carsonc's recent activity
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Comment on Make an origami circuit board in ~design
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Comment on How has climate change affected your life / plans? in ~enviro
carsonc LinkWe decided to get solar panels a few years ago. We were replacing a slate roof with interlocking metal shingle and decided to get the solar panels installed at the same time. The new roof is...We decided to get solar panels a few years ago. We were replacing a slate roof with interlocking metal shingle and decided to get the solar panels installed at the same time. The new roof is cooler (I think) and the solar panels definitely insulate us against some of the variability in electricity pricing. I wish I could hook up LiFePo batteries for backup, but there's no way to do that without switching out the inverter, and that would need to be signed off on for interconnection to the rest of the grid, so no backup for now.
We were thinking about installing a 5-head mini-split heat pump for the house, but the cost was astronomical. I can run window units. We'll live.
We got a Volt a few years back and the power company offers time-of-use pricing if you have a plug in vehicle. It's nice with the solar panels, since our costs are low when we are charging the volt at night and, during the day, the solar panels are selling power back to the grid, so we buy very little electricity at peak rates. The car makes us a net consumer, but it also insulates us (partially) against volatility in the price of gasoline, which is mostly peace of mind right now, as, even at $4.00 per gallon, gas prices are far lower than they could be.
These things are all expensive and I wish the world was such that they seemed more like survivalist paranoia than well reasoned hedges against an increasingly insufficient infrastructure for a world in disequilibrium, but here we are.
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Comment on Tildos, let's be unserious for a while; show us your dankest memes and god-tier shitposts! in ~talk
carsonc Link ParentOh, she eventually learned the usual pronunciation and now says it that way, much to her parents chagrin.Oh, she eventually learned the
correctusual pronunciation and now says it that way, much to her parents chagrin. -
Comment on Tildos, let's be unserious for a while; show us your dankest memes and god-tier shitposts! in ~talk
carsonc LinkI have no memes (meh-MAYS, as my kid started out pronouncing it) to share, but seeing them from fellow tilderinienses is great.I have no memes (meh-MAYS, as my kid started out pronouncing it) to share, but seeing them from fellow tilderinienses is great.
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Comment on How diamonds are made (interactive infographic) in ~science
carsonc Link ParentI will say: we have subjected our machine, the twin of the one from Walmart, to considerable abuse and it continues to function without complaint or defect. We use it for routine sample polishing...I will say: we have subjected our machine, the twin of the one from Walmart, to considerable abuse and it continues to function without complaint or defect. We use it for routine sample polishing — mostly round flats of stainless steel technical ceramics and the like — literally hundreds of samples over the course of three years, with long stretches sitting idle, no cleaning to speak of, and occasional misuse and never has it needed repair to speak of.
The only two things I don't like are that (1) it doesn't have a speed control, which would be nice with some kinds of lapping materials and (2) it has a smallish lapping surface, so it's easy to goof up surfaces on large pieces when you are handling said pieces with your hand.
But if you want nice things, you gotta pay and our lab is less Black Mesa and more Aperture Science, so we make due with the cheap stuff.
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Comment on How diamonds are made (interactive infographic) in ~science
carsonc Link ParentIt looks like I was wrong. The price is ~$280 and it's here at Walmart but you can also find it at Amazon or eBay. However, I use one and it works. I cut a piece of rose quartz into a gem and got...It looks like I was wrong. The price is ~$280 and it's here at Walmart but you can also find it at Amazon or eBay.
However, I use one and it works. I cut a piece of rose quartz into a gem and got it set in a pendant setting that I designed and had made in sterling silver on CraftCloud. I've also used that thing to polish countless other samples for work. The thing is a tank.
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Comment on How diamonds are made (interactive infographic) in ~science
carsonc LinkI don't know if anyone else has done gem cutting, but it is a pretty easy hobby to pick up. There are high speed laps that sell for <$100. The rough is not expensive to source and there is an...I don't know if anyone else has done gem cutting, but it is a pretty easy hobby to pick up. There are high speed laps that sell for <$100. The rough is not expensive to source and there is an excellent free software package, GemCAD, by Robert Strickland, who made this beautiful program, retired, and now gives it away for free, asking only that you make a charitable contributions or reach out to say thanks.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
carsonc Link ParentAll I remember is that his name is Robert Paulson.You stick it to the incels by making Fight Club, and all people remember is the fun middle part before consequences set in.
All I remember is that his name is Robert Paulson.
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - June 2026 - How to Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying by Django Wexler in ~books
carsonc Link ParentI wanted to read this and am realizing now that my hold never came in because... I neglected to actually place it! I've now ordered HtBtDLaDT and will pass on Psalm this month.I wanted to read this and am realizing now that my hold never came in because... I neglected to actually place it! I've now ordered HtBtDLaDT and will pass on Psalm this month.
