backupbear

backupbear, 1 day ago to random

Personal theory: LLMs deliver all of the enthusiasm of a 7-year old breathlessly describing a stegosaurus while less than the guaranteed accuracy of the same.

backupbear, 12 days ago to random

A few days ago I made the awful verbal flub of calling smoked cheese "smorked cheese" and now that phrase and naming lives with me forever.

backupbear, 15 days ago to random

Saxophone solos.

Seriously, how the f*ck did the world go through a period where they were deemed 'sexy'?

backupbear, 21 days ago to random

Can anyone recommend a USB-C to Ethernet dongle that definitely delivers full gigabit speed (as opposed to simply advertising it but failing to deliver)? #AskFedi

backupbear, 22 days ago to random

Welcome to day 4 of "where are my office scissors?" and "where is my office sticky tape?"

backupbear, 24 days ago to random

I'm inclined to think the solution isn't dumb phones, but users taking stronger steps to manage their notifications. You don't have to turn your phone into a slave collar, even if the default posture from every application vendor is just that.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/apr/27/the-boring-phone-stressed-out-gen-z-ditch-smartphones-for-dumbphones

backupbear, 25 days ago to starbucks

Someone recently suggested to me that #Starbucks has "improved" in Australia and convinced me to try it again.

I can safely say after grudgingly agreeing to try it again yesterday, while it might be possible to say that it has "improved", it is "improved" in the same way that eating 3 rat turds would be an "improvement" over eating having to eat 5.

backupbear, 26 days ago to random

Got a broken USB-3 port on my Mac Mini: nothing plugged into that works at all. The flow on is that it seems to cause some mouse stuttering if I also have a USB-C hub plugged in. (And that's regardless of whether I use the mouse in Bluetooth or USB mode.) And it's out of warranty. I had been thinking I'd keep it for another couple of years but now I'm not so sure. Doesn't require immediate replacement but it is irking me.

(Because it's an Intel based system, I'm not sure I want to bother with the whole out-of-warranty repair costs.)

backupbear, 27 days ago to Starwars

Apparently #StarWars Episode 1 (The Phantom Menace) is coming back to IMAX.

This leaves me with one key question: Hasn’t the world already suffered enough in 2024?

backupbear, 29 days ago to random

Finally got around to installing htop on my MBP. So much better than regular old top.

backupbear, 1 month ago to random

The shits who own the block beside us and are yet to build are refusing to communicate with us over shared fence costs. We've done the formal contact requests twice, and now the government body that tries to force contact is also onto their second contact attempt. Looks like we'll be taking the shits to court.

backupbear, 1 month ago to random

A nice suburban dawn earlier. #Ballarat

backupbear, 1 month ago to random

Got our heating activated today. Since it was meant to be connected yesterday, it was a rather chilly night last night given we didn’t bring heaters with us. Chilly night & morning aside, loving the Ballarat weather already — colder than Melbourne works well for me.

backupbear, 1 month ago to random

Well I’m now a Ballaratan. Handover was today. Builder cocked up and blinds don’t go in until Monday — thank goodness for giant post-it notes to give some privacy in the interim. Heating goes on tomorrow, good thing (a) it’s not too cold and (b) we like the cooler weather anyway.

backupbear, 1 month ago to random

Apropos of only having 4 hours sleep overnight, I worked out that Copilot can be helpful:

Me: Write me a haiku about billionaires not paying enough tax to support society
Copilot:
Wealth's silent echo,
Society's needs grow loud—
Fair share whispers soft.

Me: write me a haiku about shareholder profit being valued more than peoples lives
Copilot:
Profit's siren call,
Eclipses the breath of life—
Humanity pales.

Me: Write me a haiku about tech bros stealing content for AI projects in order to fire employees
Copilot:
Code and content seized,
Innovation's shadow looms—
Silent jobs retreat.

backupbear, 1 month ago to random

If billionaires financing supposed voices of freedom ("Washington Post", "The Atlantic") actually wanted to make a difference, they'd drop their damn pay walls and pay the running costs of their papers themselves. It's not as if they couldn't afford it.

backupbear, 1 month ago to random

Night 2 of sleeping on an air mattress. Which, if you're a side-sleeper (like around 90% of the world), is a significantly uncomfortable act. Gave up at 3.30, today. Bring on Monday when my bed is available again.

backupbear, 1 month ago to random

Fuck Nestle. Ghoulish scum.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/apr/17/nestle-adds-sugar-to-infant-milk-sold-in-poorer-countries-report-finds

backupbear, 1 month ago to random

Company: “We are all in on #agile processes!”

Also, same company: “For our recruitment process, you will have three initial interviews, five technical interviews, a duel to first blood with HR, attempt a mind meld with a C-suite executive, present five two hour sessions to a team of 18 sharpshooters, and then if you are deemed a worthy applicant, move on to the second interview round.”

backupbear, 1 month ago to random

We are hopeful that we might get to take possession of the house tomorrow. ANZ have done the final payment and as long as the builder sees it by 11am tomorrow they'll do handover in the afternoon. Fingers crossed.

backupbear, 1 month ago to IT

Can any #IT folk (particularly in Australia, for local prices) recommend a reasonably priced network accessible #KVM? Not after 4K support -- literally 1920x1080 is more than sufficient for my needs, but ideally should support at least 4 connections. #AskFedi

backupbear, 1 month ago to random

I really do get tired of news articles talking about domestic terrorists as "known to have mental health issues". Fuck that. Many people have mental health issues without committing acts of domestic terrorism/mass murder. Stop demonizing people with health issues.

backupbear, 1 month ago to random

My bedroom/office has been packed down. No more computers running in it. One desk fully disassembled (the one that can be), waiting for the movers. It'll feel very weird sleeping it in tonight for the first time in 10+ years without a single computer running in it.

backupbear, 1 month ago to random

Crazy: builder told us today that they no longer allow people to customise power & lighting on their plans. We must have added at least 15 double power-points around the house for the build after so many years of living in places with extension cords running everywhere due to poorly placed & insufficient power-points.

backupbear, 1 month ago to random

Husband: “I wish they’d do a Bogan voice for Siri.”
Me: “Oi ct you missed the fken turn!”
Husband: “I take it back.”