whbboyd's recent activity
-
Comment on Is OpenWRT worthwhile at home? in ~comp
-
Comment on The day return became enter in ~tech
whbboyd Link ParentThe author literally wrote the book on the topic.The author literally wrote the book on the topic.
-
Comment on What's a question you could ask to determine if someone is an expert in your line of work? in ~talk
whbboyd Link ParentNonsense! Solving security problems with technical solutions is extremely straightforward: go into the basement and take diagonal cutters to all the uplink cables. Now, solving security problems...Nonsense! Solving security problems with technical solutions is extremely straightforward: go into the basement and take diagonal cutters to all the uplink cables.
Now, solving security problems while keeping a bunch of oblivious pigheaded stakeholders happy (or at least, just sufficiently not mad at you not to take it up the chain), that's a much thornier problem. ;)
-
Comment on 7/11 closing down 444 locations in ~finance
whbboyd Link ParentOne day, hell; with robberies at 8:30, 9:30, and 11:30, those were almost certainly all in one shift. The poor clerk. =(One day, hell; with robberies at 8:30, 9:30, and 11:30, those were almost certainly all in one shift. The poor clerk. =(
-
Comment on Seeking advice for back-up internet connection at home in ~tech
whbboyd LinkI don't know exactly what capabilities Ubiquiti provides. OpenWRT can install the USB drivers to just tether to a phone plugged into a USB port, and you can then set up automatic connection...I don't know exactly what capabilities Ubiquiti provides.
OpenWRT can install the USB drivers to just tether to a phone plugged into a USB port, and you can then set up automatic connection failover. They make dedicated modems for this, or you could get a router with a built-in LTE/5G modem, but a used low-end smartphone will be a lot cheaper. A data-only SIM with a low cap could run you $5/month. This isn't the most professional approach, which depending on your priorities for your LAN may be a significant downside, but I've done a decent amount of research (thanks for fuck-all, Spectrum), and it does seem to be by some margin the cheapest.
-
Comment on What are your favorite and least favorite airports? in ~transport
whbboyd LinkBroadly speaking, I do not like airports. They're very emblematic of all the worst things about air travel (i.e. literally everything except the fact that you're flying through the air, which...Broadly speaking, I do not like airports. They're very emblematic of all the worst things about air travel (i.e. literally everything except the fact that you're flying through the air, which under ideal circumstances you do not ever do within the airport buildings). My least favorite is probably Atlanta (ATL)? Or maybe O'Hare (ORD), though I've transferred through Atlanta more. Any gigantic, soulless airport that turns into an irresistible attractor for travel plans.
However, I will highlight one, which, while I don't like it, I do think is interesting: Hilo, HI (ITO) is a rinky-dink little airport serving the east (rainy, and therefore less popular) side of the Big Island. The terminal is like a time capsule to the '70s. Absolutely without a doubt the most dated public space I've ever been in that's not explicitly a museum, and therefore weirdly charming. (Our flight was delayed by something like four hours, which was a lot less charming.)
-
Comment on What happened to your first car? in ~transport
whbboyd Link ParentIf you're driving a decent car on a more-or-less suitable road, then no, 190km/hr does not feel dramatically faster than 130km/hr or so. It'll stay stable and planted; you'll have a lot more wind...If you're driving a decent car on a more-or-less suitable road, then no, 190km/hr does not feel dramatically faster than 130km/hr or so. It'll stay stable and planted; you'll have a lot more wind and engine noise than usual, and probably more vibrations, but the main experience is that you run out of sight distance very quickly.
If you're driving a shitbox from the '00s or earlier, then it is absolutely terrifying. Everything will shake, shimmy, and rattle; steering and braking will get very floaty (more than usual, even); all the mechanical systems will make noises suggesting they are about to explode violently. You will be certain you are about to die.
-
Comment on What is the most insane, tedious, difficult, and/or noteworthy gaming achievement you have completed or given up on? in ~games
whbboyd LinkWhat, no mention of the infamous gnome achievement from HL2:E2? ;) This sort of thing just kind of sucks all the fun out of a game for me, so I very rarely feel any particular desire to do them....What, no mention of the infamous gnome achievement from HL2:E2? ;)
This sort of thing just kind of sucks all the fun out of a game for me, so I very rarely feel any particular desire to do them. (The closest I got to getting Little Rocket Man was pulling the gnome out from the table he spawns under, looking at him for a second, and throwing him across the room.)
