Rudism's recent activity
-
Comment on Billing for web hosting in ~comp
-
Comment on Help me choose a small electric car in ~transport
Rudism LinkI replaced my old 2004 Hyundai Elantra with a 2017 Fiat 500e a couple years ago and really like it. I'm also not a car person, wanted something small (it's sooooo small I love it so much), and...I replaced my old 2004 Hyundai Elantra with a 2017 Fiat 500e a couple years ago and really like it. I'm also not a car person, wanted something small (it's sooooo small I love it so much), and 99.9% of the time only drive places within a 20 mile radius or so, so its range is not a problem at all. Interior is all physical controls for windows/AC/etc, and with the back seats folded down it's got enough storage for even absurdly large grocery runs. Mine has an aftermarket Android head unit (which I just use for OsmAnd offline maps and bluetooth music from my phone), so I'm not sure how the stock one is or what it's capable of (I know it doesn't have any kind of screen at all).
Only reason I wouldn't wholeheartedly recommend it is for someone who has to regularly drive outside of its range.
edited to add--I only drive maybe a few times a month, so I charge it from a normal 120V outlet in my garage, which is good enough to fully charge it over night even on the extremely rare occasions I run the battery low (like 20-ish% is probably about as low as I've ever gotten it).
-
Comment on Anyone have a pebble? in ~tech
Rudism LinkI got one of the Pebble 2 Duos (ordered back when they were still called Core 2 Duo). It was cool to play with for a few weeks, and gave me a nostalgia blast from back when I owned one of the OG...I got one of the Pebble 2 Duos (ordered back when they were still called Core 2 Duo).
It was cool to play with for a few weeks, and gave me a nostalgia blast from back when I owned one of the OG Pebbles, but now it's just collecting dust next to all the other various tech purchases that I don't use anymore but don't have the heart to get rid of. The main feature aside from telling time that I really used it for was the vibrating smart alarm, but I got a pillow shaker now that does the same job without needing to be on my wrist all day.
-
Comment on Best options for domain registrar and static site hosting in 2026? in ~comp
Rudism Link ParentThe only pushback I would give to this answer is to ask yourself whether you're OK with contributing to the problem of the entire internet gradually converging and relying on this single...The only pushback I would give to this answer is to ask yourself whether you're OK with contributing to the problem of the entire internet gradually converging and relying on this single commercial service provider. I mean it's fine if the answer is yes, I just think it's something worth considering before jumping on board.
-
Comment on Nintendo - Customer appreciation sale in ~games
Rudism LinkI've already completed BotW on both WiiU and Switch, so I felt $10 for the Switch 2 upgrade was a little tough to justify, but when I heard about this sale I figured I'd pick it up and spend a few...I've already completed BotW on both WiiU and Switch, so I felt $10 for the Switch 2 upgrade was a little tough to justify, but when I heard about this sale I figured I'd pick it up and spend a few more hours messing around in it with better visuals. But of course it isn't part of the sale. For pretty much everything else I feel like this sale price should be the normal price and a real sale price should be at most half of that. Nintendo has been my last console hold out but I think they've worn me down and I might give the Switch 2 to my kids to destroy and stick to PC for the sunset of my dwindling game time.
-
Comment on Forrest Nolan - thank you i guess (2026) in ~music
Rudism Link ParentI think I like the music itself, but something about the way it's mixed makes it unlistenable to me. Sounds like my speakers are blown out or something even when I have the volume down low....I think I like the music itself, but something about the way it's mixed makes it unlistenable to me. Sounds like my speakers are blown out or something even when I have the volume down low. Entirely possible that's the sound they were going for, but it invokes a nails-on-chalkboard physical reaction in me.
-
Comment on What is your "when I found out about 9/11" story? in ~talk
Rudism LinkI was still living and going to university in Canada at the time. I remember my dad had the news on TV that morning and seeing the image of the first tower on fire before heading out. That day TVs...I was still living and going to university in Canada at the time. I remember my dad had the news on TV that morning and seeing the image of the first tower on fire before heading out. That day TVs were rolled out all around campus and I believe a majority of students didn't bother going to classes (in fact it's possible that classes had been canceled). We all just sat around those TVs and watched the horror unfold.