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Comment on My parent is a bad person [rant] in ~life
carsonc LinkI think about how the children are the recipients of their parents parenting; the customer, you could say. It is easy to diminish such a framing as transactional, but it is no less true for being...I think about how the children are the recipients of their parents parenting; the customer, you could say. It is easy to diminish such a framing as transactional, but it is no less true for being so. Parents ask from their children measures of love, affection, regard, and loyalty such as they feel they deserve for the service of parenting, no easy task. While they are young, the children are often compelled to give their parents what they are told is their parents due.
But children grow up to be adults who will reflect on their upbringing and decide for themselves whether it was a fair deal or not and, if not, what the degree of unfairness was. Then, as adults, they can decide for themselves what the correct course of action is - estrangement, resentment, silent forgiveness, open reconciliation, therapy, abuse, extortion, withholding of affection or access to grandchildren, and so on.
Like the customer, the child is the one who decides whether they were raised fairly or not. And, like they say, the customer is always right. This, of course, is not exactly true. We've all seen plenty of customers returning damaged goods that they, themselves have damaged and asking for a refund. While able to deny reimbusement, the shopkeeper has no ability to compel the customer to enjoy what they have already decided to detest.
In like manner, the parents cannot convince the children that, actually, they had a wonderful childhood and are merely ungrateful brats for failing to realize this. For many parents, that inability is no barrier to their attempt to do just that, but it doesn't work, as attested by the ubiquity of the accusation of "gaslighting" leveled by adult children in connection with their soon-to-be estranged parent.
The dilemma that confronts an adult child who has children of their own is how to navigate a difficult relationship with their own parent without teaching their own children to also judge them harshly as adults and view their own childhood as unfair. As one of compelled affection. Or maybe devoid of affection. As bereft of attention or as perhaps as suffocation from too much attention. Of course, there is no way to parent perfectly. There's barely a way to parent good enough, as any honest parent will tell you. Both are mortal, so niether the parents nor the children are perfect. You could give your kid the perfect upbringing and they would still have the right to accuse you upon reaching adulthood of falling short and thereby choosing to estrange you from themselves and their family. That's their prerogative.
Of course, if you don't have children, then this isn't a concern. Maybe you'll feel differently after they are gone, but maybe not. Regardless, everyone has something that they blame their parents for. How could they not? But everyone makes different choices about how they forgive (or don't) and how they move on (or don't).
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Comment on US releases powerful Anthropic model Mythos to some US companies in ~tech
carsonc Link ParentI don't know if this is what they are talking about, but prospect.org did report in November 2025 that OpenAI was angling for a government bailout.I don't know if this is what they are talking about, but prospect.org did report in November 2025 that OpenAI was angling for a government bailout.
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Comment on Access to Fable and Mythos 5 cut off after US government order in ~tech
carsonc Link ParentThese are some interesting thoughts. You could just as easily claim that this is the reverse of the GPS trajectory. It was actually very much developed in the private markets, but then (partially)...These are some interesting thoughts. You could just as easily claim that this is the reverse of the GPS trajectory. It was actually very much developed in the private markets, but then (partially) commandeered for government purposes.
The GPS analogy is also interesting because it has turned put to be a glass cannon of sorts. It has become both indispensable and extremely fragile due to the weakness of the GPS signals arriving at earth. I cannot see how AI will turn out to be so easily jammed. For whatever the other system is, AI seems to be the thing that tells you how to jam it, not the thing that is jammed itself.
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Comment on Not alive, but not dead: disembodied human brains used for drug testing in ~health
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
carsonc LinkAnother vote for Kagi. I have their Ultimate grade with their AI assistant, which saved me recently. Not only do they provide a range of different providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemma, Deepseek,...Another vote for Kagi. I have their Ultimate grade with their AI assistant, which saved me recently. Not only do they provide a range of different providers (OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemma, Deepseek, Kimi, etc.), but all queries through their service are carried with the enterprise license that they have with providers. They also rate different providers according to the level of privacy that can be expected with that specific provider and tier of service. This allows token costs to be contained by sending less critical workloads to lower cost, lower tier services, but having higher criticality workloads sent to frontier models in the same chat thread.
Anyway, I was drafting a patent for work using Kagi Assistant and the fact that the queries were covered under the enterprise license meant that the data couldn't be used for training the model, so our IP was contractually protected. I keep pushing for my work place to get us all Kagi because I think it would help us a lot.
But also, getting the results that I searched for, rather than sponsored results or AI garbage, is wonderful. I get so angry when I have to search on Google on someone else's computer. I'd rather pay directly to get for what I've asked for, rather than getting for free something I never asked for and did not want.
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Comment on Battery costs just plunged 70% — this changes everything in ~enviro
carsonc Link ParentI believe that it was a full unit, just mis-priced. Which is why it is not there any more, not just marked as sold. Even so, I'm still interested in this kind of unit, especially if I can figure...I believe that it was a full unit, just mis-priced. Which is why it is not there any more, not just marked as sold. Even so, I'm still interested in this kind of unit, especially if I can figure out how to integrate it with the solar inverter or a separate backup interface.
