scirocco's recent activity
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Comment on Slowly booting full Linux on the intel 4004 for fun, art, and absolutely no profit in ~comp
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Comment on US FCC closes “final loopholes” that keep prison phone prices exorbitantly high in ~tech
scirocco Link ParentI am sure there is competition in the market, and prisons run bids for the services. However there is not a LOT of competition in the market, and the prison has no incentive to chose one that is...I am sure there is competition in the market, and prisons run bids for the services.
However there is not a LOT of competition in the market, and the prison has no incentive to chose one that is cheaper for the families.
The prisons' interest is in the services offered to them --- the call recording, easy of search/retrieval for them and probably a lot of other stuff that we are not thinking of.
There are probably some mechanisms for 'kickbacks' to the prison as well --- for example, bundling the detainee telephones with other telecom services in the building, which are subsidized by the inmate phones.
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Comment on Donald Trump vs Kamala Harris: Who is leading in the US presidential election polls? in ~society
scirocco Link ParentAnd that, folks, is how you lose elections. The center is absolutely vital for her to win this election. If she's given a strong majority in Congress along with the presidency, some progressive...And that, folks, is how you lose elections.
The center is absolutely vital for her to win this election. If she's given a strong majority in Congress along with the presidency, some progressive policies are likely to result.
They won't be enough for the far left, but it would be a hell of a lot better than what a gop administration would do.
Politics is compromise.
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Comment on US FCC closes “final loopholes” that keep prison phone prices exorbitantly high in ~tech
scirocco Link ParentThis article has nothing to do with for-profit prison vs state owned prisons. The topic is telecom services in the prisons, which are always run by a private telecommunications service. This is...This article has nothing to do with for-profit prison vs state owned prisons.
The topic is telecom services in the prisons, which are always run by a private telecommunications service.
This is issue affects all incarcerated persons, no matter what the management structure of their jail is.
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Comment on I'm really tired of trying to be understanding to my right-winger friends in ~talk
scirocco LinkMaybe it's not as extreme here in the US I have found that there are certain folks who, while I value them on some level, I just don't connect with enough to stay my natural tendency to drift...Maybe it's not as extreme here in the US
I have found that there are certain folks who, while I value them on some level, I just don't connect with enough to stay my natural tendency to drift away.
There are others, who might be characterized as 'more redeemable' or 'less extreme' who I can (do) just avoid contentious topics with.
Finally, there's one guy who I don't align with very much, but have an open enough dialogue to call out the bullshit regularly, and even accept when some BS on my part is pointed out.
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Comment on What are your favorite series that are not from the US or UK and also not popular anime? in ~tv
scirocco Link ParentBroen/Bridge was excellent from an english subtitles perspective.Broen/Bridge was excellent from an english subtitles perspective.
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Comment on What service are you using for domain names? in ~comp
scirocco Link ParentAbsolutely true about the UI. But. It works well enough that I can buy a joke domain on a whim, in a bar, using my phone. So for me, that's good enough.Absolutely true about the UI. But. It works well enough that I can buy a joke domain on a whim, in a bar, using my phone.
So for me, that's good enough.
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Comment on Battery life of AAA batteries that come with the original products seem unusually long in ~tech
scirocco LinkI bought a Toto Washlet bidet seat at Christmas 2007 Changed the OEM batteries in it's remote last year, finally. The remote functioned perfectly, but the LCD base were fading. I guess enough...I bought a Toto Washlet bidet seat at Christmas 2007
Changed the OEM batteries in it's remote last year, finally.
The remote functioned perfectly, but the LCD base were fading. I guess enough current to run the IR led when needed, but not enough voltage to keep the LCD excited.
RIP Panasonic AA batteries 2007- 2022
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Comment on What service are you using for domain names? in ~comp
scirocco LinkDoes anybody but me use joker.com? I've had domains there for.. well, pre-2000 so a good while. Maybe not particularly beginner friendly but super strong (from what I can see) privacy and no...Does anybody but me use joker.com?
I've had domains there for.. well, pre-2000 so a good while.
Maybe not particularly beginner friendly but super strong (from what I can see) privacy and no particular problems at all.
Maybe I'm just still there out of inertia.
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Comment on Does anyone here use Usenet as an actual news reader anymore? in ~tech
scirocco LinkI haven't used USENET in a long, long time but am very curious if folks still do. Hopefully some folks who are currently active in USENET will appearI haven't used USENET in a long, long time but am very curious if folks still do.
Hopefully some folks who are currently active in USENET will appear
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Comment on What is Usenet? in ~comp
scirocco Link ParentCertainly that's true in terms of volume --- any binaries are going to be massively huge compared to human-readable text.Certainly that's true in terms of volume --- any binaries are going to be massively huge compared to human-readable text.
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Comment on Reddit appears to be down during blackout day 1 in ~tech
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Comment on What is Usenet? in ~comp
scirocco Link ParentI think of usenet as similar to an old listserv --- mailing lists where you join the list, and you recieve email from everyone else on the list. If you send an email, everyone else on the list...I think of usenet as similar to an old listserv --- mailing lists where you join the list, and you recieve email from everyone else on the list. If you send an email, everyone else on the list gets a copy.
If you send a binary (attachment) to the email list, it is converted into an asci/text form using an encoding system like uuencode --- the binary data is converted to large blocks of simple text, then sent just as plaintext in the body of the email. The receiving mail client converts it back into a binary attachment and displays it as such. It's a pretty baroque and magical system that just-works well enough that many/most people have never really been aware that SMTP email is (was) technically plaintext-only. No fonts, colors, formatting or attachments.
NNTP is very, very similar, even using uuencode for binaries. The difference is that instead of being addressed to particular users/people via an email address like name@domain.com, these (often giant) text messages are organized into things like macos.comp.sci
The messages are copied from NNTP server to NNTP server as peers, so something you post into a newsgroup will be copied to your server's peers, and those peers copy it to their peers etc. Messages 'ripple' across USENET in this fashion, and in the early days every NNTP server would carry/copy/forward all newsgroups.
Nowadays of course there could be all sorts of risky stuff in there, and most NNTP only carry a selection.
AND yet still, most of usenet now is large pirate binaries, used as a file-sharing system that is technically very different from bittorrent, but functionally somewhat similar.
This is beautiful madness.