lonjil's recent activity

  2. Comment on Canonical offering Blender support in ~tech

    lonjil
    Link
    This will probably be quite helpful for Blender adoption by big studios, who want to be able to pay for support.

    This will probably be quite helpful for Blender adoption by big studios, who want to be able to pay for support.

    1 vote

  4. Comment on The Freenode resignation FAQ in ~tech

    lonjil
    Link Parent
    Heh, I don't actually know of very many newly created IRC channels. Most of the ones I hang out on are ancient channels that happen to have inflows of new users faster than old ones disappear....

    Heh, I don't actually know of very many newly created IRC channels. Most of the ones I hang out on are ancient channels that happen to have inflows of new users faster than old ones disappear. Won't continue forever, but for now those are the best places for some discussions.

    This is what I mean by having a shot at becoming a backbone.

    Fair enough, but matrix as a protocol in more general use doesn't seem like it'd be affected much by whether a few more people use matrix.org or not.

    I don't really see how that's a take on the protocol itself though.

    It isn't, it's a take on moving to matrix or not for decentralisation related reasons.

    1 vote

  5. Comment on The Freenode resignation FAQ in ~tech

    lonjil
    Link Parent
    What denial? I don't think anyone in this thread was saying that IRC is popular, just that the people who use it do so because they like it. And asking for it to die does seem like caring if...

    I don't particularly care if people still want to hang out on it, but god damn this denial and this idea that "no no trust me, it's still alive, it'll never die, it can't die" is ridiculous.

    What denial? I don't think anyone in this thread was saying that IRC is popular, just that the people who use it do so because they like it. And asking for it to die does seem like caring if people use it.

    3 votes

  6. Comment on Flight of the Navigator | VFXcool in ~movies

    lonjil
    Link Parent
    It is worth noting that VFX artists hate this. Shots are preferably planned out and built to support whatever VFX are planned. Actually, I was just watching a tutorial a few days ago that opened...

    These days it's so often just "shoot it, we'll fix it in post"

    It is worth noting that VFX artists hate this. Shots are preferably planned out and built to support whatever VFX are planned. Actually, I was just watching a tutorial a few days ago that opened with a rant about directors and actors always asking him to just do this or that super difficult thing, because they didn't want to bother with putting on the right shirt for the shot or whatever.

    2 votes

  7. Comment on The Freenode resignation FAQ in ~tech

    lonjil
    Link Parent
    I was responding to your appeal to your memories. I've tried to use Matrix many times. But the clients are all crap, and the least crap-seeming ones also have the least features implemented. Also,...

    It's not selfish. Matrix has a

    I was responding to your appeal to your memories.

    Matrix has a serious shot at making the world's person-to-person communication protocols open. I can't stress how important it is for that to happen, rather than continue with the current fragmentation between a thousand different proprietary protocols.

    I've tried to use Matrix many times. But the clients are all crap, and the least crap-seeming ones also have the least features implemented. Also, Matrix suffers from high levels of centralisation. Almost everyone uses matrix.org as their homeserver. Most channels live on matrix.org. And because a large value proposition of Matrix is the global identity and chat logs, this central point is much more important to Matrix as a whole than any IRC network is to IRC.

    IMO the selfish ones are those clinging hopelessly to IRC, a protocol with no future, for the sake of nostalgia.

    I don't know anyone who uses IRC out of nostalgia. Hell, a large chunk of people I know on IRC are people who only seriously started using it recently, as previously stated including myself. We use it because we find it useful.

    3 votes

  8. Comment on The Freenode resignation FAQ in ~tech

    lonjil
    Link Parent
    Unfortunately all IRC alternatives are really pretty crap. IRC is pretty crap too but it works, and is actually mature. This seems kinda, selfish? I use IRC because it's useful. Whether it...

    Unfortunately all IRC alternatives are really pretty crap. IRC is pretty crap too but it works, and is actually mature.

    Let it die. Please let it die. I feel like I'm watching a beloved relative go through the worst parts of old age, tarnishing my memory of them in the process.

    This seems kinda, selfish? I use IRC because it's useful. Whether it continues to be useful has nothing to do with your nostalgia of it. If it has no use to you, then sure don't use it. I haven't used IRC for nearly as long as you have, but over time I find myself using it more and more, rather than less. A few years ago it was something I had just in case I needed to hop in for tech support for whatever project, now it's a place where I chat with friends and participate in projects.

    6 votes

  9. Comment on The Freenode resignation FAQ in ~tech

    lonjil
    Link Parent
    So far my experience has been the opposite. Most channels I'm in moved swiftly to Libera, and even when alternatives were set up, such as Matrix channels, almost no one joined them.

    A bunch of them will just open Discord and uninstall IRC for good.

    So far my experience has been the opposite. Most channels I'm in moved swiftly to Libera, and even when alternatives were set up, such as Matrix channels, almost no one joined them.

