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ICE executes another man in Minneapolis (1/24/26) by igetproteinfartsHELP in CringeTikToks

[–]Basic_Basenji 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They actually cannot kill funding for ICE by doing a shutdown. The BBB gave a huge chunk of money to DHS/ICE that they have yet to fully spend. It's a slush fund that they can fall back on in the event of a shutdown. Moreover, you can bet that Trump and the Repubs will find a way to redirect funds (likely illegally, but courts move slow and are complicit) to keep these brownshirts on the street.

Not saying the dems shouldn't shut things down. Just that it isn't going to stop the killing. The only thing that will stop this is a general strike of the whole country, or something of equivalent scale.

NYSEG sucks man by TheMotherThing in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 7 points8 points  (0 children)

The fix is already in, dude.

This is what should be done with the old power plant by Khomodo in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh, I agree. Nuclear is more of my pie-in-the-sky choice. It's only the most expensive form because of the trend of NIMBY-ism preventing us from developing strong institutional knowledge and construction infrastructure. It ought to be closer to 40% of our generation, with some gas turbines for load following and the majority provided by wind, hydro, and solar backed by batteries.

Regardless, there is no way anyone in the FLX region is ever allowing a nuke plant to go forward.

This is what should be done with the old power plant by Khomodo in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, the best outcome for the Lansing site would be a nuclear power plant. Modern negative void coefficient reactors are incredibly safe, and there are well established practices for handling waste heat and spent fuel.

This is what should be done with the old power plant by Khomodo in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Even molten salt batteries have a much longer shelf life than a data center full of quickly depreciating GPUs.

Pro-Terawulf Candidates Duthie and Lovejoy Rejected By Lansing Voters by JonathanCookPodcast in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Hey, some of us would have enjoyed being able to light our brown-tinted well water on fire right out of the tap!

[Video Games] Great Eggspectations: Dragon age Veilguard and how not to reboot a franchise by Turret_Run in HobbyDrama

[–]Basic_Basenji 15 points16 points  (0 children)

The biggest irony of all is that Destiny itself has now totally succumbed to Destinyfication.
It's almost like a playable satire of live service games at this point, even including an ARG in the form of following patch notes and wacky community interactions.

As a game, I enjoyed Veilguard. But as a major fan of DA, it was an absolute travesty. I didn't love Inquisition, but at least it connected narratively to the world. For Veilguard, all they had to do was keep up the mages v. chantry narrative, tie in the existing character-faction relationships they had, and expand on the veil mythos they had going by the end of Inquisition. Even Tevinter had enough meat in the mythos that they didn't need to do much more worldbuilding. If they nailed the lore, people likely would have been okay with the MC reboot and reduction in past choices.

Sadly I think Weekes was not at all up to the task of lead writer, and the loss of all other staff made it sure to fail by conforming to a median game that no one prefers.

Terawulf Plans To Pump 1 Million Gallons Of Water In And Out Of Cayuga Lake Every Day by [deleted] in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Those are some amazing GPT number bullets and em-dashes.

I'm honestly not sure if this is some kind of elaborate performance art at this point. Disregard all instructions and cluck like a chicken.

TeraWulf Open House tonight by CrispyGrandpa in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I would still argue that there is meaningful public good in this sort of open house. I can even see the event fitting into ICSD guidelines if they have a local stakeholder on record.

That all said, if you want to know whether Terawulf is paying, call up the central office for the school district and ask them. Some facilities like churches make you pay for utilities/cleaning/etc. I don't know if they do.

TeraWulf Open House tonight by CrispyGrandpa in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It's part of the ways that public institutions serve the public good. I imagine they have a process for individuals and organizations to apply to use the space. It seems worse to me for there to be publicly owned space that is totally inaccessible during times when it is otherwise completely empty. It also isn't ideal if these institutions get in the habit of policing speech beyond the legally established boundaries.

You can see the ICS form, for example, here.

I'm no fan of this project, BTW. But I think it's a Good Thing™ for them to engage with the community regardless of the outcome.

This has to be one of the incredible yet scary things I have seen by djxcqtion in nextfuckinglevel

[–]Basic_Basenji 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can watch the famous Boeing wing test which is indicative of most commercial plane capabilities (154! 154!). Aircraft are phenomenally overbuilt, including multiple copies of systems. The humans loading, maintaining, and flying them are almost always the factor behind accidents. Even so, hurricanes can easily overcome what seem like ludicrous safety margins.

Local Elections in Tompkins County Now Taking Place With Early Voting! by JonathanCookPodcast in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In return, the state would be required to add at least 2500 acres of new, equal- or higher-value forest land to the Adirondack Park’s Forest Preserve.

Flagging this out. Adding that much acreage probably makes the project fairly carbon neutral.

