xvnz's recent activity
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Comment on What lesser-known sci-fi reads do you recommend? in ~books
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Comment on Being well prepared makes me feel 😌 in ~life
xvnz (edited )Link ParentUnfortunately, no, it's just a product I bought (although I do wish I had that sort of mechanical skill). The modular multitool idea's been tried multiple times by different companies (just do a...Unfortunately, no, it's just a product I bought (although I do wish I had that sort of mechanical skill).
The modular multitool idea's been tried multiple times by different companies (just do a search for 'modular multitool' and you'll see what I mean). The one I happened to go with is the Roxon Flex Companion, and the basic idea is you have a permanent screwdriver bit holder on one side, and five slots for implements on the other side to fill up however you wish.
Implements can be short or long, and can take up between one and four slots. (Examples: the double-sided file is a single-slot long, the can opener is a single-slot short, the pliers are a two-slot long, blades are one-slot short or long depending on preference, the 1/4" screwdriver bit holder is four-slot short, and the ferrocerium rod is a two-slot short (but I bought that one just for laughs, I'm definitely a seasoned indoorsman).) You can get a one-handed-deploy blade if that's your jam (I decided I didn't want to explain that one to cops and got a long blade without the thumbswitch), and all the implements have a locking mechanism so they stay in/out as appropriate.
All in all it has fewer features in the same size package then my Victorinox CyberTool, but the flipside is if I don't want the fish scaler that day (or ever, indoorsman etc.) I can swap in something more useful like a wire stripper. (You can also pick your loadout at purchase time, it's not like you have to buy implements you don't want.)
I ended up deciding I liked the Flex Companion and also bought the full-size Flex, which is basically your Leatherman-style-pliers-with-implements-in-the-handles thing, and that takes two longs and eight shorts, but it's a bit heavy to carry around on a daily basis.
As I said, the above are just what worked for me and I encourage you to see what other manufacturers are doing; everyone has their own neat little trick.
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Comment on Being well prepared makes me feel 😌 in ~life
xvnz (edited )Link ParentSadly, mail-it-home-before-we-confiscate-it kiosks are not available at every airport (screw you, JFK), and no matter what it is or what the rules say, ultimately you're at the mercy of the agent...Sadly, mail-it-home-before-we-confiscate-it kiosks are not available at every airport (screw you, JFK), and no matter what it is or what the rules say, ultimately you're at the mercy of the agent who looks at your luggage.
My approach has been to assume that no blade more threatening than a pair of collapsible nail scissors is going to make it through a checkpoint, and that any tool I bring I have to be willing to lose. (Seriously, I was once menaced with the confiscation of a multi-tip screwdriver.) In practice, this means two things: first, I carry around a variety of keychain and carabiner multitools. They are cheap and provide basic functions. Yes, they are uniformly not great, but I figure a crap tool is still better than no tool. (Also, I'll never not be able to open a beer bottle.) Second, I'm experimenting with a modular multitool that allows you to swap out implements as you see fit. A given loadout can contain nothing more threatening than a can opener, I pack them all separately in clear packaging so it's abundantly obvious what they are, and if an implement gets confiscated, well, fine, I'll live with the beard comb implement instead during my vacation.
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Comment on What do you think is the best sandwich? in ~food
xvnz Link ParentEh, you provided a first approximation. That's valuable too. Thanks!Eh, you provided a first approximation. That's valuable too. Thanks!
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Comment on What do you think is the best sandwich? in ~food
xvnz Link ParentThat was a fascinating and hilarious explanation. Thanks!That was a fascinating and hilarious explanation. Thanks!
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Comment on What do you think is the best sandwich? in ~food
xvnz Link ParentInteresting, Wikipedia and Wiktionary both claim the phrase means 'Happy Chinese New Year', but you seem to disagree. I'm curious, then: what does it actually mean?Interesting, Wikipedia and Wiktionary both claim the phrase means 'Happy Chinese New Year', but you seem to disagree. I'm curious, then: what does it actually mean?
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Comment on What do you think is the best sandwich? in ~food
xvnz Link ParentThe Internet, which tells no lies, informs me that this particular usage is starting to loop in on itself, and au jour d'aujourd'hui is starting to appear.The Internet, which tells no lies, informs me that this particular usage is starting to loop in on itself, and au jour d'aujourd'hui is starting to appear.
