prostetnicjeltz's recent activity

  1. Comment on How are you dealing with AI generated results in your searches? in ~tech

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link Parent
    I subscribe as well. Beyond the search being really good, I actually use their Fastgpt front end quite a bit as well (which is basically using an Anthropic model on its search data). I'm in a...

    I subscribe as well. Beyond the search being really good, I actually use their Fastgpt front end quite a bit as well (which is basically using an Anthropic model on its search data).

    I'm in a technical field, but it's been pretty good at answering very specific scientific questions. While it isn't perfect, it does provide reference links (many times to specific scientific papers) which are helpful in narrowing down what I am trying to find.

    Edit: For clarity, their FastGPT is strictly optional and isn't contaminating your search results.

    3 votes

  2. Comment on AI IT project management in ~tech

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link
    I use it mostly in a very non-creative way.: Helping to finish off or generate correspondence and to ask questions about specific guidances within the industry that I work in. It's been pretty...

    I use it mostly in a very non-creative way.: Helping to finish off or generate correspondence and to ask questions about specific guidances within the industry that I work in.

    It's been pretty invaluable to use something like ChatGPT to generate first drafts for something like an incident report, or a thank-you note. Sometimes I'll input the first paragraph of something I've written and then give it the instruction to provide a fitting conclusion or sign-off.

    I also use Kagi's FastGPT as a search tool. I give it questions like "Does test X need to be performed in compliance with Y regulatory guidance" or "In the context of analytical chemistry, how could one evaluate the purity of a monocolonal antibody". You generally get a good summary of what you are looking for, but more importantly you get links to the documents that it is citing so you can better evaluate the response based on the source material.

    AI is a neat tool that will be misused by lots of people who don't know what they are doing. If you do know what you are doing however, it can make things easier for you by lightening some of your cognitive load and doing some of the drudge work (i.e. generating boilerplate code, summarizing documents, etc.)

    For these purposes it's worked out pretty great

    6 votes

  3. Comment on Recommendations for wireless earbuds for extended PC use? in ~tech

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link
    Anker makes a bunch of Bluetooth ear buds that come with a mic. They come at a variety of price points - I have an A20i that cost me in the $30 range. Depending on your needs though, if you aren't...

    Anker makes a bunch of Bluetooth ear buds that come with a mic. They come at a variety of price points - I have an A20i that cost me in the $30 range.

    Depending on your needs though, if you aren't in an open environment and don't need things to be "private", I've been using a Jabra Speak 510 Bluetooth speaker. It's designed for conference use, has a battery but you can just plug it in via USB. Because it's basically a speaker / mic combo, you aren't tethered to anything.

    9 votes

  4. Comment on Colorado Bureau of Investigation finds DNA scientist manipulated data in hundreds of cases over decades in ~science

    prostetnicjeltz
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    For reference, controls here refer to positive and negative controls. A positive control is designed to "pass" specific test. A negative control would be a sample that is designed to "fail" a...

    For reference, controls here refer to positive and negative controls.

    A positive control is designed to "pass" specific test.

    A negative control would be a sample that is designed to "fail" a specific test.

    You would use these controls to make sure that the test that you are running works the way that you would intend.

    For example if I have an unknown sample and I want to see if its arsenic, I might do a flame test. A positive control would be a known arsenic sample that would give me a blue-green flame. A negative control could be sodium, which would give me a bright yellow flame. If my controls don't give me those colors, then whatever result I get from my real test sample might be a garbage result.

    If you screw around with these controls, or results from them are ambiguous, you basically have a test that wouldn't be working consistently.

    6 votes

  5. Comment on Colorado Bureau of Investigation finds DNA scientist manipulated data in hundreds of cases over decades in ~science

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link
    I would be interested to see how this shakes out. I work in a lab environment (not forensic but close enough that the processes will be almost identical). The general rule of thumb is that you...
    • Exemplary

    I would be interested to see how this shakes out. I work in a lab environment (not forensic but close enough that the processes will be almost identical). The general rule of thumb is that you have to chain of custody for your samples, report everything, review equipment audit trails, make sure calculations are done correctly, and that your conclusions match the data that you have generated.

