Skip Navigation

InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)T

The_Sasswagon

@ The_Sasswagon @beehaw.org

Posts
0
Comments
61
Joined
3 yr. ago

  • LLMs can unmask pseudonymous users at scale with surprising accuracy

    Jump

  • We can't have any of those things, because humans are shitty, and are as a whole just in it for themselves.

    I disagree, I don't think humans are, as a whole, shitty. Most people are willing to do good when faced with a moral decision, even one they stand to gain from. Its just the ones that make it into seats of wealth and power aren't part of that majority, so we see and hear about these awful people far more than the millions of good people all around us.

    In a community as wide reaching as the internet there are going to be people looking for personal gain over others and they make everyone else withdraw. I don't think you could ever have a gathering of millions, with some actually representing corporate profit motives, and freely share without risk. But not because everyone in there wants to stab you and take your money, but because a few do and you have no idea who some of them are and one of them is Jeff Bezos and he pays you.

  • The Post-Work Pipe Dream

    Jump

  • Same. Sometimes when I go for walks in the rain I bring one of those little gardening fork things and clear out the drains. I imagine I look wild wandering the streets with a garden implement but it's very satisfying and rewarding, especially knowing sometimes that water floods peoples houses.

  • Electrical help — transformers for worktable lamps

    Jump

  • I'm not sure if I'm adding anything new here, but the wall wart appears to be a ballast which traditionally drives fluorescent tubes. There are led tubes you can just plug into a light fixture or lamp with a ballast, there are also ones that want you to rewire the lamp and remove the ballast. I won't be able to help on rewiring as I'm in the US on our special voltage and I'm not qualified to be giving advice on that here much less anyplace else. There is another type of tube that can operate both with and without ballast (after a rewire).

    The first step would be to ensure the tubes you've got are ones that need the ballast to work, it should say on the product page. In the US they refer to these as type A, the ones that work without ballast as type B, and ones that work with both as type AB. I'm unsure if that is the same elsewhere, but I do notice the "AB" in your picture, so that may be the case, but you would need to confirm.

    If it works with ballast you could replace the old ballast with a new one, which is easier and safer than the alternative, though you may struggle to find one that fits where you want it to and they are less energy efficient. I have no experience replacing ballast, so I can't help you there, but it may be as simple as getting another ballast and wiring it in. You can probably get a brand new one as they do wear out over time and need to be replaced.

    If if works without ballast, since you've already removed it, it may make sense to rewire the lamps for the LEDs to run directly off of main voltage if the tubes are made for that and if you can find the resources to teach you how and you have the ability to do so safely. The lamps can be wired differently and the led tubes can require specific wiring. Its not the most dangerous thing you could do with electricity, but its got a lot of room for personal harm and fire if something is done wrong. I've done it without incident, but I've also rewired my home, adding light fixtures, a new circuit breaker box, and a heat pump, and had it inspected/approved by the local authorities, so I was pretty confident in my abilities. I don't think its that hard to do safely in comparison to those other things, its just important to be very sure of what you are doing with electricity. Sometimes things can work but are incredibly dangerous still, other times they might blow up in your face. It takes years of training to be an electrician for a reason, you don't get to make many mistakes more than once.

    Also please don't open up the transformers or ballast, they aren't safe without the shielding they come with.

    Good luck and stay safe.

  • what the US is doing to Cuba right now is one of the most barbaric crimes in its history.

    Jump

  • I think, based on conversations I have with people in real life and read online, that the people in the US haven't challenged the 60 years of propaganda about Cuba, and believe it a totalitarian nightmare dictatorship.

    I have a close friend who went to Cuba for ecological research (did you know they still have intact reefs) a few years ago, and when they would tell people they were going to Cuba, the most common reaction was a fearful "that's scary" and a confused, almost accusatory "why".

    I don't think they realize that everyone else can just go to Cuba, it's only the blue US passport and a bunch of old white guys, and probably now more Cuban Americans, with their fear of communism and land reform stopping them from enjoying a very nice bottle of state owned rum and an experience of how other people live.

    I'm glad other countries have been stepping up to help the people there, the Cuban people deserve happy and comfortable lives, and we clearly don't have the appetite to stop starving them of that right now. Until we shake that propagandized view, I don't imagine that will change either.

