sparkle's recent activity
-
Comment on What's a show you love that's from before your time? in ~tv
-
Comment on Post-tooth extraction diets! in ~food
sparkle LinkNot a tooth removal, but I had a double gum transplant last year with similar restrictions and I found I really loved rice pudding and congee/jook/okayu/lugaw. Fairly nutritious, delicious, hard...Not a tooth removal, but I had a double gum transplant last year with similar restrictions and I found I really loved rice pudding and congee/jook/okayu/lugaw. Fairly nutritious, delicious, hard to get tired of and I still like both of them even after eating them for several weeks straight!
-
Comment on How to spot a psychopath: ‘It’s like the difference between a domestic cat and a wild cat’ in ~science
sparkle Link ParentI feel this wholeheartedly. My abuser was just my housemate of ten years, not a romantic partner. For the first six years we were best friends pretty much. Then after Trump was elected I think he...I feel this wholeheartedly. My abuser was just my housemate of ten years, not a romantic partner. For the first six years we were best friends pretty much. Then after Trump was elected I think he saw that the person he had been repressing was accepted by the larger world and he could take off the mask. There were signs beforehand that I ignored/missed but now that I know them, I see them everywhere.
The last four years were a living, scarring hell for me - I tried getting out several times but didn't have the financial means to escape. Eventually I did get the opportunity during COVID - I'm in a much better place now and he's still the same as far as I know so I guess I won?
-
Comment on What workplace absurdity are you forced to live with? in ~life
sparkle LinkMy company refuses to admit mistakes. They expanded too fast a few years ago, laid off a bunch to pay for the new acquisitions, realized they had overexpanded and then tried to hire cheap labour...My company refuses to admit mistakes. They expanded too fast a few years ago, laid off a bunch to pay for the new acquisitions, realized they had overexpanded and then tried to hire cheap labour to help with the load.
To make matters worse, once AI was available to us, this team started using AI to basically make all their decisions. After a 200% increase in infrastructure related major incidents over a 6 month period, they finally fired over half the team. Apparently, they were just ticking check boxes and not actually reading what changes were being done, resulting in major outages.
But still, leadership refuses to admit that letting good talent go in the name of saving a few bucks was worth it. We have multiple single points of failure in numerous places now and are a wolf's breath from falling over.
The best part is that because these incidents caused a major loss of revenue, leadership said no raises and no new hires this year. Which has also resulted in a huge turn over and they're basically just banking on a sink or swim strategy at this point, as far as I can tell.
Nothing I can do about it internally - I've made many recommendations that go ignored or are deemed unimportant. We're losing customers constantly and they want to keep adding AI to crap that doesn't need it instead of investing in the human resources that build the applications and support customers.
At this point I'm not entirely sure our private equity overlords even want us to succeed. Wouldn't be surprised if the plan is to drive us into the ground and somehow make themselves richer and hand out a few golden parachutes for leadership.
-
Comment on Once used to waterproof boats, this smoky plant byproduct is now used to flavour everything from schnapps to bread in Finland. But how does pine tar taste? in ~food
sparkle LinkWhat do you expect from the land that (possibly) brought us salmiakki? Which, as far as I can tell, also had its origins in 1930s pharmacies, just like terva. I do quite enjoy salmiakki and am...What do you expect from the land that (possibly) brought us salmiakki? Which, as far as I can tell, also had its origins in 1930s pharmacies, just like terva.
I do quite enjoy salmiakki and am planning a trip to Finland in winter 2028 so I might seek out some terva - sounds like a unique experience!
-
Comment on Chimpanzees have been hurling rocks at the same trees for more than a decade in ~science
sparkle LinkMaybe they're just NPCs in a Monkey Island game, continually throwing rocks at Guybrush stuck in a tree. Somebody must have left the game running for ten years /noiseMaybe they're just NPCs in a Monkey Island game, continually throwing rocks at Guybrush stuck in a tree. Somebody must have left the game running for ten years
/noise
-
Comment on Compact phone in the works for the fans of small phones in ~tech
sparkle Link ParentI don't know benchmarks or anything but anecdotally, my Pixel 4 with a 2800 mAh battery and a Snapdragon 855 processor with a 1080x2280 screen lasts a full day on a single charge. Granted I've...I don't know benchmarks or anything but anecdotally, my Pixel 4 with a 2800 mAh battery and a Snapdragon 855 processor with a 1080x2280 screen lasts a full day on a single charge.