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Comment on What do you think is the best sandwich? in ~food
xvnz Link ParentI would say that it does, because the parentheses indicate that 'with gravy' is a translation of au jus. (But then I'm compulsive about language. Occupational hazard.)I would say that it does, because the parentheses indicate that 'with gravy' is a translation of au jus.
(But then I'm compulsive about language. Occupational hazard.)
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Comment on What do you think is the best sandwich? in ~food
xvnz (edited )Link ParentYou think your French is bad, you should hear my Spanish: it's brought native hispanophones to tears of laughter. EDIT: Et honnêtement, il n'est pas si mauvais que ça, ton français; tu sais te...You think your French is bad, you should hear my Spanish: it's brought native hispanophones to tears of laughter.
EDIT: Et honnêtement, il n'est pas si mauvais que ça, ton français; tu sais te faire comprendre sans trop de difficultés.
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Comment on What do you think is the best sandwich? in ~food
xvnz Link ParentNot to derail an otherwise-excellent conversation about food with grammatical details, but one of the most astounding things I ever saw on a menu was 'French Dip Sandwich - hot roast beef sandwich...au jus
Not to derail an otherwise-excellent conversation about food with grammatical details, but one of the most astounding things I ever saw on a menu was 'French Dip Sandwich - hot roast beef sandwich au jus with gravy'.
(In French, au jus literally means 'with juice', so the English with is redundant, and tacking on 'with gravy' is just absurd.)
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Comment on CGA-2026-04 🕹️🚀🧑🚀 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Space Rogue in ~games
xvnz LinkWow...Space Rogue, really? I might be one of the few people who bought the Macintosh port. Still have the box somewhere, complete with the disk and faux spacecraft owner's manual with ersatz...Wow...Space Rogue, really?
I might be one of the few people who bought the Macintosh port. Still have the box somewhere, complete with the disk and faux spacecraft owner's manual with ersatz coffee-cup stains on the cover.
For the time, the spaceflight graphics were pretty revolutionary and the plot nice and dense, in my opinion. (Not so by modern standards, as others have pointed out.) I finished the entire game, working as a trader.
(I was just godawful at Hive, though; despite many attempts I think I only managed to earn money back once. Thematically, Hive was very reminiscent of John Steakley's novel 'Armor'.)
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Comment on What dashcam do you use? in ~tech
xvnz LinkHad a Rove R2-4K for about 8 months. Not cheap, but I'm pleased with it; it does what says on the tin. Comes with a rear camera, but I only installed the front one. Records to SD cards. Does WiFi...Had a Rove R2-4K for about 8 months. Not cheap, but I'm pleased with it; it does what says on the tin.
Comes with a rear camera, but I only installed the front one. Records to SD cards. Does WiFi and there's an app, but I usually just pop the card out and read it directly. Plugs into a USB port. Powers up when the car does, shuts off when the car does (with a slight delay to write to the SD card); with my car usage that's every couple of days). Picking a random video of a highway drive, VLC tells me it's 3840x2160. Subjectively, I get a good clear view of three lanes of traffic in front of me.
For anything else, I'd say read the spec page on your favorite shopping site; I'm probably not using half the features it offers.
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Comment on Dipping my toes in OpenBSD, in Amsterdam in ~tech
xvnz Link ParentI also had a server at home 20 years ago running OpenBSD. Still do, in fact. It's been very stable. I initially chose it over other options because of its reputation for security and the excellent...I also had a server at home 20 years ago running OpenBSD. Still do, in fact. It's been very stable. I initially chose it over other options because of its reputation for security and the excellent documentation.
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Comment on Kagi Small Web in ~tech
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Comment on Framework 16: Additional hardware questions in ~comp
xvnz Link ParentI would say that some of my issues (at least the stability ones) were absolutely Compiz issues, which has never been fully stable in the entire time I've been using it, but I'm a sucker for the...I would say that some of my issues (at least the stability ones) were absolutely Compiz issues, which has never been fully stable in the entire time I've been using it, but I'm a sucker for the rotating cube effect and it's a permanent part of my workflow. (Stop laughing.) Almost all the instability went away once I installed Mint, and the whole point of the exercise was to get to a stable desktop, so that's where I stayed.
