I think you could make an argument that even burning plastic in a firepit vs sending it to a landfill are roughly equal. Climate change and air pollution are both major issues, but so is plastic waste and microplastics working their way into everything. I have no idea of the overall harm of burning plastic is less than throwing it away; they both pollute the environment. I can see the the logic in thinking burning is a viable alternative.
Ideally, though, people would just stop using disposable plastic. Plastic is a fantastic material, but it was never supposed to be for “use once and discard” items. For creating durable objects with a decent lifetime, sure, use plastic. Don’t use it as wrapping over another plastic object.
I really think this depends largely on who you are and what you do with your phone. I have face recognition and fingerprint recognition both enabled on my phone. It’s good enough to prevent a thief from gaining access to my device, and if law enforcement asked, there’s nothing on my phone that could possibly be incriminating. Realistically, I’d have no issue just unlocking my phone and giving it to a police officer, although I do know well enough to always get a lawyer first. Biometrics add an extra layer of convenience; it’s nice to just look at my phone and it unlocks. My concern personally is more about someone stealing my phone and accessing my accounts than self-incrimination.
If I ever was going to put myself in a situation where I’d run afoul of the authorities, I’d leave my phone at home anyway.
The United States last week secretly shipped a new long-range missile system to Ukraine, and Ukrainian forces immediately used the weapons to attack a Russian military airfield in Crimea last Wednesday and Russian troops in the country’s southeast overnight on Tuesday, according to a senior U.S. official....
This is certainly good news, and I don’t intend to detract from it.
That being said, my opinion as an American is that the kind of missiles we need to be sending to Ukraine are the nuclear kind. The Russian government has said that they will use nuclear weapons in the event that the existence of their country is threatened. Fine, I understand that. Ukraine needs to have the same leverage. The existence of their country as they know it is being threatened; it would certainly turn the tables for them to say “Yes, we have nuclear weapons, and we’ll only use them if our continued existence is being threatened. By the way, you’re threatening it; you should really stop.”
I run uBlock origin on every device I can. I use PiHole on my home network. I’ve canceled every streaming service in favor of self-hosting, and IoT devices are blocked from the internet. Incoming connections are geoblocked. Meta is blocked at the DNS level. Suffice to say I have put a lot of effort into privacy and security.
I still can’t get rid of Google, though, solely because of Gmail. I’ve had the same address for so many years (ever since the invite-only days), it would be an absolute nightmare to try to change it.
I certainly don’t think it will be easier in a few years, but I also think that after 19 years of using gmail, a few more years aren’t going to make a huge difference. It’s really kind of sad to think about how far Google has fallen. I started with gmail in 2005. At the time, Google was starting to become the “go-to” search engine. They had better results than Yahoo or AltaVista; the “do no evil” slogan was also a great “feel-good” factor. I don’t think anyone at the time expected how different things would be in 2024.
I can host my own media on my own server. I use Nextcloud Talk for IMs (also hosted on my own server). Just about any online service can be self-hosted, except for email. I have certainly tried in the past, even hosting email on a VPS. You run into so many issues, though. Your server isn’t trusted, websites don’t recognize your domain, a whole litany of problems. Email is just one of those things that you really can’t self-host.
Sure, I could switch to a new email provider, forward gmail, and slowly over time update my email address for everyone who’s sending to my gmail account. What happens then when my new email provider decides to start harvesting my data for profit? Email is one of those things where you can’t live without it, but you’re forced to use a service that isn’t your own and could fuck you at any time.
Are you sure? What you say is true of the EM drive, but this looks like it’s a completely different technology. As far as the article is written, it doesn’t sound like microwaves are used at all.
What has me skeptical is that they say the device produces enough thrust to counteract its own mass, which would be revolutionary. Why are we not reading about this all over the news?
You bring up a great point with callback functions. I have written plenty of code that uses a 3rd-party library that expects a void* in a callback, and code I write myself is almost certainly never going to be used by anyone other than me (so I already know what types are valid). If library authors would start using std::any instead of void*, that would certainly improve things significantly. void* is really one of the very few C-style language features that I still use, and only because of necessity.
