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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 9th, 2023

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  • Each tool type has different strengths, with varying bonuses to mining, scanning, and damage. Personally I prefer to have two multi tools, one for exploring and one for combat. This makes it easier to cycle the modes reliably, because I only switch between 2-3 on each tool instead of 6 in a single tool.

    However unless you’re trying to minmax any one feature you can go with whatever tool you like. It’s not going to be the end of the world to use a pistol for damage or a rifle for mining.


  • Off the commercial off the shelf “smart” TVs available, I started by looking at the OSes available. Choices were Roku, webOS, Tizen, and Google TV. I immediately ruled out Roku because of their recent changes to terms&conditions. webOS is pretty much limited to LG TVs, and I had bad experiences with LG warranties, so I ruled that out. Tizen (Samsung) was out for similar reasons, so that left me with Google TV. It’s… OK. Doesn’t require Internet connection to work, and doesn’t nag me about it. And it came with a hardware switch to turn off the microphone. Not sure if that’s a brand thing (Hisense) or applicable to all Google TV devices, but was reassuring.




  • Don’t skip the dialogue, even if you use subtitles and are a fast reader. It sometimes switches from one sentence at a time to whole chunks of dialogue and action getting skipped. Plus, the voice acting is superb, and the physical reactions of characters can convey a lot of emotion.

    Apart from White Orchard, you shouldn’t need to complete all side quests in your area before moving on. Particularly with witcher gear, it’s sometimes expected to need to come back at a later time when you’re more powerful.

    Others may disagree, but I don’t bother dismantling gear and weapons. I find it simpler to just sell things and buy materials I need from vendors.


  • Not a stupid question at all. Here’s the Wikipedia article for it. The significant part is this:

    The 5-dimensional discs [have] tiny patterns printed on 3 layers within the discs. Depending on the angle they are viewed from, these patterns can look completely different. This may sound like science fiction, but it’s basically a really fancy optical illusion. In this case, the 5 dimensions inside of the discs are the size and orientation in relation to the 3-dimensional position of the nanostructures. The concept of being 5-dimensional means that one disc has several different images depending on the angle that one views it from, and the magnification of the microscope used to view it. Basically, each disc has multiple layers of micro and macro level images.





  • That’s LLM AI, but the type I’m talking about is the machine learning kind. I can envision a system that takes e.g. a sample’s test data and provides a summary, which is not far from what doctors do anyway. If you ever get a blood test’s results explained to you it’s “this value is high, which would be concerning except that this other value is not high, so you’re probably fine regarding X. However, I notice that this other value is low, and this can be an indicator of Y. I’m going to request a follow-up test regarding that.” Yes, I would trust an AI to give me that explanation, because those are very strict parameters to work with, and the input comes from a trusted source (lab results and medical training data) and not “Bob’s shrimping and hoola hoop dancing blog”.



  • same amount of effort

    Physical effort, yes. Cognitive effort, no.

    • Intros on a serial show are expected, and in some cases change subtly from one episode to another to provide additional entertainment value (eg the Simpsons intro). In other cases a change of intro sets the setting for the episode (eg Star Trek: Enterprise’s Storm Front episodes).
    • YouTube ads are not related to the show, provide no contextual value, and in the case of interstitial ads are not even at a predictable time. They also tend to be inanely repetitive, showing the same ad over and over in consecutive videos. Contrast those to eg halftime ads at the Superbowl broadcasts, which have predictable timing, variety, and have a history of being (or trying to be) entertaining.

  • CUPS is installed on the majority of desktop systems. One of the listed CVEs indicates that port 631 is by default open to the local network, so if you connect to any shared network (public WiFi, work/school network, even your home network if another compromised device gets connected to it) you’re exposed. Or a browser flaw or other vulnerability could be exploited to forward a packet to that port.

    In other words: While access to port 631 is required first, the severity of the vulnerability lies in how damn easy it is to take over a system after that. And the system can be re-compromised any time you print something, making this a persistent vector.