  • what the US is doing to Cuba right now is one of the most barbaric crimes in its history.

    Jump

  • No? That's a weird deflection from the misery of a people, to point at other miserable people and imply, look they're worse off so we can ignore everyone else. Or are you just lost, read a different piece, and replied to the wrong thing.

    What you're doing sure looks like deflection using whataboutism, but why deflect something you're not at fault for? You don't have to help the US government defend their actions.

  • ICE is as American as Apple Pie

    Jump

  • Sounds like something a Russian asset would say taps head in american

    Joking aside, I agree, the US has rotten bones and that's hard to shake or build upon without the rot spreading. I'd argue, though, there aren't many nations in the world that aren't built on racism and genocide, xenophobic white people really got around a couple hundred plus years ago.

    There are people in the US that weren't raised racist, and ones who were but fell far from the tree, just like there are anywhere else. I think the major failing those people (I'd like to say we) have here is a lack of imagination of how we can move to a better tomorrow. The problem is so big and runs so deep its hard to think about its shape much less ways to change it.

    Our media pushes us very specific propaganda, our health care is a joke, our education floundering (broken if you live in some places), and our lives demand most of our waking hours to pay for food and shelter. Its no good excuse, but largely Americans aren't evil, just tired, sick, and poor, and they don't have the extra to give until everything around them is crumbling. That looks lazy to people who haven't lived it, but you'll have to trust this lefty on the internet when I say its not lazy, maybe some learned helplessness, but definitely tired. Come to Mississippi (please don't do this and don't read it as a threat) and live for a couple weeks, you'll see it quick.

    Shoot we're also talking about a pretty big place. Oregon to Virginia is a long way and there's a pretty big culture gradient in the middle.

    I hope our friends around the world block us out, push their leaders to dismantle the crap institutions the US has exported for generations, and really question their own biases before it gets as bad as this. I don't think the US is unique in any significant way, y'all are susceptible to these things too, it'll just be a different flavor and a different time, and I'd like to hope we will have fixed our shit by then in time to have your back, but I'm pessimistic.

    I try to differentiate between nations and citizens here, where I can. We aren't our grandparents, but our government literally is and was made by them.

    Also trump did get help from Russian organizations to get elected in 2016, so there's clearly ties, and not in the same way to China or Venezuela. Also also he can be both a fundamentally American creation and a Russian asset, that would be very effective as a way to dismantle the post WWII status quo, which seems to be a specific goal of Putin's Russia. FWIW I don't really think he's a direct asset, though there are 100% people around him on the take from whoever will pay, I'm just imagining why someone might believe that.

  • TIL putting solar panels on land currently used for biofuels would produce enough electricity for all cars and trucks to go electric

    Jump

  • I did a bit of research along the lines of this article a few months ago to settle an argument, specifically about the state of Iowa in the US, about just corn for ethanol production (the primary source of ethanol in the US). I made a few assumptions, but always took the more generous middle ground for ethanol.

    First its astounding how much land we dedicate to crops there, its 68% of the state for all crops, with 94% of that being feed corn and soy beans. That's 22.6 million acres (91,300 km²) dedicated to two crops we largely do not eat.

    Second and more on topic, the state of Iowa net produces about 56,389 GWh/yr from ethanol taking up 4.5 million acres (18,212 km²), and it would only take 28,000 acres (113 km²) of solar to produce the same amount.

    I like haven't done the math on this one, but I bet you could make that up from solar on walmart roofs and parking lots in Iowa alone. Maybe that'll be my tomorrow project.

    I like to hope we scale EVs down in size and weight and ramp up train/trolley/trolley busses to reduce required energy to power transportation, then we wouldn't need to cover Poland with panels!

  • This person lost their internship afterwards

    Jump

  • I don't doubt you saw something that scared you, but rockets and missiles are literally the same thing barring payload and trajectory and nobody is using bespoke software to puzzle out aerodynamics in 20xx, that's table at the back of the college textbook stuff these days.

    NASA didn't even exist until after ICBMs were invented in both the US and the Soviet Union, so idk what y'all are on about. NASA used old ICBM tech to make rockets that weren't for military use. Atlas, an ICBM, is what launched the first US astronauts to space during the Mercury program.

