cutmetal's recent activity
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Comment on Any obscure songs you'd like to share? in ~music
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Comment on Once you hear it, the 'Gen Alpha melody' is everywhere in ~music
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Comment on What pre-NES games do you still recommend today? in ~games
cutmetal Link ParentNever heard of it before now, but now I want to play it - do you know what the easiest way would be?Never heard of it before now, but now I want to play it - do you know what the easiest way would be?
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Comment on What pre-NES games do you still recommend today? in ~games
cutmetal Link ParentCame here to suggest Rogue. The person who maintains bsdgames-nonfree in Debian (which is how I usually play Rogue) is (or maybe was) actually here on tildes, they showed up once years ago when I...Came here to suggest Rogue. The person who maintains bsdgames-nonfree in Debian (which is how I usually play Rogue) is (or maybe was) actually here on tildes, they showed up once years ago when I was talking about Rogue!
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Comment on Do I belong in tech anymore? in ~tech
cutmetal Link ParentSure tons of programmers just write mobile apps and web apps and crap that doesn't really matter their whole careers. I've worked on diagnostic medical devices - a bug could mean your software...Sure tons of programmers just write mobile apps and web apps and crap that doesn't really matter their whole careers.
I've worked on diagnostic medical devices - a bug could mean your software tells someone they don't have HIV or influenza when they do, or that a suspicious powder is inert when it's really anthrax, or that a pig doesn't have ASF when it does, leading to the disease spreading and thousands or millions of animals being slaughtered (a la the Asian ASF outbreak of 2019ish).
I've also worked on software for heavy equipment that was human-rated but for off-highway use. Most modern heavy equipment platforms are just as software-defined as modern passenger vehicles are. If your accelerator pedal doesn't have a physical cable running to the throttle body (like on a bicycle brake) then software is controlling the acceleration. Most automotive brake systems are still fully hydraulic but there are some now that are brake-by-wire - oopsie something in there and then you can't stop the car. The collision avoidance systems are all sensors and software, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was software in airbag systems too.
Then what about things like EMS communications? Traffic control systems? Or the mountains of military hardware getting pumped out that's all software-controlled?
The THERAC-25 is the ur-example, but there's an ass-ton of software out there that would be killing people and causing mayhem every day if it were halfassed. Mostly it doesn't misbehave so we don't think about it, but that's because when you work on safety-critical software there's heavy process in place to make sure that your team doesn't write code that kills people.
All these safety-critical software standards that are used to build software development processes that don't kill people predate LLM coding agents of course, so they probably don't address them yet. Mostly what I've seen is that the people making potential user-safety decisions err on the side of safety, even if it affects hitting release targets. But I'm sure there are sociopaths out there somewhere rubber-stamping anything to get the product out the door faster, thinking something like "I'm sure it will be fine" lol. Hopefully I'm wrong, but I think we'll see a case of LLM-written software causing human death due to lack of proper human code oversight within the next year or two.
Who knows, maybe eventually the coding agents get so good that the thing we'll need to be suspicious of is human-written software.
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Comment on Looking for a Bluetooth car stereo deck that is simple and not ugly in ~tech
cutmetal Link ParentThat single DIN with a flush screen with android auto sounded cool so I asked Claude, it dug up this https://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopcart/PORS/POR_PORS_PCR911_pg1.htm Apparently there...That single DIN with a flush screen with android auto sounded cool so I asked Claude, it dug up this
https://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/shopcart/PORS/POR_PORS_PCR911_pg1.htm
Apparently there were other similar niche units made to match specific classic high-end cars of European and/or JDM make, but I didn't take my enquiry any further.
Also lol at $1500 head units, just Porsche things I reckon.
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Comment on REO Runabout, gas truck starting at $21,500 in ~transport
cutmetal Link ParentOmg. This is like attributive adjective ordering but for measurement units. A fully organic process that feels right when you use it but sounds hellish and makes no sense when you describe it.Omg. This is like attributive adjective ordering but for measurement units. A fully organic process that feels right when you use it but sounds hellish and makes no sense when you describe it.
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Comment on How do I keep my dog from fearing water sprinklers? in ~life.pets
cutmetal LinkI'm dealing with a really similar issue with my dog. My fridge makes this relay click sound randomly, usually a few times a day, and it scares her shitless. We've tried cuddling and soothing her....I'm dealing with a really similar issue with my dog. My fridge makes this relay click sound randomly, usually a few times a day, and it scares her shitless. We've tried cuddling and soothing her. She's very food motivated but food < fear apparently - she'll abandon her meal to possible theft by cats in order to avoid clicks.
To me it seems like a fear of fear situation - one day the click just happened to startle her, then when the click happened again she remembered being startled and was afraid.
When it happens she runs down to the basement which we allow.
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Comment on How do I keep my dog from fearing water sprinklers? in ~life.pets
cutmetal (edited )Link ParentI used to work in landscape irrigation and you're right about the timing. The best time to set the sprinklers to run is before sunrise. If people rise early in your household, you want the system...I used to work in landscape irrigation and you're right about the timing. The best time to set the sprinklers to run is before sunrise. If people rise early in your household, you want the system to finish running just before they start waking up and taking showers/doing laundry/whatever so they don't have to deal with the pressure drop that the irrigation system will cause. It's also better for the yard at that hour - the water can gradually be absorbed by the plant and evaporate off as the day heats up. Irrigating in the day can even burn the grass - I don't know the mechanism but that's what an old guy told me who had been doing irrigation for like 40 years. If you run earlier in the night, the lawn will sit wet all night and you'll get mold and fungus and moss and things growing.