Granted I've disabled most Google things and optimized battery in some areas, but the battery size for this phone seems reasonable unless they have a really beefy processor or something. I know nothing about Mediatek processors, but I can't imagine they're super thirsty?
-
Comment on Amazon kept shutting down my tablet, so I spent $266 on four AI models to own it in ~tech
sparkle LinkI know the author didn't need to and this was mostly an exercise in just "what can I actually do" and I agree that you should be allowed to root and own your device, but I can't help but wonder -...I know the author didn't need to and this was mostly an exercise in just "what can I actually do" and I agree that you should be allowed to root and own your device, but I can't help but wonder - why not just block the tablet from external connections?
The author mentioned using adguard home initially which makes me think they tried. The errors and the package names seem to indicate OTA is at least partially behind the shutdowns. But if they're just using it to display home assistant 24/7, presumably locally hosted, why not just give a static address to the tablet and some firewall rules to block it from non-internal access?
I did exactly this after I found out that my Kindle Paperwhite was phoning home to an unnamed EC2 instance and used direct IP connections as a fallback if DNS failed. I didn't trust the OTA block utilities provided with WinterBreak or other scripts - they just move or rename the updater binary and I don't want my device to contact Amazon servers ever (or anybody else's either), I just want it to be able to access local resources like calibre and kosync.
At the end of the day, it is neat to root your own previously unrooted device and I imagine the author learned a lot along the way and most importantly, enjoyed themselves. Rooting and uninstalling everything surely felt good and also definitively prevents future reoccurrences. And maybe the author did block it, but the shutdowns continued and just didn't mention it.
I wonder what Louis Rossman would have to say about this...
-
Comment on What lesser-known sci-fi reads do you recommend? in ~books
sparkle (edited )Link ParentThis just unlocked a brief core memory. Shortly after the Will Smith movie came out, I was a camp counselor for middle school boys. One of them brought norovirus with them and as expected, about...I’ll go ahead and plug I Am Legend too.
This just unlocked a brief core memory. Shortly after the Will Smith movie came out, I was a camp counselor for middle school boys. One of them brought norovirus with them and as expected, about 75% of them got violently sick. For some reason, despite patient zero being in my cabin, I never got sick. As one of the only counselors who wasn't spewing something out of either end, it fell to my 20-something ass to be the sole "adult" in charge of the non-sick kids.
Our main sleeping area was really just divided by a hallway with bathrooms, there was nothing sterile about it. While I listened for kids puking in the sick side, the non sick kids wanted me to read something to them in the "clean side". I was really into Thoreau and Rousseau and Candide and other philosophy books at the time and figured they wouldn't be interested in those, but I did have a paperback copy of I Am Legend with me.
So there I sat for several days, reading three or four chapters of the book every night to a bunch of middle schoolers until they all fell asleep. Then I putzed around in the other cabin cleaning puke off beds and scrubbing toilets lol. I don't think we actually finished the book but it was a really great way to pass the time in an otherwise unpleasant scenario.
I imagine I'd probably get in trouble for this today. Maybe I would have back then too, but those kids liked it enough that they never narced on me, so it's all good I suppose.
-
Comment on What lesser-known sci-fi reads do you recommend? in ~books
sparkle LinkI'm not quite sure if it counts since they all won Nebula or Hugo awards, but Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy is one I don't hear talked about much. Maybe because it can be rather boring at...I'm not quite sure if it counts since they all won Nebula or Hugo awards, but Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy is one I don't hear talked about much. Maybe because it can be rather boring at times (one can only stomach so many pages about nitrogen based economy), but I personally loved them all and always recommend them. Or maybe it's just because they're 30+ years old now.
For those unaware, each book deals with a different phase in the settlement of Mars. Red Mars deals with the initial colonization and inherent struggles, Green Mars deals with the terraforming of Mars, and Blue Mars sees humans explore and colonize outside of Mars.
I found it quite a memorable series and, funnily enough, the first book starts in 2026. Never a better time to pick it up!
The first two are definitely hard sci-fi while the third can get a bit into the softer side of things, but they're all great really.