    Also Von Braun was a Nazi

  • Removed

    I have A Super Sweet, Sick & Passive Aggressive Cat Who Causes Problems in Using The Cat Boxes, Drinking Dogs’ Water-Putting Blood in Their Water & Eating…

    Jump

  • A: Its hard to get a cat that doesn't want to eat, to eat, especially when a different cat in the room is ready to dive in. If its possible, separating them while they are eating might help, and cleaning up the food after a certain period of time so they know they can't come back to it later can help, but it doesn't could like this little guy is very food motivated right now, so it may not help and you don't want to deprive him of food

    B: Cats will drink water out of whatever you don't want them to it seems, maybe try filling a coffee/tea mug with water and leaving it in a favorite cat location? We have a special coffee cup that migrates around the house, one of our cats used to drink out of it every morning sitting across from me while I had breakfast. I bet your cat will still drink out of the dog bowl though, its special water!

    C: As with A, perhaps separating them during feeding might help, at least until you can get them eating well. Even opposite sides of a door can be effective, they'll look at you like you're crazy when you wander away from them with their food to the bathroom door, but they'll get the hang of it. Maybe save some of the hungry cat's food as a treat they can eat together if they both like that arrangement.

    D: Cats pee outside of their boxes for so many reasons, its very hard to know. For example, our cat started peeing outside the box after our other cat passed away and I cleaned the boxes for the first time. Turns out he wanted the little door flaps removed and he stopped right away. Other times they do it because they are scared or upset about something. It could be that a recent move or change has him on edge, or the other cat stresses him out, or his stomach hurts and he wants you to know about it, or he doesn't like the box or litter. It's a tough thing to figure out, but if you can learn the cause, you can help address it and the habit might go away. It might also be a habit, and in that case I don't have much advice beyond the positive reinforcement someone else suggested.

  • US strikes Venezuela and says its leader, Maduro, has been captured and flown out of the country

    Jump

  • I do not doubt that some are celebrating, and for good reason, but what comes next doesn't seem likely to be better for the people who live there.

    History shows these moments lead to more oppression and suffering while out of country execs and wealthy individuals grab as much loot as they can before the inevitable popular uprising.

    Said popular uprising is immediately sanctioned and hamstrung by the US/world bank and economically held liable for the debts the occupiers ran up. Then they collapse into either authoritarianism or "infighting" with rebel groups funded by the US.

    This looks like a continuation of the same old IMF, Chicago boys, school of Americas playbook to me, but way less covert.

  • Cities Panic Over Having to Release Mass Surveillance Recordings

    Jump

  • Not having a right to privacy doesn't mean we should record everyone's every move if they aren't locked in their windowless basement. Which they would have to be since its legally OK to have cameras pointing at your neighbors bedroom window or backyard, or to fly a recording drone over their house.

    Additionally I think we should have a right to privacy in public. Why does your right to have your own surveillance fiefdom in your building extend to the street where I'm just trying to go for a jog? It interferes with my peace of mind, and it makes neighbors appear more like police than people I should be able to rely on.

    I'm also exceptionally skeptical cameras have any impact on crime. I know police rarely investigate or solve property crime, and unless they prevent the crime from happening outright (doubt), or the camera owner has a full time live human monitoring to respond to an immediate action (businesses), it serves no purpose but to give the owner a false sense of security and to peep on your neighbors.

    Getting broken into can be a very traumatic and violating experience, and in a better world we would try to help both the person who is driven to robbery and the person who's space was violated. In the one we live in, people slap cameras and floodlights everywhere, mental health care is nonexistent, and we punish such that the cycle of poverty and crime continues. Thus nothing is solved and the world gets worse.

    Police cameras and municipal cameras are even worse in these ways, now it isn't the guy next door, its the state and all the money and power it holds doing a peep into your bedroom and a follow down the street. They don't trust you, they don't want you here, and you had better watch yourself. That message isn't for everyone of course, but if you're already marginalized in a community, it sure reads like the message is for you.

    If we do install cameras, like red light cameras or speed cameras which have proven to do something, we need to be extraordinarily careful about where we place them and how we use them. And they should only be there until the underlying problem is solved, not placed as a solution themselves.