-
Comment on Software for humans in ~tech
Rudism Link ParentLLMs as they are right now (opaque closed-source models, tightly controlled and guarded by billionaire-owned corporations) are the complete antithesis to FOSS ideals. They are an extreme shift in...In terms of stolen work, since I've started learning about Linux and free software, I've always felt like the current system was broken. https://web.mit.edu/m-i-t/forums/copyright/index_transcript.html The culture change that AIs bring seem to me to be something that will be positive.
LLMs as they are right now (opaque closed-source models, tightly controlled and guarded by billionaire-owned corporations) are the complete antithesis to FOSS ideals. They are an extreme shift in the opposite direction of what you're implying here.
For the environment impact, I guess I got magical thinking, but I feel like it's the only way to speed up research to save the earth.
You are correct, this is 1000% magical thinking. Even if it were feasible that predictive text generating engines could somehow come up with a solution to our climate problems, none of these companies are currently or will ever bother actually putting any kind of meaningful resources behind that kind of research, because it won't increase their profits (and I mean, realistically they probably know that the idea is absurd to begin with).
-
Comment on LibreOffice breaks download records after declaring it has no AI features in ~tech
Rudism Link ParentA lot of the opposition to LLMs isn't necessarily due to the belief that it is not useful, but rather the way it's being developed (non-consensual training data acquisition, generating...A lot of the opposition to LLMs isn't necessarily due to the belief that it is not useful, but rather the way it's being developed (non-consensual training data acquisition, generating energy/carbon emissions for training models by burning fossil fuels, to name a couple) is not something we should be supporting or encouraging through their use.
I think LLMs absolutely can be useful tools (albeit in a drastically tinier subset of situations than they are currently being foisted upon us), but I still strongly object to them as a whole due to all the other problems they come with right now. If the industry cleans up its act my automatic objections/disgust to anything LLM-related would become much more nuanced.
-
Comment on Adulting -- what advice or encouragement did you receive / wish you had received when you were just starting out moving out? in ~life
Rudism LinkIf you buy a non-fully-electric car, you need to get oil changes every 5000-15000 miles (depending on the vehicle and type of oil), there's usually a sticker on the inside of your windshield from...If you buy a non-fully-electric car, you need to get oil changes every 5000-15000 miles (depending on the vehicle and type of oil), there's usually a sticker on the inside of your windshield from the last place you got an oil change telling you when to get the next one. Cars also have a regular maintenance schedule that you should familiarize yourself with and follow if you want to avoid problems. You'd be surprised how many adults only learn of this kind of stuff through their first breakdown (or their car starting on fire).
Air filters in your living space should be replaced every few months, there are probably large air intake vents on a wall somewhere that they go into. Air filters come in different sizes so you need to know what size to get, and have a rating system (called MERV in the US) that essentially tells you how effective the filter is... usually MERV 8 is pretty typical, but you'll want to go MERV 10+ if you have pets, allergies, or respiratory problems (I use MERV 11 because we have 2 dogs, everyone has pretty bad allergies, and I have asthma).
If your house/apartment has a dryer that you use for laundry, you should clear the lint filter out before every load. Skipping that step can result in lint building up and blocking airflow and can become a fire hazard. Your washing machine might also have a filter to catch debris, which should be cleaned out every few loads too.
-
Comment on What's your line? in ~life
Rudism Link ParentPre-Honey by a long shot, but essentially the same scummy business model. The hook for ours was if you shopped with our toolbar, you wouldn't pay any more than normal, but a "small percentage" of...Pre-Honey by a long shot, but essentially the same scummy business model. The hook for ours was if you shopped with our toolbar, you wouldn't pay any more than normal, but a "small percentage" of your purchase price from "participating merchants" would go to "charity" (we were never any more specific than that).
