kacey's recent activity
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Comment on Telegram creator on Elon Musk, resisting FBI attacks, and getting mugged in California in ~tech
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Comment on Is Tildes failing to thrive? in ~tildes
kacey LinkIt’d be interesting to see stats on it, but I wonder if folks are just posting more these days? I think there have been a few threads by people using apps and whatnot where they note that they...It’d be interesting to see stats on it, but I wonder if folks are just posting more these days? I think there have been a few threads by people using apps and whatnot where they note that they forward tonnes of links to Tildes whenever something piques their interest. Since the site doesn’t run a recommender algorithm which could hide it, perhaps you’re simply seeing the increased churn from that?
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Comment on The migrant highway that could sway the US election in ~misc
kacey Link ParentMay I ask if you tried clearing your cookies? I'd imagine they're keeping track of whether you've visited the page.May I ask if you tried clearing your cookies? I'd imagine they're keeping track of whether you've visited the page.
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Comment on Ffmpeg and AV1 for HTML5 streaming in ~comp
kacey Link ParentAh, gotcha, that makes more sense. Couple of notes: I was thinking moreso directly linking to files on it, or pulling it through a bandwidth alliance member to avoid egress fees. That said, since...Ah, gotcha, that makes more sense. Couple of notes:
I did test storing in B2 and playing back from there using rclone, it was pretty flawless.
I was thinking moreso directly linking to files on it, or pulling it through a bandwidth alliance member to avoid egress fees. That said, since you’re OK with self hosting, you're already using the most cost effective option!
[using vp9]
Seems like a reasonable argument, but it’s normally worth considering what you’ll do in failure scenarios — eg if someone has been playing your videos on an ancient Android tablet duct taped to a meeting room table, or some such. Even a pop up window explaining why the video isn’t running might be worth avoiding the support call.
[20 TB SSD RAID 6 array]
Ah, I guess that’s where the video file size consideration comes in? I’m kinda surprised at using SSDs for low-access rate content storage; for a self hosted solution, I’d have expected a pile of HDDs behind an SSD cache (or a machine with a pile of RAM). Still, it explains the motivation at least.
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Comment on Ffmpeg and AV1 for HTML5 streaming in ~comp
kacey LinkNot that I work with you, but if I were asked this question at the office: I'd suggest testing it yourself instead of making a guess -- we don't know your audience, and each one is different....Not that I work with you, but if I were asked this question at the office:
What's the chance of switching to AV1 and not having to worry about the fallback for the most part?
I'd suggest testing it yourself instead of making a guess -- we don't know your audience, and each one is different. Assuming your clients support javascript (most people don't block it), you can use something like modernizr and an analytics framework to answer this question directly.
Pulling back a little: consider that dropping support for older codecs affects people running older hardware. Assuming you're releasing to a wide external audience, this tends to mean that you're preventing poorer (e.g. the global south, appalachia), disadvantaged (e.g. ethnic minorities), or oppressed people (e.g. anyone in a blockaded country w/o easy access to modern hardware) from accessing your content. That said, poor people aren't worth much per advertisement impression, and they can't afford to pay you enough, so the above might not be a loss for the company.
The sooner we move to AV1, the sooner we can have high quality video stored at smaller file sizes, which is a massive bonus.
This line stood out -- are you hosting your video files yourself, or using a video/streaming CDN? Normally the latter doesn't care about the format of your uploaded videos. And regardless, I'd imagine that discount storage services (such as B2) should keep your fees fairly low regardless of compression algorithm. Not sure what your budgetary constraints are like, however.
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Comment on Apple has kept an illegal monopoly over smartphones in US, Justice Department says in antitrust suit in ~tech
kacey Link ParentPerhaps that’s reasonable? But in my heart, I don’t feel that the average human has enough extra energy (“spoons”) to handle the complexity of choosing between multiple products in a category on a...Perhaps that’s reasonable? But in my heart, I don’t feel that the average human has enough extra energy (“spoons”) to handle the complexity of choosing between multiple products in a category on a regular basis. For whatever reason, the average person seems to crave convenience and simplicity for everything that “isn’t their problem”, even to their detriment …
As you suggest, perhaps regulations to enforce minimum quality bars are the way forward, since people can’t be trusted to think about what they’re buying (beyond always buying the easiest, simplest, cheapest thing).