-
Comment on What lesser-known sci-fi reads do you recommend? in ~books
sparkle (edited )Link ParentI love Egan, his prose is lacking but who cares when he mathematically describes universes that are truly out of this world. I really enjoy reading the supplementary material and learning more in...I love Egan, his prose is lacking but who cares when he mathematically describes universes that are truly out of this world. I really enjoy reading the supplementary material and learning more in math and physics than I ever did in school. I've not read all his works, but Diaspora was my favourite so far, closely followed by Permutation City (which actually has some good prose).
That being said, I did find Dichronauts really difficult to visualize. The two dimensional space with two time axes and the light cones was just too much for my feeble three spatial dimension, one temporal dimension brain to comprehend.
-
Comment on How often are you eating plant based meals? in ~food
sparkle (edited )Link ParentHah yeah - I'm in Zone 3 up in the Canadian Prairies. It's a little bit more than three months, but not much. We get hot though, and the 16 hours of sunlight is much appreciated by my tomatoes....Hah yeah - I'm in Zone 3 up in the Canadian Prairies. It's a little bit more than three months, but not much. We get hot though, and the 16 hours of sunlight is much appreciated by my tomatoes. Things grow well during the season, but half of it is spent prepping stuff for winter storage.
Maybe owing to the harsh winters, but we've not had many problems with bugs thankfully. Just a horrible teeny fly infestation of my hibiscus when we bring it in for the autumn/winter. A neem oil bath of all the leaves helps a bit, but they still survive and come back :/ At least they don't like my avocado tree!
Are there any native predators of the cucumber beetles?
-
Comment on How often are you eating plant based meals? in ~food
sparkle Link ParentI just had some amazing bruschetta that came entirely from my garden, with the exception of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and wheat flour (I used pozzano tomatoes, basil, garlic, shallots, and...I just had some amazing bruschetta that came entirely from my garden, with the exception of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and wheat flour (I used pozzano tomatoes, basil, garlic, shallots, and shishito peppers). I loooove eating straight from the garden. Wish I could forage more but sadly don't have as much time to ride out to the good areas. Too bad our growing season is literally three months :/
I'm currently waiting on my crop of green beans to come in. We trellis them along the south facing front of our house so they additionally provide shade + a bit of extra privacy. Usually sautee them with some garlic and maybe lemon zest (not from my garden, but maybe one day!)
Also please come steal some cucumbers. I harvested 2kg this morning, there's another 1kg in the fridge and there's at least 4 that i need to pick tomorrow. I'm eating half to two cucumbers every day for the last week and can barely keep up!
I don't buy meat for myself but I will cook it for others. All the meals that I make for myself are vegan or vegetarian, been doing that since gosh, almost a decade now.
-
Comment on Choosing a printer in ~tech
sparkle LinkAnother one for Brother - we have an HL-L3270CDW and it's a tank. My wife likes organizing things and being able to print in colour was a must for her. Looking at the stats page, we've only...Another one for Brother - we have an HL-L3270CDW and it's a tank. My wife likes organizing things and being able to print in colour was a must for her. Looking at the stats page, we've only replaced the toners once.
1817 total pages
98% remaining on maintenance kit (belt, fuser, paper feeder) - estimated 48700 pages left
60% left on Cyan
60% left on Magenta
80% left on Yellow (Apparently this one is higher yield than the other two, looking at Amazon it's cheaper too)
70% left on BlackI'd say we got through at least 600 pages on the included toner. So probably at least another 1200 pages till I have to start thinking about the next replacement. I think the full set of 4 cost around 360 CAD (they range from 80-100$ each I think) but obviously they last a lot lot longer than the equivalent inkjet cartridges. I've not tried third party toner kits so I can't provide any info there sadly.
We've had it for four years now I think? Well worth it I think. Despite the higher volume, a lot of those are my wife doing big batch prints of 150+ pages. Often times it goes unused for weeks if not months.
As for enshittification rumours, I've just completely blocked the printer from the Internet via my router firewall. Local access only, I've got a CUPS server set up too to facilitate access from all devices.
