derekiscool's recent activity

  1. Comment on Lost in a sea of HVAC in ~life.home_improvement

    derekiscool
    Link Parent
    CoL difference maybe? I'm also just replacing everything with like-for-like components, which I imagine saves on labor costs

    CoL difference maybe? I'm also just replacing everything with like-for-like components, which I imagine saves on labor costs

    3 votes

  2. Comment on GitHub confirms breach of 3,800 repos via malicious VSCode extension in ~tech

    derekiscool
    Link Parent
    Having worked at that company - the cross-team communication is astonishingly bad (even within the same org.) And all levels of leadership are so hyper-focused on metrics that they never see past...

    Having worked at that company - the cross-team communication is astonishingly bad (even within the same org.) And all levels of leadership are so hyper-focused on metrics that they never see past them.

    10 votes

  3. Comment on Lost in a sea of HVAC in ~life.home_improvement

    derekiscool
    (edited )
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    Considering you already have ductwork, I don't know why any good HVAC company wouldn't be willing to install a full central air system. My only advice is to keep pushing whomever you call towards...

    Considering you already have ductwork, I don't know why any good HVAC company wouldn't be willing to install a full central air system.

    My only advice is to keep pushing whomever you call towards that direction, and if they push back - get some reasons out of them. Maybe there's something you aren't seeing, or maybe they are just trying to keep and quick and easy on their side.

    Edit - just for reference, I'm actively getting my furnace and AC replaced and it's going to cost me ~$14,000 for an 80k BTU furnace and 4 ton heat pump (Midwest US).

    You will need to make sure you get a cold weather heat pump if you opt for a heat pump only system. They do lose heating capacity as outdoor temperature drops, and standard heat pumps would be basically useless at -20, so picking a unit that can handle your coldest days is very important.

    17 votes

  4. Comment on Steam Controller: Reservations open May 8th in ~games

    derekiscool
    Link Parent
    I wonder if they just totally underestimated the demand. $100 is pretty pricey for a controller, and it seems targeted towards a somewhat niche market.

    I wonder if they just totally underestimated the demand. $100 is pretty pricey for a controller, and it seems targeted towards a somewhat niche market.

    10 votes

  5. Comment on Multi-stroke text effect in CSS in ~comp

    derekiscool
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    Neat! I don't know why I would ever need to know or use this, but I love that it's possible!

    Neat! I don't know why I would ever need to know or use this, but I love that it's possible!

    6 votes

  6. Comment on Iceland pushes Apple to add Icelandic language support in ~humanities.languages

    derekiscool
    Link Parent
    This, 100%. I worked on implementing translations at a massive tech company in the past and, for example, translating over 100,000 strings to a new language would cost anywhere from $15,000 to...

    They wouldn't even notice a small team of Icelandic translators on the bottom line.

    This, 100%. I worked on implementing translations at a massive tech company in the past and, for example, translating over 100,000 strings to a new language would cost anywhere from $15,000 to $70,000, depending on the methods used. That's less than a drop in the bucket for Apple.

    12 votes

  7. Comment on US Department of Justice arrests soldier who made $400,000 betting on Nicolás Maduro's removal in ~society

    derekiscool
    Link Parent
    This was exactly my thought. They're just using this guy as fodder for the right wing media to say "Glorious leader roots out corruption." And now whenever anybody brings up the blatant corruption...

    but the administration will cite this one case as being it, no investigations needed

    This was exactly my thought. They're just using this guy as fodder for the right wing media to say "Glorious leader roots out corruption." And now whenever anybody brings up the blatant corruption and insider trading, they'll now just say "nuh-uh, we arrested that one guy."

    And their followers will eat it up like candy.

    3 votes

  8. Comment on What is watts, volts and amps? in ~science

    derekiscool
    (edited )
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    A watt does have time! It's equal to 1 Joule per second of energy transfer. That's also why power consumption is often measured in Kilowatt-Hours, rather than just Kilowatts, by electric meters....

    A watt does have time! It's equal to 1 Joule per second of energy transfer. That's also why power consumption is often measured in Kilowatt-Hours, rather than just Kilowatts, by electric meters. 1KWh is equal to 1000 watts of power being used for 1 hour.

    Using the common water analogy you mentioned, the way I like to think of it is that Volts are like the water pressure, amps are the speed (or flow rate) of the water, and watts are the total water moved per second.

    In reality, the only difference is that instead of moving water, we're moving electrons. That's why the water analogy is so effective.

    I suppose this doesn't entirely answer your question, since I'm still using the water analogy, but I genuinely can't think of another way to explain it. I'll ponder for a while, maybe I can think of another analogy with some time.

    30 votes

  9. Comment on Ring camera is getting more and more annoying in ~tech

    derekiscool
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    I use Eufy cameras and have been happy with them. They've had their share of incidents, but I don't believe they are involved in any active spying like many of the other big companies. Plus, you...

    I use Eufy cameras and have been happy with them. They've had their share of incidents, but I don't believe they are involved in any active spying like many of the other big companies. Plus, you can use it with local storage and an SD card without any subscription costs. The human and movement detection are also locally hosted on the device.

