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vlachen

I do work in the retail refrigeration world nowadays and "just updating the software" is much easier said than done. I'm usually touching grocery stores with 20+ year old hardware from the dawn of centralized control and monitoring. It's not s trivial thing to rip out the controllers and install new ones.
Re:Making Chicken Transparent Using Dorito Dust on Saturday October 17, 2026 @06:40PM (#50135838)
That's the rub. And I think that they've found my "well, fuck this" point. I already don't frequent their products, but I think it's time to disentangle what I do have on there from other services so I can download and delete.
Re:Dextroproporphan: An Analogue for a Better Dextromethorphan on Thursday September 03, 2026 @09:33PM (#49559452)
I remember hearing about people chugging cough syrup for a "Robobuzz" and I could not bring myself to do it. It seemed to be the most unpleasant way of altering my state.
Equipment design engineering nightmare fuel sourced from really terrible engineering and management decisions.

I hope the engineering crew at the OEM are doing some serious evaluation of their procedures and standards.

I mean, I'm haunted by the things I did for a Klondike Bar.
Re:Starfish by Peter Watts (1999) on Thursday June 11, 2026 @07:23AM (#48488885)
These are the books I read when I feel like I'm too optimistic about world affairs. The dark themes that seem so close to being possible help boost my cynicism and level me out.
I saw IT Chapter II in a completely empty theater, late at night. It was delightfully creepy. However, if I had been an employee there, I think I would have do do something with a red helium balloon to anyone watching that movie alone.
I firmly believe that William Gibson nailed it with the Jackpot in his recent books:

nothing you could really call a nuclear war. Just everything else, tangled in the changing climate: droughts, water shortages, crop failures, honeybees gone like they almost were now, collapse of other keystone species, every last alpha predator gone, antibiotics doing even less than they already did, diseases that were never quite the one big pandemic but big enough to be historic events in themselves.

I'm taking the submission as: if you've got an idea, here's some methods to work build something.

I have a few ideas if my own, perhaps yours is something that could be created.

Re:Music for Programming on Monday April 06, 2026 @07:37AM (#47659596)
Aim to Head's mix channel is a lot of what I listen to for my design work. 30 min to 1 hour of well mixed tracks. The Witch House tracks are partially helpful in focusing.

https://m.youtube.com/@aimtoheadmix1915/videos

Re:Music for Programming on Monday April 06, 2026 @07:33AM (#47659561)
I find that the Secret Agent channel is great for my focus nowadays. I recall listening to Groove Salad back in my draftsman years, from 2000-2002. I am still amazed at how SomaFM has continued to exist.
Hard pass. Karst limestone is bad enough.
A friend of mine retired from the military and moved to my neck of the woods in the Ozarks. Having lived in Eastern North Carolina for most of his 20 years in, he had gotten used to sandy soil with nary a rock. Prior to that, he was in the Twin Cities of Minnesota, and I don't think he dug many holes there.

After closing on their new house he asked me for a shovel, for which to install a mailbox. Of course I'd help my friend out. "Sure, buddy!" I said. "Here's a shovel, post-hole digger, pickax and a rock-bar. That should get the job done." After I explained to him that yes, you need a 20 pound pointy chunk of steel to dig any sizable hole around here, he still didn't quite believe me. However, once he got the mailbox planted, he adjusted his beliefs accordingly.

On the rare occasion that I have to dig a hole somewhere with actual dirt, I always find myself amazed at how easy it is. Those times help me understand scenes in TV or movies that include someone digging a hole. Those scenes don't ever depict someone deciding to move whatever it is they're putting in the ground because they hit a massive stone at 8 inches into a 24 inch hole, and there ain't any getting through it. The scenes don't depict the Herculean effort required to just plant a tree. Those shows don't show the absolutely back-breaking labor it takes to be a landscaper around here. And before I had the chance to do the same kind of work in actual soil, those scenes just didn't make sense.

Re:Shatner is making an album with 35 metal icons on Tuesday February 24, 2026 @01:24AM (#47133525)
I highly recommend watching his live show if he's ever in your area. Great experience. Henry is the epitome of intensity for 2 hours. He doesn't stop. He doesn't sit. He doesn't drink. I'm not even sure he breathes.
Re:Dead Internet Theory on Monday January 19, 2026 @09:56AM (#46679691)
Having been out of university since before Discord was much of a thing, that's news to me. It also is eerily reminiscent of Facebook's beginning sign up requirements.
Re:Fluid Gears Rotate Without Teeth on Wednesday January 14, 2026 @09:39AM (#46616542)
I'm not a fan of the bias towards "Gears are old tech, and that makes them bad" but I can see a lot of interesting possibilities with fluid coupling. The variables involved in power transmission for these things would be pretty wild to characterize, and the article video clearly shows inefficiencies in the system with the driven cylinder having counter rotational flow against it.
Re:Spherical Snake on Tuesday January 06, 2026 @04:41PM (#46519246)
Re:Cecot โ€“ 60 Minutes on Tuesday December 23, 2025 @11:27AM (#46366623)
That's a fair point that I arrived at once I put half a second of thought into what I was actually asking.
Re:Cecot โ€“ 60 Minutes on Tuesday December 23, 2025 @10:23AM (#46366031)
That brings me to the next thing: Taking VPN suggestions. What's the best? I like secure.

Edited to remove being a moron.

Re:Cecot โ€“ 60 Minutes on Tuesday December 23, 2025 @09:09AM (#46365440)
I left the high seas many years ago, but I'm down to seed for a cause.

What's the best torrent client nowadays?

Another technique for me is to avoid apps like Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. I run them all through mobile Firefox with uBlock origin and custom block scripts that block sponsored posts and shorts. This combines well with having Youtube's history turned off which prevents the algorithmic suggestions.
I've taken to "Archiving" apps like this on my Android phone. When I need it, I can un-archive it to use it. Keeps the list of things trying to get my attention a little bit smaller.
Re:Cat Gap on Sunday December 14, 2025 @12:07AM (#46260890)
An obvious failure of the Cat Distribution System.
Re:Why are my headphones buzzing whenever I run my game? on Wednesday December 03, 2025 @11:56PM (#46143950)
In 2013 I bought out 2 Radio Shacks worth of ferrite beads when I was hunting down signal noise in my senior design project (CNC mill rebuild and update.) All else fails, add more beads.

Also, I learned that you can make your own shielded flat cables with aluminum duct tape.

Who knew that they had a really good reason for using 48V signaling in the original machine controls from 1986?

Re:If you don't tinker, you don't have taste on Wednesday October 29, 2025 @07:25AM (#45745364)
I've used the "Harbor Freight" principle for years when purchasing tools for either professional or personal use. I'll buy something I need at a discount store like Harbor Freight and use it for as many jobs as it lasts. If it breaks and I still need it, I'll upgrade to a better version. If it doesn't break then all the better.
Re:The Case Against 30-Year Mortgages on Saturday October 11, 2025 @12:58PM (#45550695)

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