nyan

@nyan@lemmy.cafe

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Why is the name of the Microsoft Wireless Notebook Presenter Mouse 8000 hard-coded into the Bluetooth drivers?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  Well, there’s plenty of standards-noncompliance out there, but breaking the firmware of a peripheral you manufacture so that it can’t be properly supported by the OS driver you wrote and needs a workaround requires a special type of corporate boneheadedness.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Millions turn to AI chatbots for spiritual guidance and confession⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  Well, at least this way they know for certain that something is listening to what they say. Most deities are awful when it comes to offering feedback.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨5 Signs the AI Bubble is About to Burst⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  The dot-com bubble? A whole bunch of investment money was poured into businesses operating over the Internet from around the time dial-up became widely available. A few years later, investors realized that “on the Internet” wasn’t necessarily the key to making a crapton of money and the stock market crashed. A bunch of companies (many of which never made it to profitability) went under, and a fair number of people lost their jobs. Pets.com was one of the more notable victims.

  This doesn’t, however, mean that no business is done over the Internet today.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What would stop you from switching to a flip phone (or dumbphone) in 2025?⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Speaking as someone who never has carried a smartphone, there are a bunch of tradeoffs. I do my banking in person, for instance, and that can be mildly inconvenient. I don’t take a lot of photographs (when I do, I use an old-style single-purpose camera). “Portable media” is a CD player, and I carry a paperback book if I think I might have to wait somewhere for more than ten minutes or so. And so on. Just continuing to live the same way as I did a quarter-century ago.

  I expect, however, that it’s a lot easier not to miss what you never had in the first place.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Flashforge AD5X, how long do nozzles last? Premature wear⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Was it plain PLA? Some of the fancier types cause increased wear. I’ve seen photos of glow-in-the-dark filament having worn through someone’s heat block (not just the nozzle). Wood- or metal-filled PLA can also be somewhat abrasive.

  Vacuum-sealed PLA can still be soaked with moisture—it depends entirely on how it was handled at the factory. To be absolutely certain, you have to dry it yourself.

  The nozzle dragging, though . . . that sounds more like faulty hardware or incorrect software settings—the printer no longer accurately knows where the nozzle is in space. Maybe your printer had a marginal part installed at the factory, and it’s now failed. If so, that’s no fault of yours and you should contact the manufacturer.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Just had a hospital group employee tell me to simply email medical information⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Um, the transmission path for email isn’t sender client -> destination server -> destination client. Mail doesn’t go over HTTP, it has its own protocols, and takes the route sender client -> sender server -> some number of intermediate servers -> destination server -> destination client. You don’t know for certain what intermediate servers will be involved, who they belong to (often they go up through parent companies or backbone providers, then come back down again), or how they’re secured (if they’re secured). All the servers along the chain, some of which may be in a different country, have to be secure in order for the transmission method to be compliant, and that ain’t usually gonna happen.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anime Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2025, Week 37]⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Honestly, I like it a lot! Yes - it’s “the dark magical girl show”, but it doesn’t even feel as dark as I was personally bracing for. Like I would not say that it is edgy just for edginess sake. I also just really adore the creative, mixed-media approach to the presentation of the witches and their labyrinths.

  Yeah, Madoka itself knew just exactly where to draw the line on the dark/horror aspects. There were a couple of other series that tried to piggyback on its success (Magical Girl Raising Project, I think, and at least one other) that were not so careful and ended up getting pretty gory.

  Next I have queued up: Serial Experiments Lain. This one doesn’t seem to be readily available on any streaming sites but I found a copy on the Internet Archive. The quality seems kind of dodgy but otherwise it’s probably fine?

  It’s possible that no one has the license for Lain right now. It’s an old series—I have it on Pioneer-branded VHS tapes (from before their anime division rebranded as Geneon), which means my copy is more than 20 years old and I’m not sure if it ever made it to DVD. I think we may actually have overrun the “near future” time period in which it’s supposed to take place.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anime Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2025, Week 37]⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  This may be because of selective memory but it feels like male protagonists of older anime series tend to be on the denser, weaker side of things. I prefer the current era of protagonists who have more self-confidence.

  The original Evangelion TV series started a fashion for wimpy loser male MCs. I’m also glad that it seems to have at least somewhat run its course.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[Episode] Kaiju No. 8 Season 2 • Kaijuu 8-gou 2nd Season - Episode 8 discussion⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  While I can’t be certain, I’m suspecting we’re going to get a Season 3. The pacing feels wrong for them to wrap it up by the end of this cours. So that might be why this episode has a bit of mid-story sag.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨People prefer chatbots when buying embarrassing stuff⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Hmm. Get the major parts made by one of those places that does on-demand laser sintering 3D prints in metal, then wire them together yourself? I doubt the parts in isolation look anything like the end product, so the laser sintering firm would most likely have no idea what you wanted them for. No idea how much it would cost, though, and you’d have to do some 3D modeling.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anime with a high death count that's actually good?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Shows with time loop content, like Re:Zero and Steins;Gate, can rack up quite high body counts (and then nullify them an episode or two down the line—does it count if the characters don’t stay dead?)

