• 1 Post
  • 340 Comments
Joined 9 months ago
cake
Cake day: February 1st, 2024

help-circle


  • Awesome bandwidth to be sure, but I do think there is a difference between data transfer to RAM (such as network traffic) vs. traffic purely from one location to another (station wagon with tapes/747 with SD cards/etc.).

    For the latter, actually using the data in any meaningful way is probably limited to read time of the media, which is likely slow.

    But yeah, my go-to would be micro SD cards on a plane :)


  • My headcanon for The Matrix’s “humans are batteries” is that it’s the machines’ perverse interpretation of this — killing the humans is off the table, and for whatever reason letting them live with no purpose to serve the machines is also disallowed. But giving their lives “meaning” in the form of a shitty (and thermodynamically dubious) “battery” somehow satisfies the rules.

    It’s a very big stretch, I’ll admit…


  • qjkxbmwvz@startrek.websitetoScience Memes@mander.xyzbitey
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    16
    ·
    12 days ago

    Fun fact, the (rough) conversion efficiency of calories to mechanical joules in the human body (separate from the mechanical to electrical you’re referring to) is about 25% — but this is about the same factor as going from calories to joules! So, for a human to put out 13.5 kJ of energy would require about 13.5 food calories (kilocalories).









  • That’s how I started using Linux — big book with CD, I think it was “RedHat Linux Secrets 5.4” or something. 2.0 or 2.2 kernel.

    Honestly, it was fantastic. And almost all of it is still relevant today. (Some of the stuff on xfree86 and the chap/pap stuff not so much.)

    But it gave a really solid (IMHO) intro to a Linux/*NIX system, a solid overview of coreutils, etc. And while LILO has been long replaced, and afaik /sys didn’t exist at the time, it formed a good foundation.

    I’ll refrain from commenting on any init system changes that have taken place since then.




  • Is the alternative that we all rent/buy (?) apartments?

    No — duplexes/triplexes/etc. exist. And single-family housing does exist in mixed zoning areas. An SFH next to a duplex next to an apartment building is common in my city. However, in this case, the “back yard” is probably enough for a small garden and a bbq, but not a large lawn…which is fine, because there are parks in walking distance.

    Ideally, I’d like to not really have neighbors at all after my lifetime of experiences.

    Then city and suburbs aren’t really for you, and it sounds like something very rural would suit you, and those around you, better.


  • You can also take a fairly selfish view and come to the same conclusion. Like, I don’t want to see homeless encampments, or really sick and untreated people, or panhandlers, or (…) while I’m walking around in my city. I can solve this problem by 1) moving to a nice suburb, or 2) having my tax dollars go to fix a problem that affects me. 1) is off the table because I want to live in the city, and 2) — while it helps the greater good — also helps me directly. (2 can also be addressed in a draconian fashion, which is not what I’m advocating at all.)

    I think one problem is looking at things as zero sum. It’s not. If you are healthy and housed and fed then you’re not — to be very crass — an eyesore, you’re adding to the fabric of the city. I want street musicians who are playing for fun, not because they’re trying to make enough to afford dinner.