ylph's recent activity
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Comment on What's good in modern flashlights/headlamps? in ~hobbies
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Comment on What's good in modern flashlights/headlamps? in ~hobbies
ylph Link ParentCan the headlight on your beanie be angled down ? I've had a few scouts bring these camping and backpacking, probably some cheap ones from Amazon, and they could not be angled, in addition to...Can the headlight on your beanie be angled down ? I've had a few scouts bring these camping and backpacking, probably some cheap ones from Amazon, and they could not be angled, in addition to being pretty bright. Everyone hated them, as any time a person wearing one tried to talk to you, you would get blasted in the face with the bright light - we had to pretty much ban them in our troop.
I imagine they are ok when you're by yourself and the uses you outlined, but if camping around other people, the ability to angle the light so it points straight down is essential. Red-light mode is also nice to have, as well as ability to change brightness.
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Comment on No bull: This Austrian cow has learned to use tools in ~science
ylph LinkWell that answers the question of what the long curved stick is for at leastWell that answers the question of what the long curved stick is for at least
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Comment on An AI-generated country song is topping a Billboard chart, and that should infuriate us all in ~music
ylph Link ParentAI music to me feels very similar to AI image generation actually (and to some degree LLM generation as well) - there is this quality about both that is hard to put into words exactly, but a sort...AI music to me feels very similar to AI image generation actually (and to some degree LLM generation as well) - there is this quality about both that is hard to put into words exactly, but a sort of uncanny intensity. Like you can feel the training is definitely distilling some deep human sensory processing mechanisms from the vast amount of human created data it uses, and is able push those sensory buttons in a very direct way - sometimes uncomfortably so, but with careful curation of the outputs, you can select examples of both that are close to the edge and still feel "realistic"
I think we have more defenses built into our visual processing (as we primarily interact with the world visually, and expect a lot more logical consistency in our visual inputs) vs audio processing, which makes it a bit easier to get AI music past them - most people process music on a more abstract level.
I also think we have a built in sensitivity to mimicry - if we detect something is trying to fool our senses in certain ways, it can trigger a negative emotional reaction. I find that the more AI generated content I am exposed to, I develop a new level of aversion towards it - what at first glance seems curious, even compelling, later makes me feel uncomfortable and repulsed as my brain recognizes it as mimicry of human expression. I went through this with AI images, and now AI music as well - once I begin to recognize the signs, I start to hate it, and I don't mean as a conscious choice (I actually came into the gen AI space with very open mind initially), the repulsion comes from some deeper layer of processing. I guess I just don't feel comfortable having my emotional buttons pushed by robots.
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Comment on Paid e-mail providers - your experiences, how you use them and how I would use it in ~tech
ylph Link ParentFor paid accounts, Proton has an IMAP/SMTP bridge app that you can run on your machine (in Linux, Windows or MacOS) that allows any IMAP client to read and send e-mail using a Proton account. I...For paid accounts, Proton has an IMAP/SMTP bridge app that you can run on your machine (in Linux, Windows or MacOS) that allows any IMAP client to read and send e-mail using a Proton account. I use eM Client to manage my many mail accounts, and it has no problems with my Proton accounts. (I have also used Thunderbird in the past with Proton)
Technically, Proton only keeps your e-mails encrypted on their servers, and does not store your decryption key, so that if anyone got access to your e-mails via Proton, they would not be able to read them. However, this also means they could not serve you those e-mails over IMAP. The bridge does the decryption locally, under your control.
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Comment on The hatred of podcasting in ~life
ylph Link ParentApple did not actually coin the term podcast. The term was coined and in use by the community before Apple added support for podcasts into iTunes and iPod. Podcasts originated as audio over RSS,...Apple did not actually coin the term podcast. The term was coined and in use by the community before Apple added support for podcasts into iTunes and iPod. Podcasts originated as audio over RSS, which was later automated with scripts and apps to upload the mp3 files downloaded from RSS feeds to your iPod for listening, all without Apple involvement. Apple adopted the term and added the feature directly into iTunes later.
