vord's recent activity

  1. Comment on Everyday/week seems to fly by as I get older, how to change one's perception? in ~life

    vord
    Link Parent
    Yea. It's full of magic, wonder, pain, and suffering. It's great. Mostly. Potty training is hell lol.

    Yea. It's full of magic, wonder, pain, and suffering.

    It's great. Mostly. Potty training is hell lol.

  2. Comment on Googlebook revealed and ready for pre-order in ~tech

    vord
    Link Parent
    Yea, and that's sad. I learned the most by mucking around and doing stuff I wasn't supposed to be doing at school. Good old 'net send'.

    Yea, and that's sad. I learned the most by mucking around and doing stuff I wasn't supposed to be doing at school.

    Good old 'net send'.

    1 vote
  3. Comment on Everyday/week seems to fly by as I get older, how to change one's perception? in ~life

    vord
    Link Parent
    The days are long and the years are short. Especially when you throw your back out.

    The days are long and the years are short. Especially when you throw your back out.

    2 votes
  4. Comment on Everyday/week seems to fly by as I get older, how to change one's perception? in ~life

    vord
    Link Parent
    That checks out. Problem is, best I can tell, the vast majority of us are idiots about the majority things until we hit about 26 or so. I mean, we are most of our lives, but I feel it's somewhere...

    18 is the radioactive half-life of a human

    That checks out. Problem is, best I can tell, the vast majority of us are idiots about the majority things until we hit about 26 or so.

    I mean, we are most of our lives, but I feel it's somewhere in our late 20's the truth that we don't and won't in fact know everything fully sets in, enabling us to at least give the appeaeance of not being idiots.

    Normalizing against a minimum age, where we actually remember more than tiny fragments of it into adulthood, would probably give a more accurate number. I'd propose a low-pass filter around 4 or 5.

    3 votes
  5. Comment on Everyday/week seems to fly by as I get older, how to change one's perception? in ~life

    vord
    Link Parent
    That and having repeated arguements about fairness and having to defend basic parenting decisions constantly because you were an idiot that wanted your children to challenge authority and not give...

    That and having repeated arguements about fairness and having to defend basic parenting decisions constantly because you were an idiot that wanted your children to challenge authority and not give blindly to it is a great way to make every waking moment last an eternity.

    I keep telling myself it'll pay dividends in 15 years, but fucking hell I just want to get in the car and drive to the hardware store in less than an hour.

    13 votes
  6. Comment on Googlebook revealed and ready for pre-order in ~tech

    vord
    Link Parent
    Probably because of the intense marketing and discounts to the schools. I'm all for anything that forces OS diversity, but I also know it's the most common business playbook from Microsoft to...

    Probably because of the intense marketing and discounts to the schools.

    I'm all for anything that forces OS diversity, but I also know it's the most common business playbook from Microsoft to Marlboro: get them hooked early.

    8 votes
  7. Comment on The next chapter for Bungie in ~games

    vord
    Link Parent
    Yea. But that's why most games include an "exclude crossplay" button for those who don't want it as an option. The PC gaming world is basically nothing but equipment upgrades. Working within that...

    Yea. But that's why most games include an "exclude crossplay" button for those who don't want it as an option.

    The PC gaming world is basically nothing but equipment upgrades. Working within that bounds rather than trying to prevent it will work better.

    2 votes
  8. Comment on The next chapter for Bungie in ~games

    vord
    Link Parent
    Console players that complain about PC players have 0 comprehension about how much better somebody mildly skilled with a mouse and keyboard can aim, fire, turn 194 degrees, kill a second, and then...

    Console players that complain about PC players have 0 comprehension about how much better somebody mildly skilled with a mouse and keyboard can aim, fire, turn 194 degrees, kill a second, and then turn 270 and kill a third.

    Thumbsticks for camera aim are about as precise as using oven mitts to operate a sewing machine.

    1 vote
  9. Comment on In fighting for every black child, did I forget my own? in ~life

    vord
    Link Parent
    Parents from affluent backgrounds look at you like you have 3 eyes if you're not taking your kids to Disney every year. They don't see their privilege either.

