@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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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: πŸ‘€πŸ‘€πŸ‘€πŸ‘€πŸ‘€πŸ‘€πŸ‘€πŸ‘€πŸ‘€πŸ‘€πŸ‘€

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

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

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. πŸ‘‹

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

spacetelescope, to random
@spacetelescope@astrodon.social avatar

A new approach from astronomers seeks to use tidal disruption eventsβ€”bright and fleeting phenomenaβ€”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

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]

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

just today, I watched a video on how to permanently fix "joycon drift" (apparently the joystick loses sensitivity over time and starts drifting?).

So, this afternoon I went downstairs and got my electronics screwdriver kit, disassembled the joycon, inserted a folded-up piece of paper, and screwed it back together.

And... after testing with Sunshine, I'm suddenly good at the game again, making every move perfectly and completing levels easily.

I wasn't bad; the controller had just degraded.

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

this is proof positive that if you're making mistakes in a videogame, you should blame the controller.

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

here's the video if anyone's interested https://piped.video/watch?v=Vid8lIXmZwE

zrb, to Bloomscrolling
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

panning view of a field of flowers planted in vibrant designs for the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival

QasimRashid, to random
@QasimRashid@mastodon.social avatar

REPORT: 99% of pro-Palestine protests at US colleges have been peaceful, despite remarks from Biden & other politicians calling such demonstrations as violent.

This misinfo is exactly how they’ve tried to derail every civil rights movement in US history.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2024/may/01/university-protests-pro-palestinian-demonstrators-arrested-latest-news?page=with%3Ablock-6633bff08f081efe1175c36c

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@Xergg I hope that someday, when you're not a child anymore, you're able to look back on these posts casually dehumanizing an entire nation and calling for violence and brutality on peaceful protesters, and appreciate how much you've grown and matured since then.

Right now, though, this is cringe. You shouldn't be proud of this.

zrb, to random
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

It's that time of year again for me to be drawn, by a craving I can hardly articulate nor understand, to undiscovered lands and new worlds.

winter, to random
@winter@translunar.academy avatar

they are literally out here telling me to put olive oil and ethanol in people's eyes please make it stop

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@winter if you give everyone five contact lenses per eye they'll ablate away on contact with chemical weapons and also keep your eyes warm like a little wool coat

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@winter everything has to have a weakness, life emulates PokΓ©mon types

jacqueline, to random
@jacqueline@chaos.social avatar

why does the receptionist at my local hair salon have a monitor dedicated to a four up security camera display

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@jacqueline hair security is no joke, what if someone steals all the hair

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.

djsundog, to random
@djsundog@toot-lab.reclaim.technology avatar

disrupting existing models by violating the law and/or ethics isn't an industry, it's a grift, and grifters can get in the trebuchet.

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@ecsaln @djsundog for stealing someone else's words you must now get in the trebuchet yourself

opethehowdyman, to Sony
@opethehowdyman@pixelfed.social avatar

Eclipse 2024
I captured these outside of Indianapolis
‭Psalms 19:1 NLT‬
[1] The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship.
-200

image/jpeg
image/jpeg
image/jpeg

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@Radical_EgoCom @opethehowdyman hey I just wanted to let you know, respectfully, this reply is kinda cringe.

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@Radical_EgoCom @opethehowdyman the original poster is sharing how their witnessing the eclipse evoked a sense of wonder, and how that reminded them of their personal experience with their religion. I don't think it's constructive to throw the thesaurus at them and assert how something being a natural phenomenon is mutually exclusive with it being divine.

Of course, I might have mischaracterized your post. I apologize if that's the case.

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

@Radical_EgoCom you presuppose that divinity is supernatural. Anything can be divine if you believe in an omnipotent deity. The original poster is quite clearly saying "wow, look at this beautiful specimen of God's creation". Even I, an atheist, can see that.

I'm just trying to tell you, it was not necessary for you to chime in with "um actually, it was just an eclipse and you're silly for thinking you can attach any emotional or metaphysical weight to it". That is cringe.

zrb, to tea
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

I've been drinking every morning for months and I just learned last week that apparently you're supposed to aerate it with a bamboo whisk? Reportedly this step is highly important to produce the desired texture and flavor.

I just want to enjoy my morning grass water, but now I gotta go buy a DLC attachment for it I guess

zrb, to random
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

Heard what sounded like two distinct sonic booms immediately after totality started on the southern shore of Lake Erie. Some friends in Portland, Indiana verified they had heard the same thing there, too.

MichaelPorter, to Etymology
@MichaelPorter@ottawa.place avatar

Regarding the pronunciation of β€œGIF”:

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

If you insist that β€œGIF” 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: | ˌkōvΔ«d | (β€œcovyde”), as the β€œVI” is short for virus, with a long i.
SCUBA: | ˈskΙ™bΙ™ | (β€œskubba”), as the U stands for β€œunderwater,” which is pronounced with a short u.
LASER: | ˈlasir | (β€œlasseer”), as the A stands for amplfication (short a), the S for simulated (β€œsss” not β€œzzz”), and the E stands for emission (usually a long e, but debatable, okay)
YOLO: | ˈyōlwΙ™ | (β€œyole-wuh”) as the final O stands for β€œonce”, with the o taking on a wuh sound.
POTUS: | β€˜pΓ€tyo͞os | (β€œpot-use”) as the O stands for β€œoffice” (ah) and the U stands for β€œUnited” (you).

Captain America, looking pretty beat up, saying, β€œI can do this all day.”

zrb,
@zrb@astrodon.social avatar

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

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