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Comment on Felipe Massa’s $80M F1 ‘Crashgate’ lawsuit heads to court this week: What to know in ~sports.motorsports
ylph Link ParentAccording to the article, Massa is not asking for the championship results to be changed, at least not at this point. In addition to the monetary damages, he is asking for FIA to make a...According to the article, Massa is not asking for the championship results to be changed, at least not at this point. In addition to the monetary damages, he is asking for FIA to make a declaration that he would have won the championship, if they followed their own rules. It is possible that if FIA was forced to make such declaration (which I think is already unlikely), he could use it to try to overturn the championship results with additional legal action, but I think it would be very difficult.
Hamilton or McLaren were not even involved with the controversy - as far as I know, it was between Renault and Ferrari, with Renault trying to help Alonso at Massas expense. Even if you disqualified Alonso from the race, that would result in 2 extra points for Hamilton, and 0 for Massa, so he would have lost the championship by 3, instead of by 1. The only way Massa wins the championship is if the whole race result was cancelled, but I personally don't see how that would be justifiable under these circumstances (not to mention that FIA has explicit rules against revising results once the season is complete and prizes are given out)
I haven't really followed this too closely for a long time, so I could be off on the current situation with the FIA, but I would think at most they would try to settle with Massa for some money, and in exchange make him agree to drop any further challenges.
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Comment on First shape found that can’t pass through itself in ~science
ylph Link ParentIt makes a nifty pencil holder ?It makes a nifty pencil holder ?
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Comment on What are some interesting landmarks in your neck of the woods? in ~talk
ylph (edited )LinkCarhenge reminded me of the Spindle in Berwyn just outside Chicago. I stood in line for the Nintendo Wii back in 2006 at that Circuit City that can be seen in the photo... It was removed and...Carhenge reminded me of the Spindle in Berwyn just outside Chicago. I stood in line for the Nintendo Wii back in 2006 at that Circuit City that can be seen in the photo... It was removed and destroyed a couple of years later, which was kind of sad - it was a pretty cool landmark.
Interestingly Google Streetview even captured it back in 2007 not long before its demise.
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Comment on Who's tried durian? in ~food
ylph Link ParentThe Thai Monthong can be pretty decent - it does smell less when fresh (but gets smellier as it ripens) and also has a pretty mild vanilla-custard-like flavor, so it can be a good first durian for...The Thai Monthong can be pretty decent - it does smell less when fresh (but gets smellier as it ripens) and also has a pretty mild vanilla-custard-like flavor, so it can be a good first durian for someone who's never had it before. The ones imported to US are usually picked and frozen before fully ripening, to limit the smell, but sometimes at the expense of flavor. I think Thais locally do prefer less ripe durians to begin with as well.
People in Malaysia seem to prefer more ripe durians, with stronger smell, and richer flavors - which I enjoy as well now. Of course it's best enjoyed fresh from the stall during the season this way - freezing them and shipping across ocean is tricky to preserve the ideal ripeness and texture. But frozen Musang King can still be quite enjoyable, if fresh is not an option.
I personally can enjoy all kinds of durian. If I had access to some inexpensive kampong, I would be eating it all the time ! Probably for the best for my health that I don't, haha..
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Comment on Who's tried durian? in ~food
ylph Link ParentDurian availability is seasonal. The season itself depends on locality, and can vary year to year, depending on rains and such. Malaysians like to eat fresh local seasonal durian (which is the...Durian availability is seasonal. The season itself depends on locality, and can vary year to year, depending on rains and such. Malaysians like to eat fresh local seasonal durian (which is the best way to enjoy durian, if you have the option), so during peak harvests there are durian stands everywhere, while other times of the year those stands are either closed or sell other fruits. You can still find some durians off season, often not local, or less popular varieties.