-
Comment on What's your line? in ~life
Rudism (edited )Link15-ish years ago (give or take) I was working for a social networking company that wasn't doing so hot and had gone through a few rounds of layoffs while was there. Some of my ex-coworkers hit me...15-ish years ago (give or take) I was working for a social networking company that wasn't doing so hot and had gone through a few rounds of layoffs while was there. Some of my ex-coworkers hit me up to join them at a company that one of them had started after leaving and got acquired by a big advertising company. They were extremely vague about the kinds of stuff they were doing (basically just said they were developing "browser extensions"), but it would come with a pay bump and it was definitely time to jump off the sinking ship I was currently on, so I accepted. Here are some of the things I worked on while I was there:
- Turns out the "browser extension" they wanted me to help build was essentially just malware designed to inject their own referral codes and cookies into online store purchases.
- Developed our own Android advertising library that used all the scummiest ad delivery tactics (remember when ads would just show up as a notification on your Android with no indication of which app generated it? I do!)
- We had a whole team dedicated to working on those scummy fake SEO landing sites and Windows installers that would pop a bunch of malware "offers" to install along with Paint.Net or The Gimp or whatever other free software you were actually trying to install.
- We built an "App Discovery" platform for iOS that tricked people into installing apps that we were getting paid per install for. (Apple banned this whole app category shortly thereafter.)
- I wrote "offer" code for our Windows installer that would steal Chrome or Firefox cookies and use it to secretly do things like connecting your Facebook account to games that we were getting paid for, or triggering the same requests that clicking the "install" button on Google Play does to push apps to your phone where we were getting paid for each install.
- We got in trouble for not providing a real support email address for our Google and Apple apps, so I set up an address that would simply black-hole every email sent to it into a giant database table that nobody ever looked at (except me once or twice, and the kinds of stuff people sent to us could make flowers wilt and curdle milk).
- Can't even remember how many times I was on the phone with Google Support over freshly purchased VOIP numbers, setting up new developer accounts using fake names and addresses because all our old ones got banned.
I knew the whole time that all of it was bullshit and I was being a shitty person. The straw that finally broke the camel's back was that one of the higher-ups had discovered some Chinese malware for Windows that was somehow able to steal browser cookies and silently install apps onto the user's iOS phone (the same way we were already doing for Android by stealing Google Play cookies). I was trudging through the decompiled source code for the Chinese malware and just thinking why the fuck am I wasting my time and talent on this horrible bullshit. I refreshed my CV and wrote up a cover letter basically begging someone to save my soul, and that landed me the first job I applied for (which was in the medical/genetics industry and such a breath of fresh air compared to all of my prior experience). It got me out of Florida too, which was a not-insignificant additional bonus.
After that whole experience my line has tightened up a lot. I don't want to spend one more second of my life working on something that makes other people's lives worse instead of better.
-
Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health
Rudism LinkBeen feeling bad since I haven't done any kind of deliberate exercise for several months (I got diagnosed with crohn's disease back in April and haven't had the energy or been feeling motivated...Been feeling bad since I haven't done any kind of deliberate exercise for several months (I got diagnosed with crohn's disease back in April and haven't had the energy or been feeling motivated enough to keep up my regular routines). I'm feeling better lately and decided to ease myself back into it with a 1 mile run yesterday morning. I forgot how sore it was possible for my calves to get, I can barely walk today. But it's the kind of soreness that actually feels good, compared to how I would feel if I had decided to continue wallowing in apathy instead.
-
Comment on Ink | Official teaser in ~movies
Rudism LinkI found the color grading (of this teaser at least) to be very distracting. The film looks very... turquoise?I found the color grading (of this teaser at least) to be very distracting. The film looks very... turquoise?
-
Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Rudism Link ParentI recently started on the manga (having never seen the anime) and think I have a very similar reaction to it as you describe here. Nothing groundbreaking but a fun/silly read so far a few volumes in.I recently started on the manga (having never seen the anime) and think I have a very similar reaction to it as you describe here. Nothing groundbreaking but a fun/silly read so far a few volumes in.
