@jgamble@fosstodon.org
@jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

jgamble

@jgamble@fosstodon.org

Lives in Chicago.
Former #USENET denizen.
Programs obscure algorithms.
Blocks threads dot net.

https://github.com/jgamble

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

jgamble, to random
@jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

Harpsichord?

I guess they couldn't find a harpsichordist and hired an organ player during the edit?

mcc, to random
@mcc@mastodon.social avatar

Trying to imagine what kind of harm Duke Classics might be alluding to here

jgamble,
@jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

@foo @mcc

Well that led to an interesting biography.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Irina_Alexandrovna_of_Russia

jgamble, to random
@jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

Comparing the Wells adaption to the Verne adaption, I have to give the edge to Wells.

But my sample space is 2, so more research is necessary.

libreoffice, to foss
@libreoffice@fosstodon.org avatar

Did you know that has a built-in QR and barcode generator? Now you do 😉 https://help.libreoffice.org/latest/en-US/text/shared/01/qrcode.html

jgamble,
@jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

@libreoffice

Apologies for nit-picking, but your help page says the menu choice is "OLE Object" when it is in fact just "Object".

jgamble,
@jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

@libreoffice

Latest LMDE, latest or nearly so Libreoffice (it's Saturday morning my time, I am not turning on the computer for a while).

I have to ask: why on Earth would LO choose to add the adjective "OLE"? It adds no useful information (even for Windows users) and merely clutters up the menu list.

amyfou, to random
@amyfou@lingo.lol avatar

deleted_by_author

    •
    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @amyfou

    IMDB sez Linda V. Carter, so alas probably not.

    arstechnica, to random
    @arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar

    Why are there so many species of beetles?

    Diet played a key role in the evolution of the vast beetle family tree.

    https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/04/why-are-there-so-many-species-of-beetles/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @nyrath @arstechnica

    It's a line that influenced a section in one of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels (one of the Rincewind books, I think).

    The God of Evolution creates beetles whenever the GoE gets depressed. There's something just so satisfying about a beetle.

    jgamble, to Astronomy
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    I just learned that there's a movement because the Chandra X-ray Observatory might need saving from budget cutting.

    https://www.savechandra.org/

    nyrath, to random
    @nyrath@spacey.space avatar
    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @nyrath @isaackuo @tkinias

    I remember the game, which inspired some fun copycats on Purdue's RSTS system.

    I visited Dan semi-regularly while he was developing it in C (probably Aztec C) for the PC. He was living above Harry's Chocolate Shop (which is not a chocolate shop) at the time.

    stefan, (edited ) to random
    @stefan@stefanbohacek.online avatar

    If you were born on a , when would you celebrate your birthday in a non-leap year?

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @stefan

    My understanding is that people born in the month of February want to celebrate their birthday in February, which is more than reasonable.

    I'm the sort of weirdo who would say either "I was born on the 60th day of the year, so March 1st," or "I was born on the day following February 28th, so March 1st."

    eivind, to bookstodon
    @eivind@fribygda.no avatar

    Reading in the foreword to 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea that Verne originally envisioned Captain Nemo as a Polish noble on an underwater campaign of vengeance against the Russian Empire that'd killed his entire family, but that this version was pronounced unprintable by his publisher for political reasons. @bookstodon

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @mattmcirvin @albnelson @patterfloof @eivind @bookstodon

    There's a Behind the Bastards episode on Napoleon III, and I think the best summary of his character as described by that show is "Incompetent Buffoon". It's possible Verne had a similar opinion.

    https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-behind-the-bastards-29236323/episode/part-one-napoleon-iii-the-worst-105234226/

    estherschindler, to random
    @estherschindler@hachyderm.io avatar

    We thought we knew how Voyager would end. The power would gradually, inevitably, run down. The instruments would shut off, one by one. The signal would get fainter. Eventually either the last instrument would fail for lack of power, or the signal would be lost.

    We didn’t expect that it would go mad.
    https://crookedtimber.org/2024/02/19/death-lonely-death/

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @estherschindler

    Oof.

    "Voyager Mission Control used to be a couple of big rooms full of busy people, computers, giant screens. Now it’s a single room in a small office building in the San Gabriel Valley, in between a dog training school and a McDonalds."

    kyonshi, to DnD
    @kyonshi@dice.camp avatar

    what's the SECOND rpg ever published? was it Tunnels and Trolls? Was it Empire of the Petal Throne?

    no, it was the 1974 Rules to the game of DUNGEON by Craig VanGrasstek, who created them seemingly without knowing about , based solely on local games popularized by a player who had brought the idea from games with Dave Arneson's gaming group

    http://playingattheworld.blogspot.com/2012/08/rules-to-game-of-dungeon-1974.html

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @kyonshi @nyrath

    Yeah, talking to some Minnesotans and Wisconsinites about fifteen years later I found that the general consensus was that Gygax greatly understated Arneson's contribution to the published version.

    jgamble, to repair
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    Let's get the hashtags out of the way:

    Back in the eighties Wenger released a left-handed Swiss Army knife. Blades, corkscrew, and scissors were mirror images of one of their regular SAKs.