    If there is a discrepancy somewhere, that means there is an internal investigation that needs to be done. If you are doing testing in duplicate and one result is "as expected" and one result looks way different you've got to retest a set number of replicate samples per a protocol.

    When you are dealing with data that has a profound effect on somebody's life, you don't want to mess that up, take shortcuts, or be sloppy in your work. If you are in this industry, you should know better. She's in for a rough go. Depending on what their analysis pops up (particularly for data generated over the last 10 years or so when electronic audit trails have become more robust) I wouldn't be surprised if a criminal prosecution happens.

    18 votes

  6. Comment on Who are the pop stars, from any era, who have extraordinary skills? in ~music

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link Parent
    He was intimidatingly good. Apparently, most people performing at his tribute concert felt exactly the same way. The general consensus was that the only person who came close to Freddie in being...

    He was intimidatingly good. Apparently, most people performing at his tribute concert felt exactly the same way. The general consensus was that the only person who came close to Freddie in being able to sing like him was George Michael.

    10 votes

  7. Comment on Who are the pop stars, from any era, who have extraordinary skills? in ~music

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link
    Prince. His music doesn't really do it for me (unpopular opinion), but he was undeniably a brilliant musician. He was an amazing guitarist, but he was equally proficient on a number of different...

    Prince. His music doesn't really do it for me (unpopular opinion), but he was undeniably a brilliant musician. He was an amazing guitarist, but he was equally proficient on a number of different instruments (piano/keyboard, drums, bass). On his first album, he was credited with playing 27 instruments.

    John Mayer. He is a legitimately amazing guitarist. His music is very accessible, but there's a lot going on with his guitar parts. I don't know how to quite explain it but his guitar-driven pop sounds easy but gets pretty damn complicated really quick. Good examples of this are his songs "No Such Thing" and "Neon".

    Jimi Hendrix. His stuff sounds amazing today and we've have 60 years to digest it. I can't even imagine what it would have been like for people in the 1960s hearing it for the first time. It would have been like somebody coming from another planet. His guitar made sounds that people would have never heard before.

    25 votes

  8. Comment on Is there a markdown editor which let me open .md files from Windows? in ~tech

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link Parent
    For whatever it's worth I've used Typora and MarkText. I've gone back to Typora and have no regrets - I just liked the feel more. By DRM I'm assuming that you mean their licence activation....

    For whatever it's worth I've used Typora and MarkText. I've gone back to Typora and have no regrets - I just liked the feel more.

    By DRM I'm assuming that you mean their licence activation. Anecdotally, I've installed the software on more than one system over the years and it's never given me any troubles.

    2 votes

  9. Comment on What were your favorite Canadian bands of the 1990s? in ~music

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link
    The Trews. Their album "House of I'll Fame" absolutely slaps. It's just really good, straight ahead alt. rock.

    The Trews. Their album "House of I'll Fame" absolutely slaps. It's just really good, straight ahead alt. rock.

    1 vote

  10. Comment on What are some things you do "the old fashioned way," which might come with unexpected benefits over the modern, "improved" way of doing things? in ~talk

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link Parent
    100% agree. I bought a Dovo handle 15 years ago for $30 or so and have used it almost every day. Blades are usually in the range of $10 for 50 of them - which would last me the better part of a...

    100% agree. I bought a Dovo handle 15 years ago for $30 or so and have used it almost every day. Blades are usually in the range of $10 for 50 of them - which would last me the better part of a year.

    Also, the shave is just better and takes me less time...albeit you have to be a bit more careful because the risk of nicking yourself is real.

    2 votes

  11. Comment on What is your cloud backup service of choice? in ~comp

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link Parent
    I use b2 from Backblaze using Arq as the client. I have not had any issues and everything has been quite reliable. I believe that Arq encrypts things locally before transmitting.

    I use b2 from Backblaze using Arq as the client. I have not had any issues and everything has been quite reliable. I believe that Arq encrypts things locally before transmitting.

