captainjaneway
@captainjaneway@lemmy.world
- Comment on A fresh install of Signal takes up 410MB, blowing both Firefox and Chromium out of the water 5 months ago:
Would be kind of cool to allow people to choose an install method. As someone who has experienced low bandwidth in rural homes, it would be nice to avoid the waste at the cost of possibly managing chromium versions myself.
- Comment on A fresh install of Signal takes up 410MB, blowing both Firefox and Chromium out of the water 5 months ago:
That’s the point. The storage is a bad metric. While it might indicate poor performance, it’s not a direct indication of poor performance. The bloat and optimization comes from the usage of Electron. And people use Electron because it’s far easier to make cross-platform deployments for Web and desktop using a framework like Electron. Show me the QT/JavaFX app that mimics Signal and we can compare the cost to develop it. Electron isn’t the best choice for memory usage and reducing bloat, but it’s the best choice for quick development (in my opinion but also proven out by the market share it has)
- Comment on [Serious] Why do so many people seem to hate veganism? 6 months ago:
I was talking about meat replacements but I put tofu in that category as well because I don’t have a lot of experience with tofu outside of “we have this instead of meat”.
Vegan food is cheaper in America, for sure. Beans, veg (some) and rice are cheap. However fruit is expensive.
But the alternatives to meat are not cheap: tofu is like $5/lb compared to chicken which can be as low as $2.99/lb. Steak is expensive in America, but it can be close to the cost of tofu. It’s definitely cheaper than the steak-alternatives like beyond meat.
While you might find meat replacements to be unnecessary, most Americans (myself included) struggle. 90% of the meals I used to eat were some variation of: protein (meat/chicken/fish), plus a veggie, plus a carb (rice/bread). That was the basic dinner. It has a nice ratio of protein to carb. It was tasty (to me at least) and the cost wasn’t too bad.
I’m guessing I’m not alone, culturally. It’s not like you can fry up two slabs of tofu and just call it a day. Tofu is just different. It doesn’t cook the same and it doesn’t taste the same. I cook tofu at least once a week, but I treat it very differently.
It’s just not easy for Americans to justify going vegan. It’s culturally very different and - if you want to stay within the culture - it’s expensive.
But that’s why I always advocate for meat reduction, not replacement. Eat more vegetables. Try other dinners. Etc. But most Americans are remiss to be told what to do.
- Comment on [Serious] Why do so many people seem to hate veganism? 6 months ago:
There in lies the rub, though. Most vegans are vegan for a moral reason that they believe applies to you:
- Animals deserve life / don’t deserve livestock conditions
- "Growing" meat is speeding up global warming compared to growing crop
There are more fringe reasons for veganism such as: diet, health, etc. But those aren’t relevant to the point I’m making.
“Live and let live” doesn’t apply to situations where we’re talking about global warming or the abuse of animals. Most vegans are trying to educate others and - yeah - they probably vote for things that would result in more expensive meat or less meat being available in your local markets. I believe most vegans are hoping their efforts will slow global warming and provide better living conditions for livestock.
I’m not trying to sit on a moral podium here and judge. I eat meat too. I’m not vegan. Though I’ve tried to reduce how much meat I eat in yet another small, feckless, civilian effort to slow global warming. All I’m saying is: I sympathize with people who want to improve the world and I understand why they spend time and effort talking about being vegan.
But meat in america is cheaper than the vegan stuff and definitely tastier. So it’s hard for us to meaningfully change.
- Comment on I just heard about Brazilian Butt Lifts which is a procedure where they take fat deposits from somewhere on your body and place it in your butt? 6 months ago:
What about ketosis? Are ketones a legit way to remove fat?
- Comment on Mandelbrot 6 months ago:
Resolution limits
- Comment on space 7 months ago:
Yes and that’s how we ended up with American Football. In the original timeline, it never existed.
- Comment on Anon watches LOTR 7 months ago:
I can only tell if men are friends if they share a bicep-flexed hand clasp.
- Comment on Easter 2007: B.J. Novak Proves Cadbury Eggs Are Getting Smaller 7 months ago:
Happy Gilmore. A pretty good - albeit goofy and weird - movie.
