vord's recent activity
-
Comment on Key moments from landmark US Supreme Court arguments on Donald Trump’s immunity claims in ~news
-
Comment on Key moments from landmark US Supreme Court arguments on Donald Trump’s immunity claims in ~news
vord LinkYes actually. Obama probably should have been prosecuted for that. And granting immunity from prosecution fixes that? Having immunity just means rounding up congress, having them vote to make them...A drone strike on a U.S. citizen abroad authorized by then-President Barack Obama?
Yes actually. Obama probably should have been prosecuted for that.
One particularly notable hypothetical came from Alito, who raised the prospect that an outgoing president who loses a closely contested race but fears indictment upon leaving office might try to remain in power, creating “a cycle that destabilizes the functioning of our country as a democracy.”
And granting immunity from prosecution fixes that? Having immunity just means rounding up congress, having them vote to make them dictator for life, then shooting 5 no votes on the spot and revoting if it doesn't pass.
-
Comment on Question for those in colder climates: Pellet HVAC/boilers? in ~life.home_improvement
vord Link ParentSame kwh price here, about same sqft. In Jan/Feb, when it is coldest and solar generation lowest, my bill will spike to about $700. This is down from $1200, when it was just resistive heating. I...Same kwh price here, about same sqft. In Jan/Feb, when it is coldest and solar generation lowest, my bill will spike to about $700. This is down from $1200, when it was just resistive heating.
I actually go negative in April now instead of having a $200 bill.I won't get another electric bill until September courtesy of the solar panels, and will stay under $200 until December.
Look into the GE profile ventless all-in-one. Also was a great investment when my washer died, let me get rid of the dryer too and free up some floorspace.
-
Comment on Net neutrality is back as US FCC votes to regulate internet providers in ~tech
vord Link ParentThe CNN article does a poor job explaining, but this older article highlights some of the other great stuff Title II classification provides. Privacy protections Disability access Billing...The CNN article does a poor job explaining, but this older article highlights some of the other great stuff Title II classification provides.
- Privacy protections
- Disability access
- Billing transparency (why your power bill and phone bill have more detailed breakdowns of costs) It would require ISPs to disclose any 'soft caps' like Comcast has been enacting over the years.
- The ability for broadband providers to use any existing utility pole. This is bad-news-bears for incumbants.
Also, apparently in Portugal where they have no such legal requirements the cable-ification of the internet is happening.
-
Comment on Question for those in colder climates: Pellet HVAC/boilers? in ~life.home_improvement
vord Link ParentEh, I can see the spike in my electrical bill when the heat pumps cross over from 'more efficient' to 'about the same' to 'less efficient'. Home is mostly minisplit heat pumps with some...Eh, I can see the spike in my electrical bill when the heat pumps cross over from 'more efficient' to 'about the same' to 'less efficient'. Home is mostly minisplit heat pumps with some supplemental resistive. Have a fair number of solar panels on the roof.
That threshold is about 36F. Any prolonged cold snap below that, especially if cloudy, and my electric bill triples.
It works for me, because we typically only get a week or two below 30ish 24/7, and the efficiency for the other 90% of the time makes up for it.
-
Comment on US FCC to vote to restore net neutrality rules years after the agency voted to repeal them in ~tech
vord Link ParentPart of the skyrocketing costs of education has to do with compliance. It's just one more thing that has to be dealt with, and if you're already running a skeleton crew to keep costs down....Part of the skyrocketing costs of education has to do with compliance. It's just one more thing that has to be dealt with, and if you're already running a skeleton crew to keep costs down....
-
Comment on The psychopharmacology of cannabis and its impact on mental health - a primer in ~health.mental
vord (edited )Link ParentTangentially related, everyone should watch the Reefer Madness 2005 movie-musical-parody.Tangentially related, everyone should watch the Reefer Madness 2005 movie-musical-parody.
-
Comment on The psychopharmacology of cannabis and its impact on mental health - a primer in ~health.mental
vord Link ParentI really do appreciate this article. I'm one of those 'vulnerable populations,' has been hospitalized with psychosis. I can directly attribute it to over-consumption. I've been able to...I really do appreciate this article. I'm one of those 'vulnerable populations,' has been hospitalized with psychosis. I can directly attribute it to over-consumption. I've been able to re-introduce marijuana into my consumption despite this now that I'm a middle-ager who is consuming responsibly and not a young adult doing the pot equivalent to binge drinking. I do 2 tokes of something strong now and I get the benefits without seeing any of the psychosis that I was experiencing before.
