Acamon

joined 2 years ago
[โ€“] [email protected] 8 points 9 hours ago

Many years ago when I thought about this, I realised I wouldn't be able to put much of my modern knowledge and skills to use. I decided I'd learn to make basic matches by distilling urine into phosphate, which wasn't invented until the 19th century, but I've forgotten the process. Collect lots of urine and boil it? Also, if you make white phosphate it can cause horrific toothache and they have to remove your jaw... So, I'm hoping another commentor will suggest a safer skill I can brush up to be ready for travel.

[โ€“] [email protected] 8 points 10 hours ago

"middle finger" is "the finger in the middle of the digits" not "the finger on the middle of the fingers"

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 19 hours ago

You're right, it's in the French countryside. It's a really awesome old building (even has a tower with a spiral stairway!) but it's also a bit of ruin. There was no heating, or proper electricity and loads of leaks and other problems when we moved in 18 months ago. It's been a lot of work, taught me many new skills and alternated between fun/stressful, but it's starting to feel quite homely. Hopefully we can repoint all the stone walls over summer (that's why we've been powerwashing) so that the winter storms stop raining through the walls into our living room...

[โ€“] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Wordle 1,407 4/6

โฌ›โฌ›๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸจ๐ŸŸจ
๐ŸŸจ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉโฌ›โฌ›
โฌ›๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉโฌ›
๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ

[โ€“] [email protected] 8 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Power washed wall

I'm in love with my new power washer. It's transforming our house.

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 1 day ago

I did. I don't know anything abut them and Wikipedia seemed to suggest they were a type of alligatoridae. I originally googled "caymen crocodile", so it could have been worse.

[โ€“] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (2 children)

Connections Puzzle #685
๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ๐ŸŸฉ
๐ŸŸช๐ŸŸช๐ŸŸช๐ŸŸช
๐ŸŸจ๐ŸŸจ๐ŸŸจ๐ŸŸจ
๐ŸŸฆ๐ŸŸฆ๐ŸŸฆ๐ŸŸฆ

Is there a trick to making this format correctly? When I paste from the nyt it looks fine in my draft post, but then seems to be missing line breaks.

Edit:thanks!

[โ€“] [email protected] 11 points 1 day ago (2 children)

What's with that weird ai bullshit ? There's real videos of giant otters fighting alligstors if you want that sort of thing

[โ€“] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

I'm not criticising Linux gaming - I know basically nothing about it. Just my own experience over the last year, where I've tried buying and playing a couple of games and had difficulty getting them working, tried different Proton versions etc. But maybe I should be trying the window versions? My question was just innocent curiosity, but looking at my downvoters I've obviously touched a nerve!

[โ€“] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

I'm not very experienced with Linux gaming, and the last game I tried (xcom) crashed consistently, and reading forums people were suggesting using certain Proton versions and other stuff. I eventually gave up. I also got uncharted:LOT refunded because I couldn't get it working in Linux. So if it's "click install and click play" the great! It is straightfoward.

[โ€“] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago

I married my partner, after being with them for over a decade, and a few years of living together full-time. It was mostly for admin reasons (we just bought our home, and being married made things easier if one of us died). If it wasn't for that I don't think we would have bothered. We know we love each other, and had decided a few years before that if we'd get married if we ever needed to, so it wasn't like we ever 'proposed'. Just a tiny ceremony with two friends as witness, and we went out to a restaurant for lunch afterwards. I don't think it cost us anything beyond lunch? Maybe a tiny admin fee?

But... I'm so happy we did! It's weird! I never really cared, and rationally, I still think it hasn't changed anything. But somehow it feels... really nice? I still regularly think (and tell them) "I'm so glad I married you". I'm sure there are lots of other things that you can do to symbolise your relationship or commitment. If I got a tattoo inspired by my partner I'd probably have the same feeling of looking at it and thinking of them that I do when I play with my wedding ring (2โ‚ฌ piece of silly junk from aliexpress. And we each bought a bunch of spares so that when we inevitably lose them it's not a problem). But actually a marriage is one of the simplest and cheaper ways (if you don't choose or feel pressured into turning it into a stupid moneysink).

Tldr: didn't care about marriage, got married for tax, and weirdly found it deeply satisfying in a completely unexpected way.

 

They slide in nice and smooth now. Wish I'd done it months ago, it was very easy.

 

I've got some smart home devices that need to be setup by another device on the same WiFi network, but it has to be 2.4ghz network. My modern android phone insists on connecting to the 5ghz network and so can't complete the setup.

Currently, I use an old android tablet that only connects to 2.4ghz to get round this, but it's clunky. Previously I've changed the WiFi network to produce seperate ssids for the two bands, but I'd rather not have to switch these settings around everytime I need to modify something.

