sxan

sxan, 8 days ago

Glad to hear you’re in a more stable place! I know it’s a constant struggle; rarely do people just “get better” and never gave issues again, but I’m glad that you’re on top of it.

Open carry is legal almost everywhere in the US. You could literally put a sling on it, strap it on your back, and ride your bike to the range. If you shoot a common caliber, you can buy ammo when you get there (assuming it’s a range in or near a store). You’d need to check your local laws about what you need to do to open carry a gun and ammunition; like, can you have it in a protective case?

Anyway, good luck with your journey.

sxan, 7 days ago

Block hexbear. No good comes from Hexbear, only ill.

sxan, 9 days ago

No.

I went outside yesterday and the mosquitoes almost carried me off - and it’s not even full summer yet.

Stupid warm winter. Stupid global warming.

sxan, 7 days ago

Your lawyers know quite a bit about the jurors, including economic status. You scale your bribes to the general income range.

C’mon, man… this is bribery 101.

sxan, 6 days ago

I was going to say, I know the answer, but was not sure I could spell it correctly.

sxan, 10 days ago

This. The League of Women Voters is really good at doing summaries about candidate positions. And while they obviously have an agenda, they tend to be pretty level-headed about their analyses, and avoid rhetoric.

sxan, 8 days ago (edited 1 day ago)

I do that occasionally; maybe it’s me, maybe it’s my client. But I also prefer to continue a thread, so I may have done it on purpose. In this case, though, I probably misunderstood you, and thought you were suggesting that the cultural shift was for silly activist reasons, and that it was better back in the good old days. Or that the only reason to keep cats indoors is because of the damage they do to wildlife.

Mea culpa

sxan, 9 days ago

I’m not even talking about the controversy about cat impact on wildlife; I’m referring to the statistical life expectancy of outdoor cats in the US. If anyone isn’t satisfied with the one link I provided, I can find more: outdoor feline life expectancy is statistically drastically shorter than strictly indoor life expectancy. All I did was list the risks - the truth is in the statistics. But everyone who has that one outdoor cat that lived to 27 thinks their anecdotal experience trumps science 🙄.

I can’t speak to Norway. Maybe the feline diseases aren’t rampant there yet. Maybe the Norwegians have long ago exterminated all of their mid-range predators in populated areas. I doubt grandparent up there lives in a place where wolves are roaming around freely. You have coyotes or something similar there in your rural communities, my Norwegian friend from a couple comments up? Maybe the fact that few, if any, European countries have anything like the US car culture keeps streets safer for loose pets.

But in the US, letting cats outdoors statistically reduces their life expectancies. That’s not my opinion; it’s in the data.

sxan, 8 days ago

As a species, we’re horrible at statistical risk-based decision-making. My opinion is that we - as a society - should better educate and prepare children in statistical evaluation, and then as long as the behavior directly impacts only the individual, let people do what they want. The alternative is a morass of laws dictating personal behavior, with often unintended and arguably worse outcomes for society (c.f. The War on Drugs).

But in any case, FDA’s job is to dictate the actions of companies, and prevent as well they can companies lying to and misleading consumers. Its mission is not to dictate individual behavior. And nor should it be.

FDA is there to stop cigarette companies from arguing or advertising to consumers that smoking is healthy, or that it makes you dick bigger, or whatever they think can make sales. FDA does not make rules preventing you from smoking.

What they’re doing here is flexing control over a substance that has no giant, well-heeled organization pressuring them to allow companies to sell it.

I will note that I’m not an MDMA advocate; I’ve consumed a variety of chemicals, some in numerous quantities, but I’ve never knowingly taken MDMA. So my argument doesn’t come from being butt-hurt about targeting my favorite drug; it’s about the hypocrisy in the FDA wording of their warning.

Oh, I’ll add: FDA doesn’t make laws, but they’re listened to by, and provide guidance for, lawmakers. And they do make decisions that decide whether a pharmaceutical or medical device company can bring a product to market, so they control legal supply. And this is only in the US, of course; the each country has their own version, and the EU has dozens from which corporations can pick and “give business to” to get approval to sell in that market.

sxan, 10 days ago

Yeah. Every drug has side effects; I’m saying that it’s a weak excuse for not approving it, considering all of the other crap FDA’s approved, with all of the other crap’s side effects. So label it, put a warning on it.

