em-dash's recent activity

  1. Comment on Removing Jeff Bezos from my bed in ~tech

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    Ah, I see. Sorry for infodumping a bunch of stuff you likely already knew, then :) Have you considered crowdfunding? CrowdSupply would love this sort of thing, and will give advice to people who...

    Ah, I see. Sorry for infodumping a bunch of stuff you likely already knew, then :)

    Have you considered crowdfunding? CrowdSupply would love this sort of thing, and will give advice to people who have the skills to build a prototype and just need help scaling that up. (I haven't done it because of personal situation not being optimal for it right now, but I've talked with them a bit about projects I'd like to do it for in the future.)

    But yeah, for specifically vacuums, I kind of doubt mostly-built-but-without-software vacuums are a thing, except maybe if you can convince a factory in China that's already making similar vacuums to sell them to you. If you don't want to build one from scratch you might have better luck sourcing a big enough batch of some existing vacuum to get bulk pricing, and ripping the firmware and maybe electronics out. Or maybe just sell it as a modchip/replacement board sort of thing and make people source their own vacuums, if you're okay with limiting it to nerds.

  2. Comment on Removing Jeff Bezos from my bed in ~tech

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    There's a quiet ecosystem of things for this hiding behind the shitshow of cheap internet-based smart devices. One way is to use a protocol that isn't wifi at all, so it's firewalled by default...

    even if I did magically get over the hurdles of figuring out the how

    There's a quiet ecosystem of things for this hiding behind the shitshow of cheap internet-based smart devices.

    One way is to use a protocol that isn't wifi at all, so it's firewalled by default unless you take the explicit step of setting up something to forward it to the internet. Z-wave is the one I've standardized on in my house; Zigbee is the other major one. Sometimes it's hard to find these in the specific commercial product that you want, and if it does exist it's probably more expensive than the internet-based equivalent, but it's widely available for things like simple sensors and switches, so that's most of what I use it for.

    The other is wifi devices that just don't try to hit the internet. This is totally technically possible, the market forces just aren't there to push companies to promise that, or punish companies who break that promise. Mostly this is nerds setting up things like ESPHome and Tasmota, which both target ESP32 and ESP8266, the most common families of wifi modules used in smart devices.

    For devices targeting non-nerds (who will want to gradually migrate from security-shitshow wifi and won't already have a zwave network set up), wifi-but-offline is probably the way to go. I'm not aware of any companies doing this but I also haven't really looked in a while.

    1 vote
  3. Comment on What is your strangely specific phobia? in ~talk

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    I have a related fear about people not stopping the microwave before opening the door, for this exact reason. I trust the door to continue blocking radiation about as well as it did a moment ago....

    I have a related fear about people not stopping the microwave before opening the door, for this exact reason.

    I trust the door to continue blocking radiation about as well as it did a moment ago. I don't trust the door-opening sensor and the shut-the-radiation-off-right-the-fuck-now circuit behind it to be 100% failproof.

    1 vote
  4. Comment on Shorthorn Project - Run modern programs on Windows XP/2003 in ~comp

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    Lots of people who run new Windows versions wish they didn't have to, but the minimum supported version of the software they want to run on the OS keeps increasing. I don't think it's a joke, so...

    Lots of people who run new Windows versions wish they didn't have to, but the minimum supported version of the software they want to run on the OS keeps increasing.

    I don't think it's a joke, so much as a person who does not realize how big the project they're proposing is. Same sort of person who says "I'm going to make a Skyrim-sized video game!" and then does some concept art. The large-at-first-glance repo linked below appears to be almost entirely a copypaste of ReactOS's codebase.

    3 votes
  5. Comment on Grammar errors that actually matter, or: the thread where we all become prescriptivists in ~humanities.languages

    em-dash
    Link
    I do the KB/KiB thing all the time, even though it is the sort of thing I would usually be annoyed about. Now I'm going to be hyper-aware of it for the next several months. Thanks. "Octet" is the...

    I do the KB/KiB thing all the time, even though it is the sort of thing I would usually be annoyed about. Now I'm going to be hyper-aware of it for the next several months. Thanks.

    other words (including the word "word" itself, funnily enough) being available should the distinction matter

    "Octet" is the word for the "always 8 bits, I really mean it" thing; a word is a different thing. On that note, everyone uses "word" in that sense to mean "processor's native data width"... except x86, which defined a "word" as 16 bits long ago, then refused to update their terminology as the word size changed in later versions, and called the 32-bit ones "doublewords" and the 64-bit ones "quadwords".

    Mine is people mixing up "internet" (a big network consisting of smaller networks of computers connected together), "LAN" (one of those smaller networks, usually within one building), "wifi" (a specific method of connecting to a LAN), and "the web" (the things you can do in a web browser). ISPs advertising their fast wifi speeds is infuriating to me.