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Comment on Apple has kept an illegal monopoly over smartphones in US, Justice Department says in antitrust suit in ~tech
kacey Link ParentI’m not disagreeing with your comment or, if I’m being honest, contributing much to the conversation, but I can’t for the life of my find a decent shirt! They all tend to be made of materials that...I’m not disagreeing with your comment or, if I’m being honest, contributing much to the conversation, but I can’t for the life of my find a decent shirt! They all tend to be made of materials that throw off microplastics, use crops that are grown with far too much water, exploit foreign workers terribly, fit badly, don’t layer well, etc.
A lot of things are complicated, not just electronic toys! It seems like markets really only care about what’s cheap, and the only options reasonably available to me are the cheapest ones imaginable (or are unimaginably expensive).
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Comment on A startling rise in sea-surface temperatures suggests that we may not understand how fast the climate is changing in ~enviro
kacey Link Parent(here’s a relevant article, in case it helps. tl;dr is microbes can decompose stuff again when it thaws)(here’s a relevant article, in case it helps. tl;dr is microbes can decompose stuff again when it thaws)
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Comment on It’s hearty, it’s meaty, it’s mold in ~food
kacey Link ParentMakes sense! And yeah, I can definitely relate to vegan cooking having a different mindset; there was definitely a learning curve.Makes sense! And yeah, I can definitely relate to vegan cooking having a different mindset; there was definitely a learning curve.
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Comment on Synthesizing chicken noodle soup from pure chemicals in ~food
kacey LinkI thought of this video after reading through some comments in a thread earlier! The tl;dw is that, with some relatively tame lab ingredients, one can simulate a lot of meat-y flavours. They're...I thought of this video after reading through some comments in a thread earlier! The tl;dw is that, with some relatively tame lab ingredients, one can simulate a lot of meat-y flavours. They're still detectable vs. the real thing, but more than acceptable when hidden under other flavours in a dish (e.g. soup).
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Synthesizing chicken noodle soup from pure chemicals
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Comment on It’s hearty, it’s meaty, it’s mold in ~food
kacey Link ParentOut of curiousity, may I ask what vegan food means to you? I've read that it's expensive a few times, but in my diet, switching only meant cutting out beef, chicken, eggs and milk products. Those...And even then, vegan food is more expensive to begin with (well, unless you just eat beans) [...]
Out of curiousity, may I ask what vegan food means to you? I've read that it's expensive a few times, but in my diet, switching only meant cutting out beef, chicken, eggs and milk products. Those were all by far the most expensive parts of it anyhow. If anything I'm eating a lot more variety than before (e.g. brassicas that I wouldn't've tried before, eggplants (they always looked weird, don't judge me XD), tempeh), so it seems like a net win for me.
But perhaps your cooking repertoire is a lot larger than mine, so you'd lose a lot of variety by comparison!
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Comment on It’s hearty, it’s meaty, it’s mold in ~food
kacey LinkPosting this as a sibling comment to Akir's thread, but there's a very similar product called Quorn that's been in the UK market for decades. IIRC that brand was struck with a bunch of...Posting this as a sibling comment to Akir's thread, but there's a very similar product called Quorn that's been in the UK market for decades. IIRC that brand was struck with a bunch of interference lawsuits from US companies wanting to protect their monopolies on meat alternatives (garden burger and etc.), which helped keep it out of the North American market.
Not sure how it's doing these days, but it seems like they're still in business.
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Comment on Beyond the water flow rate: Water pressure and smart timers impact shower efficiency in ~enviro
kacey Link ParentIt certainly can be! There can be a similar concern with microplastics, too. Typically, grey water systems come with a diverter that can select between the garden and your sewer/septic line — this...It certainly can be! There can be a similar concern with microplastics, too. Typically, grey water systems come with a diverter that can select between the garden and your sewer/septic line — this is also useful when, for example, running a load of diapers through the laundry. Most of the time it’s enough to use cleaning products that are explicitly marked as grey water safe, however.
Overall: many options require a change in behaviour in order to be most effective. Since people are often resistant to change, those options should probably be deprioritized, since we need to make slower cultural shifts — instead of quicker, technological ones — in order for them to take effect.