Cigarettes will most likely kill you if you smoke enough of them, and FDA still allows their sale even though they have no medical application. Same with alcohol; despite the alcohol industry’s efforts to link health benefits with alcohol consumption, there are as many studies showing there’s no verifiable link between any benefit and any amount of alcohol consumption. It’s a poison that dehydrates you and shrinks your brain a little every time you drink it. But it’s legal.

FDA is the only dyke preventing outright charlatanism by the pharma and medical device industries, but fuck them on this topic. They’re there to ensure companies don’t outright lie to consumers about benefits and risks; preventing access to risky behavior is not their job.

sxan, 9 days ago

I have no idea. I currently have a much more expensive grinder, but it’s a big hopper type; it’s great for entertaining, or would be good for a small coffee shop… but it’s too much grinder for my use.

But you said your issues is with consistency. Maybe you just need to replace the burrs? It might be worth a shot. However, if the DFs had any issues with consistency, James would have jumped all over that, and in fact if you watch that video he uses his fancy new machine to measure consistency. Yes, it’s the 64, but by all accounts the new 54 is the same machine as the 64, but with a smaller motor. It’s going to perform very similarly.

If you think improved consistency is going to improve your coffee, and you notice poor consistency in your current grinder, then yes. The DF will be an improvement. I know nothing about your machine, but a less expensive thing you can try first - like I said - is replace the burrs.

sxan, 9 days ago (edited 1 day ago)

This is what I’m waiting for. I have a birthday coming up. $299, great reviews on pre-production units, and the bigger brother (sister?) model is highly regarded.

Hoffman’s (comparison) review of the DF64.

I keep editing this. James’ review is for espresso grinding. As long as it can dial to as coarse as you like, and these should, they should be fit for purpose for pour-over.

sxan, 9 days ago

Seriously, TAF?

sxan, 9 days ago

I can’t remember where I heard this, so it may be utter BS, but aren’t these 3-wheelers even less safe than motorcycles? The 2-in-front are more stable IIRC, but the 2-in-back have a tendency to tilt over at speed if there’s a sudden turn - where a bike would just turn - don’t they?

sxan, 10 days ago

The shortening of minutes can be m, as in “5m30s.”

I used imperial for distance because that’s what the article used, and I was quoting specs from the article. But, yes, that was unnecessarily ambiguous; it could easily have been - and I agree more likely to be interpreted as - meters.

sxan, 10 days ago

Yeah, sorry.

25 minutes of flight time (m=minutes I thought was implied by “time”). 45 miles of range (again, I assumed the unit of measure was implied by “range.”) I used imperial, because that’s what the article used.

I’ll correct my post to be more clear.

sxan, 10 days ago

Hey, thanks! I don’t know squat about Processing.org, but the algorithm looks simple; maybe I can convert it to an OpenGL program.

Thanks for the sourcecode!

sxan, 9 days ago

No, that part happens in flight.

sxan, 8 days ago

They get taller every year. From eating meat.

sxan, 7 days ago

But the mycels are what make it go fast…

sxan, 8 days ago

That’s something I’ve never encountered, or heard of. But now I see it, it makes such blatantly obvious sense! Stick a cigar in a pipe, and your hands are free. Also, less risk of mouth cancer (although, you’re still at risk of all the other smoking cancers).

Why have I never seen this before‽ When did it go out of fashion, and why? It’s brilliant!

sxan, 8 days ago

Well, it’s going all of 6MPH. We were just watching a period TV show where someone shows up in a rural town in England in one of these, and someone is marveling at how fast you can get places now with one of these. They mentioned the top speed, and it was something like 6 or 9 MPH. Something silly like that.

sxan, 7 days ago

Now we need a poem… about a painting of a sculpture. Then a musical composition representing the poem, and then an interpretive dance set to the composition of the poem of the painting of the sculpture.

Only then will it be true art.

sxan, 10 days ago

My anecdotal evidence is the opposite.

My grandmother had three children by two men. My mother has had three children by two men (and only just; she’s had 4 husbands). My adopted sister has had three children by three different men.

Meanwhile, both of my grandfathers and my father have only had children by one woman (that I’m aware of).

I guess women in my family are just less monogamous than average.

sxan, 7 days ago

Reminds me of this scene.