    Years ago I put it away, because the scissors lost a screw and fell apart. I'd get it fixed someday, I told myself.

    Well... here we are. Is this something I can do myself, or should I get someone who knows what they're doing?

    Picture of a Swiss Army knife with one arm of the scissors extended. The other scissor blade is detached and to its right. Also on this side are the Wenger logo, and a pictogram of a figure facing right, its left arm raised. The left arm has little lines emanating from it, like you would seen in a line drawing of a lit light bulb.

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @melissabeartrix

    Unfortunately Wenger was bought by Victorinox, and doesn't make Swiss Army knives anymore (the brand is basically watches and bags now).

    Also, I'm looking for a local solution. If I can order the right screw and fix it myself, great. Otherwise I'd like to get it to someone in the area that I can reach.

    yakkoj, to random
    @yakkoj@fosstodon.org avatar

    I keep hearing that the academic community has problems leaving Twitter and coming to Mastodon.

    Maybe if Mastodon supported LaTeX ...

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @yakkoj mathstodon dot xyz does, which is not unexpected for a mathematics site.

    zachleat, (edited ) to random
    @zachleat@zachleat.com avatar

    How safe/risky do y’all think it is to assume WebP as a baseline for content images? (instead of JPEG/PNG)

    Feel free to look here before you vote: https://caniuse.com/webp

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @zachleat

    "Never" is a bit much, so it's not my choice, but currently? Nope.

    But in as little as ten years? Maybe so.

    TechConnectify, to random
    @TechConnectify@mas.to avatar

    Let's back up a minute

    https://youtu.be/bis_4MT5SSo

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @TechConnectify

    I'm looking forward to the option of selecting the Al Hirt version of Flight of the Bumblebee for my car sound.

    StillIRise1963, to random
    @StillIRise1963@mastodon.world avatar

    Dear people resurrecting '80s fashion,

    You will regret those clothes in future pictures.

    Love,

    People who wore them the first

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @accretionist @StillIRise1963 @Dubhes

    As a child of the '70s, I support this position.

    I still buy patterned shirts.

    gutenberg_org, to science
    @gutenberg_org@mastodon.social avatar

    The metre is defined as the distance light travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458 of a second in 1983.

    After the 2019 redefinition of the SI base units, this definition was rephrased to include the definition of a second in terms of the caesium frequency Δν_Cs. This series of amendments did not alter the size of the metre significantly, a change of 0.02% from the original value of exactly 40000 km, which also includes improvements in the accuracy of measuring the circumference.

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @65dBnoise @gutenberg_org

    And left off a zero.

    rbellinger, to chicago
    @rbellinger@mastodon.social avatar

    For years I've wanted to go to and do a tour of / food entirely by bike. I also want to explore the inland waterways.

    I'd love to take my own bike via from NY, find a place to stay, and GoPro the whole thing.

    I've started my map. That's always the first step.

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @enobacon @rbellinger

    What steep hills? This is Chicago, we're on the edge of the prairie.

    And while Midwestern average weight is I'm sure a source of amusement for you, blithely assuming the average weight of an ebike rider is 200 lbs is a sign of just not paying attention.

    And finally, E =MV^2. It's not the mass that's the issue.

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @enobacon @rbellinger

    And you keep making SUV and truck comparisons, which no one has brought up and which have nothing to do with this situation.

    A judgement, which you disagree with, has been made that an ebike with enough power to achieve a residential speed* limit isn't appropriate for the bike lane. I don't disagree with this. You do. I'm afraid that I find your whataboutism arguments spurious.

    We can probably end this conversation now.

    • Yeah, not under all conditions, so what?
    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @enobacon

    Yeah, how does making the lane wider address the problem? And once again you're making an SUV comparison that doesn't actually apply.

    The only comparison that applies here is ebike-to-bike. Anything else is just obfuscation.

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @enobacon

    You in turn are claiming that it's then fine for bicyclists to be injured in collisions in the bike lane. Stop pretending that your Type 3 ebikes are children's toys (your exact phrase).

    lowqualityfacts, to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    The system is rigged.
    https://patreon.com/lowqualityfacts

    jgamble,
    @jgamble@fosstodon.org avatar

    @lowqualityfacts

    I think a variation of this gives you a Larry Niven essay (radioactive coins, if I recall correctly).

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