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Liftyee

1,218 karma · joined November 19, 2023

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Liftyee··on MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display and Touch
I use a stylus to take lecture notes and solve problem sheets on my ThinkPad X13. Xournalpp works ok, Ubuntu 24.04, though there was a mutter bug that I had Sol patch out. Only better than paper because of data storage, honestly carrying a notebook is lighter than the usb c second display I use.

When I have it folded, it's intuitive to use the touchscreen like a tablet. But I wouldn't want to run the i3 setup I have on my desktop. The Wayland UI bandwagon and huge touch targets are for something after all.

Liftyee··on Upcoming critical PHP security release (CVE-2026-109618 / -109619)
Surprising that this sort of vuln can exist for DECADES. Perhaps software really is too complex for all its behaviours to be outwardly visible. Many student-run services are down right now, even the lunch menu website is going down for maintenance.
Liftyee··on They war-gamed dimming the Sun. It went worse than you think
What other options are on the table if we REALLY want to limit warming below the 2 deg C target? It's already 1.5+, and control systems theory says that the inertia of various mechanisms (ocean warming, ice/permafrost melt, ...) will cause a lag between the emissions being produced and the actual warming happening. So even if we immediately switch off all human sources NOW, everything that's already in the air will stay there, and the temperature will keep increasing for some time. Under the assumption that the "residual warming" will overshoot 2 C, aerosols are the only industrially feasible way I know of. Mass production of engineered particles certainly sounds more reasonable than mass producing carbon capture machines in the volumes required.

Of course, we are too busy arguing about how important it is to fully commit to any path.

Liftyee··on Ubuntu 26.10 (Stonking Stingray) released
Agree. My next upgrade from 24.04 will be to Debian.
Liftyee··on Ledger confirms spy chip implant behind wallet crypto thefts
Market segmentation?! What device is high quality enough to be potted but still has the same hardware modified by jumpers across models?
Liftyee··on Cops Can Bypass iPhone's Automatic Reboot to Get into Locked Phones
Last time I checked, the Soviet Union was dissolved.

(CCCP = Union of Soviet Socialist Republics...)

Liftyee··on Solving Factorio Quality
I'm sure they would choose real factory building instead if it was just as easy (at least, I would) - no bureaucracy/planning conflicts, you are the sole dictator - full vertical integration, no supply costs or land costs - building is near-instant and perfectly reversible - machines don't have 6 month lead times or go out of stock - maintenance is done by magic, machines never break down - infinite research and information to build every machine from scratch
Liftyee··on When did Google get so weird?
It still makes me feel odd when ChatGPT says something like "I feel the same way", "I love xyz", "I think ...", exactly because it can't really feel anything. It defends this behaviour as an abstraction to make the conversation more natural, but that makes it easy to forget that there is no feeling or opinion - only the inputs/outputs resembling one.
Liftyee··on Tech Needs Humanists More
I like the idealism, but an important factor making this viable is that people (i.e. employers) must realise that this fundamental reasoning is scarce and pay enough for it to support life, and this must happen before AI takes over.
Liftyee··on Fixing the Portobello Police Station Clock
Intriguing. That circuit board definitely looks like a little company's product from decades ago or a one-off - no silkscreen, single layer, "yellow" board material. Also, in the bottom right, it looks like there are some pads that have been left undrilled. As long as those three mains coloured cables in the bottom left aren't mains, it looks reasonable to keep running (there's not a lot of clearance between that area and the microcontroller...)

Also looks like it was hand assembled, by the component mounting. Wires soldered straight to board isn't great, but not a huge issue if stationary and undisturbed.

Liftyee··on Whirlpool Washer Transmission Repair (2007)
It surprises me how the US loves their top-loading washers. Here in the UK, there isn't the complex (though interesting) "transmission": the drum has fins to act as both agitator and spin-dryer. This means it's just a boring belt drive between motor and drum (or direct drive, for newer machines.)
Liftyee··on Rabbit Hole: Minimum L-seams
The premise is interesting but a little unintuitive. As I understand it, an L-seam is defined by having to attach a square by two edges at a time (i.e. two of its sides already have adjacent pieces in the finished part). Consequently, it's order dependent: any sized quilt can have L-seams if you construct a L-shaped piece that needs a corner filled in, even if there is an optimal way. It follows that not every "seam that ends in the middle of the piece" is an L-seam: both ends could have been edges at the time of construction.

As an engineer with no sewing experience, I don't understand why you wouldn't sew one straight edge from the outside in, then sew the other and meet at the corner, avoiding L-turning issues. Please enlighten me.