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Comment on Forgot Chrome's unusable, any recommendations? in ~tech
ylph Link ParentIf anything, my YouTube experience in Firefox (144) in Linux with uBlock Origin improved in the last few days, with the new YouTube UI rollout that just hit me - for a few months I was getting a...If anything, my YouTube experience in Firefox (144) in Linux with uBlock Origin improved in the last few days, with the new YouTube UI rollout that just hit me - for a few months I was getting a spinning circle for about 10 seconds before a video would start playing, but now it's back to starting right away, no more spinning circle!
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Comment on Who's tried durian? in ~food
ylph LinkLove durian ! Thought it smelled absolutely horrid the first time I tried it, but over time, came to love the smell as well. Used to be hard to get here in the US (for a long time, only frozen...Love durian ! Thought it smelled absolutely horrid the first time I tried it, but over time, came to love the smell as well.
Used to be hard to get here in the US (for a long time, only frozen Monthong from Thailand was available here) but nowadays, there is actually a decent selection of durians from Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam - still only frozen, but much higher quality than used to be the case. Also highly recommend Year of the Durian - they ship very unique varieties of durian - it's crazy how different some of them can taste, especially some of the D. graveolens varieties.
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Comment on US President Donald Trump’s 100% China tariff triggers $20b wipeout, 1.6m crypto traders liquidated in ~finance
ylph Link ParentIt's a classic risk on/risk off situation - when economy is doing good, stocks are doing good, risk takers feel more confident, have excess profits they can invest in riskier investments, and use...It's a classic risk on/risk off situation - when economy is doing good, stocks are doing good, risk takers feel more confident, have excess profits they can invest in riskier investments, and use higher leverage to amplify their bets. This is the risk-on environment. Cryptocurrencies are the ultimate high risk "investment", so demand for them goes up when risk is on. There are no real fundamentals when it comes to valuing crypto - no cashflows, no book value - just supply and demand (and manipulation..)
When stock markets stumble, risk takers get more risk averse and try to scale down their risk exposure (flight to safety), expecting less excess profits to be available to chase risky investments in the future, deleveraging, forced sales/covering, etc. resulting in dropping demand for crypto. This is the risk-off environment.
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Comment on Giant sinkhole in Chilean mining town haunts residents, three years on in ~enviro
ylph LinkThe location of the sinkhole here Looks to be closer to 200 feet deep (based on the shadows of nearby structures) Some of the articles are reporting it as 656 feet deep, but I think they are...The location of the sinkhole here
Looks to be closer to 200 feet deep (based on the shadows of nearby structures)
Some of the articles are reporting it as 656 feet deep, but I think they are accidentally doing a double meters to feet conversion - your main link reports it as 64 meters deep, which is 210 feet (which a quick google confirms matches the local reporting in Chile) - I think others took the ~200 number, assumed it was meters, and converted again ending up at 656 feet.
Just one of many small symptoms of sad general decline of journalism, even at places like Reuters and NPR.. playing loose with what should be easily verifiable facts, instead running with only photos showing no bottom (because more dramatic and spooky), and NPR even running with saying it could fit the entire Washington Monument inside, which it clearly couldn't.
Not to take anything away from what is still definitely a massive sinkhole.
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Comment on It’s the little things that make me not fully jump to linux in ~comp
ylph Link ParentCachyOS is bleeding edge for kernel/Wayland/KDE/nVidia/Proton etc. updates - it's a rolling Arch based distro and they release upstream updates usually within days of them becoming available, so...CachyOS is bleeding edge for kernel/Wayland/KDE/nVidia/Proton etc. updates - it's a rolling Arch based distro and they release upstream updates usually within days of them becoming available, so should always be up to date on any upstream fixes.