-
Comment on Recommendations for noise cancelling, over ear headphones in ~tech
Rudism (edited )LinkI picked up the Nothing Headphone (1)s around when they came out and have been quite happy with them. Can't speak to how good the noise cancelling is compared to others on the market, but I've...I picked up the Nothing Headphone (1)s around when they came out and have been quite happy with them. Can't speak to how good the noise cancelling is compared to others on the market, but I've taken them on planes a few times and they seem good to me (the over-ears they replaced were first-gen Surface Headphones which absolutely sucked, so they blow those out of the water at least).
You can enable multi-device connections in the Nothing X app which allows them to be connected to your laptop and phone simultaneously and it would switch to whichever one is playing audio automatically (and give incoming phone calls priority). No complaints from my wife on the audio quality during calls, and she complains about all my other headphones so I think they're fine in that department too.
They also sound nice to me, especially when you play around with some of the community EQ presets you can load by scanning QR codes in their app. That said, I'm not a big audiophile or anything--mainly I got them because I thought they looked cool (edit: oh, and also all-physical controls! It even has a dedicated physical button to enter pairing mode, so no danger of accidentally doing that by lingering on the power button too long like I kept doing on my old ones).
-
Comment on CGA-2026-09 🕹️🙎♂️🛹 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 in ~games
Rudism LinkI got 1+2 on the Switch a while back during a sale and have been slowly working through unlocking the content in 1, so I suppose I will swap over and work on 2 for a while so I can participate.I got 1+2 on the Switch a while back during a sale and have been slowly working through unlocking the content in 1, so I suppose I will swap over and work on 2 for a while so I can participate.
-
Comment on Software engineers / programmers: how’s it going? in ~comp
Rudism LinkAt my company a few AI-related slack channels were created with all the devs invited, presumably to help people get set up with whatever LLMs we're getting access to. I left all the AI related...At my company a few AI-related slack channels were created with all the devs invited, presumably to help people get set up with whatever LLMs we're getting access to. I left all the AI related channels as soon as they popped up and am just plugging along sans-AI like normal. I know some of my coworkers are using it (some
AGENTS.mdand skill related fluff showed up in the main repo I work on), but so far I haven't really noticed any difference one way or another. Basically the equivalent of shoving my fingers in my ears and going LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU. We'll see how long I can keep going like that. -
Comment on X corp is taking down Nitter instances and demands takedown of project repository in ~tech
Rudism Link ParentI think there's just a threshold level that needs to get hit (whether real or perceived) for this to happen. For example the ratio of negative to legitimate uses on Discord has not reached the...I think there's just a threshold level that needs to get hit (whether real or perceived) for this to happen.
For example the ratio of negative to legitimate uses on Discord has not reached the threshold where it gets a negative label, but the ratio on X (or, for another example, Kik) did reach that point.
-
Comment on Dolly Parton, country music legend, dies at 80 in ~music
Rudism LinkLindsay Ellis posted the first part of a Dolly Parton deep dive on Nebula a few days ago that I thought was pretty good, in case you're looking for more Dolly in your life after this sad news.Lindsay Ellis posted the first part of a Dolly Parton deep dive on Nebula a few days ago that I thought was pretty good, in case you're looking for more Dolly in your life after this sad news.
Are you also paying for the domain name? In my experience the biggest hassles have been making sure the domain name stays registered and configured correctly (pointing to the correct IP, MX records if it's used for email, automated SSL certificate renewals, stuff like that). A good uptime monitoring service can usually be configured to alert you around all of those other things as well as let you know if your VPS goes down.
Personally I think the model I would go for if I were to get back into the hosting game would be an up front setup fee to cover domain registration and my time setting everything up, then a low monthly rate (with a slightly discounted annual rate if they pay for a full year) to help cover hosting and monitoring costs.