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Cake day: July 22nd, 2023

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  • “Fifty thousand years ago there were these three guys spread out across the plain and they each heard something rustling in the grass. The first one thought it was a tiger, and he ran like hell, and it was a tiger but the guy got away. The second one thought the rustling was a tiger and he ran like hell, but it was only the wind and his friends all laughed at him for being such a chickenshit. But the third guy thought it was only the wind, so he shrugged it off and the tiger had him for dinner. And the same thing happened a million times across ten thousand generations - and after a while everyone was seeing tigers in the grass even when there weren`t any tigers, because even chickenshits have more kids than corpses do. And from those humble beginnings we learn to see faces in the clouds and portents in the stars, to see agency in randomness, because natural selection favours the paranoid. Even here in the 21st century we can make people more honest just by scribbling a pair of eyes on the wall with a Sharpie. Even now we are wired to believe that unseen things are watching us.”

    ― Peter Watts, Echopraxia






  • “Well this sucks, can’t breathe.”

    Punches hole in roof to get air

    “OK, that works. Come to think of it, that’s how momma did it.”

    The second Jurassic Park book had a neat idea. What if much of the animal behavior we see is taught and not instinctual? The dinosaurs start fouling their poorly made nests and stomping all over their eggs because they didn’t have parents to emulate or teach them. Been thinking on that for over 20 years.









  • Just because a product went defunct does not mean the entire code base is obsolete to the company.

    Suppose I release software that makes a profit for a while, then falls off and starts costing me money, obviously time to retire that thing. However, a ton of code in that original product was a stepping stone for newer projects. I now have two choices.

    A) Drop support and give world+dog my code, giving everyone a look into my existing products.

    B) Keep losing money on the old project and make up for it by overcharging for my latest work.

    That’s a lose-lose proposition.

    Your self-hosting solution sounds mighty fair!






  • shalafi@lemmy.worldtoTechnology@lemmy.world*Permanently Deleted*
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    21 days ago

    With more market saturation, we’ll see more standardization. Imagine if the original ICE cars took a proprietary gas pump. LOL, the market would have fixed that horseshit with the quickness.

    A huge selling point for pistol-caliber guns is if they take Glock magazines. They’re cheap, reliable and available everywhere. I’ll likely never own a Glock, but magazine compatibility would sway my purchase towards another manufacturer that doesn’t have a proprietary mag.

    Charging will eventually be a self-solving problem. Right now it seems the manufacturers are trying to get ahead by saying, “Our model charges at X (number of) stations! They only have Y. Pick me!” If I can ever afford an EV, the most standard, “normal” option, whatever this is, is where I’m buying.

    And if the free market doesn’t quickly arrive at a standard, time for the legislative hammer. While I’m leery of fucking around, I do so love how Europe says, “Nope! Every device sold here must be compatible.” Phone chargers and such.


  • I mostly agree, but five years often won’t score your ROI. I especially think entertainment IPs should fall into the public domain faster. 70-years after the author’s death is a fucking joke.

    If, god forbid, Steven King croaks tomorrow, his work should go public after a few years (to resolve estate issues).