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Comment on Google Search as you know it is over in ~tech
carsonc Link ParentKagi Assistant is remarkable. I've been drafting a proposal with Assistant and, in a single thread, the ability to switch between different models was very useful. Any more, I have been using...Kagi Assistant is remarkable. I've been drafting a proposal with Assistant and, in a single thread, the ability to switch between different models was very useful. Any more, I have been using Minimax for most tasks to keep the cost low, but, when I needed ideas for an explanatory graphic, I switched to the Kagi Research model, which can produce images. Because the whole proposal development process was in the context thread, all I needed to do was ask for the graphic and, voila, there it is. Then I can use Claude Opus for review, once the document is more or less in place. The best thing is that, since Kagi uses enterprise tiers with their providers, none of the queries or responses are used to train the model. It's a brave new world with these tools.
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Comment on Battery costs just plunged 70% — this changes everything in ~enviro
carsonc Link ParentI can't find it now either. I think someone listed it for the wrong price, realized their mistake, and took the listing down. Still, 16 kWh for $1,700 is a lot less expensive than 13 kWh for $8000.I can't find it now either. I think someone listed it for the wrong price, realized their mistake, and took the listing down. Still, 16 kWh for $1,700 is a lot less expensive than 13 kWh for $8000.
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Comment on Battery costs just plunged 70% — this changes everything in ~enviro
carsonc LinkFor comparison, a 16 kWh LiFePo battery on eBay costs <$500 USD in the US. A fancy Tesla Powerwall with 13.5 kWh sells on eBay for >$8000 USD. This was not the case 1 year ago when I bought a 1...For comparison, a 16 kWh LiFePo battery on eBay costs <$500 USD in the US. A fancy Tesla Powerwall with 13.5 kWh sells on eBay for >$8000 USD. This was not the case 1 year ago when I bought a 1 kWh battery for $150. Thank you for posting this. I think it is time to get an affordable battery backup for the house.
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Comment on New job advice in ~life
carsonc LinkAmbiguity is likely to invite specification, or at least tasking. The one who specifies the tasking is liable to select the scopes of work that will be maximally advantageous to them personally....- Exemplary
Ambiguity is likely to invite specification, or at least tasking. The one who specifies the tasking is liable to select the scopes of work that will be maximally advantageous to them personally. The more tasking that you allow others to create for you, the less likely it is that your tasking will be advantageous and/or enjoyable to you.
Instead, you have to find ways to fill the void with that which you will find meaningful. To do this you have to create consensus around your desired scopes of work with colleagues, supervisors, and the people who will be customers of your work product.
Many people do not get the opportunity to define their own roles, having been accustomed to their freedom and agency being tightly constrained by their employer. If you find that these constraints have not yet been applied to you, ensure that others do not casually or accidentally (re)define your role in ways that you would find unpleasant.
The worst is when people, out of a sense of obligation, take on duties that they do not enjoy out of a sense that they should. Failure is far better than success, in these cases, as success will doom them to a heavy set of golden handcuffs attached to the thing that they never wanted to do in the first place.
At the other end of the spectrum, choosing for yourself the things you enjoy and, due to your skill and great enjoyment, delivering high-quality work products to others with whom you enjoy working guarantees that, while your situation holds, you will find it rewarding and enjoyable. The good feeling will have a contagion effect to those who work closest to you, and they will feel happier for having had the opportunity to work with you.
You will spend an enormous portion of your life working. The more enjoyable you can make it for yourself, the happier you will be and the more energy you will have for other important aspects of life.
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Comment on The US campaign to turn healthy people into Alzheimer’s patients in ~health.mental
carsonc Link ParentI was surprised by how many studies are published on HSP and Alzheimer's, around 100 if Google Scholar is to be believed. They are both case control studies and murine model, even c. elegans,...I was surprised by how many studies are published on HSP and Alzheimer's, around 100 if Google Scholar is to be believed. They are both case control studies and murine model, even c. elegans, going back at least to the '90s. I just found out about this yesterday.
As for Finland, if you tell me that heat shock protien has a protective effect against Alzheimer's and that one of the coldest countries on earth has a high rate of Alzheimer's, I will believe you. However, if you tell me that, in that country, the people who frequent the sauna the most have a significantly decreased rate of Alzheimer's, I will still believe you. Now, if you go and add that, coincidentally, the people who live in the hottest places on earth happen to have the lowest rates of Alzheimer's, that I will also believe. If you told me that the one guy, who was basically guaranteed to get Alzheimer's, somehow didn't get it, perhaps because he spent 20 years working in the hottest rooms on earth, I will believe you.
However, maybe there is more to the story. Maybe this is just something that, upon further inspection, will turn out to be a mirage in the desert, if you will. The human mind is adept at making sense out of that which is later realized to be false, and many errors have been made in this fashion. But the hypothesis has marvelous explanatory power, no?
I have played with EGaIn and I do not relish the thought of doing again. Its basically non-toxic mercury, which might sound like fun but is, believe me, no fun to clean up. It gets everywhere and doesn't really come out again. I prepared a lab to work with it and I bought rolls of Tyvek and stapled it to the floor and walls up to shoulder height because I didn't want to permanently stain the place.
I might recommend Circuit scribe from electron inks instead.