gazoo's recent activity
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Comment on Anyone else have horrible user experiences with Piped? in ~tech
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Comment on Alec Baldwin may be recharged with Rust gun death because of 'additional facts' in ~movies
gazoo Link ParentA genuine thanks for this:-) What free time I have for following up on specific news is being overwhelmed by other current news... I was basically reacting only to the BBC article which seemed so...A genuine thanks for this:-) What free time I have for following up on specific news is being overwhelmed by other current news...
I was basically reacting only to the BBC article which seemed so light on important details. This provides a great deal of really useful information. It gives me hope that there might actually be a real case here.
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Comment on Alec Baldwin may be recharged with Rust gun death because of 'additional facts' in ~movies
gazoo Link ParentOk, sure. I can see this point of view. The cynical side of me thinks that they might have consulted just one or two experts and generalized it to insinuate a greater number. It gives the...I think it pretty clearly means the experts who were consulted on this.
Ok, sure. I can see this point of view. The cynical side of me thinks that they might have consulted just one or two experts and generalized it to insinuate a greater number. It gives the impression that lots of legwork was done and/or that they were given greater resources (or time) to cover this particular story.
It costs them nothing to tell us how many people they (or someone else) actually consulted. If I was writing to a critical audience, I would be upfront about the number of experts and their qualifications. I would do so because a person was killed.
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Comment on Alec Baldwin may be recharged with Rust gun death because of 'additional facts' in ~movies
gazoo (edited )LinkI would be curious what the testing produced. Did they test it once, five times or more before they damaged it? Before the breakage... what did they conclude (if anything at all)? (edit, 1.5 hrs...Prosecutors then had the replica gun forensically tested and had some parts of the weapon replaced after it was broken during the FBI's testing.
I would be curious what the testing produced. Did they test it once, five times or more before they damaged it? Before the breakage... what did they conclude (if anything at all)?
(edit, 1.5 hrs later: this begs the question... was the gun so flimsy or in such bad shape that breakage was imminent? Should the gun have even been used on the set?)
Experts in ballistics and forensics based in Arizona and New Mexico concluded there was no way for the gun to have been fired without the trigger being pulled.
The framing of this bothers me. Are they saying some experts or all experts. Anecdotally, I've rarely read of cases where every expert agrees. The defense/prosecutor always seems to turn up a contrary opinion.
A tragedy. Lots of information early on about how the gun itself was mishandled. In the end, it was Baldwin (producer and star: the man in charge) who took the gun, cocked it and pointed it.
He literally killed another human being (Halyna Hutchins) so I am happy that they are considering recharging him. A trial would put to rest, once and for all, his culpability or innocence.
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Comment on Analysis: Why is so much anti-Palestinian disinformation coming from India? in ~misc
gazoo Link ParentWe used to just have simple flamewars but it's not only gotten more sophisticated but ideologies are being weaponized. Entire armies of paid farms are being used to sway public opinion in every...disinformation pipelines and let their whole world view be shaped and consumed by propaganda depresses me a bit.
We used to just have simple flamewars but it's not only gotten more sophisticated but ideologies are being weaponized. Entire armies of paid farms are being used to sway public opinion in every area - from politics to entertainment.
I can hardly imagine how bad it'll get with AI. I'm already seeing the effects of it.
I agree, it is quite depressing. I almost miss the flamewars...
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Comment on Avoriaz: a ski city in the sky in ~design
gazoo LinkPaywalled but it seems like someone archived this a few days ago: https://archive.ph/qBSGwPaywalled but it seems like someone archived this a few days ago:
https://archive.ph/qBSGw -
Comment on The unreasonable effectiveness of plain text in ~tech
gazoo LinkI didn't realize that the actual phrase "The unreasonable effectiveness of" was a thing. Makes for additional good reading.I didn't realize that the actual phrase "The unreasonable effectiveness of" was a thing. Makes for additional good reading.
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Comment on What are some of your daily use/most important apps? in ~tech
gazoo LinkI often have a preference to doing things manually. To help me keep track of my installed/fav apps, I use List My Apps. You can save the list as TXT, HTML, Markdown and/or others: F-Droid Link...I opted to download all the apps I usually use manually, rather than having them transfer over automatically.