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Comment on Reddit will require you to be logged in to use old.reddit.com in ~tech
cutmetal Link ParentFor me, normally by going directly to the sub's URL. https://old.reddit.com/r/whateverFor me, normally by going directly to the sub's URL. https://old.reddit.com/r/whatever
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Comment on Mullvad CEO gives ≈€452,000 to the Örebro Party in ~society
cutmetal Link ParentHey thank you for the deep comment. I wish I had been more clear in my top-level comment but we're completely on the same page - I too was pretty unhappy about the Kagi backlash when that was...Hey thank you for the deep comment. I wish I had been more clear in my top-level comment but we're completely on the same page - I too was pretty unhappy about the Kagi backlash when that was happening, and it bums me out when I see it brought up again. (But, I couldn't make my point without bringing it up.) It wasn't a good look for them but it also wasn't toxic to the point that it should keep anyone from using their product, unlike Proton and Brave (and Automattic, and Twitter/X, and Hyprland, ...). I'm a diehard, I only google with Kagi. For now I'll still use Mullvad but I'm keeping an eye on this.
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Comment on Mullvad CEO gives ≈€452,000 to the Örebro Party in ~society
cutmetal LinkThat's unfortunate. The Proton Mail guy is iffy, the Kagi guy has thin skin or whatever it was - maybe you just have to be a bit nutty to care about privacy enough to do the hard thing of building...That's unfortunate. The Proton Mail guy is iffy, the Kagi guy has thin skin or whatever it was - maybe you just have to be a bit nutty to care about privacy enough to do the hard thing of building a product around a service that protects it?
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Comment on Should the plural of "milf" be "milfs" or "milves"? in ~humanities.languages
cutmetal LinkI vote milves because it's more fun, but @Bauke should make this a survey question so we can settle this once and for all.I vote milves because it's more fun, but @Bauke should make this a survey question so we can settle this once and for all.
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Comment on Should the plural of "milf" be "milfs" or "milves"? in ~humanities.languages
cutmetal Link ParentSince the plural of Attorney General is Attorneys General. It follows that the plural of gifs is radarves. Yes, like Tolkien did.Since the plural of Attorney General is Attorneys General. It follows that the plural of gifs is radarves. Yes, like Tolkien did.
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Comment on Slate Truck preorder starts at $24,950 in ~transport
cutmetal Link ParentIf the tax credit were still in effect and the Slate does come out this year, then the Slate would be the only sub-$20k new vehicle for sale in the US in 2026.If the tax credit were still in effect and the Slate does come out this year, then the Slate would be the only sub-$20k new vehicle for sale in the US in 2026.
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Comment on Jumping spiders shouldn’t be this smart in ~science
cutmetal Link ParentSmall world, I read Children of Time last year and am about 3/4 through Children of Ruin now!Small world, I read Children of Time last year and am about 3/4 through Children of Ruin now!
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Comment on What do you think the top three most used apps on your phone for the past week are? in ~tech
cutmetal LinkI guessed Claude, Firefox, Wikipedia. But my phone (P9P) only shows usage day by day, not week by week, so I can't tell :(I guessed Claude, Firefox, Wikipedia.
But my phone (P9P) only shows usage day by day, not week by week, so I can't tell :(
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Comment on Leak exposes members of Peter Thiel’s secretive ‘dialog’ society in ~society
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
cutmetal LinkI'm about halfway through Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Ruin - I'm tearing through it, loving it at least as much as the first one. They're a lot like Brin's Uplift books but with some...I'm about halfway through Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Ruin - I'm tearing through it, loving it at least as much as the first one. They're a lot like Brin's Uplift books but with some absolutely killer prose. I absolutely love the way these stories take place in depressed little bubbles, a handful of people deep in time and space, trying to find meaning in something when they may be the last of humanity, watching centuries go by as they skip through time with hibernation tech.
I've read lots of this "survival at a great remove from the rest of humanity" subgenre but I'm always open to new recommendations in the space.
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Comment on Nintendo Direct announced for June 9th in ~games
cutmetal Link ParentSame! Thab has always been whiny but he really seems to hate playing MM these days. Ryu Kahr is still crushing it though - he's trying hard to make something else stick, but it seems like he's...Same! Thab has always been whiny but he really seems to hate playing MM these days. Ryu Kahr is still crushing it though - he's trying hard to make something else stick, but it seems like he's figured out in his head how to be ok with playing MM. MM being played by the right people is the perfect mindless content, and MM3 would inject some much-needed freshness into the scene.
Normally I'm an albums guy, but you said songs, and for some reason this one popped into my head - band is called Television, song is called Marquee Moon, it's their 1977 debut album's title track. Wikipedia calls it punk rock, and the vocals do have that quality, but the song is really more of a prog-ish jam, a melancholy journey.
In 2011 I had just moved into my first post-college place with some friends, we were drinking and smoking and sitting on the floor, and a musician friend of mine (one of my best friends) played me Marquee Moon. He had just discovered it himself, and our minds were blown together. The song always reminds me of the optimism of that time, combined with a wistfulness that it's passed. There were other moves in between but now I've just moved again, feeling very optimistic about it but sad to be leaving behind my home of ten years, where I had so many formative experiences negative and positive, and the place my dog has known for 90% of her life.
It might just be an association thing unique to my experiences, but I think Marquee Moon captures the feeling of these life transitions beautifully.