fifthecho's recent activity

  1. Comment on US awards $1.5 billion in grants to improve passenger rail along Northeast Corridor in ~transport

    fifthecho
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    As a resident of NJ who now depends on NJ Transit? I’m very glad this money is out the door before the next administration. Trump stalled the Gateway project for 4 years and that means it’s 4 more...

    As a resident of NJ who now depends on NJ Transit? I’m very glad this money is out the door before the next administration.

    Trump stalled the Gateway project for 4 years and that means it’s 4 more years before we get new tunnels under the Hudson River and 4 more years before we can close one of the old tunnels that’s probably about 60 years overdue for maintenance and has residual “fucked-ness” from Super Storm Sandy more than 10 years ago.

    7 votes
  2. Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~talk

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    I would've voted for you until I got cats. Same with folks that have small children. While the outside, over the top is definitely superior, it allows small hands (or paws) to pull and pull and...

    I would've voted for you until I got cats. Same with folks that have small children. While the outside, over the top is definitely superior, it allows small hands (or paws) to pull and pull and unravel an entire roll.

    3 votes
  3. Comment on I've been to all fifty states, and I've unexpectedly fallen in love with these seven cities in ~travel

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    Amen. Have spent substantial time in a few of these and read it thinking “they haven’t spent more than 8 hour here else their opinion would be different.”

    Amen. Have spent substantial time in a few of these and read it thinking “they haven’t spent more than 8 hour here else their opinion would be different.”

    5 votes
  4. Comment on I'm visiting the region you're from, what's your favorite food I should try? in ~food

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    You're missing a few North Jersey specialties: The Italian Hot Dog from Jimmy Buff's or Dickie Dee's. This is a hot dog or sausage served in a pocket of bread made from pizza dough topped with...

    You're missing a few North Jersey specialties:

    • The Italian Hot Dog from Jimmy Buff's or Dickie Dee's. This is a hot dog or sausage served in a pocket of bread made from pizza dough topped with diced potato, onions, and peppers.
    • The [New Jersey Sloppy Joe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sloppy_joe_(New_Jersey) which is a triple-decker sandwich on rye with deli meats, coleslaw, and Russian dressing.
    • Fat Sandwiches my personal recommendation being the "Fat Bastard" that's gyro meat, chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, and french fries in a sandwich.
    • Hoboken Mozzarella.
    2 votes
  5. Comment on AMD vs. NVIDIA Vulkan ray-tracing performance on Linux with breaking limit in ~comp

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    CUDA drivers are released slower and after much more diligence and testing than the “bleeding edge” gaming drivers. However, without gamers hitting every bump in the road, the CUDA drivers...

    CUDA drivers are released slower and after much more diligence and testing than the “bleeding edge” gaming drivers. However, without gamers hitting every bump in the road, the CUDA drivers wouldn’t be as good.

    8 votes
  6. Comment on Steam users have spent $19 billion on games they’ve never played in ~games

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    Impressive. Usually, my 2,495 games usually wins any competition. I've only played 28% though, so you definitely beat me there too.

    Impressive. Usually, my 2,495 games usually wins any competition. I've only played 28% though, so you definitely beat me there too.

    2 votes
  7. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~food

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    I've definitely made some of his recipes in the past - some were excellent (the original Fettuccine Alfredo recipe is amazing) but mostly do watch for more of the "Max's Food History Story Time"

    I've definitely made some of his recipes in the past - some were excellent (the original Fettuccine Alfredo recipe is amazing) but mostly do watch for more of the "Max's Food History Story Time"

    7 votes
  8. Comment on Behold, the $400 red pineapple in ~food

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    They are, according to the article.

    They are, according to the article.

    2 votes
  9. Comment on What are some of your favorite PlayStation 1 games? Any odd or unique ones worth playing? in ~games

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    Ahhh…Incredible Crisis featuring the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra.

    Ahhh…Incredible Crisis featuring the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra.

  10. Comment on Want to automate my home with a privacy focus (but I'm a bit slow and need help) in ~life.home_improvement

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    Subscription is optional and info available here. Sockets tend to be straightforward. Switches often are not as many require a neutral wire which you may not have.

    Subscription is optional and info available here.

    Sockets tend to be straightforward. Switches often are not as many require a neutral wire which you may not have.

    1 vote
  11. Comment on Want to automate my home with a privacy focus (but I'm a bit slow and need help) in ~life.home_improvement

    fifthecho
    Link
    So, I cannot speak for your existing wiring, but I'm willing to guarantee that the answer is "yes" you can do this. Home Assistant, OpenHAB, or some other OSS project will be your core. My $0.02...