  Texhnolyze might or might not qualify (high body count, IIRC yes, but maybe too odd to be considered good). Some other older violence-heavy stuff like Black Lagoon, maybe.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨People prefer chatbots when buying embarrassing stuff⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I suspect most people had rather not engage with anything when shopping for products they’re embarrassed to be seen buying. If they’re in a position where they have no choice but to have interactive contact (can’t imagine why, unless dealing with some unusual allergies and needing to confirm what’s in the product), they probably think the chatbot is less likely to judge them, which is . . . not entirely untrue. It just leaves out the issue of a human possibly reading the chat transcript afterwards.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[Episode] Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon Season 2 • Jidou Hanbaiki ni Umarekawatta Ore wa Meikyuu wo Samayou 2nd Season - Episode 10 discussion⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Reborn as a what? These mutherfuckin mangaka…

  Based on a light novel, not a manga. It’s a pretty common motif in those—in addition to the vending machine, we’ve had a slime, a spider, a goblin, and a sword, and those are just the ones that got made into anime. “Reborn as a Dragon’s Egg” is coming up in a couple of seasons. Pretty sure I’ve run across a summary for a light novel about being reborn as a stick, which probably takes the prize.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anime Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2025, Week 36]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  There was such a limited number of anime released on VHS that all of us that were fans then tended to have seen the same things, so conversations naturally went to Akira and Vampire Hunter D and Bubblegum Crisis and Ninja Scroll and Hellsing and so on.

  Unless you had connections to the VHS fansub scene, in which case you were able to get your hands on stuff no one you talked to had ever heard of. Except that it could take years for anyone to sub the next four episodes, because sub groups back then actually had to do their own translations from scratch, by ear, and then use an Amiga to burn the subtitles into the video.

  (Also, Hellsing was DVD era—I’m not sure it was officially released on VHS, but I still have the DVDs.)

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Anime Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2025, Week 36]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I would say the third OP (“Hikari to Kage wo Dakishimeta Mama”) was superior to the first one. (The second OP, on the other hand, was so terrible that it was excluded from the dubs for the first English release.)

  The plot twist at the end of the first season is classic CLAMP, though, from before they got so obsessed with linking every manga they ever wrote together.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Yes, you can store data on a bird — enthusiast converts PNG to bird-shaped waveform, teaches young starling to recall file at up to 2MB/s⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  There will be a lot of cases where the data gets accidentally encapsulated (then fragmented due to incompatible protocols) in a cat.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Mastodon says it doesn't 'have the means' to comply with age verification laws⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  No effort could have evacuated the entire population of Gaza without free movement across land borders. It was never a practical option.

  Even if it had been, parents making a dumbass decision doesn’t justify killing their kids.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  For those curious, the characters are katakana (the syllabary often used in Japan for foreign words, onomatopoeia, etc) and the characters read “ma-ri-u-su”, which is possibly intended to represent “Marius” under Japanese spelling conventions.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Are we truly on the verge of the humanoid robot revolution?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Betteridge strikes again.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[Episode] Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon Season 2 • Jidou Hanbaiki ni Umarekawatta Ore wa Meikyuu wo Samayou 2nd Season - Episode 9 discussion⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Guildmaster Smoky the Bear says, “Only you can prevent forest fires!”

  Or, er, fail to do so and burn the entire stratum down. At least the only victims were the homicidal vegetables . . . 😅

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What are the most useful things you've printed?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The very simple protector that keeps the cats from turning off my computer by stepping on the power button, while leaving the button itself accessible.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Japan city drafts ordinance to cap smartphone use at 2 hours per day - Kyodo News⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  If it were an enforced cap, I’d be wondering who it was that had the shares in a desktop/laptop/“real computer” manufacturer—forbidding smartphones ≠ forbidding screens or Internet access.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[Episode] Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra: World Conquest Starts with the Civilization of Ruin • Isekai Mokushiroku Mynoghra: Hametsu no Bunmei de Hajimeru Sekai Seifuku - Episode 8 discussion⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Maybe it’s an elf thing?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[Episode] Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra: World Conquest Starts with the Civilization of Ruin • Isekai Mokushiroku Mynoghra: Hametsu no Bunmei de Hajimeru Sekai Seifuku - Episode 8 discussion⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  She might be a lot more picky than she lets on during the silly monologues. If she has minimum wealth or appearance thresholds, her dating pool could be quite small.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨French streamers' broadcasted death prompts outcry while authorities investigate possible abuse⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Whether or not that’s a defense depends on the details of the French legal system. In most countries, there are rights you’re not allowed to sign away. No idea whether security of the person is one of those rights in France.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[Discussion] 10 More Great Horror Anime That Are Worth Watching⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Yeah, I would categorize it as drama/thriller. I mean, the basic plotline is pretty much The Fugitive with added Cold War politics . . .

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Meta's flirty AI chatbot invited a retiree to New York. He never made it home.⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I wouldn’t put it past them.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Meta's flirty AI chatbot invited a retiree to New York. He never made it home.⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  The result would have been the same if there had been a human behind the catfishing instead of an LLM, and events could have played out in a similar fashion if they’d been snail mail pen pals. The outcome of this story is tragic, but it doesn’t have much to do with technology when you stop and think about it for a moment.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[Discussion] What is the most gloriously gory anime you've seen?⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  While the show isn’t in general all that gory, there’s this one scene in the old Bastard!! OAV (the 1990s one) where the MC (as a friend of mine put it) juices a hydra, which has got to have the highest blood-produced-to-creatures-killed ratio of any anime I’ve ever seen.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨DissolvPCB enables fully recyclable 3D-printed circuit boards with liquid metal conductors⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  If necessary, you go full circle by 3D-printing the parts that will be exposed to the liquid out of PLA (or ABS or PETG), which can handle limonene.