    5 votes

  10. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~finance

    lonjil
    Link Parent
    The idea and ideal of personal housing as an investment is a broken idea that contributes a lot to inequality, I wish we could get rid of it.

    The idea and ideal of personal housing as an investment is a broken idea that contributes a lot to inequality, I wish we could get rid of it.

    12 votes

  11. Comment on The "S" in "IoT" is for Security in ~tech

    lonjil
    Link Parent
    A lot of smart devices already work like that. ZigBee devices can only talk with other devices on the same ZigBee network and their hub, which may or may not be connected to the internet. Though...

    A lot of smart devices already work like that. ZigBee devices can only talk with other devices on the same ZigBee network and their hub, which may or may not be connected to the internet. Though ZigBee is mostly restricted to things with simple actions attached, like sensors, lights, motors, and what not.

    7 votes

  12. Comment on Why prehistoric humans needed no braces: Crooked teeth are a modern phenomenon and a telltale sign of an underlying epidemic in ~science

    lonjil
    Link Parent
    It's wasn't an evolutionary change. Our food is too soft, so there isn't enough force applied during our growing years for our mouths to get into the right shape.

    It's wasn't an evolutionary change. Our food is too soft, so there isn't enough force applied during our growing years for our mouths to get into the right shape.

    7 votes

  13. Comment on Rocket Lab introduces Neutron, an eight ton payload rocket in ~space

    lonjil
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Likewise.It's a pretty large chunk of money they're getting out of it, so hopefully they can put it to good use. Apparently, 82% of ownership post merger will be held by Rocket Lab's current...

    Likewise.It's a pretty large chunk of money they're getting out of it, so hopefully they can put it to good use. Apparently, 82% of ownership post merger will be held by Rocket Lab's current owners/investors, hopefully they're interested in letting it continue to run as it has.

    Also, I must admit that the first thing I did despite my disappointment was buy shares of Vector Acquisition Corporation (VACQ)...

    E: though of course, maybe they're going public because the private investors want to jump ship or something.

    1 vote

  14. Comment on Rocket Lab introduces Neutron, an eight ton payload rocket in ~space

    lonjil
    Link
    They have a press release here. Basic facts: 4.5 meters wide, 40 meters tall, first stage reusable, planning to fly in 2024, and maximum payload to Venus is 1.5 tons. Also, Rocket Lab is set to go...

    They have a press release here.
    Basic facts: 4.5 meters wide, 40 meters tall, first stage reusable, planning to fly in 2024, and maximum payload to Venus is 1.5 tons.

    Also, Rocket Lab is set to go public in a merger with the SPAC Vector Acquisition Corporation.

    3 votes

  16. Comment on Medical chatbot using OpenAI’s GPT-3 told a fake patient to kill themselves in ~tech

    lonjil
    Link Parent
    Any way you can define 'understand', our brains are closer to it by several orders of magnitude than GPT-3.

    Any way you can define 'understand', our brains are closer to it by several orders of magnitude than GPT-3.

    3 votes

  17. Comment on TreeToTextile set to build demonstration plant in Sweden – several Nordic pulp makers are part of projects developing new clean ways to turn trees into textile fibre in ~enviro

    lonjil
    Link Parent
    Rayon is basically identical regardless if source plant. How it feels is mostly down to how the cellulose is dissolved, reconstructed, and processed.

    Rayon is basically identical regardless if source plant. How it feels is mostly down to how the cellulose is dissolved, reconstructed, and processed.

    3 votes

  18. Comment on Scientists are concerned by falling sperm counts and declining egg quality. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals may be the problem. in ~science

    lonjil
    Link Parent
    The red in tomato is very sticky, and doesn't really indicate anything about a plastic container other than it not being as smooth and hard to stick to as glass.

    The red in tomato is very sticky, and doesn't really indicate anything about a plastic container other than it not being as smooth and hard to stick to as glass.

    4 votes

  19. Comment on Tildes is pushing out the minority voice in ~talk

    lonjil
    Link Parent
    I don't know whether you should be preparing for that, but I'm sending you a friendly hug over the internet-waves, if that's ok.

    I don't know whether you should be preparing for that, but I'm sending you a friendly hug over the internet-waves, if that's ok.

    8 votes

  20. Comment on Tildes is pushing out the minority voice in ~talk

    lonjil
    Link Parent
    Rationality is a nice thing, but I think "rationalists" tends to not actually be very good at those things they espouse. The SSC somewhat infamously was more willing to engage with nazis than with...

    Rationality is a nice thing, but I think "rationalists" tends to not actually be very good at those things they espouse. The SSC somewhat infamously was more willing to engage with nazis than with so-called SJWs.

    Being capable of dispassionate, "high decoupling" discussion is certainly useful, but in practice people will only do it sometimes, influenced by their subconscious biases. What is needed is understanding in which situations decoupling/dispassion is useful, and in which situations it is harmful. If you don't apply that lens, which situation gets which treatment becomes happenstance, potentially not very good happenstance.

    15 votes