@zrb@astrodon.social
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

zrb

@zrb@astrodon.social

Software engineer in astronomy. Interested in high-energy astrophysics, leftist theory, and permaculture gardening.

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jpaskaruk, to linux
@jpaskaruk@growers.social avatar

If you are attempting to try out a desktop for the first time because you've had enough of Microsoft's shit but are feeling a need to scream in order to express just how frustratingly weird and annoying this operating system is...

I'm here for you. I promise to do my best to both validate your emotions and guide you towards the knowledge you need to be free.

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@jpaskaruk and for anyone getting into Linux, remember that any desktop that you like and which works for you is perfectly fine, and don't let anyone pressure you into using a different one unless you're curious about others.

I'm looking at you, #GNOME-haters.

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@oxiurus @jpaskaruk wow, thanks a bunch! I've been looking for an alternative to (the window manager itself is great, it's just that the community and maintainers are kinda toxic IMO).

I spent today switching to / configuring , and I gotta say I really like this infinite-workspace concept, and my setup worked out of the box.

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@jpaskaruk that being said, also don't be afraid to try new desktop environments! I didn't know how much I would love a tiling window manager until I installed and booted up !

timberwraith, to random
@timberwraith@mastodon.social avatar

I am once again mentioning that for 55 of my 55 years of life, I have largely not given a shit about sports.

But cis people being bigoted fucks about trans women in sports has forced an activity that I have always found to be loathsome and boring into my awareness.

And they've left me with the conclusion that far too many cis people are as loathsome and boring as their bigoted, obsessive opinions about sports.

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@timberwraith the "trans women in sports" debate wouldn't even be an issue if we didn't segregate professional sports leagues in the first place.

gerrymcgovern, to random
@gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green avatar

"ChatGPT consumes a lot of energy in the process, up to 25 times more than a Google search. Additionally, a lot of water is also used in cooling for the servers that run all that software. Per conversation of about 20 to 50 queries, half a litre of water evaporates – a small bottle, in other words."

AI is predicted to consume twice as much energy as the whole of France by 2030

Training GPT3, took 1,287 MWh (Megawatt hours) of electricity.

https://www.brusselstimes.com/world-all-news/1042696/chatgpt-consumes-25-times-more-energy-than-google

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@gerrymcgovern and, to be clear, just because the water is evaporated into the atmosphere does NOT mean it is instantly reusable.

If you draw water from an aquifer faster than that aquifer's recharge rate, the sediment surrounding the reservoir will compact and subside, leading to a permanent capacity reduction. This is already happening to aquifers around the world:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41933-z

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@gerrymcgovern I've had tech bros in my replies saying data center water usage is "a nonsense stat" because the evaporated water "goes right back into the water cycle" https://qoto.org/@LouisIngenthron/112231723658590505

zrb, to random
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

I'm just saying, while a during this would likely destroy a lot of our electrical infrastructure, it would also basically eliminate light pollution in affected urban centers while drastically reducing our collective carbon emissions in the process.

That's why I'm voting for

spacetelescope, to random
@spacetelescope@astrodon.social avatar

A new approach from astronomers seeks to use tidal disruption events—bright and fleeting phenomena—to locate and study the universe’s first stars, known as Population III stars, using the upcoming : https://bit.ly/3JP2spx

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@spacetelescope more like the universe's WFIRST stars, amirite

timberwraith, to random
@timberwraith@mastodon.social avatar

I just read that Applebee’s is closing a bunch of its locations.

I can't say that I ever had a memorable meal there as a vegetarian.

So... Goodbye, I guess. 👋

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@timberwraith honestly been a long time coming, seeing as they don't sell any apple-based or bee-based dishes, you can't lie to your customers forever

zrb, to random
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

for a while now, when playing Mario Sunshine on the Switch, I've been frustrated by simple mistakes that have stymied my progress in the game, forcing me to retry the same levels over and over again.

Running off ledges, mistiming backflips, etc. I thought I was just bad, had lost my edge, or was just getting too old to still be good at 3D platformers.

It got to the point where I took a hiatus from playing on the Switch for a while.

[1/3]

sashin, to random Japanese
@sashin@veganism.social avatar

Does anyone use an MP3 player that they would recommend?

