sparkle's recent activity
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Comment on USB-C PD all the things! in ~tech
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
sparkle Link ParentI've always found the dumb ones to be too inconsistent. They always produce good rice but rarely great rice. Being able to keep rice warm in the smarter one and reheat as well is a killer feature...I've always found the dumb ones to be too inconsistent. They always produce good rice but rarely great rice. Being able to keep rice warm in the smarter one and reheat as well is a killer feature imo. Microwaved or stove reheated rice is just never quite right and I can only fry so much rice.
I agree that this one is maybe overkill - do I really need AI adjusting cooking temperature and pressure on the fly? Probably not , but the induction cooking is quite nice for even cooking and the low pressure does make the rice a bit fluffier.
I can say that I've used every function on mine, with the exception of "quick", ironically. It is quite nice that as long as you follow the very basic directions, whatever you make comes out great every time.
To my friends that aren't daily rice eaters, I usually advise them to get either a dumb one or a cheaper zojirushi/tiger. Or teach them to use a pot , if they don't know. All rice cooking methods are valid except I still can't quite accept the Indian style of boiling basmati in water like pasta. I mean, it obviously works but it's unsettling lol
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
sparkle Link ParentObviously, the box was made in Thailand while the pot was imported from space :D /s Zojirushi make great products but the repairability and parts availability leaves much to be desired. I imagine...Obviously, the box was made in Thailand while the pot was imported from space :D /s
Zojirushi make great products but the repairability and parts availability leaves much to be desired. I imagine outside of Japan there's just not enough of a market to warrant having a good stock of repair/replacement parts. During my diagnosis phase, there were lots of YouTube videos from Thai and Vietnamese uncles repairing them so it feels like even throughout SE Asia there's just not the market or the official channels are just too expensive.
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
sparkle LinkI just went through a comedy of errors repairing my Zojirushi rice cooker. It's out of warranty and there's only one repair center in Canada with a steep diagnosis fee. Basically a design flaw...I just went through a comedy of errors repairing my Zojirushi rice cooker. It's out of warranty and there's only one repair center in Canada with a steep diagnosis fee.
Basically a design flaw allowed a small amount of liquid to leak onto a daughter board containing the clock battery and some serial lines and power for two sensors. This caused severe corrosion which degraded a pin in the FFC connector to the point that it fell out entirely.
After some lengthy troubleshooting and diagnosis and confirmation of said diagnosis, I set about ordering repair parts. I thought I found the right receptacle only to solder it in and realize the damn thing is upside down. So all my connections were reversed. Good thing I checked continuity!
I looked everywhere for the mirror version of the replacement. I even checked Chinese and Japanese suppliers, there's not even a search term for the orientation so I can only conclude Zojirushi manufactured them in house to frustrate anybody trying to make repairs.
So my next logical thought was "well I'll just replace the other side, cancelling out the change". I disassemble more of the rice cooker and extract the main board only to discover that the receptacle on that board is the exact same orientation as the replacement, only at a right angle.
Now I'm thinking about building an adapter, a crossover cable of sorts. I did buy extra parts thankfully. I considered a perf board adapter with the connectors on opposite sides, reversing the pin order, then two cables to complete things. But all my perfboard on hand was too big of a pitch.
In the end, I very very carefully spent about thirty minutes gently bending the pins with fine tweezers into the correct configuration and gently coercing it into place. It's not perfect but considering the part apparently doesn't exist, it's the best I can do without printing my own replacement board.
Tonight we had our first pot of rice in a week and it was fantastic! So that's how 2$ and a lot of time saved my fancy rice cooker.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
sparkle (edited )LinkI finished Diaspora by Greg Egan recently and it was a lot to get through. I really really enjoyed it a lot though - it really stretches the imagination and exposes you to new and exciting ideas...I finished Diaspora by Greg Egan recently and it was a lot to get through. I really really enjoyed it a lot though - it really stretches the imagination and exposes you to new and exciting ideas and concepts (to me) in math, theoretical physics, and astronomy. For a book written almost 30 years ago, it's surprisingly modern.
Since I'm still riding that intellectual high (that makes me feel incredibly dumb and realize that what I thought I knew is a drop in the bucket) I decided to go with his 2003 book, Schild's Ladder, which deals with quantum graph theory, so far. Egan's prose leaves much to be desired, but I don't feel like I actually desire it too much. I enjoy the science too much to really care much about the characters, they're all secondary characters in it anyway. Science is both the protagonist and the antagonist.