-
Comment on What is the most insane, tedious, difficult, and/or noteworthy gaming achievement you have completed or given up on? in ~games
whbboyd Link ParentOh, good on ya! I definitely never had the patience to be as systematic or thorough about it as you (I justify this in roleplaying as it not being helpful to free slaves from Dunmer bondage just...Oh, good on ya! I definitely never had the patience to be as systematic or thorough about it as you (I justify this in roleplaying as it not being helpful to free slaves from Dunmer bondage just for them to get mind controlled by the final boss's magical turbocancer), but freeing slaves is one of those Morrowind things that I just have to do every single playthrough (like dropping the limeware platter, iykyk).
The topic of slavery in Morrowind always makes me think of something very poignant Ruskarn wrote on the topic:
The game does not moralize extensively; it trusts in the inherent horror of bondage to rouse players to action.
And it's true. Slavery is just sort of… present… in Morrowind. It could almost just be set dressing, which would be really problematic, but the game does give you tools to interact with it. I definitely wonder what would happen if a game with this treatment of slavery were published today, though.
-
Comment on Xbox Series X and S: Microsoft has reportedly sold less than 30 million consoles this generation in ~games
whbboyd Link ParentNot to be that guy, but if "back in the day" was more than a few years ago, you should probably give Linux gaming another shot. Proton has made remarkable strides in compatibility, and Steam or...Not to be that guy, but if "back in the day" was more than a few years ago, you should probably give Linux gaming another shot. Proton has made remarkable strides in compatibility, and Steam or tools like Lutris will handle all the fiddly management you used to have to do manually (winetricks, ugh).
-
Comment on Xbox Series X and S: Microsoft has reportedly sold less than 30 million consoles this generation in ~games
whbboyd (edited )Link ParentTo be fair, I'd assume the vast majority of those are gaming on a laptop or at-most-lightly-modified prebuilt desktop rather than a system they assembled themselves from components.To be fair, I'd assume the vast majority of those are gaming on a laptop or at-most-lightly-modified prebuilt desktop rather than a system they assembled themselves from components.
-
Comment on Xbox Series X and S: Microsoft has reportedly sold less than 30 million consoles this generation in ~games
whbboyd Link ParentI really don't think this is true. I mean, if you want to be running the newest games at native 4k with all the eye candy and high frame rates, sure. But for 1080p, low settings (and these aren't...spent more on a graphics card than I can buy an XBox for, and this realistically is what you have to do roughly every console cycle ish
I really don't think this is true. I mean, if you want to be running the newest games at native 4k with all the eye candy and high frame rates, sure. But for 1080p, low settings (and these aren't 2004 "low settings" anymore, these games are still gorgeous), >=30Hz? I was playing Oblivion Remastered—not a famously performant game—at roughly those settings on my "venerable" R9 390x, a GPU from 2016, when Nintendo was still on the Wii U and comfortably before the crytpocurrency GPU bubble. (There was a long period where I could have resold it for more than I bought it new, but of course, I couldn't have then replaced it with anything comparable for that higher selling price.)
One of the very weird things about PC gaming compared to consoles is that spread of plausible device configurations is nigh-infinite, and gamers can intentionally place themselves pretty much wherever they want in that spread. Want to absolute best performance and most expensive effects? You can shell out for that. Just want to play the games and don't care as much about that? Then don't.
-
Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
whbboyd Link ParentI will steadfastly maintain to the end that Reddit Was Never Good™, but I still do miss the Reddit of a decade ago. You could have genuine conversations with real people with actual knowledge...I will steadfastly maintain to the end that Reddit Was Never Good™, but I still do miss the Reddit of a decade ago. You could have genuine conversations with real people with actual knowledge about interesting topics. (Or you could get sexist and/or racist screeds. Reddit Was Never Good™.) By the time I nuked my account a year or two ago, there was very little of that left, and based on admin's actions and explicitly stated goals, I'm sure the situation is even worse now.
-
Comment on The Internet Archive is now an official US federal documents library in ~tech
whbboyd Link ParentThat is correct. My college library was a federal depository (I got to deal with shuffling around disintegrating, 100+-year-old congressional records as a work-study student), and we sure were not...That is correct. My college library was a federal depository (I got to deal with shuffling around disintegrating, 100+-year-old congressional records as a work-study student), and we sure were not a branch of nor under the thumb of the federal government.
By my very limited understanding, the intent of the program is to promote public access to documents more than archival or anything else.