  • 72% of devs believe Steam has a monopoly on PC games, according to study

    Jump

  • I'm not sure that's how that shakes out, you can't exactly extinguish open source projects, they may go dormant but they are still there, and there would be the last open source proton build to start from too.

    It would also annoy the very people who are most likely to make their own compatibility tools and inconvenience themselves to spite bad business practice. Maybe in some future world where everyone is on Linux/proton, the people who just blindly use windows today because they always have would just keep using the now proprietary proton, but that's far from the way it is today.

    Honestly I just use what is easiest to get working, used to do every game manually, then used Lutris, now I use Steam, probably will use something else that's easier in the future, especially if/when my library disappears. Til then I'll support the company that made it much easier to leave Microsoft behind. Nice bonus: valve is one of the least bad large companies in the US at time of writing, so it feels less awful to give them money.

  • Spain restarts push to kill daylight saving time in EU

    Jump

  • Because shifting schedules by an hour randomly in the middle of the year twice is physically damaging and bad for your health, that impacts you. And maybe it's not so bad for you, you work shifting hours, no biggie. Try to imagine that you had that regular schedule and suddenly it changed, it did bother you, perhaps make decisions based on that.

    If you can't imagine anyone else having thoughts, feelings, or emotions different from yours, consider that when you're crossing the street the day after daylight savings time, you're being passed by people who didn't get enough sleep and maybe they're like you, but they might not be, and that could directly impact you too.

    It's such a simple small change to a weird tradition that has no more purpose in our modern world than the "moonlight lamps" of the US or the penny farthing. They may be historically important or interesting, but that doesn't mean you should be forced to use them. Change can be scary but it's gonna be ok, daylight savings time will inevitably end up the way of the funny big wheeled bike, it's just a matter of when and how. You can always choose to wake up early all year round.

  • Flow chart for choosing a Linux distribution

    Jump

  • I like your approach in that they don't all just flow to the same 2 distros and there are multiple options at the end of most lines. It's also quite readable. I do think there's even more room to just try stuff out though, distros are not particularly rigid, certainly not when you're first trying them out and you don't know the differences.

    I happily use MXLinux to game on new(not so new now I suppose) hardware, run a media box, and on a couple work/school laptops for example. It's just what I tried and felt cozy with after I got angry with windows and mint. I'm sure other distros are technically better for my uses but nothing I've tried has really been so much better to justify the switch.

  • Flow chart for choosing a Linux distribution

    Jump

  • The different desktop environments. Really basically described as the interface, XFCE is a very lightweight one, whereas mint is MATE, and mint cinnamon is... cinnamon which are each different from each other (I don't know I've never used them for long enough to find out)

  • How the US got left behind in the global electric car race

    Jump

  • Well we've recently entered the race to the bottom category, we'll see how that one goes

    More seriously, the US did lead the way in various ways for a while for the time. Just gotta ignore the racism and colonialism. Unfortunately many innovations turned out to be the limit of American imagination and any attempt to continue to improve and grow is now met with hostility.

    It's probably at least somewhat a product of years of corporate and conservative interests marketing a return to an imagined golden age for economic and political gain. No room for new things in the fantasy of the '50s, just easy money, grass suburbs, giant cars, and unconcerned white people as far as the eye can see.

  • Fucking why though? Are cows endangered?

    Jump

  • Yeah when I start ranting about the government's cheese caves under Missouri people think I've finally cracked, but they're real. It started as a program to help farmers during the great depression, but by now it's just socializing the dairy industry and keeping prices artificially high. I don't think they sold it to fund the program though, they distributed it through food security programs.

    There's gotta be better foods for the government to stockpile and distribute to the hungry than cheese though, it's tasty, but it's not great for you and it's not filling many nutritional gaps. Not to mention lots of people can't even eat it without getting sick

  • AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

    Jump

  • This or sit down to read a chapter before bed, look up and it's 6 hours later and I have to pee and I haven't touched my glass of water and my alarm goes off in 4 hours

    Never in between

  • NIGHTMARE NIGHTMARE NIGHTMARE NIGHTMARE NIGHTMARE NIGHTMARE

    Jump

  • This man helped me kill the lawn inside myself, and now I've killed my lawn and I'm on my way to kill my parents' (lawn) too. I might have even accidentally learned some botany along the way

    A really great channel