I often have a preference to doing things manually. To help me keep track of my installed/fav apps, I use List My Apps. You can save the list as TXT, HTML, Markdown and/or others:
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Comment on Star Trek: Prodigy to stream on Netflix in ~tv
gazoo LinkThis is great news. I knew ST: Prodigy was hunting around for a second season distributor/streamer. I watched the first 10 episodes of season 1 (loved it) but have been caught up in other stuff...This is great news. I knew ST: Prodigy was hunting around for a second season distributor/streamer. I watched the first 10 episodes of season 1 (loved it) but have been caught up in other stuff [0]. Have been unable to get back to the series.
Love that this storyline will continue to be told. It was both interesting and entertaining.
[0] side note: it's amazing how much infotainment is available these days - compared to a couple of decades ago. On a positive... it's so much easier to "bookmark" a series to be able to watch at any point. During the beforetimes:-) if you missed a series, you might not have access to it again for years.
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Comment on Recommended tablet/2in1 for ~$1200? in ~tech
gazoo Link ParentI'd love this category to explode and help drive down prices. Right now, I'm just glossing it all over because it's out of my price range. The smartphone to mini/tablet category is my favorite.I'd love this category to explode and help drive down prices. Right now, I'm just glossing it all over because it's out of my price range. The smartphone to mini/tablet category is my favorite.
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Comment on Recommended tablet/2in1 for ~$1200? in ~tech
gazoo (edited )LinkI'm in the market too for a tablet and don't really have a recommendation. This time around, I want to move from a standard 10.1" tablet to something larger. I'm not in a hurry and so... every...I'm in the market too for a tablet and don't really have a recommendation. This time around, I want to move from a standard 10.1" tablet to something larger. I'm not in a hurry and so... every time I come across a larger tablet, I've been making a note of it.
This is what I've compiled so far in the category of larger than 10.1" tablets, in case this is something you didn't know you wanted:-) (or for others looking into this category).
So far, I'm leaning toward the upcoming StarLite Mk V Linux tablet from Star Labs. I'm personally excited about the privacy respecting OS (Linux) but please note the critical comments from the two links below.
- Display Wars: 16:10, 10.1" :: versus :: 3:2, 12.5"
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Comment on Elon Musk sued for defamation of recent college graduate by attorney who won $49 million from Alex Jones over Sandy Hook lies in ~tech
gazoo Link ParentYes, agreed. I think we all know how net worth works. I was just trying to make the point that his thought processes and emotional state would be different from many of us. It was more of a side...While he is disgustingly wealthy, you don't need to exaggerate with bad comparisons.
Yes, agreed. I think we all know how net worth works. I was just trying to make the point that his thought processes and emotional state would be different from many of us. It was more of a side note response. I sometimes tend to look at the psychology of things.
If I was being sued tomorrow for $5,000, I'd be in panic. The thought of trying to find someone to defend me, would add a ton of additional stress (and expense). However, if the lawsuit was for $5 and finding someone to defend me cost about $1... I think I would have a lot of fun with the entire process. I certainly wouldn't take any of it seriously.
That is the psychology I was trying (and failing) to communicate in my original comment, it seems.
For these multi-billionaires, several million (probably, I wouldn't know) doesn't make them react the same way. It must be freeing to make decisions, to appear "bold" when they really aren't sacrificing much.
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Comment on Elon Musk sued for defamation of recent college graduate by attorney who won $49 million from Alex Jones over Sandy Hook lies in ~tech
gazoo LinkIt must be so freeing to be worth $260 billion (05oct2023) [0]. So even if the plaintiff was awarded a ridiculous amount like $100 million, that would be 0.000384615 of Musk's total Net Worth...It must be so freeing to be worth $260 billion (05oct2023) [0]. So even if the plaintiff was awarded a ridiculous amount like $100 million, that would be 0.000384615 of Musk's total Net Worth ($100 million/$260 billion).
That's like being sued for $19.23 out of a yearly gross of $50,000. It'll be so much less than $19.23 (ie; $100 million). Even the lawyer fees will be so much less than $19.23. It completely changes a person's thinking about how they react to these kinds of things.
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Comment on What browser extensions do you absolutely love to use? in ~tech
gazoo (edited )LinkI'm replying ~2 weeks after this was posted (which is still very recent). This post turns up quickly via search and was useful to me. I wanted to add to the contributions here. I did not include...I'm replying ~2 weeks after this was posted (which is still very recent). This post turns up quickly via search and was useful to me. I wanted to add to the contributions here. I did not include extensions I use that have already been mentioned by someone previously on this post.
