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bitbckton The cult of Amiga and SGI, or why workstations matter

I still boot up my maximum-spec Octane2 (2x600MHz R14k, 8GB RAM, VPro V12, PCI shoebox) every so often to bask in the good ol’ days.

After nekochan went offline, there isn’t really a central gathering place for SGI fans anymore, but we are out there.

bitbckton Oxide at Home: Propolis Says Hello

I miss IRIX, too. :)

bitbckton Buffet – An All-inclusive Buffer for C

Have you read the parent comment?

bitbckton Jerrycan

Buy a Wavian and the One True(TM) nozzle: https://armysurpluswarehouse.com/wavian-jerry-can-nozzle/

bitbckton All the giant companies used ffmpeg (2020)

We (English speakers) frequently use gratis for free-as-in-beer.

bitbckton Batteries included with Emacs (2020)

Apropos: https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Ap...

bitbckton Bring Back Our Knobs: Analog vs. Digital (2009)

A Hilux and Tacoma are two different vehicles: different engine options, different chassis, and almost zero interchangeable parts.

Try taking a Tacoma to a parts counter outside the US, or Hilux to one in the US, and you’ll just get blank stares.

bitbckton New Orleans levees passed their first major test

That area of the city is built on infill, but that is by no means true of most of the city’s area.

bitbckton The Ruin of War

Read more of the article, and challenge that over-eager assessment.

bitbckton Algorithmic bias bounty challenge

This reminds of the time at Twitter when all Japanese users were (accidentally) inferred to be female after a model changed.

bitbckton Salesforce completes acquisition of Slack

The direct listing was good to most everyone I know (lots of former Twitterati at Slack), and this deal doesn’t seem to have changed that situation.

The post-acquisition exodus has started, which might imply folks aren’t interested in joining The Machine regardless of the money.

bitbckton Temeraire: Hugepage-Aware Allocator

I’m shocked - shocked! - that the brilliant minds of HN have no commentary on this work.

bitbckton Tesla’s $16k Quote for a $700 Fix Is Why Right to Repair Matters

I have to _reduce_ the mains to 55psi to keep my water heater functioning.

Plenty of pressure here (USA) without a pump.

bitbckton Ask HN: How to get started with CB radio?

I run a mobile GMRS in my Jeep with a couple of 5W HTs for spotting and keeping touch on the go - most folks I know have moved off CB entirely. There are excellent ground-plane independent antennae from Larsen and Laird that work well with the "challenging" Jeep installs.

Having a HT or base ham radio is nice for SHTF scenarios, but I haven't really found the need for a mobile.

bitbckton Ask HN: How to get started with CB radio?

> the blister pack radios you see everywhere

These are FRS radios, which share channels with GMRS but are not capable of txing on GMRS-only bands, repeater use, or higher output.

That said, get a GMRS license. $70 (soon to be lowered) for 10 years, and no test required.

bitbckton Americans Are Keeping Their Cars Longer, as Vehicle Age Hits 12 Years

> … and also to provide space for the side curtain airbags.

… which increases the weight the pillars need to support, which causes the pillars to get thicker, &c.

bitbckton Americans Are Keeping Their Cars Longer, as Vehicle Age Hits 12 Years

> I own a 2000 mercury grand marquis.

With the secret de Sade trim, I hope. /s

bitbckton Silicon Valley Is Flooding into a Reluctant Austin

Sure, that is one sort of expression. And very typical “it’s you, not me” attitude on both sides.

Another is that locals would love to know that they can afford a mortgage payment in their own hometown sometime in their adult life.

bitbckton Silicon Valley Is Flooding into a Reluctant Austin

As a Northern NV native and SF resident for the past 10 years, it’s been my experience that Reno doesn’t enter into the worldview of hip techie people in the Bay Area for a variety of reasons.

Strangely, Boise _does_, but comes with state income tax.

Reno had never been immune to “Californication” though. Resistance to it almost defines the local culture.

bitbckton DoorDash from Application to IPO

That's been my experience in San Francisco, as well.

bitbckton Raspberry Pi 400 Desktop PC

I can’t stop laughing at this. No /s?

bitbckton War Elephants, Part II: Elephants Against Wolves (2019)

Many of his video game or (current, pop) cultural references seem to stem from the challenges he faces teaching students for whom these references are their only exposure to pre-modern ideas.

But they are fun. :)

bitbckton House Hunting in France: A Once-in-a-Millennium Castle for $3.3M

A boat is a funny shaped hole in the water where you pour all your money.

bitbckton N.H. Announces It Will Sue Massachusetts over Cross-Border Income Tax Collection

You're right. I meant W-2 workers, not 1099. Thanks for the correction.

bitbckton N.H. Announces It Will Sue Massachusetts over Cross-Border Income Tax Collection

NV residents who are 1099 employees of a CA corporation pay CA income taxes for the days which are spent on-site in CA. If that number is 0, all the better - no dealings with the FTB need to happen at all.

Having roots in NV myself, and knowing a number of friends who currently work at FAANG companies who’ve moved back, I’ve heard the typical salary cut corresponds roughly to the CA income tax they’d otherwise pay (~12%).

It isn’t similar to NH/MA, because it isn’t feasible to commute from NV geographically.

bitbckton What is expected of a engineering manager?

All of the managers I’ve worked with on the “great” end of the quality spectrum have excelled at being sh*t umbrellas. Perhaps that speaks also to the quality of the orgs I’ve been in, as well...

This is a (the?) differentiating quality between effective management and not.

bitbckton San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

No question there.

I wasn’t speaking to the GP’s question about progress but to their “not following the news” comment.

I apparently should have made that clear.

bitbckton San Francisco Apartment Rents Crater Up to 31%, Most in U.S.

Just today, for example:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/10/13/covid-vacci...

bitbckton Bill introduced to promote prescribed fire intends to reduce fire risk

A cousin of mine spent about 10 years as a Hotshot[0], and now runs an engine in Plumas County, CA.

A few things that have stuck with me over the years of discussing his work:

* Much like floods, he returns the same burn areas year after year (ex. Paradise, CA and surrounding area). Some of that is recent encroachment into wilderness boundary areas, but much is also historically-inhabited land whose climate has changed drastically.

* Prescribed burns quickly run up against environmental regulations (esp. those intended to reduce smog), property rights concerns, and coordinating the patchwork of agencies and individuals who own and manage this land - BLM, USFS, CalFire, Sierra Pacific Industries, &c.

* To hear him tell it, CalFire is woefully incompetent and fiscally irresponsible, leaving much of the work to over-burdened and under-funded federal agencies. I live in a CalFire "State Responsibility Area" (i.e. any fire in my area would be served by CalFire), and I've seen very little actual evidence to contradict him.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotshot_crew

bitbckton Split Keyboard for Professionals

> UKB hasn't shipped yet

Huh? I ordered one on 19 Sept. and had it on my desk in California on 24 Sept.