corroded
@corroded@lemmy.world
- Comment on Email is still great for DMs if you only use it for talking to individuals, and not to sign up to things 1 day ago:
Email is still really useful when you have a lot to say but don’t want to write a letter. If I’m catching up on the last several weeks with my parents, I’m not going to write a 10-page text. I can write a nicely formatted email and attach a few photos, though. It’s far more convenient than writing a letter and stuffing a bunch of printed photos into an envelope.
- Comment on Steam games will now need to fully disclose kernel-level anti-cheat on store pages 3 weeks ago:
Why is kernel-level anti-cheat even a thing?
If I was trying to prevent cheating, I’d hash the relevant game files, encrypt the values, and hard-code them into the executable. Then when the game is launched, calculated the hash of the existing files and compare to the saved values.
What is gained by running anti-cheat in kernel mode? I only play single-player games, so I assume I’m missing something.
- Comment on Watch out, Microsoft Outlook could soon give away when you're sneakily working from home 1 month ago:
Having my status turn yellow when I so much as look away from my screen is bad enough. I really hope this “feature” stays off.
- Comment on 5 pin connector recommendations that have both male and female sockets available 1 month ago:
I’m a big fan of Amphenol mil-spec connectors. They’re a bit expensive, but not terribly so. You could almost certainly find one that meets your requirements.
- Comment on Watch out, Microsoft Outlook could soon give away when you're sneakily working from home 1 month ago:
How does Teams give away your location? I’ve used it extensively, but I’ve never seen someone’s location unless the enter it manually.
- Comment on [deleted] 1 month ago:
I’m a big fan of 4k/who gives a shit.
- Comment on Couple tried to sell baby for a 6-pack of beer and $1,000 at campground, police say 1 month ago:
Is it just me, or do these two people look like they could be siblings?
- Comment on California’s new law forces digital stores to admit you’re just licensing content, not buying it 1 month ago:
That’s great until they decide to stop providing whatever content you licensed.
- Comment on California’s new law forces digital stores to admit you’re just licensing content, not buying it 1 month ago:
If you’re not receiving physical media, and you’re not saving a copy to local storage, then you’re not buying anything. You’re renting it.
- Comment on Why are people seemingly against AI chatbots aiding in writing code? 1 month ago:
When it comes to writing code, there is a huge difference between code that works and code that works *well." Lets say you’re tasked with writing a function that takes an array of RGB values and converts them to grayscale. ChatGPT is probably going to give you two nested loops that iterate over the X and Y values, applying a grayscale transformation to each pixel. This will get the job done, but it’s slow, inefficient, and generally not well-suited for production code. An experienced programmer is going to take into account possible edge cases (what if a color is out of the 0-255 bounds), apply SIMD functions and parallel algorithms, factor in memory management (do we need a new array or can we write back to the input array), etc.
ChatGPT is great for experienced programmers to get new ideas; I use it as a modern version of “rubber ducky” debugging. The problem is that corporations think that LLMs can replace experienced programmers, and that’s just not true. Sure, ChatGPT can produce code that “works,” but it will fail at edge cases and will generally be inefficient and slow.
- Comment on Why do phone manufacturers use in-display fingerprint readers instead of fingerprint readers on the power button? 1 month ago:
I can’t find a decent screen protector for my Galaxy S23, no matter how I try, and it’s all due to the damned in-display fingerprint reader. Any adhesive-style screen protector has an open area for the fingerprint reader, and it’s either a different material or a different thickness; they all look like shit. I’ve tried the screen protectors that use a UV-cured adhesive, and they’re messy, difficult to apply properly, and generally a pain in the ass.
I’ve relegated myself to not using a screen protector at all, but considering my pocket lint scratches my screen, it sucks.
- Comment on Instagram makes all teen accounts private - npr 2 months ago:
Social media companies, adult websites, whatever, can try to find ways to block children from accessing their content, but kids will always find a way around it.
It’s the parents’ responsibility to control their children. I’ve said 1000 times, children don’t need access to smartphones and tablets. A desktop PC or laptop with strict parental controls is adequate enough for school work, learning about technology, and some basic entertainment.
When a child is old enough to work and pay for a smartphone themselves, then they’re old enough to have a smartphone. A prepaid flip phone with basic voice and SMS is more than enough for a 15-year-old.
- Comment on No screens before age of two, Swedish health authority tells parents 2 months ago:
Children can have phones, tablets, etc when they are old enough to purchase them with their own income.
Before that, a desktop with parental control software is more than enough for schoolwork.
- Comment on Why do boomers hate squirrels so much? 2 months ago:
A lot of boomers are really particular about well-manicured yards, pristine gardens, etc. Squirrels do not help with this.
