slackdog

12 ms·

61.
by slackdog 4y ago
Absolutely, like the (apocryphal?) accounts of Roman engineers being made to stand under their bridges while the wood scaffolding was removed.
62.
by slackdog 4y ago
> 151 x 35 x 0.1875 = 985.3125 It's actually 990.9375. Curious how it botched the multiplication but still got an almost-right answer (to that multiplication, not to the actual question.)
63.
by slackdog 4y ago
Clock correctness is relative. If the antique windup clock in your living room is off by 5 minutes, it's still basically right. But if the clock in your smartphone is 5 minutes off, something has clearly gone wrong.
64.
by slackdog 4y ago
What if instead of asking ChatGPT for facts, we instead asked it for plausible methods of determining those facts? So instead of answering "The statue of Liberty is 151 feet tall" it could instead respond with "Look it u
65.
by slackdog 4y ago
I have seen the tip buttons on those terminal screens before in America and Canada, but have never felt any obligation at all to tip through them. Same deal as terminals in supermarkets asking for charity donations, pressing the "No&q
66.
by slackdog 4y ago
> Hell, I can walk to kitchen window it get it myself with less hassle. But would you be at that particular restaurant at that moment if that's how they do business? A lot of restaurants self-service from the counter, no waitress
67.
by slackdog 4y ago
I always ask for a "regular haircut", but the haircuts I get with that request can differ a lot. Sometimes I get a quick buzz around the ears and neck, and other times the barber chooses to use scissors for that and really takes
68.
by slackdog 4y ago
> In the US now, businesses expect you to tip on take-out orders, at drive through windows, at every form of eatery, there's even tips expected now at some retailers. This does not match my experience at all. You may see tip jars
69.
by slackdog 4y ago
> methods are procedures with an implicit param. Eh, not really? In single-dispatch, one of the arguments is often syntactically distinct from the others and is treated specially, but I wouldn't say that it's implicit. And
70.
by slackdog 4y ago
You're still not getting it. iOS and the locked down game consoles that preceded it all demonstrate the technical feasibility of these controls. All that prevents it is political policy. I didn't say iOS was the first to do it
71.
by slackdog 4y ago
If your house is on fire, you best GTFO no matter what kind of refrigerator you have. American homes have plenty of propane/natgas appliances anyway, so what difference does one more make?
72.
by slackdog 4y ago
In America: Cars logging their location history and police getting that data: https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2021/04/01/these... Geofenced dragnets: https://harvardlawreview.
73.
by slackdog 4y ago
> the police can’t really “raid” your computer (yet) > yet Key word. The technical means for that sort of thing have also been demonstrated. The only thing holding us back from a highly effective digitally-enabled police state i
74.
by slackdog 4y ago
> Plex works on iOS and video game consoles doesn't? As long as that remains permitted by Apple/Sony and your government, yes. If either of them decide to ban Plex or VLC, it will become effectively impossible for most peopl
75.
by slackdog 4y ago
Nor have I. But I'm afraid you're not getting it. The point is that the technical means for control have already been demonstrated by iOS, not that anybody is forced to use iOS specifically. Governments could require that Google
76.
by slackdog 4y ago
I think it could be possible to use ammonia in domestic refrigerators safely if appropriate measures were taken. Particularly, require that refrigerators be installed with vent pipes leading from a tamper-resistant enclosure straight to th
77.
by slackdog 4y ago
The general aviation industry is protected because it's part of the pilot training pipeline, and that is important because airplanes (both commercial and military) have a great deal of importance to governments. About 5% of the Americ
78.
by slackdog 4y ago
> You know why these substances exist right? Because the prior substances were cutting a hole in the ozone layer. Refrigeration may end up back where it originally started (before freon even), using ammonia. Ammonia is somewhat dang
79.
by slackdog 4y ago
> Like piracy? It's ilegal and fines are often hefty so shouldn't it deter people from pirating movies or downloading roms etc? Yes, and it mostly works! Bans on piracy work well already, most people don't torrent gam
80.
by slackdog 4y ago
As demonstrated by iOS, the technical means to effectively frustrate the installation and use of Free Software already exists. We (the tech industry) have already built the walls of our own prison. All that remains now is for politicians
81.
by slackdog 4y ago
Why not? Anybody can make a homemade shotgun with standard tools and hardware store parts, but very few people do. Very few people simultaneously have both the technical know-how and the inclination, therefore gun bans are generally
82.
by slackdog 4y ago
My guess is that the actors are actors , being paid to represent the interests of others who don't care to be famous themselves.
83.
by slackdog 4y ago
This sort of argument seems similar to "but I can manufacture my own gun in my garage machine shop" That's great for you, but it says little about the ultimate efficacy of a policy on a general population level. Japan&
84.
by slackdog 4y ago
> the more directed the light source the more damaging for retinas (all other things being equal). Yes certainly, but in the real world the human blink reflex means that all other things aren't equal. If you walk past a shiny gla
85.
by slackdog 4y ago
> Will it be illegal to somehow disable the client side scanning? If so then how long until you are breaking the law when you turn off the government scanner And once they've normalized "your computer will spy and inform on
86.
by slackdog 4y ago
They're not the same. There is a big difference between heads of state and and elected representatives, and an even bigger difference between heads of state and the rando activists/etc that elected representatives might invite t
87.
by slackdog 4y ago
Even if the government exercised restraint and only used this technology in the manner they presently advocate for, a 10% false positive rate, presumably each resulting in an invasive investigation, is way too high.
88.
by slackdog 4y ago
> you could reduce that by making the surface locally rough or having random geometric segments That actually makes the problem much worse. Normally with a few flat reflective surfaces around, you'll catch occasional reflections
89.
by slackdog 4y ago
No doubt it took a great deal of wood; this is also one of the reasons Pennsylvania in America developed a metallurgical industry. Plentiful wood for charcoal (this was before they started using coal, which Pennsylvania also had in abunda
90.
by slackdog 4y ago
> So all the 1% features get axed and suddenly you have only 50% of the users. In practice things rarely get that far, thanks mostly due to the complete farce that is "data driven design". Such an approach to design would na

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