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Comment on South Carolina's freeway for bikes in ~transport
sparkle LinkWe have something similar to this in my city. It's funny because there are clearly parts where the original rail had to divert for some reason and the trail follows, but the humans don't. I...We have something similar to this in my city. It's funny because there are clearly parts where the original rail had to divert for some reason and the trail follows, but the humans don't. I believe this is called a "desire path" and there's several along the trail.
Anyway, I run and bike on it almost daily throughout the warmer seasons. The city section is only about 11.5km long but just 500m on some rural roads from the northern terminus will connect you to a provincial park and then the Trans Canada Trail. On the southern end, you're also just a few hundred meters on busier, albeit mostly residential roads and then you're connected to several city parks with a short journey into the downtown core.
Urban land reclamation is a fantastic thing and more cities should look into it when feasible. We also have several landfills that have been sealed and buried and turned into lovely parks. While we do have our sprawl issues, at least some of our space is being reused and repurposed into something for the people and not another development of cookie cutter cardboard houses.
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Comment on What's a culture shock that you experienced? in ~talk
sparkle Link ParentHah my family is from Portland and I lived there for a number of years. Also lived in Atlanta and Denver so I've seen first hand how stupid crazy ice can be. That big pile up in North Carolina a...Hah my family is from Portland and I lived there for a number of years. Also lived in Atlanta and Denver so I've seen first hand how stupid crazy ice can be. That big pile up in North Carolina a decade or so ago was primarily caused by ice build up followed by snow (and drivers going too fast for conditions).
I'm quite grateful to be in a predominantly snowy area - my friends on the East Coast complain about the cold and winter and I couldn't understand for awhile but now I know - it's the ice and the relative humidity that suck hard.
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Comment on What's a culture shock that you experienced? in ~talk
sparkle Link ParentWait wait I'm feeling called out here lmao. I am one of those runners - anything above about -5 I'm wearing shorts. Maybe a light jacket and some thin gloves to start, but I lose them eventually....(Which both are fair criticisms. The fact I and so many others have seen joggers in t-shirts and shorts when there's snow on the ground...)
Wait wait I'm feeling called out here lmao. I am one of those runners - anything above about -5 I'm wearing shorts. Maybe a light jacket and some thin gloves to start, but I lose them eventually. It gets hot running around and there's little I hate more than feeling hot and trapped if I'm wearing pants or heavy jackets and can't easily take them off. Also there's snow on the ground here from roughly October-April and sometimes I just don't feel like running on the treadmill. Though from -20 to -5, I do wear windproof pants, merino leggings, wool socks, windproof jacket, toque, thicker gloves, etc. Living in the cold definitely impacts your perception of temperature.
This winter has defeated me though - while we have excellent snow cover, we've had multiple rounds of freezing rain, even when the temp is well below freezing which just doesn't happen here. And just this week we had a 12 hour period overnight where the temp was above freezing so some stuff melted then promptly refroze in the morning when the temp dropped again. So there's just a stupid amount of ice everywhere and that's fucking annoying to run on. And many days have struggled to get above -25 and that's getting into potential lung damage territory so I tend to shy away from strenuous activity outside when it's that cold.
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Comment on Solving Factorio with Terraform in ~games
sparkle LinkOh well this is perfectly timed. I was just reading about extending Terraform with custom providers a few hours ago. And I also happen to love Factorio/Satisfactory. Though I can't say I...Oh well this is perfectly timed. I was just reading about extending Terraform with custom providers a few hours ago. And I also happen to love Factorio/Satisfactory. Though I can't say I considered the two of them in the same room lol
I consider myself rather proficient in Terraform and rather inefficient in Factorio so I'm looking forward to watching this, thanks!
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Comment on Consumer Electronics Show 2026 in ~tech
sparkle Link ParentI guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I'm still kind of shocked. Much like the kids that would potentially be using these. The only saving grace is that in a country where Kinder Eggs are banned,...Nathan Proctor awarded Worst in Show for Environmental Impact to Lollipop Star, a candy lollipop with built-in electronics that transmits sound through jaw vibrations, marketed as “Music you can taste.”
I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but I'm still kind of shocked. Much like the kids that would potentially be using these. The only saving grace is that in a country where Kinder Eggs are banned, these surely will never be allowed to see the light of day, right?
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Comment on Has anyone else intentionally lowered their phone's screen's saturation? in ~tech
sparkle LinkNot quite saturation, but I forgot my Kindle on a recent trip so was forced to read my book on my phone. The night-mode on my Pixel still wasn't enough so I wound up just cranking the hue all the...Not quite saturation, but I forgot my Kindle on a recent trip so was forced to read my book on my phone. The night-mode on my Pixel still wasn't enough so I wound up just cranking the hue all the way to red and lowered the saturation to get a really rather pleasant low-light reading experience. While the glossiness of the screen still bothered me a bit, it was an overall decent replacement.