I'd want it to support bluetooth and use the not old usb-c port.

The one I'm currently using has the old usb port and when trying to charge it the cable keeps falling out

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@sashin perhaps the upcoming might be what you want, it's still in pre-production though

zrb, to fediverse
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

Just a bit confused about @vernissage and @pixelfed; will be an entirely new federated image sharing server supporting ? Alongside ?

I’m all for more choices in open source, as long as they’re interoperable; I’m just unsure of the differences between these platforms.

inquiline, to random
@inquiline@union.place avatar

lol at some of you stealing other people's posts and hoping for virality, this is Mastodon

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@inquiline I'll show you, imma steal THIS post!

zrb, to ai
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

large generative models are the future of technology and it's not at all misleading or hyperbole to refer to them as ""

Also, invest in the

zrb, to random
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

just a reminder, large language models are not AI. They're predictive text engines, nothing more. You could maybe call them "pre-AI", but that's a stretch.

Anyone who refers to LLMs as AI is either unaware of or doesn't care about the technical details underpinning the technology. Or, they're trying to market to you with exaggerated phrases.

One day we might have AI, but not today.

zrb, to threads
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

is only federating and integrating ActivityPub so it can 1) dominate code contributions and steer the protocol in a corporate-friendly direction, and then 2) eventually discard it in favor of a closed protocol, using some excuse of “increased security” or “innovative new technology”. No more, and no less. Apple and Google did the exact same thing to .

MichaelPorter, to Etymology
@MichaelPorter@ottawa.place avatar

Regarding the pronunciation of “GIF”:

The creator of the format, Steve Wilhite, pronounced it with a soft “g.” Apparently this pronunciation is even specified in the tech specs for the format. He was riffing on a Jif peanut-butter advertising slogan, “Choosy mothers choose Jif,” by saying “Choosy programmers choose GIF.”

If you insist that “GIF” be pronounced with a hard g, because of some misguided insistence that acronyms must follow the pronunciation of the expanded phrase, missing the joke, AND ignoring the tech specs, for God’s sake, then I will insist that you also use the following pronunciations:

COVID: | ˌkōvīd | (“covyde”), as the “VI” is short for virus, with a long i.
SCUBA: | ˈskəbə | (“skubba”), as the U stands for “underwater,” which is pronounced with a short u.
LASER: | ˈlasir | (“lasseer”), as the A stands for amplfication (short a), the S for simulated (“sss” not “zzz”), and the E stands for emission (usually a long e, but debatable, okay)
YOLO: | ˈyōlwə | (“yole-wuh”) as the final O stands for “once”, with the o taking on a wuh sound.
POTUS: | ‘pätyo͞os | (“pot-use”) as the O stands for “office” (ah) and the U stands for “United” (you).

Captain America, looking pretty beat up, saying, “I can do this all day.”

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@MichaelPorter these are awesome pronunciations, I will start using them immediately

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@steal_your_face yeah it’s exceedingly portable and surprisingly light, but I think my favorite thing about the hardware is the 3:2 aspect ratio, especially for writing.

I’ve mostly been on for the past few years.

zrb, (edited )
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@steal_your_face I’ve been running Linux on the 11th gen Intel version for a few years and it’s been great so far. The aluminum chassis feels quite solid and the battery life is enough to get me through the day most of the time. I’m just waiting for the Batch 1 mainboards to ship so I can tack my Intel board to the basement wall as a media server.

zrb, to random
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but remember: you don’t need to use a sharp knife to cut an avocado. You can absolutely use a butter knife and a spoon. Stop slicing your hand open just so you can look like the chefs on Avocado Wars (or whatever it’s called I dunno I don’t have cable)

zrb, to random
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

the view inland from a small town on the coast

zrb, to snowboarding
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

some from a few winters ago

a panoramic snowy scene in a forest; the photo is taken from a path looking down a hill, and many snow-laden branches are visible

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

the only other sound's the sweep of easy wind and downy flake

zrb, to random
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

upward-facing shot showing the canopy of a live oak, covered in spanish moss and lit by light from the setting sun

zrb, to random
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

A non-Herald mage, entering the borders of Valdemar post-Vanyel: "imma do a magic"

Every vrandi in the area: 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

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