Liftyee··on How Hacker News ranking works: scoring, controversy, and penalties (2013)
The penalties are interesting. It shows that the design goal is not to maximise interactions otherwise "controversial" posts should stay up. Still though, I wonder what's the point of deranking said posts. Minimise the potential for a flame war to hit critical mass? Stop people from perceiving HN as an argument-filled forum?
Liftyee··on I don't like passkeys
YES. This exactly. I work across multiple devices, some of which are nonstandard/uncommon (Linux, Xiaomi China ROM, ...) and I've NEVER had passkeys work properly - yet everything constantly prompts me to add one. Even if they did work, I'd have to carry around hardware keys or register each computer separately. And the lack of backups if a device is lost/broken is definitely a larger concern for me than being phished of my TOTP keys.
Liftyee··on The Real Luxuries In Life
True. Money is just an instrumental goal. I was thinking about how some have 1000x more money but not 1000x more happiness. Enjoyment doesn't scale.
Liftyee··on Making the Internet Boring
I used to start the same place the author did with total blocks but kept overriding for real purposes then getting sidetracked. Identified the real problem as feeds which choose what to watch for me instead of me choosing. So I use custom apps and extensions to remove all the feeds but keep the search and messaging functionality (Feurstagram). Sometimes I catch myself opening the page out of habit but then realising I have literally nothing I actively want to watch/search for ...
Liftyee··on $44M Solar-Powered EV Production Deal Struck
In case you didn't notice, today's solar panels are more efficient and much cheaper than the solar panels of 1991.

Also, enough energy for some range ≠ enough power to drive constantly.

Liftyee··on The Work Number: credit score but for your employment history – by Equifax
The US is rapidly catching up with China in the field of authoritarianism.
Liftyee··on Berd
Fittingly for an AI page, the "Easter egg" page lags my phone significantly.
Liftyee··on GIMP Development Update
I don't get everyone's complaints about the interface. I've been using it for years, once you learn where things are I can get what I need done. The learning curve (finding where functions are, the right tools for each job, etc.) wasn't much different from other software like Blender or Darktable (or even Davinci Resolve).

The panels concept might be the most intuitive part of it, but Blender also has different panels and modes. And the tools being combined into few buttons is similar to CAD programs I've used.

Anyone enlighten me on actual usability problems (and not pedantry like "the spacing of these buttons is uneven"?) Perhaps I've gotten used to using unintuitive software.

Liftyee··on The brain may be about to have its Ozempic moment
Sleep is Lindy... obesity and constant wakefulness are not.

The sad fact is that people will be pressured into taking this.

E: Lindy was probably the wrong term. But still, it's like Chesterton's fence. We are far from fully understanding human biology... and deleting sleep will lead to unknown effects. All power to those who try, I guess.

Liftyee··on Exploiting System Management Mode with a very long interrupt
I don't know much about the specifics of CPU architecture apart from the existence of assembly and different modes. Either way the explanation was still entertaining and interesting. smiiiiiiii
Liftyee··on Train Simulator Controller
Wow, really clean design. I'm surprised that you could get hold of original hardware. Not sure how much of it is commodity industrial equipment Vs bespoke buttons, etc.
Liftyee··on Turning a dumb AC unit smart (without losing my security deposit)
I don't get how so many large buildings in NYC and Beijing (two cities that I've personally visited) use independent little AC units like the PTAC or minisplit types. A couple per apartment, peppered over the outer walls. Engineers intuition says surely a large central unit would be more efficient and effective.

Is it because of personal ownership reasons? Counterintuitive physics? Heat dissipation limitations on the roof?

Can someone with more knowledge clue me in?

Liftyee··on The Mighty Big Array of Finn Jensen LA8YB
I love reading about the exploits of radio amateurs. This is some seriously impressive engineering too. It's surprising what one can do with off the shelf components assembled on a human scale (instead of microwave frequencies which need much smaller circuits).

Also, there's a certain beauty in staying close to the physical layer and working the airwaves yourself.

Liftyee··on An iroh powered smart fan
While this is neat, it strikes me as the software developer's idea of a "smart fan". The engineer in me says that an actual "smart fan" would be one whose blades are designed to produce maximum airflow with minimum noise (variable pitch? avoiding turbulence?)
Liftyee··on Show HN: 18 Words
This is an odd and interesting effect. I experienced it and English is my first language.

Couldn't figure out "binding" because in the process of permuting the letters it got sounded out as "bin ding" which I immediately rejected as "not a word". It seems like it's intuitive to permute letters but I forget that you have to permute the sound too, otherwise it won't parse as a word.

Liftyee··on Performance per dollar is getting faster and cheaper
Though, the new data centers are not entirely the same. Increasing use of onsite gas turbines to generate power instead of using grid power changes their noise+air pollution profile.
Liftyee··on The bottleneck might be the air in the room
I would hesitate to say the IKEA is worse. Inside the IKEA is a reputable Sensirion all in one sensor module. It's much cheaper and smaller because the CO2 sensor in it is using different (newer) technology that only released a few years ago from Sensirion.

(Upd: the IKEA does have lower accuracy, with ±100 ppm instead of ±30 ppm. From the SEN63C datasheet)

Liftyee··on County with 37 Data Centers Asks Schools to 'Conserve Electricity'
Smarter device would just require a little more cost. Current devices can work with no code, just analog electronics.
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