    Parents from affluent backgrounds look at you like you have 3 eyes if you're not taking your kids to Disney every year.

    They don't see their privilege either.

    10 votes
  10. Comment on Ocean death countdown in ~enviro

    vord
    (edited )
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    Well, by my napkin math, based on my January heating bill, is if we used ocean-sourced heat pumps to fulfil the heating needs for 5 billion people, we could cool the Atlantic Ocean by...

    Well, by my napkin math, based on my January heating bill, is if we used ocean-sourced heat pumps to fulfil the heating needs for 5 billion people, we could cool the Atlantic Ocean by approximately 0.2C per winter.

    This would mostly be negated by fulfilling the cooling needs in the summer, however the immense benefit of eliminting that amount of CO2 combustion from natural gas (directly via homes and utilities) year round would be immense.

    If the oceans are defacto dead anyhow in the medium term, might as well leverage it.

    6 votes
  11. Comment on What's the oldest piece of clothing you own and still wear? in ~life.style

    vord
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    All my own clothes, bought new: Catch 22 t-shirt from 2000ish Assorted ThinkGeek shirts from 2002. These have all approached EOL, the ThinkGeek shirts having retired about a year ago and the Catch...

    All my own clothes, bought new:
    Catch 22 t-shirt from 2000ish
    Assorted ThinkGeek shirts from 2002.

    These have all approached EOL, the ThinkGeek shirts having retired about a year ago and the Catch 22 shirt approaching cutoff.

    An LLBean 2-layer ski jacket from 1998 I wear every winter. Still going strong. Will probably be able to be passed to my kids when I die in 35-60 years.

    2 votes
  12. Comment on Richard Stallman on using the word "content" to describe works in ~humanities

    vord
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Pardon? All of the GPL licenses are OSI certified. https://opensource.org/license/gpl-3.0 I'll beat this drum forever; The primary differentiating factor between the broader open source supporters...

    Pardon? All of the GPL licenses are OSI certified.

    https://opensource.org/license/gpl-3.0

    I'll beat this drum forever; The primary differentiating factor between the broader open source supporters and the free software movement is that the free software movement wants all software to be copyleft, wheras the broader open source movement mostly just wants it as cheap/free foundation for their proprietary software.

    Most people probably don't remember just how controversial it was when Microsoft started edging their way into the OSI, considering that leading up to their first submission of a licence in 2005 for approval they were still trying to form a patent violation case against Linux.

    6 votes
  13. Comment on Richard Stallman on using the word "content" to describe works in ~humanities

    vord
    Link Parent
    And that's the exact difference between open source and the free software movement. Open source advocates don't necessarily see tivoization as a bad thing. Free software advocates do, and that's...

    And that's the exact difference between open source and the free software movement.

    Open source advocates don't necessarily see tivoization as a bad thing. Free software advocates do, and that's why we have the GPLv3.

    Linus's greatest unintentional blunder was adopting GPLv2 only. If it had been permitted to graduate to V3 tivoization could be dead and gone.

    3 votes
  14. Comment on Does the dryer shrink your clothes? in ~life

    vord
    Link Parent
    My wife sews a lot of her own clothes, and she always pre-shrinks the fabric.

    My wife sews a lot of her own clothes, and she always pre-shrinks the fabric.

    2 votes
  15. Comment on Gemini AI hacked three companies in a testing breakout, Google says in ~tech

    vord
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    The Information (archive link). And IIRC, Google has funded more than $40B into Anthropic. But the Enron parallel is also tied to the general vibes that the most confident assurances about...

    The Information (archive link).

    But as part of the deal, which begins next year, Anthropic plans to spend about $200 billion with Google over five years, according to a person with knowledge of it. The commitment means Anthropic represents more than 40% of the “revenue backlog” Google disclosed to investors last week, reflecting contractual commitments from its cloud customers.

    And IIRC, Google has funded more than $40B into Anthropic.

    But the Enron parallel is also tied to the general vibes that the most confident assurances about profitability are loudly shouted "leaks", while official statements that could have legal consequences are either twisted to all heck (see nebulous ARR numbers) or much more muted.