- LibreWolf as my browser
- ContextSearch web-ext: (1) Easily add any search engine (2) Appears on Context Menu
- SingleFile: I've tested the saved html with even DOS Browsers written in the 90s. Web pages saved with Singlefile have all rendered no matter what browser I use.
- Feed Preview: Great for news sites and other cluttered sites. Displays all articles in a nicely ordered format (if they have an RSS page). It's like getting the low-bandwidth version of a page.
- Save webP as PNG: Desktop apps still work better with jpgs/gifs/pngs.
- OneTab: I do not like keeping too many tabs open. I get to save a session, turn off computer, reopen the (few) tabs I saved for the next day. Very useful!
- Age Restriction, YouTube: I'm only signed into Youtube on alternate browser dedicated to Google. On Librewolf, I'm never signed in and have verified that it bypasses the occasional age restriction issues.
- Return YouTube Dislike: I didn't know how much I needed to see this until Google took it away.
- Remove YouTube Shorts: So annoying (for me). It's like Google wasn't even trying to create a competitor to TikTok and they just slapped something together. This extension will give you the full fledged video player back.
- YouTube Video Downloader: The command line app yt-dlp is far and away my favorite method. This extension is nice to have too.
- Archive Page: When I think a link is worth saving (local PIM), I also save the page on archive.is and save that link too on my local PIM! Websites disappear all the time and now I have a backup online.
- Toggle Animated Gif: Unlike embedded video on websites, there was no easy way (until now) to pause those very distracting embedded animated gifs.
- Drag-Select Link Text: Easily copy any portion of text within a link. Mozilla should have added this newbie-friendly functionality eons ago but decided to keep it hidden behind .. a greybeard approved .. alt-key. It's the little things...
- Temperature Converter: installed this on 17jul2023. I got tired of leaving a page to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit. Now all I do is highlight something like "8C", right-click and convert. Suddenly, the actual page will show "8C (46.4°F)". How cool is that:-)..?
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Comment on Soaring temperatures and raging fires: Europe faces its second heat wave in a week in ~enviro
gazoo LinkI feel that at this point, we should also be talking about Wet Bulb Temperature (calculator) - something I came across just a few years ago. Apparently...I feel that at this point, we should also be talking about Wet Bulb Temperature (calculator) - something I came across just a few years ago.
Apparently...
“critical” WBT (Wet Bulb Temperatures) for humans, the point at which a healthy person could survive for only six hours. This is usually considered to be 35C (95 F), approximately equivalent to an air temperature of 40C (104 F) with a relative humidity of 75% : source
Humans usually regulate their internal body temperature by sweating, but above the wet-bulb temperature, we can no longer cool down this way, leading our body temperature to rise steadily. ... our body’s core can rise beyond the survivable range and organs can start failing. (same source)
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Comment on When reading historical books, how do you keep track of timelines? in ~books
gazoo LinkThat sample you provided was dizzying to read. Wow... I remember having the same difficulties in high school. History courses were always difficult for my brain to process. It wasn't until years...That sample you provided was dizzying to read. Wow...
I remember having the same difficulties in high school. History courses were always difficult for my brain to process. It wasn't until years later that I realized that the problem (for me) was that everything - and I mean everything - was out of context.
I had no anchor. No historical reference. The dates were all free-floating in space-time.
Looking at the dates again, I see 1863. Today I would try to create an anchor to this period. The most notable thing (for me) is 1860s American Civil War period, Abraham Lincoln and similar (US-centric).
Now... history isn't really an area of interest as you could see from the 1860s example I provided above to help anchor me. The best I could manage, unfortunately, are highlights of American History. However, if I was interested in history, I would try create a highlights cheat sheet covering every 10 years, example:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1860s?useskin=vector
Or prep for a book by getting a sense of the period first (via wikipedia, etc). Creating that anchor.
Good anchors are like memories. If you talk to me about 1927, for example, I'll "remember" the 1927 Yankees (tons of passionate historical baseball reading - so much so that I feel that I lived during that era). I "remember" the 1960s (US) fairly well too because of TV shows, relevant politics, coverage of the civil rights movement, etc.
