretty robust desktop environment. The only missing feature I can think of between Steam deck desktop and some KDE distribution is being able to install system packages (you can do it, but it wipes with every update). And most things can be installed as an app image or flat pack.
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Comment on Tips/guides to turn my home into a smart home? in ~tech
Weldawadyathink Link ParentIf your Synology supports VM manager, I would highly recommend installing HA operating system in a VM. If you are already very familiar with docker container management and dead set on not using a...If your Synology supports VM manager, I would highly recommend installing HA operating system in a VM. If you are already very familiar with docker container management and dead set on not using a VM, the docker container is a good path, but HAOS has a bunch of nice to have features that docker doesn’t. Most notably, there is an ecosystem of HA addons that run as docker containers. Installing those is usually as simple as clicking install. If you are running HA docker, you have to set up those containers yourself. It isn’t difficult, but it is much simpler to have HA manage those for you. I have plenty of experience running docker containers, and some experience building my own containers, but I still always have HAOS instead of docker.
That is around the distance where high speed sleeper trains stand out. Sleepers are absolutely fantastic, but I think the only high speed sleepers in the world are in China.