dan
@dan@upvote.au
Aussie living in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Coding since 1998.
Developer at Meta.
.NET Foundation member. C# fan
d.sb
Mastodon: @dan@d.sb
- Comment on Pro gamer move. 2 days ago:
Maybe. Australia has universal health care, but ambulances aren’t included for some reason.
It doesn’t include dentists either… I guess teeth aren’t important.
- Comment on Pro gamer move. 3 days ago:
I think you need to be an uninsured American to really appreciate this joke. Ambulance coverage is $55/year where I’m from (Melbourne Australia), including air transport when needed. I’m in the USA now but ambulance rides are covered as part of the copay for ER visits ($100 on my plan).
- Comment on Total fabrication 1 week ago:
I forgot to mention that PDF added new features on top of PostScript, including 3D models.
- Comment on Total fabrication 1 week ago:
Strangely, this kinda makes sense. PDF is based on PostScript, which is the file type that gets sent to printers. It’s just skipping the final “send to printer” part and sends it to a file instead.
A fascinating thing (in a scary way) is that PostScript is technically a Turing-complete programming language. When a document is printed using PostScript, your computer generates a script that the printer runs in order to produce the document.
PDF is essentially “the safe parts” of PostScript, with all the dynamic parts removed. PDFs are statically laid out when they’re created, rather than having to run arbitrary code to lay them out like PostScript does.
For printing, PCL has somewhat taken over, and it’s less scary (it just has preset commands rather than allowing arbitrary code in a full programming language with loops, functions, logic, etc), but PostScript is still used today for higher-end printers and print jobs.
- Comment on Be sure to say it correctly 2 weeks ago:
Ruffle (a Flash Player emulator) has really revitalized Flash sites. It’s made Flash videos and games playable again.
- Comment on Tell me what to do today, and I will report back. 3 weeks ago:
It can just be something small! Help a tourist with directions. Help an elderly person cross the road. Give a homeless person some food or water. Things like that.
- Comment on Tell me what to do today, and I will report back. 3 weeks ago:
Help someone in need.
- Comment on AI-QAEDA 4 weeks ago:
AI predicts the next token
LLMs specifically… Not all AI does this.
Even so, modern LLMs are more sophisticated and aren’t just chatbots any more, since their harnesses let them use tools - read and write files, browse websites, hit APIs, run commands, etc. That’s what makes them dangerous. Not all tools have good guardrails.
- Comment on Wild card, bitches! 4 weeks ago:
Why do the back wheels on American shopping carts not swivel like the front ones do? In Australia we have full 360 degree motion whereas US ones feel they have the turning radius of a truck.
- Comment on How big is the specific ocean? 4 weeks ago:
I miss Yahoo! Answers sometimes. A simpler time where dumb things were mostly contained in small niche areas rather than being broadcast to tens of millions of people on TikTok.
- Comment on We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas 1 month ago:
Yeah it’s definitely not as good as countries where university/college is fully covered by the government, but it’s also better than plenty of other countries too.
- Comment on According to the New York Times, Game of Thrones is the 6th best TV show of the 21st century 1 month ago:
one (1)
Thanks for the clarification.
- Comment on We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas 1 month ago:
Glad I went to university in Australia. For citizens, the government subsidizes it and pays 50-80% of the cost depending on the course (higher priority areas have better coverage). The remaining cost can be covered by an interest-free loan through the government (called HECS-HELP), and you only have to start paying off the loan once you earn more than AU$70k/year. The repayments are automatically withheld by your employer as tax, the same way they withhold income tax.
(there’s no interest, but the loan amount is adjusted for inflation once per year)
- Comment on New York sues prediction market Polymarket, calling it an unlicensed gambling operation 1 month ago:
They do still block US users from their main business. If you go to polymarket.com from a US IP, it says “Trading is blocked in the United States on polymarket.com”.
- Comment on New York sues prediction market Polymarket, calling it an unlicensed gambling operation 1 month ago:
I thought Polymarket was still illegal in the USA, but it turns out they launched a new, US-specific version by acquiring an existing licensed firm and focusing mostly on sports betting. Their main business is still illegal in the US.
- Comment on fish alignment matrix 1 month ago:
Depends on where you are in the world. In Australia it’s common to use what we call “flake” (gummy shark). It’s boneless, very mild in taste, and holds together well (doesn’t fall apart while eating it)
- Comment on Finally 1 month ago:
is so rich that
- Comment on Finally 1 month ago:
Elon Musk is so rich that
- Comment on To be happy… 2 months ago:
No… A convection oven’s fan just circulates the air. It doesn’t blow it directly onto the food.
- Comment on To be happy… 2 months ago:
Baking is letting the food sit in hot air for a while. Air frying is blowing the heat directly onto the food. They also vent the air to release excess steam and moisture, which is why air fried things are crisper.
- Comment on To be happy… 2 months ago:
Use it like a regular oven but reduce temperature by 25°F or 15°C and reduce cooking time by 20%.
- Comment on To be happy… 2 months ago:
Just power it using solar panels?
- Comment on To be happy… 2 months ago:
They’re impingement ovens, not convection ovens.
- Comment on non issue 2 months ago:
You can also get to this through the UI, too. It’s the “Web” tab.
- Comment on Flock is canceled—and its competitors are profiting 2 months ago:
They should have to get a warrant, because of the fourth amendment.
- Comment on Flock is canceled—and its competitors are profiting 2 months ago:
I agree. I don’t like that a private company is involved, at all. Companies should just supply the hardware, and not have full access to the system.
- Comment on What shall I watch next? 2 months ago:
Nah it’s a screenshot that’s at least ten years old. That’s a very old Netflix UI.
- Comment on Flock is canceled—and its competitors are profiting 2 months ago:
the alternatives do not include a nationwide search as part of their features
Yeah I think people would feel much better if the cameras were operated by the local police department, and they were the only ones that had access to it. ALPR cameras have been around for a long time, but it previously wasn’t an issue because access to the data was restricted. Other jurisdictions had to subpoena the data rather than being able to instantly access everything.
- Comment on Hot Ones trying to sneak in the package protection 2 months ago:
I don’t think this is even legal in some jurisdictions.
- Comment on Infuriating day of the week layout 2 months ago:
That would be an issue, but I’m a person of habit and it’s part of my routine now, so I don’t forget.