I’m looking for a portable air conditioner (the kind with 1 or 2 hoses that go to outside air). The problem I’m running into is that every single one I find has some kind of “smart” controller built in. The ones with no WiFi connectivity still have buttons to start/stop the AC, meaning that a simple Zigbee outlet switch...
I have heard the same thing about ACs, but I think it depends on the unit. The window units that I use have a switch on the front that literally just turns them off; there’s no delay time for the compressor. It’s the same as pulling the plug.
I’ve used single and dual-hose portable ACs in the past, and I only have dual-hose units now. This is purely anecdotal, but when I had single-hose units, they would maintain the temperature throughout the day as it warmed up, but they didn’t do a great job of cooling. A dual-hose AC with a similar capacity was actually able to lower the temperature.
This is looking more and more like my best option. I guess I can just buy an AC and run it with thr on-board temperature control until I have time to build and integrate an ESP board.
Yesterday, Brian Dorsey was executed for a crime he committed in 2006. By all accounts, during his time in prison, he became remorseful for his actions and was a “model prisoner,” to the point that multiple corrections officers backed his petition for clemency....
My feeling is that our justice system exists to do exactly what the name implies: to enact justice. I think where my thinking differs from a lot of people is in what I consider “justice” to be.
Sometimes, justice is rehabilitating an offender. If someone steals so that they can pawn the stolen items and get some money for food, then of course they deserve rehabilitation. Give them an opportunity for an education or to learn a useful skill so that they have a better chance of being able to support themselves without stealing.
On the other hand, sometimes justice is punitive, and sometimes death is an appropriate punishment. I think it ultimately comes down to if your own personal moral code says that everyone deserves a second chance. I personally believe that not everyone does.
I seriously doubt that “Jesus” from the Christian bible actually existed. Most likely a man with the same name existed and eventually morphed into a folk hero of sorts. That being said, the individual whom the Jesus myth is based on was absolutely from the Middle East. Even Christians won’t argue this. He had to have been some shade of “not white.”
The fact that developers have to cater to multiple platforms that have hardware limitations and different operating systems has led to worse quality of games of time. Console exclusives are anti-competitive, monopolistic, and they lead to a terrible consumer experience.
I dislike consoles. I hate the controllers, and I hate being stuck in front of the TV; I’ll play a game on PC or not at all. That being said, the gaming industry is the perfect example of where free-market capitalism should be allowed to take its course. Nobody needs to play games; it’s a luxury and a recreational activity. If a development studio wants to release a game just for one specific console, let them. Maybe it will be a good business decision, and maybe it will fail miserably and cost them millions in lost revenue. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter one way or another. Play a different game.
One thing to keep in mind if you go with an i5 or i7 is that you won’t have the option to use ECC memory. If you’re running TrueNAS, you’ll need ECC memory for the ZFS cache. A Xeon E5 v2 server is old, but still has a more than enough power for your use case, and they’re not particularly expensive.
If you need something more powerful, you can find some decent Xeon Gold systems on eBay, but they’ll be a bit more pricey. The new Xeon W chips are also an option, but at least for me, they’re prohibitively expensive.
I did some research on this, and it turns out you’re absolutely correct. I was under the impression that ECC was a requirement for a ZFS cache. It does seem like ECC is highly recommended for ZFS, though, due to the large amount of data it Storrs in memory. I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable using non-ECC memory for ZFS, but it is possible.
Anecdotally, I did have one of my memory modules fail in my TrueNAS server. It detected this, corrected itself, and sent me a warning. I don’t know if this would have worked had I been using non-ECC memory.
I just set up a local instance of Invidious. I created an account, exported my YouTube subscriptions, and imported them into Invidious. The first time I tried, it imported 5 subscriptions out of 50 or so. The second time I tried, it imported 9....
I decided to give up on it. Looking through the docs, they recommend that due to “reasons,” it should be restarted at least daily, preferably hourly. I don’t know if they have a memory leak or some other issue, but that was reason enough for me not to use it.
