Omnicrola's recent activity
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Comment on Call of Duty: Ghosts – Power, paranoia, and orbital tungsten rods in ~games
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Comment on Spotify is adding direct messaging to their music streaming app in ~tech
Omnicrola LinkAbsolutely fucking not. I have had a paid Spotify subscription for a very long time, but this gives me pause.Absolutely fucking not. I have had a paid Spotify subscription for a very long time, but this gives me pause.
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Comment on ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ delivers Netflix first No. 1 box office win with $19M+, but streamer doesn’t want to officially report in ~movies
Omnicrola Link ParentIt was new to me as well, and I stumbled across this great video of a Korean language teacher explaining it along with some of the Korean lyrics and cultural references: https://youtu.be/qCmpU3ssip8Would love to know if it's a reference to some mythology or film history because it cut through tension so well.
It was new to me as well, and I stumbled across this great video of a Korean language teacher explaining it along with some of the Korean lyrics and cultural references: https://youtu.be/qCmpU3ssip8
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Comment on I asked Michelin chefs how they cook ramen in ~food
Omnicrola LinkThat first chef's version not only looks amazing, but is the only one I feel I could actually make in my kitchen right now. The others are actual fully elevated dishes that would take either way...That first chef's version not only looks amazing, but is the only one I feel I could actually make in my kitchen right now. The others are actual fully elevated dishes that would take either way too much time, far too expensive ingredients, or both. No judgement, the video title did not say "that you can make at home", just that the first one is the only one that excited me.
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Comment on Medieval Europeans were fanatical about a strange fruit with a vulgar name that could only be eaten rotten. Then it was forgotten altogether. Why did they love it so much? And why did it disappear? in ~humanities.history
Omnicrola LinkGreat article, this part in particular tickled me.Great article, this part in particular tickled me.
The process is known as "bletting", a word made-up by a botanist who noticed there wasn't one in 1839.
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Comment on What's a question you could ask to determine if someone is an expert in your line of work? in ~talk
Omnicrola Link ParentThe screens are usually set fairly low simply because they're to bright! If they were set at 100% they would also use more power, but it's mainly lighting reasons. If a performer is on the stage,...The screens are usually set fairly low simply because they're to bright! If they were set at 100% they would also use more power, but it's mainly lighting reasons.
If a performer is on the stage, the more light coming off the wall, the more intensely you need to set the other lighting gear. Most standard portable lights cannot outshine a bright LED wall by themselves. So you either need more of them, or more expensive higher powered ones. All that lighting is not only potentially making it hard for your performer to see, it's hot! LED walls also make great radiant heaters. Even with a robust cooling system, the LED panels are radiating heat directly onto people.
For reference, your average desktop monitor will usually have a maximum brightness of 400nits. The panels on our LED wall max out at 3000nits, and there are some models that are used on the ceiling to simulate daylight that can reach 5,000-7,000.
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Comment on What's a question you could ask to determine if someone is an expert in your line of work? in ~talk
Omnicrola Link ParentClose! I help create and display content used to film on a Virtual Production LED Volume. https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-virtual-production-definition/Close! I help create and display content used to film on a Virtual Production LED Volume.
https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-virtual-production-definition/
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Comment on What's a question you could ask to determine if someone is an expert in your line of work? in ~talk
Omnicrola Link"What percentage of the maximum nits do you think that Virtual Production LED wall over there typically runs at?" About 10% - 30% maximum output. When optimizing a 3D scene for Renderstream..."What percentage of the maximum nits do you think that Virtual Production LED wall over there typically runs at?"
About 10% - 30% maximum output.
When optimizing a 3D scene for Renderstream output, what is your target framerate and resolution?
A: 30fps absolute minimum, 60fps ideally - at 4K resolution
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Comment on Turn any webpage into a 1990s GeoCities blink fest in ~tech
Omnicrola LinkFYI this site triggered a security block on my work laptop based on it's IP.FYI this site triggered a security block on my work laptop based on it's IP.