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Comment on Is OpenWRT worthwhile at home? in ~comp
ylph LinkI used to run OpenWRT for years (and DD-WRT before it on the original WRT54G router 20 years ago) on various Linksys/Cisco home routers (always trying to pick hardware that had good OpenWRT...I used to run OpenWRT for years (and DD-WRT before it on the original WRT54G router 20 years ago) on various Linksys/Cisco home routers (always trying to pick hardware that had good OpenWRT support and compatibility), but eventually switched to pfSense on a dedicated Celeron J3455 based fanless mini-PC for routing, and a few used Ruckus R710 WiFi APs from eBay for WiFi around the house. I have to say, the Ruckus APs were a revelation - they work SO MUCH better than the consumer Linksys/Cisco stuff ever did for me - I have almost 2 year uptime on one of them right now - as in it has been running without a single reboot for almost 2 years, and the others have only had to be rebooted due to moving power plugs around, never due to any issues. I paid less than $50 for each of them, and just run them with the standalone AP firmware (not even the Unleashed firmware) and have had absolutely rock solid WiFi all through the house for all kinds of WiFi devices, old and new. With the Linksys/Cisco units running OpenWRT there would always be WiFi issues, that often required reboots to clear, which just isn't the case with Ruckus - I had no idea WiFi can even be this good.
The R710s are only WiFi 5, although that has not been an issue for me, and they can be had for $30-$40 on eBay right now. They are supposed to get security updates until 2027 I believe, although the standalone firmware has not been updated in 2 years (hence my 2 year uptime) but the Unleashed firmware is still getting updates. I would like to upgrade to more modern ones at some point, but the WiFi 6 ones are still $200+ on used market, and the R710s have been so solid that I don't have much reason to mess with my setup right now.
I am generally a big proponent of open source software and open hardware (run Linux on my main desktop even) but whatever proprietary secret hardware and software sauce Ruckus cooked up with their antennas and beamforming, MU-MIMO and what not really does work. It's been a while since I went with my setup, but at the time the consensus was that OpenWRT compatible hardware does not really match up in terms of WiFi performance and reliability - not sure if things have changed much since.
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Comment on What's your go-to hot sauce? in ~food
ylph LinkNobody mentioned the TJ's Green Dragon sauce yet - for me this one replaced Sriracha as the default sauce that I put on most things that don't otherwise call for specific sauce, it's super...Nobody mentioned the TJ's Green Dragon sauce yet - for me this one replaced Sriracha as the default sauce that I put on most things that don't otherwise call for specific sauce, it's super versatile, although pretty mild, but has a nice flavor - especially like it in fried rice of any sort. My second choice is usually Cholula which is pretty versatile also.
Once I got a small bottle of this chili sauce from Hong Kong that was one of my all time favorites - however I am not sure what happened to the company, I think they went through some hard times during covid, and all their internet presence seems to have disappeared, domain expired, social media accounts went dormant, and this sauce seems to be unobtainable now. Would love to find an alternative with a similar flavor profile - most of the other Hong Kong style chili sauces I've tried so far are a bit different, although I am limited in what I can find in the US.
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Comment on Android emulators to actually use mobile apps in day-to-day life? in ~tech
ylph Link ParentIt depends on your intended use probably - the app offers a lot. It includes a pretty good free Chinese-English dictionary, and a few free add-on dictionaries as well to get started, so you can...It depends on your intended use probably - the app offers a lot. It includes a pretty good free Chinese-English dictionary, and a few free add-on dictionaries as well to get started, so you can get a feel for it.
The free English-Chinese dictionary is just a wordlist I believe, the better options are paid (the New Century E-C is the best one I think, but it's like $30 by itself, the Oxford Chinese Dictionary is less extensive but still pretty good and has both C-E and E-C for only $20 - or get the basic bundle which includes it plus a few other useful things for just $25)
I think the app is most useful if you are learning Chinese or are studying it (or a related field, Chinese history or art or something like that) - for basic translation needs for someone with no Chinese knowledge at all, Google Translate is probably good enough - but for anyone with deeper interest in Chinese, Pleco can become a much superior tool.
If you are more advanced and want a good Chinese-Chinese dictionary, then you have to buy those (there are a few) There are also a lot of specialty dictionaries, Classical Chinese, medical, tea terms, buddhist terms, proverbs, Cantonese, Taiwanese, etc.. (some are even free) Some of these are Chinese-Chinese so best for someone who already understand enough Chinese to make use of them. Once you install the app, you should be able to explore what is available.