I love seeing little divots where our squirrels bury nuts. If they eat some of our plants, then I put a cage around it or plant new ones. Seeing the little guys play and eat the food we put out for them far outweighs any minor landscaping problems they cause.
- Comment on Why is Kamala Harris being held at such a higher standard than Trump this election? 2 months ago:
The problem isn’t that Harris is being held to a higher standard. The problem is that Americans think of elections the same way they think of a sporting match. It’s “my team is going to win!” not “I’m going to vote for the candidate that is best aligned with my beliefs.” A huge number of the people who are voting Republican are doing so because the Republican party is their “team,” and damn it, their team is going to win even if it kills them.
Many years ago, I was discussing politics with a coworker (always a bad idea, but whatever). It went something like this:
“So, you don’t think the less-fortunate should be able to afford medical care?” “No, of course not, everyone should be able to see a doctor.”
“You don’t think gay people should be allowed to marry?” “I’m not gay, but they can do whatever makes them happy.”
“You support the war in Iraq, then?” “I support our troops, but the war is kind of a waste.”
“We definitely should legalize weed, right?” “Um, I’d smoke it if I didn’t get drug tested.”
“So why are you voting Republican, then?” “My family is Republican; we always do.”
- Comment on Worst PC hardware trends that disappeared 2 months ago:
This is kind of a shit article. Most of these are just old hardware that eventually had modern improvements, not “trends.”
A “trend” is cold cathode black lights inside the case, not a silly naming scheme for CPU revisions.
- Comment on How can I recreate my grandfathers voice? 2 months ago:
I can’t speak to the AI voice generation part of this, but you might be interested in the Domesday Duplicator for digitizing your audio, especially if some or it is slightly degraded.
github.com/harrypm/DomesdayDuplicator
The project was originally designed for laserdisc, but it’s been expanded to support VHS and cassette tape. Traditionally, you would play your tape on a cassette player, then the built in analog circuitry would convert the magnetic signals into audio, amplify them, and feed them to a sound card on your PC, which then converts the analog signal to a digital audio stream.
With the Domesdsy Duplicator, you record the raw magnetic signal from the read head and directly digitize it into a bitstream that you can then process as needed. For DIY archiving from an analog source, it’s one of the best options for signal fidelity, and it will give you the truest representation of what’s actually on the tape.
- Comment on A millennial couple who make $250,000 say they can't find a home in their budget: 'We refuse to become house-poor' 3 months ago:
I’m not sure I understand the math in this article. At current interest rates, a $550000 is closer to a 3.5k mortgage, not 5k.
At 250k a year, they’re making roughly 20k per month. If they’re willing to pay 30% of their income to a mortgage, that’s 6k. Even post-tax, that’s still more than 3.5k.
I agree that the cost of housing is ridiculous. This sounds more like they have exceptionally bad credit or they’re looking at homes that are way above their budget.
- Comment on Hard drive format? 3 months ago:
I’m a big fan of ZFS, and I use it extensively. For a single hard drive, though. wouldn’t ext4 and a few NFS shares make a lot more sense?
- Comment on Sony is killing off recordable Blu-ray, bidding farewell to disc burning | TechSpot 4 months ago:
I really wish there was a viable alternative for physical backups. Blu-ray just doesn’t have enough storage space, tape is expensive, and hard drives need to be periodically read.
I’ve read about holographic WORM media, but I just don’t think there’s enough consumer demand for the hardware and media to ever be as affordable as blu-ray.
Once upon a time, I could back up all my important data to a stack of DVD-Rs. How am I supposed to back up a 100TB NAS, though? The “best” alternative is to build a second NAS for backup, but that’s approaching tape drive levels of cost.
- Comment on Your new neighbor, a genie, opens 'Temptation Mart' next door. Food, alcohol, substances, carnal pleasures, gambling - all complimentary, 24/7. How does this affect your daily life? 4 months ago:
I spend less money on beer and don’t have to drive to get it. Otherwise, not much has changed.
- Comment on Most Precise Atomic Clock Ever Built Will Only Lose a Second Every 30 Billion Years 4 months ago:
In clocks like this, the “set time” is often irrelevant. It’s more important to know exactly how much time has passed since the last time the clock was “checked.” If you’re running a radio transmitter at 6ghz, that’s 6 billion cycles per second. If you synch your transmitter to your clock once per second, it had better be accurate to the billionth of a second.
- Comment on My Windows Computer Just Doesn't Feel Like Mine Anymore 4 months ago:
I haven’t tried W11 LTSC. Even if you cut out the bloat, I just can’t stand the interface. Hopefully 12 is better, but I’m not hopeful.