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Comment on A new type of vaccine is needle-free and doubles as dental floss in ~science
Omnicrola Link ParentI was sure someone would probably pop up 😅 Needles also don't bother me, but I wouldn't say I like them. Floss though, getting stuck stuff un stuck, very satisfying.I was sure someone would probably pop up 😅
Needles also don't bother me, but I wouldn't say I like them. Floss though, getting stuck stuff un stuck, very satisfying. -
Comment on Open hardware desktop 3D printing is dead - you just don't know it yet in ~tech
Omnicrola Link ParentI got tired of shuffling the SD card in and out of my Ender3 and instead got a $150 little Dell Optiplex to act as my Octoprint server. Cost as much as the printer itself, but totally worth it.I got tired of shuffling the SD card in and out of my Ender3 and instead got a $150 little Dell Optiplex to act as my Octoprint server. Cost as much as the printer itself, but totally worth it.
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Comment on A new type of vaccine is needle-free and doubles as dental floss in ~science
Omnicrola Link ParentThis was also my first thought, I think I've met one person who said they consistently floss every day. Anyways, this is also great news for anyone with a needle phobia. People may not like...This was also my first thought, I think I've met one person who said they consistently floss every day.
Anyways, this is also great news for anyone with a needle phobia. People may not like flossing, but I've never met anyone afraid of it. So given the choice between getting stabbed and cleaning your teeth...
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Comment on Synthetic sugar-coated nanoparticle blocks Covid-19 from infecting human cells in ~health
Omnicrola LinkI tried reading the paper to understand a bit more but couldn't find details on how this might be deployed in the field. How long do the polysialosides stay in the body? If it's not involving the...I tried reading the paper to understand a bit more but couldn't find details on how this might be deployed in the field. How long do the polysialosides stay in the body? If it's not involving the immune system and is instead just floating around the body waiting to glue itself to a virus, how long before the body tries to dispose of it?
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Comment on A day in the life of @Akir in ~life
Omnicrola LinkI believe you, and I agree that you're a strong person who is clearly working every day to improve themselves. Which is often the most attractive thing anyone can do. So with that framing in mind,...But I'm not posting this because I want people to feel sorry for me, or because I need help coping with it. I'm a strong person, and I actually do have a good sense of self-worth and self-love even if it's constantly under threat of the other thoughts in my head.
I believe you, and I agree that you're a strong person who is clearly working every day to improve themselves. Which is often the most attractive thing anyone can do. So with that framing in mind, I offer you praise and support not because you need it, but because I'm having a fairly positive day and have extra support to spare (which is not always the case).
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Comment on Nvidia, AMD agree to pay US government 15% of AI chip sales to China in ~tech
Omnicrola Link ParentIt's not bribery, not in the sense of "Trump gets money out of this" (at least directly). It's business making the concessions they have to in order to access a huge market demand in China via an...It's not bribery, not in the sense of "Trump gets money out of this" (at least directly). It's business making the concessions they have to in order to access a huge market demand in China via an appeal to Trump's ego as "the deal maker".
There's a really interesting breakdown of how this happened (the reversal on banning H20 exports) from the NYT Daily podcast (older episodes are behind a paywall, but this YT link is still freely available) The CEO of Nvidia has been largely absent from politics, noticeably so when so many other of the most powerful tech CEOs went to the White House in Jan to bend the knee. Only now is he making moves to work with the Trump admin, and it seems to be a very focused effort with the very specific goal of keeping access to China open so they can sell more AI chips.
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Comment on Review: My Father’s Instant Mashed Potatoes in ~food
Omnicrola Link ParentI agree that it was a fun read, and has some interesting thoughts that it shares. (Also I'm biased, I grew up in Idaho, potatoes are great, and here's a whole article on them.) They did lose me at...I agree that it was a fun read, and has some interesting thoughts that it shares.
(Also I'm biased, I grew up in Idaho, potatoes are great, and here's a whole article on them.)
They did lose me at the point where they start trying to apply the "IMP-ification" of potatoes to other things and it rapidly reaches into territory where the comparison just ceases to make any sense at all. Removing that entire chunk would honestly have made the entire essay better. At it's core I think what the author is driving at is essentially enshittification, but using potatoes. And it's not entirely a good fit, but I appreciate the attempt.
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Comment on In the future all food will be cooked in a microwave, and if you can’t deal with that then you need to get out of the kitchen in ~tech
Omnicrola Link ParentPeople who don't use the power settings on their microwave baffle me. I think most people I know use only one button: "+30sec". This is why things are lava.People who don't use the power settings on their microwave baffle me. I think most people I know use only one button: "+30sec".