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Comment on A mistake in a Tesla and a panicked final call: The death of Angela Chao in ~transport
kacey Link ParentAs a heads up, newer vehicles often use laminated glass in the driver and passenger side windows in order to prevent passenger ejections during a collision (source), so a tempered glass breaker...As a heads up, newer vehicles often use laminated glass in the driver and passenger side windows in order to prevent passenger ejections during a collision (source), so a tempered glass breaker won't work (note that this is also commented upon in the article; the Tesla might've had laminated glass). Not sure what is recommended anymore, if anything.
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Comment on Beyond the water flow rate: Water pressure and smart timers impact shower efficiency in ~enviro
kacey Link ParentCouple thoughts on showering habits, and how energy might be better spent (assuming we can’t do everything at once): some regions discount agricultural water rates enough that farms are...Couple thoughts on showering habits, and how energy might be better spent (assuming we can’t do everything at once):
- some regions discount agricultural water rates enough that farms are disincentivized from investing into more efficient watering systems. Switching that around so that we subsidize system improvements but charge a higher water rate is occasionally dramatically more impactful than decreasing residential water consumption.
- not sure if the UK is anything like NA, but lawn maintenance is a huge component of residential water consumption. Planting more native and drought resistant plants is also a very efficient investment of resources.
- grey water plumbing (eg recycling sink or laundry water) effectively diverts waste streams so that they can be used in place of irrigation water, which when done at scale, dramatically reduces overall water consumption.
- and yeah at the end of that optimization process it might make sense to bathe differently (using wands and intermittent switches would likely be more acceptable to many than going to a mister, however). Speaking for myself, I’d probably prefer a sponge bath to installing new fixtures and whatnot.
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Comment on Beyond the water flow rate: Water pressure and smart timers impact shower efficiency in ~enviro
kacey Link ParentI’d also add that on-demand recirc exists! Ie instead of running the tap, you hit a button and wait for it to chime that the water is heated.I’d also add that on-demand recirc exists! Ie instead of running the tap, you hit a button and wait for it to chime that the water is heated.
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Comment on Beyond the water flow rate: Water pressure and smart timers impact shower efficiency in ~enviro
kacey Link ParentIn case you’re referring to a point of use water heater instead of the tankless, central water heater that vord mentioned in a sibling comment, I’d add that heat pump water heaters are more than...In case you’re referring to a point of use water heater instead of the tankless, central water heater that vord mentioned in a sibling comment, I’d add that heat pump water heaters are more than 100% efficient, since they move heat from the air (typically) into your water, making the air colder. Gas/electric heaters need to make all that extra heat themselves from scratch, which takes a lot more energy. So even if you lose energy in the recirc loop, it’s not that much by comparison.
You can do some math though if you’re interested — it should be pretty straightforward to see how much energy is in your demand loop based on the volume of water + it’s heat vs. your ambient air temp, then compare that to a heat pump water heater and a tankless system.
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Comment on The more I use Linux, the more I hate every distro in ~tech
kacey Link ParentJust to counterpoint, I work in software development on a daily basis and my work MacBook is by far more of a time sink than any of my hobby devices. Maybe things are different for people that...Just to counterpoint, I work in software development on a daily basis and my work MacBook is by far more of a time sink than any of my hobby devices. Maybe things are different for people that have different demands of their machine.
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Comment on Bitcoin tops $57,000 price level for first time since late 2021 in ~finance
kacey Link ParentJust a note on Bitcoin: Cryptopayments Energy Efficiency, but wow that's a ... very weird paper? SSRN isn't a peer reviewed journal -- it's a preprint site like arxiv. Minimally, it seems to...Just a note on Bitcoin: Cryptopayments Energy Efficiency, but wow that's a ... very weird paper? SSRN isn't a peer reviewed journal -- it's a preprint site like arxiv.
Minimally, it seems to equate running literally the entire financial system (i.e. creating physical currency, running banks, operating ATMs, etc.) to operating bitcoin miners. I'd imagine most folks looking into this crypto stuff are looking for an alternative payment processing solution, not a ground up refactor of the entire economy, so even if I trusted the results (I don't) it's not answering the question I'd naively ask of it.
Also, as a quick tangent, thank you for linking to resources :) it might be useful for other folks to frame some of them a little differently, though. E.g. Menati et al. 2023 is about the Texas power grid in particular, which afaik is fairly unusual (it's in a developed country with tonnes of electrical demand, but doesn't interconnect with other grids effectively).
In case you’re interested in the content but not the person presenting it, I normally find AI summaries to be a decent middle ground. Standard caveats about accuracy and bias apply, ofc.