So I say... spend some time creating anchors to the period. If you find that a certain period provided things that interested you (eg; The 1950s: rock and roll, cars, styles, baseball, etc) than it feels like actual "memories" begin to form. You begin to really understand the era, the people, the thinking...
If you can't find things in the period that interested you, I imagine it'll be difficult to form these anchors (memories).
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Comment on It's a small thing, but browsing on mobile would be a bit smoother if there was an option to switch the "Comments" and "Actions" buttons under each post in ~tildes
gazoo Link ParentI like this. It's better than the arrow suggestion I offered. The idea of clicking on the main link and always going to the comments page is appealing (I wonder how many users prefer to check...I think one solution would be to give users a setting on whether posts with external links automatically open the link, or the post on Tildes.
I like this. It's better than the arrow suggestion I offered. The idea of clicking on the main link and always going to the comments page is appealing (I wonder how many users prefer to check comments first). From the comments page, launching the external url (if appropriate).
There's a comfort in knowing (muscle memory) that clicking a thing will always behave the same way.
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Comment on It's a small thing, but browsing on mobile would be a bit smoother if there was an option to switch the "Comments" and "Actions" buttons under each post in ~tildes
gazoo LinkSince we're on the subject of website tweaks... I have only one suggestion that has to do with consistency. The links on the home page sometimes lead to this comment page, other times it's to an...Since we're on the subject of website tweaks... I have only one suggestion that has to do with consistency.
The links on the home page sometimes lead to this comment page, other times it's to an external site. There's no way of knowing unless you hover over the link, something you can't do on mobile.
It's not a huge deal but if there was an indicator (ie, image of 45 degree arrow indicating external site) it would help highlight that we might be leaving the site.
The link above is a screenshot of 4 links on the homepage.
URL 1: Links to tildes (internal) : It's a small thing, but browsing on mobile...
URL 2: links to bloomberg (external) : Twitter's dying. Time to drop...
URL 3: links to bbc (external) : Ocomtún: A long-lost Maya city...
URL 4: links to tildes.net (internal) : Horimiya: The Missing Pieces...
This is just a minor issue I've been wanting to point out.
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Comment on How can I make a television "time machine"? in ~tv
gazoo (edited )Linkhttps://www.myretrotvs.com/ has done something kinda' similar. It'll immerse you into the TV programming available for each decade. The 1950s thru the 2000s are covered. It isn't the type of...https://www.myretrotvs.com/ has done something kinda' similar. It'll immerse you into the TV programming available for each decade. The 1950s thru the 2000s are covered.
It isn't the type of precise weekly scheduling your talking about but it does cover the nostalgic angle very well.
Update/edit: I'm impressed... Wikipedia has pretty good coverage at: Lists of United States network television schedules
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Comment on The NL wins the All-Star Game for the first time since 2012 in ~sports.baseball
gazoo LinkThey seem to have long stretches where one league dominates for a crazy long time. From 1950-1987 (a span of 38 years) the National League record was: 33 Wins - 8 Losses - 1 Tie. From 1988 - 2022...I've never really understood why the AL seemed to be so much better in this game against the NL
They seem to have long stretches where one league dominates for a crazy long time. From 1950-1987 (a span of 38 years) the National League record was: 33 Wins - 8 Losses - 1 Tie.
From 1988 - 2022 (a span of 35 years), the American League record was: 27 Wins - 6 Losses - 1 Tie
Overall, The American League barely leads the series 47 wins - 44 losses - 2 ties.
My all-time favorite moment in these games (and one of my fav baseball moments of all-time) was Fred Lynn's grand slam during the 1983 game... it came at the tail end of the American League losing streak and gave us American Leaguers hope...
47 second clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSTMFcUg67Y
15 minutes: entire 3rd inning: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cVKrTyTw1o
I tried Piped last night because it appeared on HackerNews. The Trending page (front page) loaded so quickly but the videos failed to load for me on various browsers. Maybe the main instance (which already has over 200k registered users) was just getting overwhelmed (HN hug of death).
I just now tried other instances (with very low numbers of registered users) and the performance has been great. Even the main instance is working well for me now.
I haven't gotten the dreaded YT adblocker message yet but am collecting and testing various other options for when the time comes. These are links I have saved to followup on YT Frontend alternatives. They all link to HN because the comment area is loaded with many (possible) solutions (which I may have to experiment with down the line):