This right here, I think is one of the most important points when people try to draw causality conclusions:
Also, there is the simple fact that, while rates of cannabis use show large variation across the world, the rates of schizophrenia are fairly uniform at a country-by-country level, speaking to there being no major effect at a population level.
Most of the causal links that have been determined have more to do with 'activating' a latent psychosis earlier than otherwise would, rather than inducing it. And that's a pretty important distinction....heck in some ways it's probably better to have someone learn about their schizo tendencies in their early adulthood rather than their mid-life crisis.
-
Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
vord LinkMy youngest child loves music, but is in that terrible space where digital mediums are best for durability but they can't read so navigating typical UIs is out. So I'm building a system akin to...My youngest child loves music, but is in that terrible space where digital mediums are best for durability but they can't read so navigating typical UIs is out.
So I'm building a system akin to Juuke. Got some old RFID cards and a simple reader, and rigged up a simple metadata system to associate the songs with the cards. I find it's easier than the Juuke method since I'm not gonna write to any cards, they're just dumb random 10-digit identifiers.
Currently, it's Typescript with a server hosting the music/metadata and a (fairly) simple web client. Lets them use any computer with a local network connection.
I'll probably keep the metadata model (a simple file named to the rfid card identifier containing json pointing to the song, formatted metadata, and album art. I'm probably gonna ditch the client/server and build everything into a small box using a pi, an audio hat, a power switch, and a few buttons.
Then build (or find) a small python script to accept key presses or gpio buttons for a fully self-contained system.
-
Comment on US Congress approves bill banning TikTok unless Chinese owner ByteDance sells platform in ~tech
vord Link ParentIf there's one unilateral bipartisan issue, it's insuring the military industrial complex always gets its cut. The tiktok ban probably wouldn't have gotten traction though.If there's one unilateral bipartisan issue, it's insuring the military industrial complex always gets its cut.
The tiktok ban probably wouldn't have gotten traction though.
-
Comment on The startup offering free toilets and coffee for delivery workers — in exchange for their data in ~tech
vord Link ParentIf there are only 100 toilets available now, but 600 people using them, that's 6x mess per toilet. If there are now 200 toilets available because artificial barriers were removed, that's only 3x...If there are only 100 toilets available now, but 600 people using them, that's 6x mess per toilet. If there are now 200 toilets available because artificial barriers were removed, that's only 3x mess per toilet. It's not like people are magically going to start using toilets more just because they're more available.
RE 1, they're already doing that. They'll grumble a bit at demand going up....but then that's the price of having a business open to the public.
RE 2: Provide more accessible free spaces for those activities (well less the sex i suppose, but that's gonna happen damn near anywhere...people are kinky)
RE 3: I'm betting if the toilet isn't relatively towards the front, there won't be much traffic except for emergencies. People using the toilet don't like being inconvenienced either.
-
Comment on What if we discover the answers of the Universe, eliminate cancer, halt aging. What's next? in ~humanities
vord LinkDepends on how widespread this halting gets. If it's available for everyone, we better get some sterilization programs in place quick. If it's only available to a select few, we should probably...Depends on how widespread this halting gets. If it's available for everyone, we better get some sterilization programs in place quick.
If it's only available to a select few, we should probably make sure to strip them of wealth and power such that we don't have some god-kings on our hands until it's universally available.
-
Comment on The startup offering free toilets and coffee for delivery workers — in exchange for their data in ~tech
vord Link ParentIt's cause people like me, especially when I was young and dumb, won't hesitate to pee on the entrance if they say no.It's cause people like me, especially when I was young and dumb, won't hesitate to pee on the entrance if they say no.
-
Comment on In US lawsuit, ex-Amazon AI exec claims she was asked to ignore IP law in ~tech
vord Link ParentYes, and that behavior needs to be heavily scrutinized. It really shouldn't be anywhere near status quo, but here we are. That said, we fired a lady on a performance improvement plan with...Yes, and that behavior needs to be heavily scrutinized. It really shouldn't be anywhere near status quo, but here we are.