There is also a decent flashcard system, OCR, handwriting recognition, etc. Also various readers and materials for language study.
If you are serious about learning Chinese, then the professional bundle gives you a lot for $50, and I think it's well worth it. Great thing about Pleco is once you buy any of the add-ons, you get a key that you can use to re-activate all your purchases unlimited number of times, on either Android or iOS (not sure if there is a limit on how many can be active at one time, but I use it both on my phone, and Desktop (using Waydroid currently) and never had a problem re-downloading the purchased dictionaries and add-ons, and it works without GApps or Play Services - the app connects directly to Pleco servers to authorize.
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Comment on Android emulators to actually use mobile apps in day-to-day life? in ~tech
ylph LinkI use the very excellent Chinese dictionary app Pleco (with $100s of dollars worth of purchased dictionaries) which is only available on Android and iOS. I have gone through a bunch of emulation...I use the very excellent Chinese dictionary app Pleco (with $100s of dollars worth of purchased dictionaries) which is only available on Android and iOS. I have gone through a bunch of emulation options over the years for this (including running Android in VirtualBox VM, BlueStacks, etc.)
Finally settled on running it in WSA (Windows Subsystem for Android) which worked the best for me in Windows - the (ARM only) apk worked flawlessly, could be resized, bidirectional clipboard worked, it was basically like using a native Windows app. Support for WSA has officially been discontinued recently by Microsoft, but it can still be installed and used (with some tinkering - there are guides on line on how to do it) and it still works well for Pleco.
I have recently moved my main desktop to Linux, and was able to get it also going using Waydroid. This required a bit more tinkering to make work, but once I got everything configured, it is almost as good as WSA was.
Pleco does not require any GApps or Play Services, App Store or anything, which makes it a bit easier, since I can run it on a very minimal Android image with very little overhead. If you want the full GApps experience, there are options to set that up, although I am not sure how well they work. Something like BlueStacks might be a lot simpler to get going in that case.
I kind of went down the same path as you, and at some point had a 18650 based setup (with 18650s used as both power banks and headlamp/flashlight batteries) - even tried to go with 18350s to reduce weight - but eventually switched to a ultralight headlamp with built-in LiIon battery (Nitecore NU25 360, the 2017 version)
This is a very popular headlamp in the ultralight backpacking community, and for good reason honestly - it's so light you forget you are wearing it - with full strap it only weighs 50g (vs 140g for my 18650 headlamp) - and can be used with a string strap which shaves another 12g off. It easily lasts for 2-3 day backpacking trips on a single charge (but I do usually carry a powerbank if needed, both for headlamp and phone)
Yes, the lifespan of the LiIon battery is limited, but I think you can easily get 10 years out of it if not more - unless you are hiking the entire PCT every year or something.
An interesting option I have not fully investigated yet (since I am so happy with my Nitecores) are 16340 based headlamps (e.g. Fenix HM50R) - they have the benefit of replaceable batteries, and are still half the weight of a 18650 headlamp - usually <80g.
I only use the headlamp around camp at night, and usually go sleep soon after it gets dark. If you plan to actually hike with a headlamp, then the parameters change, and some kind of replaceable battery with decent capacity makes a lot more sense - although the Nitecore can be run continuously on external power, so you can run a usb cable to it and strap a powerbank somewhere for long term use, and still not have to carry weight on your head with straps, which can get uncomfortable after a while.
The 2017 NU25 uses a Micro-USB port which is annoying in the present USB-C dominated world. The 2022 version removed the red light and the ultra-low 1 lumen mode, so I would skip that one. There is a NU20 Classic now which is basically the old NU25 (with red light and 1 lumen mode) but with USB-C, and also NU25 MCT which has bigger battery and both red light and 6 lumen mode - so these 2 are the ones I would consider today.