    I'm sure some will have strong opinions about the brand, but it's worth looking into if you want to switch.

    But the only way to truly guarantee a "safe" system from corporate meddling is to create your own, sadly.

    5 votes

  10. Comment on Allbirds announces pivot from running shoes to AI compute; stock surged over 700% in ~tech

    derekiscool
    Link Parent
    The only reason I can make any sense of it is that the stock price had already dropped to almost 0 and it was assumed by most that they would cease to exist relatively soon.

    The only reason I can make any sense of it is that the stock price had already dropped to almost 0 and it was assumed by most that they would cease to exist relatively soon.

    6 votes

  11. Comment on Allbirds announces pivot from running shoes to AI compute; stock surged over 700% in ~tech

    derekiscool
    Link Parent
    Those are not really comparable. Starting your own company means you need to all the work required to get it on the exchange and to get ticker recognition. Hence step 1.

    Those are not really comparable. Starting your own company means you need to all the work required to get it on the exchange and to get ticker recognition. Hence step 1.

    4 votes

  12. Comment on Allbirds announces pivot from running shoes to AI compute; stock surged over 700% in ~tech

    derekiscool
    Link
    This is so stupid, it honestly feels like a free money hack for the wealthy. Buy a struggling but well known business Sell off it's IP Announce a pivot to AI Congrats, you're even more wealthy

    This is so stupid, it honestly feels like a free money hack for the wealthy.

    1. Buy a struggling but well known business
    2. Sell off it's IP
    3. Announce a pivot to AI
    4. Congrats, you're even more wealthy
    7 votes

  13. Comment on No-stack web development in ~tech

    derekiscool
    Link Parent
    Yeah, I wouldn't call it a legacy framework at all. It's still being actively developed and is by far the most used web framework. The author also totally dismisses React as an option without...

    Yeah, I wouldn't call it a legacy framework at all. It's still being actively developed and is by far the most used web framework.

    The author also totally dismisses React as an option without providing any real justification or alternative solutions. The fact that they call out Facebook makes it feel more like a personal issue with Meta than actual technical advice.

    6 votes

  14. Comment on Intelligent people are better judges of the intelligence of others in ~science

    derekiscool
    Link Parent
    This is an amazing feature that I also just learned! Thanks for sharing that tidbit!

    Accidently discovered a Tildes feature too; highlighted text in the parent gets quoted automagically when replying

    This is an amazing feature that I also just learned! Thanks for sharing that tidbit!

    3 votes

  15. Comment on Used electric vehicles are a bargain right now in ~transport

    derekiscool
    Link Parent
    Regen braking doesn't use any mechanical force to slow the car, like others have said. Depending on the quality of the regen braking, you might not use mechanical brakes at all in a normal drive....

    Regen braking doesn't use any mechanical force to slow the car, like others have said. Depending on the quality of the regen braking, you might not use mechanical brakes at all in a normal drive. Mine is good enough that 98% of my braking is regen braking only.

    5 votes

  16. Comment on Used electric vehicles are a bargain right now in ~transport

    derekiscool
    Link Parent
    EVs require almost no maintenance whatsoever, so you don’t need to worry about that side of things. Battery health is pretty correlated to mileage, so you just need to do research on how a...

    EVs require almost no maintenance whatsoever, so you don’t need to worry about that side of things. Battery health is pretty correlated to mileage, so you just need to do research on how a specific model holds up with mileage.

    19 votes

  17. Comment on Disney reportedly keen on buying Fortnite developer Epic Games in ~games

    derekiscool
    Link Parent
    It's basically the Microsoft strategy. Why bother innovating or creating a good product when you can just wait for somebody else to do it, then buy them out?

    It's basically the Microsoft strategy. Why bother innovating or creating a good product when you can just wait for somebody else to do it, then buy them out?

    2 votes

  18. Comment on TV series suggestions in ~tv

    derekiscool
    Link Parent
    I was also shocked to not see Pluribus mentioned sooner! Since they both enjoyed Severance, I think they'd love Pluribus as well.

    I was also shocked to not see Pluribus mentioned sooner! Since they both enjoyed Severance, I think they'd love Pluribus as well.

    1 vote

  19. Comment on When you were first getting your driver's license, what were you afraid of? in ~transport

    derekiscool
    (edited )
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    Like many dumb teenagers, I wasn't really afraid of anything. It's easy, when you're young and naive, to think that you're always in control. Now, at 30, I'm much more afraid (maybe cautious would...

    Like many dumb teenagers, I wasn't really afraid of anything. It's easy, when you're young and naive, to think that you're always in control.

    Now, at 30, I'm much more afraid (maybe cautious would maybe be a better word) of driving in general - mostly due to other drivers. You could be doing everything right and to the letter of the law, but still end up in a life-altering (or ending) crash.

    4 votes

  20. Comment on Asia turns back to coal as war chokes off natural gas in ~enviro

    derekiscool
    Link
    Hopefully, this triggers society to have some clarity of thought and start turning to renewables

    Hopefully, this triggers society to have some clarity of thought and start turning to renewables

    5 votes