goose's recent activity
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
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Comment on IT helpdesk request? in ~tech
goose Link ParentSMR vs. CMR definitely matters, depending on what you're doing with the drives. Shucking a black Friday drive is still one of the best prices you can get for a new SATA drive. I've moved more...SMR vs. CMR definitely matters, depending on what you're doing with the drives. Shucking a black Friday drive is still one of the best prices you can get for a new SATA drive.
I've moved more towards SAS drives, since they tend to last longer. Faster rotational speeds, better heat tolerances, and generally higher lifespans. Now a days I tend to buy new or open box SAS drives on eBay, only from within the US (never China, where the risk of a fake drive tends to be higher).
I have a script I wrote to extensively test the health of the drive once I receive it. The script takes about 4-5 days to run on a 16 TB SAS drive, it does:
- Verifies hours against FARM hours, if a Seagate drive
- A SMART long test
- Checks for bad blocks (
badblocks) - Formats the disk to zfs and fills it with test data (
f3write) - Reads the test data (
f3read) - Verifies the data integrity (
zfs scrub)
Once a drive passes all these tests, I feel confident trusting the drives despite them coming from eBay. I can share a version of the script, if desired.
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Comment on I hacked ChatGPT and Google's AI – and it only took twenty minutes in ~tech
goose Link ParentResponding to both your comments in this one: Sure, this makes sense, particularly in the scope of resource efficiency. In my case, because I run my own webserver and manage my own files, I can...Responding to both your comments in this one:
Sure, this makes sense, particularly in the scope of resource efficiency. In my case, because I run my own webserver and manage my own files, I can set the rules in my
/robots.txt, as well as analyze myaccess_loganderror_logfromnginxto determine what IP addresses and user agents are accessing what, and when.Google certainly crawls my domains, as well as all the other major players. They even respect my
/robots.txt, unlike certain other crawlers (Looking at you, Yandex). My entire hang up is that the author claims to have influenced the model's knowledge base by planting false information, over the course of a single night. I'm not saying that can't be done -- just that the time frame felt suspicious. Particularly given my previous attempts to do something virtually the same, for a different purpose. -
Comment on I hacked ChatGPT and Google's AI – and it only took twenty minutes in ~tech
goose Link ParentGood thought, but no, I don't have any CDN in front of my services. Just good 'ole nginx, hanging out there on ports 80/443, with my A/AAAA records pointing directly to it.Good thought, but no, I don't have any CDN in front of my services. Just good 'ole
nginx, hanging out there on ports80/443, with myA/AAAArecords pointing directly to it. -
Comment on I hacked ChatGPT and Google's AI – and it only took twenty minutes in ~tech
goose Link ParentSure, my point was, I've tried this experiment myself and was not able to reproduce the same results, which led me to doubt the veracity of the claims. On the other hand, it's been probably over a...Sure, my point was, I've tried this experiment myself and was not able to reproduce the same results, which led me to doubt the veracity of the claims. On the other hand, it's been probably over a year since I tried it, and in a business where changes are fast it wouldn't surprise me if methods have changed. But, at the time I tried it, I was unable to get the LLMAI to scrape the page(s) I was trying to get it to scrape.
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Comment on Flu shot: US Food and Drug Administration will review Moderna’s mRNA vaccine, company says in ~health
goose Link ParentThis is something I struggle with as well. I still see elements of the "amazing country America is", here and there. But largely, it's not consistent with the world view I had growing up. I always...My struggle (as an American) is that we were taught growing up about what an amazing country America is, and the reality is a rug pull that I do not know how to recover from.
This is something I struggle with as well. I still see elements of the "amazing country America is", here and there. But largely, it's not consistent with the world view I had growing up. I always thought of America as "the good guys", but in the year 2026, I am reminded of a quote from Winston Churchill:
You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.
But rather than lean in to pessimism, I'll hold out hope that my generation, and the generations after mine, will help shape America more to positive ideals in the future.
