emptybits

4 ms·

31.
by emptybits 2mo ago
Buying a used book sight unseen from Amazon or from a reseller who doesn’t have a reputation for reporting used condition reliably … that’s a buyer’s choice. It’s not left to (mis)fortune. Anyways, my point was to counter the parent post’s
32.
by emptybits 2mo ago
Aside from shallow, uncritical notes, consider that annotating in a margin is evidence that a reader is actively engaging with a text. Very often when I write in margins it's to question or argue against what's written (e.g. &quot
33.
by emptybits 2mo ago
Happy Birthday Z80! My first job out of university was in Z80 assembly. (Sega Game Gear.) As a kid, it was all about 6502 micros, but my early professional love was Z80 and it still warms my heart to think about. Sure, the “other” 8 bit CPU
34.
by emptybits 3mo ago
Perhaps: "If you find yourself re-arranging your life into a [car|AI|...]-dependent life, stop before it's too late?"
35.
by emptybits 3mo ago
It's not clear what a "US-aligned market" is anymore, and I think it's reasonable to question US hegemony on any front because of its mercurial treatment toward its "allies". Example... the USA effectively bans
36.
by emptybits 3mo ago
BC resident. I do look forward to not adjusting to a twice-annual time change. BUT, I would have strongly preferred sticking to Standard Time, year round, instead of DST. That option was apparently not on the table, and strangely got little
37.
by emptybits 3mo ago
At this point, many readers will be regionally thinking, "Milk ... in ... bags???? What's HE talking about?" But I'm with you, friend. Occlupanida securing the primary containment vessels housing the partitioned units of
38.
by emptybits 3mo ago
Of all the objective and subjective metrics a home coffee drinker is trying to optimize, never once have I heard anyone care in the least about the watt-hours consumed during the brew process. "I really wish I could drink coffee at roo
39.
by emptybits 3mo ago
Dunno. Brands definitely change their ingredients to conform to national health/drug regs so I’d inquire via their US site. kinesysactive.com
40.
by emptybits 4mo ago
Bemotrizinol is the ingredient being discussed. If you're looking for a specific product to try, check out Ombrelle and also La Roche-Posay's Anthelios line. I share this as a Canadian (bemotrizinol has been available here for yea
41.
by emptybits 4mo ago
Indeed. The corporation name is literally (in literature !) an example of all-seeing surveillance tools causing harm when (not if ) they fall into evil hands.
42.
by emptybits 4mo ago
Fair enough and thanks for the correction. I think my point may still stand: between the LLM or the Chief ... which decision maker will be most in tune with the long-term common good of the populace?
43.
by emptybits 4mo ago
Agreed. But I'm not sure sure which decision maker is more myopic toward the big picture and long-lasting implications of a decision: an LLM, or the top brass at the Department Of War.
44.
Canada and America Are Drifting Apart. The Pentagon Just Made It Official(thewalrus.ca)
10 points by emptybits 4mo ago|0 comments
45.
by emptybits 4mo ago
Yeah, I agree. We have a large and persuasive LNG industry influencing government policy. Not a lot of critical discussion is permitted because of the sheer money at stake. So many resource corporations, their employees, towns, and a heavil
46.
by emptybits 4mo ago
Sure, but nearly half the population of Canada west of Ontario is in BC (5.0M out of 11.8M west of Ontario), and 92% of BC's electric generation comes from hydro (89%) and wind (3%). I like these numbers. https://www.cer-rec
47.
by emptybits 4mo ago
I disagree. Witness western democracies which have seen incompetent majorities lead populist rebellions to control powerful seats in government, including the highest. Incompetence in large numbers definitely leads to big changes. There ma
48.
by emptybits 4mo ago
Tell gamers how many months, for the advertised price, they will receive a guaranteed level of service and features for. Then let gamers decide. Example: If I'm reminded, at purchase time, that this $70 game will work online for 24 mon
49.
by emptybits 4mo ago
Appreciate the pushback, saltyoldman. Yes, we want to respond to credible threats. And, as always, courts and law enforcement can invade privacy when there's reason to believe someone is worth surveilling. But we're talking here a
50.
by emptybits 4mo ago
Perhaps, depending on specific intent, credibility, and the nature of harm threatened. But since this is about surveillance, I hope that detection of verbal threats is not a goal of government surveillance because it's difficult to ima
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13th Century King Arthur manuscript headed to auction(smithsonianmag.com)
1 points by emptybits 4mo ago|0 comments
52.
by emptybits 4mo ago
Apparently Flock's ALPR helps police to track activists, demonstrators, protesters. :-/ https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/how-cops-are-using-flo...
53.
by emptybits 4mo ago
Regardless of the official point of Stasi collaborators, what they did was contribute to millions of government surveillance files on fellow citizens. The similarity to a social network of public surveillance is the unpaid, unvetted, untrai
54.
by emptybits 4mo ago
Yikes. This smells a bit like Stasi-style surveillance. Unofficially encouraged by authorities. Rewards or social pressure or ideology turned a significant % of East Germans into Inoffizieller Mitarbeiters ("unofficial collaborators&qu
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by emptybits 4mo ago
> "a quasicrystal — a kind of matter scientists once thought impossible that challenges traditional ideas about how solids form" Whenever I read a phrase about scientists observing something they thought was impossible ... I ge
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by emptybits 5mo ago
Canadian here. It pains me to say that my country will not keep your data safe from prying eyes, nor safe from sharing and cooperating with USA authorities. Our legislative trajectory includes mandatory encryption back doors, warrantless ac
57.
by emptybits 5mo ago
If you like Kraftwerk and you're not aware of this book, I recommend it: "Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany", by Uwe Schütte. It's packed with details of albums, songs, tours, equipment, and people. The anti-nuclear m
58.
by emptybits 5mo ago
Beautiful. The motivation and execution. Everything about this is why I come to HN. Related... for a native GB/DMG/Z80 take ... the original first person shooter for the Game Boy was Faceball 2000. (1991) The studio was full of co
59.
by emptybits 5mo ago
When I read those seemingly outrageous claims, I didn't immediately dismiss the author. I allowed him to substantiate the claims and kept reading. I found myself agreeing with his argument and his train of thought of how, once digital
60.
by emptybits 5mo ago
Yes. Now if you live in a metro centre and are considering a Brompton purchase, this may be less of an issue if you have a handful of dealers … in-stock common parts availability is a good pre-purchase question to ask. It’s a big ticket ite

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