    9 votes
  6. Comment on Framework 13 chassis available for $400 in ~tech

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    I got a 16 yesterday (DIY edition, bought RAM separately because theirs is overpriced, installed an SSD I already had, running Linux). I have notes for a review of it I'd like to post once I've...

    I got a 16 yesterday (DIY edition, bought RAM separately because theirs is overpriced, installed an SSD I already had, running Linux). I have notes for a review of it I'd like to post once I've used it for a bit longer, because good reviews of tech stuff (non-clickbait, non-sponsored, reviewer knows which thing they are actually reviewing and doesn't go on for paragraphs about standard Windows features) are extremely lacking, but:

    So far I have generally positive impressions and only a few relatively minor complaints, the worst being that my touchpad module spacers are just barely misaligned such that one side has an uncomfortable pointy corner. It's not the easiest laptop I've ever worked on, but it's close. I got around 8h battery life in normal low-intensity use (web browsing, text editing) without having done any power optimization.

    I've also seen people complaining about the speakers; I have no idea if they're bad because I physically unplug the speakers from my laptops.

    2 votes
  7. Comment on Italian parmesan producers fight fakes with microtransponders in ~food

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    I mean, I think they taste good. Your taste may vary (by both your personal taste and the specific cheese you're buying).

    I mean, I think they taste good. Your taste may vary (by both your personal taste and the specific cheese you're buying).

    5 votes
  8. Comment on Italian parmesan producers fight fakes with microtransponders in ~food

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    dammit, you made the same joke slightly faster than me because I was busy coming up with "digital rennet management" which I am extremely proud of

    dammit, you made the same joke slightly faster than me because I was busy coming up with "digital rennet management"

    which I am extremely proud of

    19 votes
  9. Comment on Italian parmesan producers fight fakes with microtransponders in ~food

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    Sometimes I just eat the rinds as a snack while I'm cooking. They're delicious. Amusingly, I'm safe because I usually use pirated parmesan instead of genuine licensed parmigiano reggiano. When the...

    Sometimes I just eat the rinds as a snack while I'm cooking. They're delicious.

    Amusingly, I'm safe because I usually use pirated parmesan instead of genuine licensed parmigiano reggiano. When the cheese pirates crack the DRM* they tend to leave the harmful parts out.

    * digital rennet management

    15 votes
  10. Comment on Current state of, and future of, the smart glasses industry in ~tech

    em-dash
    (edited )
    Link
    I recently picked up a Vufine+ for $100 on ebay. It has an HDMI port. That's it. It displays whatever you give it over HDMI. Mostly I want to try it with my soldering microscope, but I've seen...

    I recently picked up a Vufine+ for $100 on ebay. It has an HDMI port. That's it. It displays whatever you give it over HDMI. Mostly I want to try it with my soldering microscope, but I've seen people attach small SBCs to them for use as wearable computers.

    I want to see more devices like that. I don't want an app. I don't want An Ecosystem. I want my display to be a thing that displays whatever arbitrary video feed I give it. I'm hoping something shows up in the future that's the same idea and price point but transparent. I'd wear that regularly.

    Edit: I guess the Xreal Air is also like this? I was under the impression it wasn't.

    3 votes
  11. Comment on Soldering irons/stations - Buy once, cry once advice needed in ~hobbies

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    ... Fahrenheit, for anyone else who solders in Celsius and had the same instinctive "oh gods no what are you doing" reaction I did.

    up to 500-700 degrees

    ... Fahrenheit, for anyone else who solders in Celsius and had the same instinctive "oh gods no what are you doing" reaction I did.

    3 votes
  12. Comment on Interest in a new Tildes /~group?, ~electronics or perhaps ~makers? in ~tildes

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    This probably depends greatly on what, specifically, you make. Even within the narrower category of electronics, I wouldn't classify most of my electronics stuff as "creative" in the way people...

    This probably depends greatly on what, specifically, you make. Even within the narrower category of electronics, I wouldn't classify most of my electronics stuff as "creative" in the way people normally use that word, but I know several people who absolutely do creative/artsy electronics.

    I'd probably go for ~hobbies if it ever occurred to me to post things.

    edǐt: wait I forgot ~creative.timasomo was where it is. Maybe I'm reading the word more narrowly than others do?

    1 vote
  13. Comment on Soldering irons/stations - Buy once, cry once advice needed in ~hobbies

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    The pro move, which my brother uses, is to borrow a reasonably nice iron from a sibling, not say what you're using it for, and return it covered in charred plastic residue. For best results, use...

    Eehhhhh... you can, kinda/sorta, but a soldering iron, even with a knife-tip, may not be your best option for precision cutting since you're going to get uneven blobby melting along your cuts. Can you melt cut? Absolutely. Will it be 'precision' cuts... no.

    The pro move, which my brother uses, is to borrow a reasonably nice iron from a sibling, not say what you're using it for, and return it covered in charred plastic residue.

    For best results, use the pointiest tip, and when you bring it back, hand it to the owner with that side toward them so they get stabbed in the hand.