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Comment on I hacked ChatGPT and Google's AI – and it only took twenty minutes in ~tech
goose Link ParentSee, this is where my experience differs. I explicitly asked it to crawl a page on my webserver to answer a question, as I was curious to see what UA and IP address it would come from. Despite...Yes you can ask an ai to crawl a page and it will.
See, this is where my experience differs. I explicitly asked it to crawl a page on my webserver to answer a question, as I was curious to see what UA and IP address it would come from.
Despite asking a few ways and sending a few different unique URL's, nothing came up in my nginx logs. In hindsight, perhaps I should have paid attention weeks or months later to see if the unique URL's I sent to the LLMAI did ever pop up in my nginx logs, but that was a while ago.
It's all very "black box", I think, nobody wants to admit how the inner workings actually work. Sure, they're data vacuums, but how they interact with the outside world seems a mystery for now.
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Comment on I hacked ChatGPT and Google's AI – and it only took twenty minutes in ~tech
goose (edited )Link ParentSure, but still, overnight? Looking at the details page for Google's Gemini v3, it lists the model cutoff date as January 2025, with its last knowledge update being November 2025:...Sure, but still, overnight?
Looking at the details page for Google's Gemini v3, it lists the model cutoff date as January 2025, with its last knowledge update being November 2025: https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/models/gemini-3-pro-preview
Even with period updates from scraping, that feels suspiciously fast. Asking about what happened in my local township last week, it references a mayoral election that occurred back in October. And that was widely covered (by local news, anyways).
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Comment on I hacked ChatGPT and Google's AI – and it only took twenty minutes in ~tech
goose Link ParentI'm curious about the accuracy of this claim. My understanding is that models have a knowledge date cut off that they draw from. So in most cases, you can't just plug in a URL and have the LLMAI...I'm curious about the accuracy of this claim. My understanding is that models have a knowledge date cut off that they draw from. So in most cases, you can't just plug in a URL and have the LLMAI crawl the page, it's essentially drawing from its snapshot, similar to waybackmachine. Not that the claim can't be true, but a 24 hour turnaround seems pretty fast for a model update.
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Comment on Here are your choices for a self-hosted ebook server in ~books
goose Link ParentI have used it passively for the last 3 or 4 years, but about 6 months ago when I got bit into by Mark Greaney's book series "The Gray Man", I rarely go more than 48 hours without using it. I may...I have used it passively for the last 3 or 4 years, but about 6 months ago when I got bit into by Mark Greaney's book series "The Gray Man", I rarely go more than 48 hours without using it. I may have burned through all the books and the Gray Man series, but doing so relit my fire for enjoying audiobooks, given how little time I have to sit down and read. And Audio Bookshelf is my favorite way to do so, such a solid application.
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Comment on IT helpdesk request? in ~tech
goose Link Parent"Shucking" is the defacto phrase for removing a hard drive from its enclosure to use internally. For what it's worth, if you're looking to use multiple of these drives, SAS backplanes can (often)..."Shucking" is the defacto phrase for removing a hard drive from its enclosure to use internally.
For what it's worth, if you're looking to use multiple of these drives, SAS backplanes can (often) accept SAS and SATA drives, without having to do any taping or modifications for the 3.3v pin. My home server is an old 4U SuperMicro chassis I bought off eBay with a 24 bay SAS backplane. 12 of my 18 drives are WD drives that came in enclosures which I bought on Black Friday sales and shucked.
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Comment on IT helpdesk request? in ~tech
goose Link ParentAs soon as I read the second sentence, "Ctrl +F > tape", and found your comment. OP, it's most likely this, it's a well known thing among the drive shucking/data hoarding community.As soon as I read the second sentence, "Ctrl +F > tape", and found your comment.
OP, it's most likely this, it's a well known thing among the drive shucking/data hoarding community.
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Comment on Here are your choices for a self-hosted ebook server in ~books
goose LinkI don't see Audio Bookshelf listed, but it's been a fantastic solution (for me) to self host audiobooks. And it does have eBook support.I don't see Audio Bookshelf listed, but it's been a fantastic solution (for me) to self host audiobooks. And it does have eBook support.