-
Comment on Aerophobia is having a moment in ~health.mental
whbboyd Link ParentPlanes absolutely, categorically, without question, are much, much safer than cars in terms of injuries (and deaths, which is relevant since non-fatal injuries are much rarer in plane crashes than...probably
Planes absolutely, categorically, without question, are much, much safer than cars in terms of injuries (and deaths, which is relevant since non-fatal injuries are much rarer in plane crashes than car crashes) both per passenger mile and per passenger trip. (In 2023, there were zero deaths in US commercial aviation. In 2022, there was one. You can't even compute a meaningful multiple for how much safer air travel is!) If you're going from one airport to another and your only criterion is personal safety, the decision is, statistically speaking, made for you.
Interestingly, your point does come up in a different context: planes are safer than trains per passenger mile, but less safe per passenger trip. (This is kind of in the noise; both are extremely safe by both metrics.)
(These facts aren't particularly evident from the stats BTS publishes, unfortunately. Writing up a well-cited summary of safety stats per transportation mode is something I'd like to do, or have someone else do so I can reference, but alas, that's far down the list of ways I want to spend my limited spare time.)
-
Comment on What is your silly or (kinda) useless talent? in ~talk
whbboyd Link ParentAw, ear wiggling died with my Grandpa. =( Neither my dad nor I can do it.Aw, ear wiggling died with my Grandpa. =( Neither my dad nor I can do it.
-
Comment on You can't outrun a bad diet in ~food
whbboyd Link ParentYup, this was exactly the point I was going to make. Just for a concrete example, a single Krispy Kreme donut is 190 kcal. A more-or-less fit adult man would need to run roughly a mile and a half...you just need to look at the calorie count in a small snack against the time spent exercising to use those calories for that to make sense
Yup, this was exactly the point I was going to make. Just for a concrete example, a single Krispy Kreme donut is 190 kcal. A more-or-less fit adult man would need to run roughly a mile and a half to burn off those calories. Assuming you're not a professional athlete or something, you can maybe exercise away a little indulgence, but definitely not a chronically over-caloric diet.
-
Comment on What is your silly or (kinda) useless talent? in ~talk
whbboyd Link ParentI'm not sure I've ever seen that in the wild. Playing a bit with an image editor, it takes some effort to read, so I guess closer to "merely flipped one way".I'm not sure I've ever seen that in the wild. Playing a bit with an image editor, it takes some effort to read, so I guess closer to "merely flipped one way".
-
Comment on What is your silly or (kinda) useless talent? in ~talk
whbboyd LinkI can read text which is upside-down or mirrored. For mirrored text, not only is this natural-feeling, but if there's not "un-mirrored" text around to compare to, I'm likely not to notice. Since...I can read text which is upside-down or mirrored.
For mirrored text, not only is this natural-feeling, but if there's not "un-mirrored" text around to compare to, I'm likely not to notice. Since it's generally assumed that this sort of text is essentially illegible, this can have some surprising consequences (like trying to pull on the "push" side of a glass door because I'm reading the label on the opposite side).
-
Comment on USB Wi-Fi adapter suggestions in ~comp
whbboyd Link ParentNote that 5GHz is much worse than 2.4GHz at penetrating walls (which contributes to improved interference: it's much harder for your neighbor's signal to make it out of their house and then into...Note that 5GHz is much worse than 2.4GHz at penetrating walls (which contributes to improved interference: it's much harder for your neighbor's signal to make it out of their house and then into yours). It's worth testing, but if you haven't carefully designed your access point layout around it, it's likely to have more and much deeper dead zones than 2.4GHz.
(If you can't easily tell which band your radio is operating on, you can infer it from the WiFi channel: 2.4GHz is channels 1-14 while 5GHz is channels 32-177.)
Yeah, I agree with this take. I use and am very happy with OpenWRT on my home LAN. It's not so much these days because it's way more powerful than stock firmware on high-end consumer network equipment¹; rather:
It's way less involved than running OPNSense or building something bespoke. And I'm not a Ubiquiti customer, so take this with a grain of salt, but my impression of the gestalt is that Ubiquiti has fallen far the highs of the 2010s as a purveyor of pro-quality equipment to consumer users.
¹ Although I assert that it is in fact more powerful than almost all OEM firmwares. For example, it was very straightforward for me to plug an
old cell phone5G modem into the USB port on my router, share network through it, and configure uplink failover. Can you do that on, like, a stock TP-Link? Maybe, I don't actually know, but I kind of doubt it. But it's obviously possible on OpenWRT, because it's just a Linux box.² I actually have two, lol. One is the router, the other one sits at the far end of the house and is just a "dumb" WAP. Both run OpenWRT. Turns out the cheapest, easiest option for a consumer-grade WAP is just a consumer-grade wifi router configured not to do any routing. =P