- Comment on William Shatner: ‘Good science fiction is humanity, moved into a different milieu’ 7 months ago:
Based solely on that quote, I whole heartedly agree. Science fiction is almost always supposed to expose something about our world through a different lens. Whilst it’s not the most elegant example, the two black & white striped races in TOS arguing over “black-white stripes vs white-black stripes” was a clear allegory for racism in our country when the show came out. District 9 is a decent allegory for something like Gaza & Israel: open air prisons and what-not.
Science fiction should (IMO) make the muddy waters of morality more clear.
A more nuanced example comes from Battlestar Galactica; wherein the human members of a concentration camp use suicide bombing as a means of rebellion. The show made sure to imply the efficacy of suicide bombing. It also made sure to expose the arguments against it. But I think during a post 9/11 world, suicide bombing was looked at as the root of all evil. Perpetrators were seen as aimless villains without a cause or reason (without a rational one, anyways). But BSG did make a compelling argument for such extreme cases of terrorist violence when your back is up against the wall.
The bajorans in DS9 also make cases for terrorism as an act of rebellion against colonizers.
I think science fiction is one of the only genres they really take a look at these topics. Other genres seem to only gleam the very tips of the morality iceberg.
- Comment on Whoops 7 months ago:
If you use your eyes, nothing happens. Most people think “observe” means they can just look at the experiment and expect it to change. That’s why so many people end up in metaphysics thinking their own perception has any impact on the outcomes of physical states. In reality, it makes no difference.
- Comment on Whoops 7 months ago:
The word “observed” has largely been conflated with human perception in the layperson’s understanding of quantum mechanics. When they were first experimenting with the dual slit experiment, they were simply trying to make measurements to predict where an electron might end up after entering one of the two slits. However they soon discovered that their measurements changed the behavior of the electron. That behavior has been denoted as an observation however observation is very vague.
It’s better to say “a measurement which causes a wave-function collapse” rather than an observation. When phrased that way, it feels a lot more explicit and it allows lay people like myself to ask the next question “what causes a wave function to collapse?”
Source: I just asked my physics PhD wife about this a couple nights ago and she did her best to explain it to me.
- Comment on [deleted] 7 months ago:
Yeah my plan (dream) has always been like this:
- Use the internet while I have it (assuming people just all disappear suddenly) to download survival guides, solar panel repair/installation PDFs, maps, etc. Anything I can think of, I’ll download
- Gas only lasts so long. I can use chemicals that extend it, but it’s definitely limited. I’d start with a gas powered truck and eventually move into electric vehicles. Batteries aren’t forever either… But I’d try.
- I’d move to a warm, temperate climate
- I’d find a building that claims it is powered by solar panels most of the year. I’d use that as my home
- I’d immediately begin trying to farm. I have a black thumb so this would take me some years to get done correctly. But I’d hopefully have some potatoes and grain growing by the end of a year
- In the meantime, I might find things to occupy my time such as: finding videogames to play, raising chickens, fishing, collecting guns/ammo, collecting books to preserve, storing solar panels, backup equipment, etc.
My end goal would be to survive as long as I’m happy. I’m pretty introverted so that would last a while. I’d use animals to keep me company. I believe nature would take us over pretty quickly. It would be hard to maintain the house, solar, etc. forever. But if I could, I would.
My wife and I already do a lot of foraging in our area and we have several guides for edible food. We also do some canning and prepping for disasters.
I don’t think a disaster would be a picnic. People are the problem. But if they disappeared suddenly, I think it would be pretty livable.
- Comment on How does this math work? 8 months ago:
Maybe 1, 1, 1 -> 49, 48, 47 is a better example though. But same thing.
- Comment on smellulator 10 months ago:
TL;DR it worked but was often considered a poor, synthetic, replacement for the real world scents. Some people liked it, but most seemed to dislike it.
- Comment on I need a lot to pictures like this 10 months ago:
It does improve his odds Image
- Comment on I need a lot to pictures like this 10 months ago:
- Comment on How many Star Trek fans will see red because they don't see red? 10 months ago:
Yeah I guess. Plus that one in the image seems precariously balanced on the speaker?