This is why things are lava.
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Comment on Troubling scenes from an Arctic in full-tilt crisis. The heat that hit Svalbard in February was so intense that scientists could dig into the ground with spoons, "like it was soft ice cream." in ~enviro
Omnicrola Link ParentHello fellow cave-persons. I also enjoy not thinking about what other people might think of [thing I am doing]. I also enjoy not doomscrolling through endless stories of horror. There is enough...Hello fellow cave-persons. I also enjoy not thinking about what other people might think of [thing I am doing]. I also enjoy not doomscrolling through endless stories of horror. There is enough actual horror happening that the truly important things are relayed to me by friends, in person, with their mouths. But at a much slower pace, and in bite sized portions.
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Comment on Troubling scenes from an Arctic in full-tilt crisis. The heat that hit Svalbard in February was so intense that scientists could dig into the ground with spoons, "like it was soft ice cream." in ~enviro
Omnicrola Link ParentIt's one of the reasons I stopped going camping, which I did a lot as a kid. While there used to be something fun about discarding all the distractions and complications of the modern world and...It's one of the reasons I stopped going camping, which I did a lot as a kid. While there used to be something fun about discarding all the distractions and complications of the modern world and going and sleeping in a tent in the woods, it's no longer fun. As a kid, I could easily run amok with few worries regardless of where I was. Now as an adult, I miss all my mundane conveniences in my house.
For all the people advocating to "return to nature" in some degree, all I can think of is how horrible it would be to go camping .... forever. The first person to break their leg is now likely to have a limp for the rest of their life, or just straight up die. And that's just one example. I don't want to think up any others right now so as to avoid depressing myself.
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Comment on The hater's guide to the AI bubble in ~finance
Omnicrola LinkI read the whole thing, it's well written and breaks down several things that I've been wondering about but haven't been able to articulate to people. The last quote in particular hits on a thing...I read the whole thing, it's well written and breaks down several things that I've been wondering about but haven't been able to articulate to people.
Yet after that, generative AI feels more like a feature of cloud infrastructure rather than infrastructure itself. AWS and similar megaclouds are versatile, flexible and multifaceted. Generative AI does what generative AI does, and that's about it.
You can run lots of different things on AWS. What are the different things you can run using Large Language Models? What are the different use cases, and, indeed, user requirements that make this the supposed "next big thing"?
The term "agent" is one of the most egregious acts of fraud I've seen in my entire career writing about this crap, and that includes the metaverse.
OpenAI is a terrible business, and the only businesses worse than OpenAI are the companies built on top of it. Large Language Models are too expensive to run, and have limited abilities beyond the ones I've named previously, and because everybody is running models that all, on some level, do the same thing, it's very hard for people to build really innovative products on top of them.
So, really, everything comes down to NVIDIA's ability to sell GPUs, and this industry, if we're really honest, at this point only exists to do so. Generative AI products do not provide significant revenue growth, its products are not useful in the way that unlocks significant business value, and the products that have some adoption run at such a grotesque loss.
If you want to know my true agenda, it's that I see something in generative AI and its boosters something I truly dislike. Large Language Models authoritatively state things that are incorrect because they have no concept of right or wrong. I believe that the writers, managers and executives that find it exciting do so because it gives them the ability to pretend to be intelligent without actually learning anything, to do everything they can to avoid actual work or responsibility for themselves or others.
There is an overwhelming condescension that comes from fans of generative AI — the sense that they know something you don't, something they double down on. We are being forced to use it by bosses, or services we like that now insist it's part of our documents or our search engines, not because it does something, but because those pushing it need us to use it to prove that they know what's going on.
The last quote in particular hits on a thing I'd been feeling strongly the last year or so. While AI has some utility and is interesting, the people around me hyping it up all give off a similar vibe. That vibe is one separate from the usual used-car-salesman ick that accompanies people blindly buying into a trend. It's a discomforting sense that the people who are heavy AI users are commonly bluffing their way through everything. That they're operating solely on AI summaries of everything in their life, and don't actually understand any of it at anything beyond a surface level.
But particularly relevant this week, he recently gave a talk on the trolling culture specific to fans of the (at the time) unconfirmed and unreleased game Silksong.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WSkbylysplI