    (I no longer loan tools to him (mostly because I don't live nearby anymore but also because of the plastic thing))

    4 votes
  14. Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    Some friends of mine who also built a (much smaller) dedicated music player did a writeup on their touchwheel design, which may be of interest to you. They also have design files available for...

    Some friends of mine who also built a (much smaller) dedicated music player did a writeup on their touchwheel design, which may be of interest to you.

    They also have design files available for this wheel button thing.

    2 votes
  15. Comment on What possession(s) do you have that continue to delight you every time? in ~talk

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    Interesting. TIL. (I have the expertise to understand this issue, but not the experience to have encountered it before.) I did some research and it's a power supply sequencing thing (the chip...

    Interesting. TIL. (I have the expertise to understand this issue, but not the experience to have encountered it before.)

    I did some research and it's a power supply sequencing thing (the chip requires a few separate power supply lines that need to be turned on and off in the right order, and "just pull them suddenly all at once" is not the right order). I get the sense this is one of those "you're supposed to design the board in such a way that that doesn't happen" things. It certainly can be made a non-issue, and I would be surprised if this was a real problem on most devices.

    But I haven't looked at the PineNote specifically and don't know how much effort they put into their LPDDR power sequencing.

    1 vote
  16. Comment on What possession(s) do you have that continue to delight you every time? in ~talk

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    I'd be interested in where you heard that. Not as a sealioning thing, to be clear. I'm legitimately curious about the technical details of how they managed that particular failure mode, which I've...

    repeated hard-resetting it might apparently brick it, even if the hard resets aren't frequent

    I'd be interested in where you heard that. Not as a sealioning thing, to be clear. I'm legitimately curious about the technical details of how they managed that particular failure mode, which I've never heard of before in any device.

    1 vote
  17. Comment on Revisions of ‘hateful conduct’: what users can now say on Meta platforms in ~tech

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    @em-dash liked a tildes post My "solution" to this was to send equally annoying manually typed notifications back to people who do this until they get the hint. My friends may well be easier to...

    @em-dash liked a tildes post

    My "solution" to this was to send equally annoying manually typed notifications back to people who do this until they get the hint.

    My friends may well be easier to condition than your family.

    4 votes
  18. Comment on Starting a community-maintained Tildes source code fork in ~tildes

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    They're taking the existing code of Tildes and making it easier to run another copy of it. It doesn't sound like they intend to replace tildes.net.

    They're taking the existing code of Tildes and making it easier to run another copy of it. It doesn't sound like they intend to replace tildes.net.

    7 votes
  19. Comment on Exit Generation Alpha, enter Generation Beta in ~life

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    It depends. You can do something with a purpose, and then have different effects come of it than you intended. Are you asking about the action or its effects? (Behold, I have invented...

    It depends. You can do something with a purpose, and then have different effects come of it than you intended. Are you asking about the action or its effects? (Behold, I have invented consequential and deontological ethics.)

    Like, if I come from a weird alien culture where we all lack facial pain receptors and greet each other with a slap to the face, and I land on your planet and walk up to you and intentionally slap you in the face really hard, that's clearly purposeful in the sense that I definitely meant to do it, but I didn't purposefully cause the resulting facial pain.

    Or more relevantly, one can purposefully draw lines around various groups of humans as a means of categorization (ideally more fuzzy lines than the nonsense this article is doing), without intending any resulting marginalization. Or one can draw those same lines with the explicit intent to marginalize people. Both happen all the time, with any conceivable type of lines you can draw between groups of humans, and aiming for the first doesn't mean you won't hit the second or your grouping won't get co-opted by people to do the second. Hopefully, having the group defined was beneficial enough to offset those negative effects.

    I think my gripe with this article specifically, then, is the lack of effect-purposefulness. You can study the effects of things on different generations, but the buckets here are entirely too wide to do so effectively. That sets off my "we don't actually have a good reason for drawing the category lines where we did" alarms in much the same way e.g. zodiac signs do. The best case for that sort of grouping is when they turn out pointless but harmless.

    6 votes
  20. Comment on Exit Generation Alpha, enter Generation Beta in ~life

    em-dash
    Link Parent
    I think even the vague type can be used for marginalization ("ok boomer") but mostly this is one of the less harmful sorts of group-forming. I grumble about it because I think it's a bad habit...

    From the tone portrayed in your commentⁿ, it feels like your attitude would be to describe this trend in humans as a purposeful attempt to marginalize groups perceived as "other", is this the case?

    I think even the vague type can be used for marginalization ("ok boomer") but mostly this is one of the less harmful sorts of group-forming. I grumble about it because I think it's a bad habit that we shouldn't be encouraging at scale, not because every instance of it is harmful.

    As for whether it's purposeful: I don't know, what is "purposeful"? If people do something knowingly and intentionally, but they're doing it due to mostly-invisible psychological or social pressures, is that "purposeful"? I tend to answer this sort of semantic question by just shrugging and switching to more precise language.

    3 votes