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Comment on CGA-2026-01 🕹️⛵🛡️ INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker in ~games
sparkle Link ParentSpecial shout out to this classic rendition of Dragon Roost Island - he also has a fun Outset Island and the other covers of Zelda/Mario/Chrono are equally as fun!Special shout out to this classic rendition of Dragon Roost Island - he also has a fun Outset Island and the other covers of Zelda/Mario/Chrono are equally as fun!
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Comment on CGA-2026-01 🕹️⛵🛡️ INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker in ~games
sparkle Link ParentInteresting - I don't think I've noticed that effect but my eyes are also not as good as they used to be. I suppose it could be a difference in how cemu and dolphin hook into vulkan maybe? I am...Interesting - I don't think I've noticed that effect but my eyes are also not as good as they used to be. I suppose it could be a difference in how cemu and dolphin hook into vulkan maybe? I am running HDR mode on mine actually - forgot I had that enabled. Though I highly doubt that would make a difference. But yeah, lossless scaling is fantastic! I'm glad I found out about it while looking up 60fps mods. I tried the gecko codes for 60fps and while they kinda work, the game timing can get off in places. For instance, the first Niko jump mini-game is broken because he never completes the jump to the first platform. Just falls straight to the floor and stares at me blinking lol.
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Comment on CGA-2026-01 🕹️⛵🛡️ INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker in ~games
sparkle Link ParentAhh sorry to steal your thunder! Hilarious that we both pretty much came up with the same steps independently and for different systems and are also both slow/busy gamers. Are you me? Am I you?...Ahh sorry to steal your thunder! Hilarious that we both pretty much came up with the same steps independently and for different systems and are also both slow/busy gamers. Are you me? Am I you?
Your steps are much more reproducible I think - I just hammered mine out while sitting on the couch in a post holidays daze. From what I remember, the steps are nearly identical so your instructions should be applicable to both setups.
Thanks and happy sailing - maybe after this I might even try a randomizer mod?
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Comment on CGA-2026-01 🕹️⛵🛡️ INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker in ~games
sparkle LinkI know I'm a very slow gamer, so I actually started this a week ago. And much to my surprise, after having struggled to really get drawn into many modern games (even Clair Obscur took awhile for...- Exemplary
I know I'm a very slow gamer, so I actually started this a week ago. And much to my surprise, after having struggled to really get drawn into many modern games (even Clair Obscur took awhile for me and still felt like a chore for portions), I'm almost done with it already. It's not a matter of time or the relative shortness of the game, there's just something about the simplicity and the joy and the care that are crammed onto a 1.47GB disc that makes everything so much more fun.
When Wind Waker came out, I laughed at it with everybody else. Ocarina of Time would always be the golden standard, I thought. And it still is - though I think WW is a very close second for me now. There's something about the creative simplicity that's just missing from a lot of modern games - even BotW and TotK are struggle buses for me. I think I've possibly played WW more than even Link to the Past now.
Anyway! I did want to share my setup. I'm using the original NTSC Gamecube version. I have Dolphin emulator (whichever version is available from AUR) on my Arch Linux desktop with an i7-13700k with KDE Plasma6 on Wayland with an RTX3080 (proprietary Nvidia drivers).
Here's everything I did for my setup-
- Installed the Hypatia HD pack
- Patched the ISO with Better Wind Waker mod (I mostly did some QoL stuff in here, especially the inverted horizontal camera controls)
- Purchased Lossless Scaling from Steam (this worked much much better than the 60fps mods floating around out there)
- Installed lsfg-vk (also available in AUR) as a wrapper for the Windows only Lossless Scaling - I set it to be enabled on dolphin-emu application name and set my FPS scaler to 3x - this gives a very smooth experience for me on a 2k monitor at 165hz
- Most dolphin emulator options I just followed whatever the default for the HD pack recommended
- "Cheating" wise, I'm just using increased sail speed and slightly longer roll, along with the "second set of right shoulder items" code provided as an optional extra with BetterWW. Oh also widescreen support is essential
- I did consider RetroAchievements, but it only supports the EU/International edition and I was already an hour in when I realized this and didn't feel like switching.
All of this gets me to a very faithful Gamecube HD version but with all the bells and whistles of the Wii U version. Which I could also emulate but meh, challenges make things fun sometimes.