-
Comment on What are your memorable airport stories? in ~transport
sparkle LinkShort and simple, another Japan trip tale but with a fun twist - and many lessons learned along the way. I was flying to Tokyo but since I was in my early 20s and not particularly financially...Short and simple, another Japan trip tale but with a fun twist - and many lessons learned along the way.
I was flying to Tokyo but since I was in my early 20s and not particularly financially stable, I wanted to save some money. So instead of booking direct flights to Japan, I booked a flight with a layover in Shanghai - it added two hours but saved me $200! I'd traveled internationally before but direct flights only - this is important later. I was flying with United initially so my itinerary was ATL->ORD->PVG->NRT.
The mishaps (on my part) started in ATL. The check in counter agent asked if I had a visa for China. I was very confident that I didn't need one since it was just a three hour layover and I wouldn't go out of the airport. They let me on the plane and I was on my way to Chicago and then Shanghai. After a 16 hour flight and maybe 2 hours of napping, I set foot into the airport and was immediately ushered into the arrival visas lane. "No problem" I thought to myself - "probably just a stamp in the passport from customs". I had three hours to the next flight, plenty of time.
Well, turns out all travelers need a 24 hour transit visa to even be in the airport. So after about an hour, I finally get to the counter, they fingerprint me and take a bunch of photographs and finally print out a 24 hour visa and staple it to my passport. Great! I can explore the airport now.
For someone only used to North American airports, Atlanta probably being the largest I've been in, Shanghai was massive. It took awhile of me asking in very very poor Chinese how to get to departures until I finally found the very small security section between arrivals and departures. At this point, I still have about 90 minutes until my flight leaves. I get through security and finally in departures, I start searching for my gate and finally find it. They had customer service desks there checking everybody's boarding passes before you're even let into the gate area, slightly different but ok - it's all good. I'm almost there!
This was where my fuckup hit me. Although it appeared to me that my flight was operated by United all the way through to Tokyo and that my bags would be automatically transferred to the next plane, I was in fact completely changing airlines in a codeshare. This never really dawned on me until the customer service/gate agent asked where my checked bags were. I was flummoxed - I had no idea I had to retrieve them? And bring them where? Back here? Sigh ok I have an hour still.
Back into the airport to baggage claim I go. Of course, it had now been two hours since my bag was flopping around the conveyor belt and of course, my flight wasn't even listed in baggage claim anymore. I'm starting to panic at this point and inching closer to accepting the loss when an airport staff member comes running up to me, wheeling my suitcase, asking if it was mine. Chinese surveillance for the win maybe? Or I was the only one looking very lost and confused lol. Anyway after profusely thanking her, I again go back through security, back to the check in, and there I drop off my bags. Great! 15 minutes to go now but I should just be able to make it.
Then my heart sinks as a Chinese airport security officer appears and motions for me to follow him. I was half expecting to get arrested for something I didn't even know I did - maybe I accidentally breached security at some point or something. He points to my newly arrived suitcase, asks if it's mine, and requests that I open it. I comply and he points to an object - so I lift it out. He then points to the prohibited items sign and says "no batteries". I had completely forgotten I had a spare GoPro battery that I had placed in my checked luggage. I nervously chuckled and put it in my carry on and zipped up the bag. He smiled, the customer agent smiled, told me to hurry - gate is closing in ten minutes.
I pretty much half ran all the way to the boarding ramp, show my pass and finally get on board. At this point I'm drenched in sweat and I would feel terrible for my seat neighbours, but they're wearing suits and equally as sweaty so I think we all quietly agree we'll deal with it. Surprisingly, I still wasn't even the last person on the plane. There was amazing food on board (compared to United) and I watched a detective movie that I only understood about 10% of but it looked like the main character was having fun.
Finally, I land in Narita and gather everything, then board the Skyliner express to Ueno. Well, I get out at Ueno station and realize somehow I lost my ticket which I need to exit. I look longingly at the train as it leaves, hoping I didn't leave my ticket on the seat or anything. I try explaining the situation to the station master in slightly less broken Japanese and he was going to try and call someone. To arrest me or to help me, I was uncertain. Anyway I finally happened to look in the one spot of my bag that I never put anything in and of course, it was there. I proudly revealed it and was let out into the streets of Japan finally!
Thankfully that was really the last of my mishaps on that trip. I learned a lot and these days I'm a much more seasoned traveller. But boy was that a stressful 24 hours!