    The ugly bits will be hidden in the fine print.

    Enron was the 10th largest company in the world on paper. I'm sure Anthropic will be the largest. Until the debt monster comes out to play.

    3 votes
  16. Comment on Does the dryer shrink your clothes? in ~life

    vord
    Link Parent
    Gotta love clothes that go poof if you even glance at a dryer.

    Gotta love clothes that go poof if you even glance at a dryer.

    2 votes
  17. Comment on Does the dryer shrink your clothes? in ~life

    vord
    Link Parent
    I've found following the prewash trick (with a quality metal-basin dishwasher), with like a tiny spoonful of powder in the main wash, does the best. Overcrowding the dishwasher and not properly...

    I've found following the prewash trick (with a quality metal-basin dishwasher), with like a tiny spoonful of powder in the main wash, does the best.

    Overcrowding the dishwasher and not properly cleaning it are the only two reasons I ever see it not working.

    I recussitated an old, worthless dishwasher in a rental by swapping it from the cold line to the hot, scrubbing every square inch of it,especially inside the sprayers, and then doing several vinegar washes.

    1 vote
  18. Comment on Does the dryer shrink your clothes? in ~life

    vord
    Link Parent
    Have heat pump dryer. It's a washer that you put your clothes in, wait 3-5 hours, and they are clean and dry. It plugs in a standard 120V like a regular washer. It's ventless, so doesn't even need...

    Have heat pump dryer. It's a washer that you put your clothes in, wait 3-5 hours, and they are clean and dry. It plugs in a standard 120V like a regular washer. It's ventless, so doesn't even need that hole in the wall. You're essentially just dehumidifying your clothes dry. On the eco setting, your clothes feel wet when you first pull them out, but then you shake it and the water vapor dissapates and the clothes are bone dry. It's wild.

    It causes much less wear and shrinkage in my experience. And it's a lifesaver for anyone with ADHD.

    8 votes
  19. Comment on Richard Stallman on using the word "content" to describe works in ~humanities

    vord
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    In this vein, some of Stallman's other spicy takes are surrounding the use of phrases like "sexual assault." The point is that the word "assault" does automatically (and tbh, for good reason)...

    In this vein, some of Stallman's other spicy takes are surrounding the use of phrases like "sexual assault."

    The point is that the word "assault" does automatically (and tbh, for good reason) short circuit our brains to assume the worst. And there is definitely a spectrum of offences that fall under that term, where I do feel that short-circuit is unfair.

    Like, even within my own journeys purusing Megans List before going to buy a home, the umbrella is so huge. And while everybody on it almost definitely needs to be, there are so many offenders that it's really about figuring "is this just a flasher creep we need to avoid, or is this someone who might snatch my kids and rape them." Corruption of a minor ranges from "videotaping child porn" to "smoking a joint within 500m of a school." One of these is a major problem, and the other is a triviality that is more likely a cop abusing power than an actual problem. But they show up the same on the list.

    There is a reason that in 1984 one of the defining traits was that doublespeak, truncated language. When you place things permanently in excessively large buckets, nuances about the differences fade away.

    20 votes
  20. Comment on Richard Stallman on using the word "content" to describe works in ~humanities

    vord
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    The difference between open source and free software, as used here; My car uses open source software extensively. I can get a look at it if I follow some Vogon-like procedure. But if I want to...

    The difference between open source and free software, as used here;

    My car uses open source software extensively. I can get a look at it if I follow some Vogon-like procedure. But if I want to actually use this source to, you know, flash my car's firmware, I can go pound sand.

    Google's use of Android is Open Source; piggybacking on open source software, while locking more and more of the bits behind proprietary software.

    The free software community hates this. To them, the ideal form of software is completly unencumbered by copyright, patents, and crypto locks.

    The GPL is a subversive exploit of copyright intended to defacto accomplish that. It is a political statement.

    It's critics, usuallly the ones who like the umbrella Open Source, call it a virus intended to wreak the legal protections of proprietary code. They're not wrong, but they misunderstand: that it is the point.

    12 votes