    So, I cannot speak for your existing wiring, but I'm willing to guarantee that the answer is "yes" you can do this.

    Home Assistant, OpenHAB, or some other OSS project will be your core. My $0.02 is for Home Assistant, but there is choice out there if you have biases or preferences for the language that things run or are developed in.

    You will want to stick with Zigbee, Z-Wave, or Thread devices where possible. None of these are internet-routed communication protocols and all have a pretty rigorous authentication process for allowing devices to join their mesh networks. Won't say that it can't be hacked, but it would be pretty challenging to. Additionally, if you're running the devices from Home Assistant, any telemetry would be opt-in.

    In the places where there does not exist a Zigbee, Z-Wave, or Thread device that meets your needs or price-point, there do exist privacy conscious Tasmota or ESP-Home based WiFi options usually as well.

    If you're wanting to use Home Assistant's GeoFencing, you're going to need to expose your Home Assistant instance to the Internet. While pretty easily doable, it's not for the feint of heart and my recommendation would be to just pony up and pay for their subscription, help fund the project, and get hassle-free encrypted ingress through a tunnel through their systems so that your phone can ping your system when you leave.

    It's 100% doable, but for some things, you will need either some technical know-how or pay a premium for a more privacy conscious product.

    I have a 100 year old house in the NYC metro area with horrible wiring and have the majority of the house automated.

    1 vote
  12. Comment on Want to automate my home with a privacy focus (but I'm a bit slow and need help) in ~life.home_improvement

  13. Comment on Meta is releasing AudioCraft: Generative AI for audio made simple and available to all in ~tech

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    I'm a pretty vocal critic of Apple and their lack of contributions to OSS, but they have been pretty good custodians of CUPS Even the worst OSS citizen can have a few bright lights. All of the...

    I'm a pretty vocal critic of Apple and their lack of contributions to OSS, but they have been pretty good custodians of CUPS

    Even the worst OSS citizen can have a few bright lights. All of the MANGA companies are bad...and a lot of other companies too.

    3 votes
  14. Comment on "Layered" music that builds throughout the song? in ~music

    fifthecho
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    One that comes to my mind when reading your description is Nectar by BT off his album ESCM.

    One that comes to my mind when reading your description is Nectar by BT off his album ESCM.

  15. Comment on Prevalence of AI generated text in Tildes in ~tildes

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    42 years old. Was playing around with something the other day which necessitated me logging into my Last.FM account that needed a new password and as I was updating the password noticed that the...

    42 years old. Was playing around with something the other day which necessitated me logging into my Last.FM account that needed a new password and as I was updating the password noticed that the time zone and zip code on that account was at least 15 years out of date.

    Some of us are getting old.

    2 votes
  16. Comment on Weirdest films ever? in ~movies

    fifthecho
    Link
    Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes (2020)

    Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes (2020)

  17. Comment on How to read House of Leaves in ~books

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    Yeah, scans exist, but you will be miserable trying to read it digitally. You genuinely need a paper version to be able to read the book.

    Yeah, scans exist, but you will be miserable trying to read it digitally. You genuinely need a paper version to be able to read the book.

    1 vote
  18. Comment on It's time to buy some new non-stick pans... need recommendations in ~food

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    Weird. Might be worth reaching out to their support.

    Weird. Might be worth reaching out to their support.

  19. Comment on It's time to buy some new non-stick pans... need recommendations in ~food

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    Interesting. I have a set that’s almost 3 years old now and I abuse them with metal tools and the dishwasher and they’re basically like new.

    Interesting. I have a set that’s almost 3 years old now and I abuse them with metal tools and the dishwasher and they’re basically like new.

    2 votes
  20. Comment on What is productivity, and is it a reasonable lever to force a return to office? in ~life

    fifthecho
    Link Parent
    I can’t speak for your employer, but with mine there were more than a few meetings where they didn’t explicitly say “we’re going back in to cull the herd” but it was such an overt overtone that in...

    I can’t speak for your employer, but with mine there were more than a few meetings where they didn’t explicitly say “we’re going back in to cull the herd” but it was such an overt overtone that in verbal conversations with HR & recruiting they unofficially confirmed it.

    If you’re publicly traded, having layoffs looks bad and makes your stock go down in value.

    If you can make work mildly miserable enough that poor performers drop out, you get the benefits without the dip in valuation. The fine line comes in not pissing off your top performers so they leave.

    7 votes