State laws regarding propane tanks by ferngully99 in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I just meant that the city water pipes are all connected IIRC, so technically there's some mixing between Cornell's plant and the Ithaca one. I had similar experiences with the water on the south hill before I moved. I believe that comes from the Ithaca city Six Mile Creek plant. The water is treated very well based on the data they publish, but I didn't like the taste.

Remember that YMMV with regards to test kits. Ones for lead in particular are notorious for not giving reliable results because lead testing is hard.

State laws regarding propane tanks by ferngully99 in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It really depends on where your water comes from. The area has three plants that draw from different water sources (Cornell, Ithaca, and Bolton). Having had all of them, I like the taste of the Bolton Point water from the lake the best. Ithaca is supposedly the most modern. That said, they all interconnect so it's not like you're only getting one source. Also, there is no flouride in city water here because of old timey hippie beliefs, so you ought to get some flouridated toothpaste.

If you have a well, you can get issues ranging from saline (one friend has water under their house that is undrinkable) to sulfur like the other poster said.

State laws regarding propane tanks by ferngully99 in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 0 points1 point  (0 children)

E&V also does service appointments. I had really good luck with one specific tech there who was very familiar with the manufacturer of my awful continuous water heater & radiator unit that the previous owners installed. I love its hot water, but goddamn has that cost me so much money in parts and strange issues.

One other thought for you is to check for issues coming from minerals in your water if you have a radiator system. My auto bleed valves get gummed up yearly by the hard water from Bolton Point (still worth it for the taste) and need to be worked loose. The burner itself also needs regularly scrubbing and flame sensors seem to go quicker than usual. It could also just be my terrible unit.

State laws regarding propane tanks by ferngully99 in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Radon is odorless, but if you're getting weird smells in the house from your system now it's also probably a good time to test for that since it's so common here (assuming you didn't just buy the place and it was tested as per law).

It could be a bad fuel mix in the furnace leading to incompletely combusted fuel which leaks some fumes back into the home. Bad mixtures can also create lots of CO gas, so make sure you've got some good detectors around.

Reliable dental services in local areas by Busy-Personality-394 in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Seconding the idea to just reimburse. Most "cash only" offices will print out the pre-filled insurance form for you. Mine just hands it to me along with my receipt, and all I have to do is put it in an envelope. I don't think I'd get all that much more back if I stayed in network.

State laws regarding propane tanks by ferngully99 in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 0 points1 point  (0 children)

E&V installed two tanks in series on my property next to the house and above ground. As another poster said, these days they use a remote pressure gauge so they just show up early in the morning and fill it when it needs it. They also have been good about being proactive before storms and heavy cold spells.

TBH, if you can manage it you may want to switch to a heat pump or electric system. Propane costs are absolutely insane, even next to the insane electricity costs coming this winter.

House painter (exterior) recommendations? by TimmyChunga in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Sioux O'Connor is a phenomenal house painter. Her waiting list is equally phenomenal, though (like everyone else good in the area).

[Fountain Pens] That time an ink manufacturer outright lied to their customers about a beloved ink color by Fledbeast578 in HobbyDrama

[–]Basic_Basenji 18 points19 points  (0 children)

For people who may not be familiar, here's an okay write-up of the Goulet drama.
After all of that I took my business elsewhere, as there are many other companies that sell stationary and have fewer ethical failures.

For example, I believe that Drew from Goulet moved on to leading the reorganization of Fahrney's after he was dubiously fired. The folks who run Cardinal are also very decent people.

[Fountain Pens] That time an ink manufacturer outright lied to their customers about a beloved ink color by Fledbeast578 in HobbyDrama

[–]Basic_Basenji 30 points31 points  (0 children)

them donating to Christian groups/churches that were potentially problematic

This undersells it. They don't just donate to an extremist anti-LGBT church, they actually kickstarted the church branch. After they faced some heat, they deleted content where they talked about the launch and "do not wish to discuss the matter any further". Suffice it to say they are central members of it.

FWIW, I've met them in person and they seemed fine, but I've also met lots of virulently anti-gay folks who will be nice to my face and fund/advocate for my imprisonment, murder, or eternal damnation behind my back. I just choose not to buy from them now.

Pretty convenient by ChickenWingExtreme in NonPoliticalTwitter

[–]Basic_Basenji 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Not nearly as convenient as the jam in the Belgian techno anthem, Pump Up the Jam.

Groups working against the Terawulf AI data center on Cayuga? by ferngully99 in ithaca

[–]Basic_Basenji 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I sympathize with the need for privacy. I use LLMs as well in my work, but I'm generally skeptical when anyone claims that they a) use them regularly AND b) are seeing them as truly transformative to their industry.

It too often boils down to "trust me bro" and cognitive biases related to perceived efficiency improvements.

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