    1 vote

  12. Comment on What are your favorite funny, silly or wacky games? in ~games

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link
    The Saints Row series. There are a ton of random sequences that were so utterly absurd and inappropriately hilarious. The chariot race sequence in #4 still brings a smile to my face!

    The Saints Row series. There are a ton of random sequences that were so utterly absurd and inappropriately hilarious. The chariot race sequence in #4 still brings a smile to my face!

    2 votes

  13. Comment on What are some foods you really like, from countries not well known for great cuisine? in ~food

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link
    Smazeny Cyr from the Czech Republic. It's basically a breaded and deep-fried portion of cheese. A little crispy on the outside, but deliciously gooey on the inside. Think a mozzarella stick... But...

    Smazeny Cyr from the Czech Republic. It's basically a breaded and deep-fried portion of cheese. A little crispy on the outside, but deliciously gooey on the inside.

    Think a mozzarella stick... But all grown up.

    1 vote

  14. Comment on What is a simple tech tip that changed how you use your computer or other devices in a significant way? in ~tech

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link
    Less simple but gamechanging was using AutoHotkey on Windows. I have a few very simple scripts set up for a bunch of things: text expansion (useful if you need to send templated message responses)...

    Less simple but gamechanging was using AutoHotkey on Windows. I have a few very simple scripts set up for a bunch of things:

    • text expansion (useful if you need to send templated message responses)
    • stripping the formatting from formatted text (like if you are copying something from a website into Microsoft Word)
    • custom shortcut keys (I have one set up specifically for my browsers where ctrl-shift enter adds www and .net to a Url in the url bar

    The possibilities are literally endless, and the scripting is pretty straightforward.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on What is a simple tech tip that changed how you use your computer or other devices in a significant way? in ~tech

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link Parent
    TIL. Can't believe that this isn't as known. Can confirm it works with Microsoft SwiftKey too!!

    TIL. Can't believe that this isn't as known. Can confirm it works with Microsoft SwiftKey too!!

    4 votes

  16. Comment on What is worth the splurge to you and what absolutely isn't? in ~talk

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link Parent
    To add to this: chairs. Particularly if you have an office job where you spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer. It's worth the splurge to go ergonomic and get something like a...

    To add to this: chairs. Particularly if you have an office job where you spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer. It's worth the splurge to go ergonomic and get something like a SteelSeries or a Herman Miller or something else that is similarly engineered. Generally speaking, a good office chair will last you for the better part of forever and so this is an area where you can buy used from an office surplus place to help mitigate the initial expense.

    20 votes

  17. Comment on What is everyone using for managing their contacts? in ~tech

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link Parent
    Same on my end (carddav via Fastmail). I sync to the global contact list on my phone using DAVx5 so that contacts are available to other apps (messaging, non-Fastmail email clients, etc.). This...

    Same on my end (carddav via Fastmail). I sync to the global contact list on my phone using DAVx5 so that contacts are available to other apps (messaging, non-Fastmail email clients, etc.).

    This has worked pretty flawlessly and hasn't given me any issues.

    2 votes

  18. Comment on Where is everyone hosting their email these days? in ~tech

    prostetnicjeltz
    Link Parent
    I use https://www.fastmail.com for personal email. I have a custom domain was a refugee from Google when they started their shenanigans with the legacy Google Apps for Domains a few years back....

    I use https://www.fastmail.com for personal email. I have a custom domain was a refugee from Google when they started their shenanigans with the legacy Google Apps for Domains a few years back. Kudos to Fastmail for making the transition very easy.

    I access it using their app (which is pretty decent) on phone / tablet devices. The only criticism of the Fastmail app is that I don't believe it has an offline mode. On desktop, any IMAP client works. I've used Thunderbird and emClient to great success.

    I also use www.mxroute.com for some low volume "service" accounts. It works quite well, although you should have some familiarity on basic web sysadmin stuff for the setup. Their documentation is very good, but they are very clear (refreshingly direct) that some technical knowledge for setup is needed.