I'm also using the Tingle Tuner for the very first time! I never owned a GBA (or a GameCube for that matter) - only playing WW at friends houses or by borrowing their console. Dolphin can emulate the GBA and give you a real Tingle Tuner experience which is honestly really fun. I know it got lots of hate for Tingle and the annoying sounds (you can mute the GBA controller adapter) but the minimap and wind compass at a glance are quite nice to have. Not to mention more collectables.
Hopefully this helps anybody else who wants to play on Linux. Happy to answer any questions or provide more details if needed!
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
sparkle Link ParentHey that's awesome! I used a quit smoking tracker a long time ago that I can't recall the name of. But I do recall that it included some stats to help with motivation - for instance, you could...Hey that's awesome! I used a quit smoking tracker a long time ago that I can't recall the name of. But I do recall that it included some stats to help with motivation - for instance, you could enter the average cost of a pack of smokes you used to buy and how often you smoked and it would tell you how much you were saving daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Maybe that could be a feature to add? I know when I quit drinking a few years ago, there was a lot of "well shit, I just saved 250$ this month. Maybe I'll treat myself to ___" moments that really helped.
It also had health statements in there like "after 6 months, your lungs are back to 50% capacity" or something like that. Though obviously with any sort of health statement, likely better to steer clear unless you really know what you're talking about.
Best of luck in your sobriety journeys - it's hard at first but it gets much much easier. Dry January is honestly the hardest bit - especially if there are lots of post-holiday events and stuff and cousins who won't take no for an answer (speaking from experience...)
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
sparkle LinkI've been on a math/physics kick for awhile (specifically topology and non-euclidean geometry) and recently heard about the works of Greg Egan, a mathematician/author. I'm starting with Diaspora...I've been on a math/physics kick for awhile (specifically topology and non-euclidean geometry) and recently heard about the works of Greg Egan, a mathematician/author. I'm starting with Diaspora which is supposedly one of his better works.
I realized quite quickly that this is basically a textbook cleverly disguised as fiction, and honestly I'm here for it. He presents the topics in engaging ways without patronizing the reader and also tells an interesting story of humanity 1000 years in the future.
While it's not the best nor most innovative sci-fi I've ever read, it's definitely been good nerdy fun as opposed to "fun to read but forgettable". I enjoy using it as a jumping off point to rabbit hole down other adjacent topics - though I guess this does make it quite a slow read for me as I get easily distracted. But still, I look forward to reading it more than I have about a lot of books recently.
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Comment on Advice with my Nextcloud + Kodi set-up in ~tech
sparkle LinkWhich model of Raspberry Pi and what adapter are you using to power it? Newer ones like the 4 and 5 require 15W and 25W minimum respectively, using smaller ones will still boot and work most of...Which model of Raspberry Pi and what adapter are you using to power it? Newer ones like the 4 and 5 require 15W and 25W minimum respectively, using smaller ones will still boot and work most of the time but there will be all sorts of wonky behaviour.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
sparkle Link ParentPlease don't throw that curse around lightly. Sincerely, a former thin client admin for non-technical users. (seriously Karin, how did you manage to print a screenshot of an email, annotate it...At a certain point, the largest non-tech sectors will consider if a deploying *nix browser kiosks will save millions, and we'll have come full circle to thin clients again.
Please don't throw that curse around lightly. Sincerely, a former thin client admin for non-technical users.
(seriously Karin, how did you manage to print a screenshot of an email, annotate it with pen, scan it back in, print it, and then fax it??)
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Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
sparkle Link ParentThis and Transatlanticism, along with The Postal Service, are three of my time travel albums. Each song can draw me back to a specific point (or points!) in time in a really rather uncanny way....Death Cab For Cutie - Plans (indie/emo/alternative rock)
This and Transatlanticism, along with The Postal Service, are three of my time travel albums. Each song can draw me back to a specific point (or points!) in time in a really rather uncanny way. They were just that impactful at those moments in my life as I moved towards adulthood (and a few moments during adult life too).
Great album, I still enjoy some of their newer stuff even if it doesn't quite have the same impact.
There's pretty small ones available - https://www.digikey.ca/en/products/detail/e-ink-corporation/SCB721001/6007723
Dimensions: 30.57mm x 21.57mm x 0.59mm
A segmented display would actually be just about perfect for something like this. Though the cost is quite high for small batches.
A small OLED would probably be better as it's quite a lot cheaper and the benefits of e-ink aren't really utilized in an application like this.