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Comment on What are your food aversions? in ~food
goose Link ParentThis would have been an excellent comeback if I were more educatedThis would have been an excellent comeback if I were more educated
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Comment on Wireless light/fan switch reccomendations in ~life.home_improvement
goose LinkAre you sure? Not sure if you've tried sneaking a peak through the gap around the gang box, or with a small endoscope, but if the wire is not secured to the stud then it's as easy as taping some...but running a new wire would require ripping out drywall
Are you sure? Not sure if you've tried sneaking a peak through the gap around the gang box, or with a small endoscope, but if the wire is not secured to the stud then it's as easy as taping some 14/3 to the end of your 14/2 super good and then gently pulling from one end or the other.
I only mention it as I recently did this myself, and it was almost way easier. I did end up having to remove the gang box to so I could get the wire the rest of the way, I was pulling towards the gang box. But I was going to have to do that anyways since I was replacing it with a double gang, it just didn't occur to me to remove it before the wire pull.
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
goose LinkBack in September, I posted about a tool I made to help generate LLM AI summaries of TTRPG sessions played on Discord. This week, I made a huge number of updates and changes to it, generally...Back in September, I posted about a tool I made to help generate LLM AI summaries of TTRPG sessions played on Discord.
This week, I made a huge number of updates and changes to it, generally increasing its efficiency, as well as capturing metrics and offering better functionality.
The general work flow is:
- Use the
Craigbot to record your TTRPG session played on Discord - Upload the
.zipfrom Craig to Scribble, where the audio is locally converted into a text transcript - Upload the text transcript, along with a user defined prompt, to your LLM AI of choice*
* originally I only had support for Gemini, but now, I've added support for all 3 major providers (Gemini, Claude, ChatGPT), as well as Ollama. So if using Ollama, this could be fully localized.
- Scribble parses the response and posts it to Discord
Some of the tools I've added that have really increased its usefulness include a way for our DM to view/download individual and campaign-wide transcripts and recaps, so that he can pick through things and find details we may have mentioned that he wants to pursue. He feels it's taken a lot of the "note taking" burden off of him, to have a scribe he can reference for help.
- Use the
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Comment on What are your food aversions? in ~food
goose Link ParentI'm reminded of a quote from a former co-worker who also detests blue cheese. In his words: A bit dramatic, perhaps 😂 But pretty funny, particularly in the heat of that momentI'm reminded of a quote from a former co-worker who also detests blue cheese. In his words:
There's two kinds of people in this world. There's people who hate blue cheese. And there's isis. So which one are you?
A bit dramatic, perhaps 😂 But pretty funny, particularly in the heat of that moment
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Comment on What are your food aversions? in ~food
goose LinkSour cream. It all stems from an incident probably 25 years ago. My family went to a church dinner event. Big spread, lots of options. Hot dogs, hamburgers, tacos, chili, and more. I lathered up a...Sour cream.
It all stems from an incident probably 25 years ago. My family went to a church dinner event. Big spread, lots of options. Hot dogs, hamburgers, tacos, chili, and more. I lathered up a hamburger bun with what I thought was some mayonnaise. Imagine my surprise when I took a big bite out of it and learned it was sour cream. And I haven't been able to eat it since.
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Comment on Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month in ~tech
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Comment on Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month in ~tech
goose Link ParentShould out to #Tildes on Libera! We're up to 12 users! 13 if you include ChanServ!Should out to #Tildes on Libera! We're up to 12 users! 13 if you include ChanServ!
The newest novel in Mark Greaney's Gray Man series: The Hard Line. About 40% through it, and really enjoying it. It's got some new stuff it brings to the series, as well as reusing old in a fun "new" way.
On a side note, I've become a member of the site Hardcover, and have really enjoyed it for its high quality curation of books and content. A very nice alternative to Good Reads.