Saigonautica

6 ms·

1.
by Saigonautica 1mo ago
That's a fascinating article! I live in Viet Nam, and it seems a bit like the section about us is overblown though. There are some short fuel queues these last few months (about a 2-5 minute wait), and a couple of the sketchier petrol
2.
by Saigonautica 3mo ago
Not especially (I don't live in the USA though). I do wonder if I could automate the expression of uncontroversial opinions in the public sphere though. For example things about movies, music, or sporting events. These are valid intere
3.
by Saigonautica 3mo ago
Nice. I tried to submit a project on the former. However CloudFlare seems to be blocking me from submitting the form. This is a common issue for all of us in Viet Nam though, not sure if there's anything you can do your side. I'll
4.
by Saigonautica 5mo ago
After moving to Asia, it did seem that fewer of my colleagues remarked on my choice of SMT for everything. I hadn't really thought about it until now! Custom PCBs are even cheaper here than in North America, and longer workdays meant I
5.
by Saigonautica 10mo ago
I mean, it caused me to emigrate to a growth economy. If I stayed in the West, I don't think I would have been OK.
6.
by Saigonautica 10mo ago
I hear you. I worked as a consultant for a company where the CEO one day, they just started using AI chat for everything. Every question you asked, they just forwarded it. Same thing for company strategy, major decisions, presentation conte
7.
by Saigonautica 10mo ago
I find this argument fascinating overall! I don't really use YouTube, but when ads play on random videos and it irritates me, I just close my eyes, the simplest version of content-blocking. (If the ad is painfully loud, I may also cove
8.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
When I first visited Asia 13 years ago, this is the feeling I got too. It's wonderful and intoxicating and new. It spoke to me so strongly, that I immigrated and started my first business. Not to China, but nearby (Viet Nam). It was a
9.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
I'm trying to make an RF lightning detector small enough to trivially add to my motorbike. I live in Viet Nam, and driving through bad storms this time of year is pretty miserable, and they happen fast and are local enough that weather
10.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
While I realize I'm not entitled to read this website, I'd like to report it seems to be geoblocking me in Viet Nam. I get a 403 Forbidden. I was totally ready to consider blocking US IP ranges too, if there was a good reason. I r
11.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
Oh, I loved working on this problem years back. My strategy was simulate my possible next guesses against all possible codes, then pick the option that had the highest number of possible outcomes (sometimes this strategy is called MaxParts)
12.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
An ESP32 module suitable for hobby use is about 4$ here in Viet Nam. You can get the "raw" ones for maybe 0.50$ less. We're near China, so electronic component price is usually higher than Chinese prices by 1-20% (modules and
13.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
I can't help but imagine this is just a USB flash drive.
14.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
A while back I saw an RF lightning detector on HN ( https://techlib.com/electronics/lightningnew.htm ) I redesigned it to be much smaller and cheaper (surface-mount), made it an IoT device, and various other changes. Wil
15.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
That reminds me of one. I had a PC that would fail to boot the first time every day. Second and subsequent times were fine, until the next day. When it stopped happening in the spring, and started again in the fall, it became obvious -- my
16.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
Oh, this brings back memories. I agree, the Japanese-grown rice in Japan is definitely different than the imported stuff. I used to buy the rice grown in Fukushima prefecture because it was sold at a significant discount, during the short a
17.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
I built a hardware server monitor with LED display based on the ESP8266. I needed 8 fewer things to think about in the morning. If you want, you can build one yourself, I released the hardware and firmware: https://github.com&#x2
18.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
As a courtesy, I used to check in on client servers every morning to alert them if services were down. Eventually it became a chore, so I made some hardware server status boards that monitor them for me (8 each). Here in Asia they cost 5-8$
19.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
I agree wholeheartedly! I like to use the TM1640 and RGB LEDs. It's cheap, works well, requires a minimum of external components, and can convey a fair amount of information. It can also drive a 16x8 LED matrix if I do want something s
20.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
I have a mildly entertaining story for you! We have something just a little like this in Viet Nam. It's designed as a public good that lets you look up businesses by their tax ID. It's mandatory for the company owner to put their
21.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
Oh, it's quite OK! I haven't used it myself, but my wife has. We don't often head out the way it goes. It's really great for tourists though, it does a good job of connecting one of the major tourist areas (Thao Dien) to
22.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
I live in a developing Asian country so the numbers and brands in the equation are a bit different. Anyway: 1. Good midrange Japanese cooking knives. I got one on a steep discount, and now I understand why people pay a premium for them. I e
23.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
I was thinking something similar, but much earlier along this timeline: what if the consultants that work for lobby groups that propose certain bills already use AI to write proposed laws? E.g. to make long, omnibus-style laws that very few
24.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
In Ho Chi Minh City (and probably Vietnam in general but not 100% sure). Our commercial district is very concentrated. The busses in general are some form of public-private partnership. Several private bus companies operate the city busses.
25.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
I know someone in this space. The insurance forms are processed first-pass with AI or ML (I forget which). Then the remainder are processed by humans in Viet Nam. This is not for the USA. I've also vaguely heard of a large company that
26.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
Yeah, that's a good point. A colleague did offer to help, and then donate the results to some schools. I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me to just say yes!
27.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
If you have any ideas, please share! Design is not my strong suit. I was thinking maybe some surface features, like craters (in silkscreen) and some "resources" -- tinned exposed copper / copper covered by solder mask. Or som
28.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
I made an electronic board game: https://github.com/seanboyce/Calculus-the-game It's compatible with Settlers of Catan. However, I plan to make my own rulesets, artwork, manuals, etc. It will not be a commercial p
29.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
I think about this sometimes. In the context of AI, but also for other reasons. One way I like to see things, is that I'm lucky enough to have this intersection between things that I like doing, and things that are considered "pro
30.
by Saigonautica 1y ago
I was going to skip this article until I read your post, it got me curious. You're totally right, it does read really weird. It made me laugh a bit, I needed that this morning. Thanks! I have also "spun up my own SMT". It&#x2

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