That said, we fired a lady on a performance improvement plan with completely reasonable requirements. In short, she had the position for 3 years, was borderline useless and had obviously lied on her resume. Boss kept giving her additional chances, but finally had enough. Legal wanted a bulletproof case because she was also a minority. Coworker wrote up a list of '10 tasks we would expect someone with this job after 3 months of onboarding to complete within an hour each'. She was given an entire day for each task. She quit after failing her third consecutive task, then filed a discrimination suit.
-
Comment on Former naturalists/materialists, what changed your view? in ~humanities
vord Link ParentIt's definitely a bit rarer, especially in the before times. Much like musicians, generally only those with the biggest star power really have the leverage to have their cake and eat it too....It's definitely a bit rarer, especially in the before times.
Much like musicians, generally only those with the biggest star power really have the leverage to have their cake and eat it too.
Though with small authors I think it's a matter of them shopping around for better contracts (and being willing to accept less for retaining those rights).
-
Comment on Rooftop solar panels are flooding California’s grid. That’s a problem. in ~enviro
vord Link ParentCan confirm. Living in New Jersey. While wind is readily available where I live, it's tricky to deploy as a homeowner unless you have a very large ( > 1/2 acre) amount of land to comply with...Northeastern United States.
Can confirm. Living in New Jersey. While wind is readily available where I live, it's tricky to deploy as a homeowner unless you have a very large ( > 1/2 acre) amount of land to comply with zoning codes.
And we just came off of like 2 weeks of "mostly cloudy with mild winds," along with a surprisingly long, cool spring. Like we just had a fluke frost drop 2 days ago.
-
Comment on Spotify lowers artist royalties despite subscription price hike in ~music
vord (edited )Link ParentI'm sure there's a bell curve there, however that marketting niche also is often filled by pirates. Last I checked, music pirates buy far more music than non-pirates, even in the pre-streaming...I'm sure there's a bell curve there, however that marketting niche also is often filled by pirates.
Last I checked, music pirates buy far more music than non-pirates, even in the pre-streaming days.
It turns out that having a music addiction means having free (or virtually free) access to the entirety of music just feeds into that addiction, making it even more likely you'll just buy some random indie artist's home-burned CD so you can upload it to the music sharing site or even just to own it.
I'd love to see something like Resonate (which is dying/dead for a lot of bureaucratic reasons) make it big. I feel that would fill both the "I want cheap access to discover music" and "pay artists a lot more."
-
Comment on What we learned about the publishing industry from Penguin vs. US Department of Justice in ~books
vord Link ParentMaybe, but I've also checked out books from as old as the 1970's from libraries. Children's books and paperbacks tend to wear out much faster. They also tend to sell off the old books for...Maybe, but I've also checked out books from as old as the 1970's from libraries. Children's books and paperbacks tend to wear out much faster.
They also tend to sell off the old books for fundraising and accept book donations to cover costs, neither of which is currently possible for ebooks.
-
Comment on Former naturalists/materialists, what changed your view? in ~humanities
vord Link ParentAuthors have the rights to do whatever they want. It's only if they become beholden to publishers that their hands become tied. Cory Doctorow has released many of his books under a Creative...Authors have the rights to do whatever they want. It's only if they become beholden to publishers that their hands become tied.
Cory Doctorow has released many of his books under a Creative Commons license. As such, you can find many of his ebooks on Project Gutenburg for free.
-
Comment on Amazon grows to over 750,000 robots as world's second-largest private employer replaces over 100,000 humans in ~tech
vord (edited )Link ParentThe problem always being that rather than the workers getting reduced workloads for this automation, because there's now less work for the same amount of people, there's just less workers and...The problem always being that rather than the workers getting reduced workloads for this automation, because there's now less work for the same amount of people, there's just less workers and everybody else has to work as-hard or harder than before.
Imagine if we had 1990's-level comforts, but only had to work 20 hours a week. This is (in theory) the kind of thing we could have been striving for instead of perpetual infinite growth.
What do you think impeachment is for? That could be the simple trigger to initiate it in-office.