- Comment on How many Star Trek fans will see red because they don't see red? 10 months ago:
- Comment on Why do I do this? 10 months ago:
- Comment on It's a good thing they aren't in charge of adult toys... 11 months ago:
What parties are you attending that:
- Someone brings a dildo
- You describe that someone as just “a guy”
Having a dildo is questionable enough. Not knowing the guy who has a dildo at your Christmas party is extremely questionable.
- Comment on Choose wisely! 11 months ago:
Oh that’s true. I guess we have to allow for displacement. If that’s the case, yeah I want this power 100%. Spam teleport. I could destroy anything in the world just with displacement. I could punch a hole through tanks just by teleporting. And if I have no “cool down” when teleporting I could level entire armies. I could teleport once every nanosecond even bullets that are timed to hit me down to the nanosecond would only penetrate my body a small amount before I teleport and displace them.
- Comment on Choose wisely! 11 months ago:
Definitely impale
- Comment on Choose wisely! 11 months ago:
Definitely impale
- Comment on Choose wisely! 11 months ago:
I’d pick teleport but I’m afraid of the splicing consequences.
I’d rather just see inside empty objects. I’m sure I could use this in some circumstances. Being able to “know” if a box is empty or not could be perceived as super natural. There is probably a lot of money in that. Plus, a lot of gambling opportunities in things like that cup game. What defines a container? That could change things.
Controlling any toaster with my mind is ambiguous. I’ll assume it only works on toasters with power. So I can only turn them on/off to make toast. I could use this power to destroy countries. Power draw of a toaster isn’t too bad, but every toaster being turned on at the same time might damage an energy sector. It would take a while to debug as well.
I like the free gravel.
I think I’d pick free gravel and… Seeing inside empty objects. Seems like the most profitable with the least chance of a monkeys paw.
- Comment on Choose wisely! 11 months ago:
It depends. Is 7" measured from the center of my body to the next location? Or is it measured from the tip of the front of my body and the back of my body will end up 7" away from that position? Because the former would likely be useless for breaking into places. My body would make up the majority of the travel distance. I basically would only have 1"-3" or teleport distance to work with. Most walls wouldn’t even work.
As someone else said, if I could spam the teleport command, then it would be great. Then I could travel across oceans and such. But I’d have to be careful to not transport myself inside of a boat’s hull and get spliced.
The gravel would be great though. With an unlimited supply, I’d just create a turbine which is turned by an unlimited amount of gravel pouring over it. The gravel would have to end up somewhere… Can’t just leave it on earth. So I would ask countries - in exchange for the free energy - to build a space elevator/launching mechanism. The gravel would be launched into space towards the sun. This would be a problem in a few million or billion years. I’d accelerate the death of the sun by increasing its mass or maybe my gravel would add too many sunspots. Idk. But who cares. By then we will be space faring. One major issue is I’ll die in 50 years give or take. So I’ll need to spend most of my time spawning a surplus of gravel somewhere so the governments of the world can continue turning the turbine? Idk. That’s a big problem.
Maybe I’d just start a construction company.
- Comment on Choose wisely! 11 months ago:
Totally nerfs that power. I’ll go with the free gravel.
- Comment on Why sometimes my car slows down going downhill? 1 year ago:
I’ve always assumed it’s something in the engine. But I also wonder if it’s some sort of friction based math? I have heard most cars are most fuel efficient at 55mph or so. My town has a large hill which my car can “coast” down with no gas required. However, like you, it stops increasing its speed around 55mph. It doesn’t seem to go any faster without me stepping on the gas. I don’t notice anything different about the car. It just seems to stop accelerating.
And if I hit the gas, it seems to re-settle back to 55mph.
I sometimes wonder if fuel efficiency being at 55mph is tied to friction of tires on asphalt. And maybe even on a steep hill, typical cars just cant overcome the kinetic friction to continue speeding up. Obviously the steepness of the hill matters, but roads have pretty stringent rules about grades. So we have an upper bound of what’s “reasonable” based on whatever the steepest allowable grade is.
I’ve also had this question. I’d love to know the answer!
- Comment on Who are those people who still let Big Tech piss on their face, thinking it is the lord of the rain? 1 year ago:
Yes. And I’m guessing you are too. Otherwise, how did you know I was using psychic powers to shitpost on the internet?