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Comment on Framework 16: Additional hardware questions in ~comp
xvnz LinkBeen daily driving a Framework 16 since March. Like you, my plan is for this to be the last laptop I ever buy. Hardware-wise, I would say I'm 95% delighted: putting it together was a piece of cake...Been daily driving a Framework 16 since March. Like you, my plan is for this to be the last laptop I ever buy.
Hardware-wise, I would say I'm 95% delighted: putting it together was a piece of cake thanks to good labeling and the profusion of captive screws (and they even supplied a screwdriver; I have loads of tools, but it's nice that Framework bothered), I like being able to reconfigure the side expansion modules whenever I want, I have the skills to replace parts so it's great that I can actually order them, the screen is nice and bright (Caveats: I am neither a designer nor a high-end gamer, so my standards for a good screen may not be yours.), the theoretical possibility of dual SSDs is lovely, and I confess to giggling every time I trigger the LED matrix spacers or change the LED pattern on the RGB keyboard (and there are like, 50). The GPU is very easy to swap out; the fact that it's cold-swap rather than hot-swap isn't an issue for me because I discovered I barely use it (my gaming needs are, um, special). As for the 5% I'm not totally happy with: fit and finish isn't quite perfect (my touchpad module rests slightly higher on the right side than on the left, and I can feel the back right corner if I run my finger over it). Unlike for the 13", the expansion module bays are not 100% interchangeable, so for example you can't use either front slot to plug in the power supply (to be fair this is apparently an AMD-imposed limitation and not Framework's fault). The laptop seems to run a bit hot, although I haven't really explored whether this is truly a hardware problem or something related to my usage patterns.
Software-wise, I'm about 75% happy, but since I'm running Linux Mint 21.3, this effectively makes any problems I have not Framework's fault because it's not a supported distro. (The Insyde firmware is convinced I'm running Ubuntu, for what it's worth.) I settled on Mint after trying Fedora, MX Linux and ELive, but couldn't get the latter three to the magic combination of Steam + Compiz + not crashing regularly. (I'm at the point in my life where I no longer have the appetite to spend all weekend investigating the causes of a stability problem; I just want the system to work so I can play Borderlands.) As it is, Mint took a fair bit of tweaking before I was happy with it (e.g. skipping straight to the latest kernel right after install to get the GPU recognized and suspend to work at all), but I think I have it dialed it well enough now that the system is fine for daily use. My one attempt to dual-boot Mint and OpenBSD went poorly: bad things happened in UEFI-land and I ended up yanking the OpenBSD SSD and reinstalling the Mint one. (I keep backups and, as I said, my appetite for diving into OS problems is much weaker than it used to be.) I want to emphasize again that all of these issues are on me, not Framework, as they've been very clear on what distributions they support, and Mint isn't one of them, but you asked about the daily experience, so that's mine.
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Comment on I'm gonna be a dad! in ~life.men
xvnz LinkAs a parent, the only piece of advice I've been giving to parents-to-be is to document. Someone above mentioned photos and videos, but I've favored just a simple text log. While at the beginning...As a parent, the only piece of advice I've been giving to parents-to-be is to document. Someone above mentioned photos and videos, but I've favored just a simple text log. While at the beginning this will mostly be 'firsts', both positive and negative (e.g. first solid food or first medical emergency), later on it can become a log of the kid(s) efforts to interact with the world around them. Sometimes these are FUNNY as hell, as mine still crack up when I remind them of the completely illogical thing they insisted on back when they were five.
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Comment on For those who have tried YubiKey for personal use, is it worth it? in ~tech
xvnz Link ParentYes, yes, yes, and it depends on what your employer has set up for that. In more detail: with respect to the password safe, the recent ones have that....Yes, yes, yes, and it depends on what your employer has set up for that.
In more detail:
- with respect to the password safe, the recent ones have that. https://www.yubico.com/works-with-yubikey/catalog/password-safe/ The older ones may have it as well, but I personally don't use that feature.
- with respect to plugging it in, you stick it into a USB port. It draws power from there and (typically) registers as a keyboard.
- you get an OTP by tapping it in a particular spot, and the code is autofilled in whatever window/text field/input area you currently have selected*
- you use the same the same way on a work computer as on a personal one, but in the latter case you're likely authenticating against a single-sign-on installation rather than directly against, say, a website
*which sometimes leads to amusing results when you forget there's a chat window in the foreground.