-
Comment on What’s a must-buy item you get when traveling internationally? in ~travel
sparkle LinkSalon-Pas patches with lidocaine! Afaik they're only in the US. When we go back to the States in 2.5years, we'll replenish our stock. We also usually visit LA and bring back lots of Asian goods...Salon-Pas patches with lidocaine! Afaik they're only in the US. When we go back to the States in 2.5years, we'll replenish our stock. We also usually visit LA and bring back lots of Asian goods that we can't get in the Prairies like tsukemono, senbei, etc. Also really really good Vietnamese beef jerky.
-
Comment on Why contacting customer service might not be best in ~life
sparkle Link ParentMy wife accidentally washed her JR Pass midway through a trip. We had the pieces still but they were unreadable by the machine. We went to three JR offices in Tokyo and basically were told "no...My wife accidentally washed her JR Pass midway through a trip. We had the pieces still but they were unreadable by the machine. We went to three JR offices in Tokyo and basically were told "no sorry, no re-issuing". One manager brought out a roll of tape for us to piece it back together and at least let us through, but we couldn't use it with any kiosks.
We were already going to Nagano that day so we swung by the JR office there and explained the situation in broken Japanese and the manager took one look at the ticket, saw the verification code was still present, looked it up and verified my wife's ID and printed us a new pass. The manager did say that it was only because the verification code was still visible that he was able to do this.
I'm not certain if this was resolved because he knew the rules better, had more power, or was just less busy than everybody else. But we didn't have to push with him. I think it's more likely that the employees in Tokyo just weren't certain of the rules and didn't want to risk getting in trouble.
Also the best ooyaki are in the same building (Midori Nagano), little place called Irohado. My favourite hidden gem of food (at least it still was 3 years ago).
-
Comment on Introducing XBOX backward compatibility on PC in ~games
sparkle Link ParentSome exclusives that are worth it imo: Panzer Dragoon Orta Brute Force Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball (it was actually a good (the only?) volleyball game) Ninja Gaiden Black Loved all of...Some exclusives that are worth it imo:
- Panzer Dragoon Orta
- Brute Force
- Dead or Alive: Xtreme Beach Volleyball (it was actually a good (the only?) volleyball game)
- Ninja Gaiden Black
Loved all of these as a teenager. That whole era of gaming had some absolute bangers. The Xbox also directly led to my favourite hobby of electronics tinkering as I did just about every mod imaginable to it, except for the RAM upgrade.
-
Comment on AI companies are buying tons of old books because they're free of AI slop in ~books
sparkle Link ParentConsidering they likely won't care about reselling the books and will just take the pages out of the bindings, probably minutes? Consumer scanners regularly hit 35-45ppm, I imagine there are...Considering they likely won't care about reselling the books and will just take the pages out of the bindings, probably minutes? Consumer scanners regularly hit 35-45ppm, I imagine there are commercial ones that can hit 60+. War and Peace could be scanned in 20 minutes.
-
Comment on Your cookware got worse on purpose: who owns Pyrex and All-Clad now in ~food
sparkle (edited )LinkThis is hilariously well timed. Just last night I knocked over a stack of Pyrex measuring cups. The ones on the bottom and top were older borosilicate ones. The one in the middle was a recently...This is hilariously well timed. Just last night I knocked over a stack of Pyrex measuring cups. The ones on the bottom and top were older borosilicate ones. The one in the middle was a recently acquired gift from a well meaning family member. Guess which one shattered into a million pieces as it was crushed between its older, heavier, siblings?
Any way, the recommendations don't really mention anything for borosilicate measuring cups outside of Europe. I did find that Nutrichef might make some good ones? But I've never looked into them before - anybody know anything about them? I've never heard of them which, considering I have heard of all the other shitty brands in the article, is probably a good thing.
Hogan's Heroes! My dad and I would watch episodes on TV Land, as he grew up watching it. It's such a goofy show with some heartfelt moments. And a great reminder that Nazis sucked then and Nazis still suck now. Also, I worked with a guy who was an exact doppelganger of Kinchloe, except he was a Navy man and not Army.
Gilligan's Island and Star Trek were of course in the same vein, but Hogan's Heroes has a special place in my heart.