I installed TubeArchivist, and it suits my needs much better. Not only do I get an archive of my favorite channels, but when a new video is released, it gets automatically downloaded to my NAS and I can play it locally without worrying about buffering on my painfully slow internet connection.
I have ReVanced on my phone, STN on my TVs, and uBlock+SponsorBlock on my PCs. I was looking for an alternative that I could run on a server and would replace the various different apps I’m using. TubeArchivist ended up working perfectly for me; your mileage may vary.
As is stands, parents are able to claim their children as dependents on their tax returns, which lowers their overall tax liability and in effect means that the parents either pay less in taxes or receive a higher return at the end of each year....
I was a drain on society until I started working. My parents should have paid higher taxes to compensate, or perhaps thought twice about having a child in the first place. I can’t go back in time 40 years and change tax laws to support what I’ve learned as an adult, but I can certainly advocate for better laws now.
Furthermore, I will not be a drain on other people’s children once I reach the age that I can no longer work. At some point, I will reach an age where my physical and mental state no longer allows me to be a productive member of society. With any luck, that will be very close to my death; hopefully, I’ll die while still gainfully employed. If that doesn’t happen, though, my retirement savings will be more than enough to last me through the very few years between the point that I stop working and pass away.
I don’t hate children. They’re brought into the world whether they like it or not, and they should have every chance to succeed as long as they put forth some sort of effort. What I do hate are parents who have a child without any consideration to what they’re doing. No couple should ever have more than 2 children, at least until the population declines. Children should not be punished because of their parents poor reproductive choices. Parents should be punished, not rewarded.
What do you do to cheer yourself up ?
Is it greener to just burn plastic?
Just thinking in terms of compared to microplastics and toxins in recycled plastic.
Stop Using Your Face or Thumb to Unlock Your Phone (gizmodo.com)
U.S. Secretly Shipped New Long-Range Missiles to Ukraine (www.nytimes.com)
The United States last week secretly shipped a new long-range missile system to Ukraine, and Ukrainian forces immediately used the weapons to attack a Russian military airfield in Crimea last Wednesday and Russian troops in the country’s southeast overnight on Tuesday, according to a senior U.S. official....
“Crypto is already a giant video game — and we are here to make it more fun and rewarding.” (medium.com)
The video game in question:...
What happens when every time your browser sends data to a tracker it makes a beep sound? (infosec.exchange)
video...
Although not peer reviewed or replicated, a NASA veteran claims their Propellantless Propulsion Drive, that physics says shouldn’t work, just produced enough thrust to overcome Earth’s gravity (thedebrief.org)
What is a valid use case for std::any?
In c++17, std::any was added to t he standard library. Boost had their own version of “any” for quite some time before that....
Looking for a portable AC with local control
I’m looking for a portable air conditioner (the kind with 1 or 2 hoses that go to outside air). The problem I’m running into is that every single one I find has some kind of “smart” controller built in. The ones with no WiFi connectivity still have buttons to start/stop the AC, meaning that a simple Zigbee outlet switch...
Brian Dorsey Deserved to Die
Yesterday, Brian Dorsey was executed for a crime he committed in 2006. By all accounts, during his time in prison, he became remorseful for his actions and was a “model prisoner,” to the point that multiple corrections officers backed his petition for clemency....
Was Jesus a man of color? Why this question matters more than ever (www.cnn.com)
…...
Gaming consoles are holding back the gaming industry and console exclusives should be banned
The fact that developers have to cater to multiple platforms that have hardware limitations and different operating systems has led to worse quality of games of time. Console exclusives are anti-competitive, monopolistic, and they lead to a terrible consumer experience.
Replace old IBM hardware
Hi all...
Invidious - Can't Subscribe
I just set up a local instance of Invidious. I created an account, exported my YouTube subscriptions, and imported them into Invidious. The first time I tried, it imported 5 subscriptions out of 50 or so. The second time I tried, it imported 9....
Parents Should Pay Higher Taxes
As is stands, parents are able to claim their children as dependents on their tax returns, which lowers their overall tax liability and in effect means that the parents either pay less in taxes or receive a higher return at the end of each year....