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Comment on Have you ever compiled a custom Linux kernel? in ~comp
xvnz (edited )LinkFar too long ago, at the beginning of my time with Unix and Unix-like systems, I spent a fair amount of time recompiling the NetBSD kernel in the hopes of squeezing a little more performance out...Far too long ago, at the beginning of my time with Unix and Unix-like systems, I spent a fair amount of time recompiling the NetBSD kernel in the hopes of squeezing a little more performance out of a DEC Multia. (I'm aware OP asked specifically about the Linux kernel, but the question was about motivations, not OS choices.) While the idea sounded scary when suggested to me by more experienced geeks, the process turned out to be little more than editing a text file to comment out unused drivers, running a couple of prep commands, then firing off the compile. Oh yeah, and then waiting until the next morning, because if there was one thing you could say about Multias, it's that they were SLOOOOWWWWWW.
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Comment on Tell me about your experience with martial arts in ~hobbies
xvnz LinkI trained in savate (AKA boxe française) for several years, long enough to qualify for green glove. (Savate ranks you by glove color--you don't actually change the color of your gloves, it's an...I trained in savate (AKA boxe française) for several years, long enough to qualify for green glove. (Savate ranks you by glove color--you don't actually change the color of your gloves, it's an administrative distinction.) Then the salle I was at shut down, so I took a break. I signed up with another salle long enough to requalify, then had to give it up permanently for life reasons. I tried practicing solo, but it was boring, as a lot of the exercises really need an opponent.
In terms of benefits, it improved my balance, gave me a clearer sense of body dynamics, and was definitely good for my cardiovascular endurance. I would recommend it to beginners because there's a carefully-gradated hierarchy of skills you need to learn and test in at each level. That said, it's not really a popular art on the U.S. side of the Atlantic, so if you mention it in conversation you should expect anything from blank stares to jokes about baguette fencing.
So, so many good choices. (Will try to avoid spoilers.)
Earthman, Come Home - James Blish
1955
Set in (or rather, aboard) New York, New York, after Earth's cities have left the planet. Protected and propelled by the technology of the spindizzy, the Okies roam the galaxy as itinerant workers on a giant scale.
Told from the viewpoint of the city's mayor, does a fine job of describing the constant game of trying to keep the city both safe and supplied. I think this one is just old, so it's fallen off the radar, which is a shame.
Star Surgeon - James White
1963
One of a series, this novel is set in Sector General, a future multispecies hospital. The protagonist is a surgeon who has to figure out how to treat a member of an unknown species who may have murdered its only shipmate, and sets off a sequence of wider and wider geopolitical effects when he succeeds.
More medical science fiction than anything else, and tends to focus far more on the interactions between species than on the usual space-battle fare.
Chronolysis - Michel Jeury
1973
Mental projection into the past is possible. A researcher from the future inhabits the mind of a present-day office worker, only to discover that something (or someone) is sabotaging his efforts to complete his mission...or return home.
Did an excellent job of making the reader feel trapped along with the protagonist in a seemingly-endless loop of events. This one may be very tricky to find, as the original is in French and I've found English translations to be relatively wooden, both of which explain why it didn't make much of an impact in the English-language world.
Jinx On A Terran Inheritance - Brian Daley
1985
Does what is probably the most well-thought-out job of future world-building that I've ever seen, down to prosaic everyday details, as the backdrop for a story about a low-level functionary on space-travel-averse Earth who unexpectedly inherits a starship.
Daley seems to have mostly been known as a writer of novels in the Robotech and Star Wars universes; the trilogy this book is part of was one of his rare departures. Plus, he died at 48.
Kingdoms of the Wall - Robert Silverberg
1992
Every year, villages at the base of a mountain send out their most capable members to ascend to the summit to find the wisdom of the gods, in emulation of the First Climber who first brought back the tools of civilization. Few return, and those who do are deformed or insane. The protagonist sets out to determine why, and his account is written as a warning to future climbers.
Through the lens of the protagonist's native assumptions, the story gets progressively stranger the higher he ascends, as he discovers why previous climbers have been waylaid or chosen not to return. Maybe it's just me, but I've only ever heard this novel discussed once, and that was on a bus...in Europe...in the 1990s.
I have loads of other recommendations, some more obscure than the above, some less.