What I want is a system setting in android or an app that forces my phone to turn off its wireless N capabilities and only use the 2.4ghz band. My searching and reading stackoverflow posts suggest this just isn't possible, but surely that's not true?! It seems like a simple enough option to have!

Tldr : how to force my phone to connect on 2.4hgz WiFi rather than 5ghz

 

I love Southern fried chicken, and I'm pretty fond of waffles (savoury with bacon and maple syrup, or sweet) but I cannot imagine the combination as working at all.

They're both a little dry on the outside and soft on the inside. It feels like they really don't complement or contrast with each other. I'm sure I'd eat it if I had so alternative, but I can imagine how it is a classic American paring. I'd much rather have fries, slaw, or potato salad which all seem to offer a creamy or crunchy contrast.

Am I missing something? People who like it, what's good about it? Is the secret lots of maple syrup? Are the waffles different that usual? Is it not actually that popular? I'm a decadent European, so I can't just go somewhere and try them myself.

 

I don't really like discord, but my gaming group have been using it for rpg stuff. Chat channels, video calls and easy to setup bots have all been really useful.

But I get the feeling the enshitification is going to get worse, so I was looking for somewhere else to migrate to. The video stuff isn't as important, we could switch easily to other services. But before I start a new campaign, and spend time setting up bots with routines for rolling dice and calculating tables, I'd like to do it somewhere that isn't in talks for an IPO.

I'm not really up on stuff like this, so I don't know if there's some obvious similar choices or an alternative medium that I haven't considered.

 

I came across this cryptic phrase in a description of an old D&D adventure Tale of the Comet . In context, it seems to describe the designer solving a problem of game balance by having the powerful technology items have limited charges / uses before expiring. But I cannot parse prophet-squeeze-monster and I certianly don't recognise it as a classic trope. Any ideas?

 

Is there any options for better bluetooth management than stock android (I'm on 14 currently, on a Motorola)? Android does a reasonable attempt at autoconnecting, showing me the last couple of devices and so on - but there's not a lot customisation or control.

I would like to be able to toggle easily whether devices autoconnect, I'd like to me able to have a list of 5 or 6 devices that I regularly connect to, rather than just the last three I've used. I'd like to be able to set priority for which device gets the audio out. Stuff like that!

Many androids ago there were apps that improved bluetooth management, but now they don't seem to exist. Or, at least all the ones I found in the app store seemed scammy af.

Any suggestions? Do I need to root? Or finally learn Tasker?

 

I've been looking for a zigbee temperature sensor that has a long (1-2m) probe. I can find general room temperature zigbee sensors, and WiFi devices with probes, but not what I'm looking for. Searching online just comes up with people saying I'd need to make make soemthing myself with esphome.

I'm not opposed to getting into esp at some point when I've got some free time, but I'd like something quick and easy I could just buy and have working easily. Anyone know of anything suitable?

 

Back in the early days of the internet, there were a bunch of webcams anyone could view - sometimes a street, sometimes the coffee machine of a lab, and, occasionally, someone's bedroom or appartment. Although they were much talked about, I'm sure it was a tiny number of people, and probably not for very long. And because of crappy bandwidth, most of these cams were more like constantly updating image, rather than actual video. Tbh, maybe it's not even a real thing, but I definitely remember it being spoken about.

Nowadays obviously things are great for people who want strangers to know what they're up to, they've got countless media to choose from. And 'watching a stranger do mundane things' was packaged up and sold as reality TV a long time ago.

But I guess my question is, are there people still live-streaming their life - without it being a sex thing (like onlyfans) or advertising / shilling front (so, ruling out most 'influencers'). Are their folks out there just running a 24h twitch channel where people can watch them fold their laundry or doomscroll the night away on a poorly illuminated couch?

 

I've been looking for an app that will let me write down a bunch of short ideas/phrases and move them around easily. Something like scribbling on postits and sorting into piles, ordering and rearranging them.

So far I've found lots of task list / to do type apps that I can make lists and move things about in one axis. Or mind map type apps for building specific webs. But I've not come across something quick and easy to freeform engage with my brainstorming. Any suggestions?

 

The current news has me thinking that, while the death of any human is not something I actively relish, most people feel a certain satisfaction, relief or, at least, less sad when someone like Osama Bin Laden dies, because they were responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent people.

Which got me wondering, have studies been done estimating how many legitimate insurance cases are rejected, delayed or otherwise mishandled, and how many of those result in deaths? I guess other industries are also responsible for some pretty measurable risk factors (e.g. air pollution). It would interesting to see some rough numbers of how many deaths the CEOs who choose to continue running these companies in harmful ways account for. Obviously, they are only indirectly responsible, but the same could be said about Bin Laden, he didn't fly the planes himself, he delegated.

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