- Comment on My Windows Computer Just Doesn't Feel Like Mine Anymore 4 months ago:
I switched all of my Windows systems over to Windows 10 LTSC a few months ago, and it’s been a game-changer. I still get security updates, but no advertisements, bloat, or new “features.” I believe it’s supported until 2032.
After that, I’ll probably switch my remaining systems over to Linux, but until then, it’s not half bad.
- Comment on Why do many search engines seem to ignore operators (e.g. exact phrases, term exclusions, OR, etc.)? Is there a good reason for having a dumb 1997-level search logic that I'm not seeing? 4 months ago:
I’m going to break with what most people are saying and offer the suggestion that search engines are actually doing a decent job. If my mother searches Google for the phrase “Can you please show me a recipe for apple pie?,” she’s probably going to get a recipe for apple pie. If I search google for “c++20” “std::string” “constructors”, after I skip over the ads, I’m most likely going to get a web page that shows me the the constructors for std::string in c++20.
Ad-sponsored pages and AI bullshit aside, most search engines do still give decent results.
- Comment on Bleeding subscribers, cable companies force their way into streaming | Companies like Comcast and Charter brought about the streaming industry they now want to join 4 months ago:
It’s certainly possible (and probably even likely) that you’re correct. Most of the people I’ve spoken to about that are somewhat tech-inclined and probably much more likely to be using an adblocker than the average person.
So many years of ad-free media has just ruined me on ad-supported content. I sat down in front of a public TV tuned to a cable channel the other day, and it was absolutely unwatchable.
- Comment on Bleeding subscribers, cable companies force their way into streaming | Companies like Comcast and Charter brought about the streaming industry they now want to join 4 months ago:
The problem I have always had with cable TV, and now with streaming, is the advertisements. I understand why free services inject ads into their video stream; they have to make a profit somehow. I don’t like it, and I’ll block the ads, but I understand it.
Having experience what ad-free entertainment is like, be it from Netflix years ago, renting movies online, or Youtube with Adblock, I will never pay for a service that’s going to show me ads. Either make the service free and cash in on ad revenue or sell the service for an appropriate price that you can afford not to show ads. Sticking to the old model of “pay for cable TV and watch commercials” is never going to work, be it cable or streaming. I don’t think I’m in the minority here, either; I’ve heard this sentiment from plenty of others.
- Comment on Is it greener to just burn plastic? 6 months ago:
I think you could make an argument that even burning plastic in a firepit vs sending it to a landfill are roughly equal. Climate change and air pollution are both major issues, but so is plastic waste and microplastics working their way into everything. I have no idea of the overall harm of burning plastic is less than throwing it away; they both pollute the environment. I can see the the logic in thinking burning is a viable alternative.
Ideally, though, people would just stop using disposable plastic. Plastic is a fantastic material, but it was never supposed to be for “use once and discard” items. For creating durable objects with a decent lifetime, sure, use plastic. Don’t use it as wrapping over another plastic object.
- Comment on Stop Using Your Face or Thumb to Unlock Your Phone 6 months ago:
I really think this depends largely on who you are and what you do with your phone. I have face recognition and fingerprint recognition both enabled on my phone. It’s good enough to prevent a thief from gaining access to my device, and if law enforcement asked, there’s nothing on my phone that could possibly be incriminating. Realistically, I’d have no issue just unlocking my phone and giving it to a police officer, although I do know well enough to always get a lawyer first. Biometrics add an extra layer of convenience; it’s nice to just look at my phone and it unlocks. My concern personally is more about someone stealing my phone and accessing my accounts than self-incrimination.
If I ever was going to put myself in a situation where I’d run afoul of the authorities, I’d leave my phone at home anyway.
- Comment on Roku got hacked 8 months ago:
I’m a big proponent of self-hosting. I cancelled every streaming service years ago, and I host everything I want with Jellyfin and Navidrome. I’m very into certain genres of music, so I always make sure to buy merch or buy some albums on Bandcamp for the artists I really enjoy.
That being said, Roku does have its place. My older family members have lived their whole lives paying for shitty cable TV with 90% of the content something they have no interest in. Roku is a good alternative for them. It’s easy to set up, straightforward to use, and doesn’t cost much outside of the subscriptions for streaming services.
It’s been years since I’ve consumed any media that isn’t coming from my NAS, but the vast majority of people don’t have the knowledge or desire to set up a home media system. Mainstream smart-TV devices like Roku and streaming services like Netflix or Hulu certainly still have their place. They’re a shitty choice for people who enjoy tinkering with software and networking, but a good alternative for someone who just wants to watch TV but is fed up with the bullshit commercial-infested cesspool that is cable.