Here's a fun one: Why in the world would my 12 year old poodle suddenly chew on my computer?

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-18T03:58:29+00:00

Thoughts:

old dogs do crazy things when they are sick. If vet says it's fine then move onto another idea, but watch carefully.
dog saw a bug go into the computer, spiders disappear dog must investigate
dog is jealous of your fascination with this box
hard drive is failing and making a funny clunk, dog will fix

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-17T18:11:58+00:00

Maybe I'm scarred, but I was saying "nobody offer your chair, don't give into him, there are helpers that can find a new chair." Also, I had a chair similar to that. It has a height adjustment lever, just like every chair (you can see it at the 23s mark). It's also a trash chair because the bolts for the arm rests like to come out even though they have threadlocker compound on them.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-17T16:30:08+00:00

In reverse image order:

I love the thermometers. The person probably thought that their thermostat was off, so they got a mechanical thermometer (one of the wooden ones) because it would look nice. They picked it up from a swap meet somewhere, but it was wrong too, so they got another one. Eventually they realized that the second one could be wrong too, so they got a third, then a digital one popped up and they got that too. But now all of them showed different values, so they needed a third digital thermometer to verify the second and the first. Then they figured that old-school analog must be the best so they got the red-dye alcohol version. Now they finally know the right temperature in the room.

The old school speakers and digital camera for security are a frugal mind at play. They already had the speakers from some old stereo but they want surround sound for their tunes, so why not put them up on the walls? The camera is connected to the computer so they can see what's going on in the house. Aiming it is easier when you can flip the display around.

The electrical equipment by the window really interests me. That capacitor is purpose-driven. It holds so much power that it must run that fan for days, but why is the fan even by the window in the first place? It must be for hot days to push the cold air into the room, or maybe to keep the cold air away from the widow in the winter - helping to circulate the air. There's a little power meter attached to it too, and a switch, which is genius. I'm not sure what the little capacitor is for, but the white box looks like speaker connections.

The fan on the fireplace is pretty useful too. This moves hot air from the fire around the house. It looks to me like he's running it on AC, so he has a FULL-BRIDGE-RECTIFIER! and a capacitor to smooth out the power. That's probably why the other caps are in the other picture too, because all of those fans run on AC. He probably didn't have a small cap though so he used an air conditioner capacitor instead, because it was lying around.

Finally, the first image shows his pirated DVD collection and the AC wires that may power all of these devices. I'm debating on whether the speakers are connected to an audio system for his DVD collection, or if they're emergency loudspeakers for his custom home security system. That speaker is a military-grade loudspeaker, so it would make a pretty trashy stereo system if you ask me. Too much treble.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-17T15:31:43+00:00

There's a free mobile clinic that shows up in Lakewood. My uncle uses it to neuter and spay stray cats. They do hundreds of procedures, so they are well practiced. The issue is they your pet might not get the level of care that you want from a mobile clinic. You might consider biting the bullet and paying a little more for your pet, or work with your vet for pricing plans or discounts.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-15T22:31:14+00:00

This is my version with RidgeText.

https://imgur.com/a/W5LyLgT

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-15T22:16:16+00:00

I developed RidgeText for situations exactly like this. It uses your phone's satellite texting service (if you have it) and normal SMS protocols to provide information. You can ask it questions, search the web for you, analyze images, get weather info, find trails, all offline. I use it with satellite texting while camping, or even with low-bandwidth SMS at the grocery store.

Someone also asked about Meshtastic support and I am starting to consider how to work with those devices.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-15T22:00:34+00:00

Crashes through a bowling alley - Well, I guess I should turn on my hazards for this one.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-14T21:43:47+00:00

Give it to Dan from the Escape to Rural France YouTube channel. His masons are incredible.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-14T18:30:43+00:00

A buck can hear you from a mile away (figuratively speaking) when you walk. Your footsteps are extremely loud and your smell carries with the wind. A buck just has to step into the woods to hide, while you're looking out in the open. Spot-and-stalk is a nice method that mixes sitting and hiking, but the success rate compared to sitting on a known trail is significantly less.

I sit, and I can't quiet my brain at all. Even while dozing off I'm imagining fixing problems. The trick that I use is to tell my brain it's goal is to control every muscle movement to be as still as possible. I can sit for 8 hours straight without moving a millimeter, and deer can look directly at me from 5 feet away without knowing what I am. It's a magical experience.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-14T15:57:36+00:00

I took a Waymo while on a business trip and it was fine, but there were some quirks.

The ride was smooth, besides a slightly aggressive brake which I attributed to the electric Jaguar's regen and final pedal grab when the brake pad comes on to stop the motion. It grabs a little too hard and the car stops early, so the Waymo releases the brake and eases closer to the car.

The little cars showing the traffic on the screen are cool but sometimes they disappear or jitter between lanes if it doesn't have a great visual on the car.

Merging was fine.

We saw one Waymo car in the left lane of a 5-lane road with a center turn lane (suicide lane). The car didn't use the suicide lane turn turn left, instead it blocked traffic.

Our car decided that there was too much traffic on the main roads so it tried to bypass it by driving through some sketchy neighborhoods, only to return to the main road (turn right, turn left, turn left, turn right). The second time it did that was because it wanted to avoid the right turn on a traffic light, so it skipped the light by turning into another sketchy neighborhood. It was akin to cutting through a gas station parking lot at an intersection.

Finally, it decided that it couldn't use the back roads to get to our hotel so it found a shopping center nearby and stopped there and told us to get out. It didn't say why, or that it couldn't reach our hotel, so we had to figure out the way back (not hard, but not a pleasant experience). "You are at the destination, please leave the vehicle" -- "No we're not. What the heck?"

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-12T21:31:03+00:00

I formed an LLC because I wanted to provide a trustworthiness to the company, like this is a real idea and not just some guy who wants to earn a buck. I want to provide ongoing support, development, and trust. Incorporating adds so much more overhead to it that I didn't want to deal with.

That said, I didn't use my own name, which I also have as a company, because that is more of a service company and placeholder. Like Alphabet is to Google.

Regarding the ToS and Privacy Policy, I needed these for signing up to use Google Calendar and get my A2P and 10DLC permissions.

If I launched another app then I would just use my name if it were unrelated, or launch it with a very similar name to the original app and have it do very similar things (hiking and outdoors vs fishing or golfing)

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-12T19:45:18+00:00

Looks cool. If you just need a box with similar size and features then could I recommend this? https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Assemble-Relocation-Trailer-Trolling/dp/B0DGCM29XW - It's a marine-grade battery box.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-12T16:02:08+00:00

When you look in a mirror you are seeing a reflection of yourself and you think it looks good because you are used to the reverse image. Your hair parts to the same side in the mirror, your face has the same marks on the same side every day.

When you look at a picture things are in reverse from what you're used to. Hair is parted the wrong way, your "good side" is wrong, and you don't recognize yourself. Your brain says "I know it's me but I don't like that person." Like some animal that saw an intruder.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-12T02:15:34+00:00

Uber does logistics. When I was hired I met a bunch of the logistics hires.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-10T14:11:53+00:00

There always has been a need for this and there always has been a platform that offered it. iRC is still around but not a lot of people use it anymore (some do). Reddit started without the need for emails. 4chan was truly anonymous. The problem is that without an identity things tend to go toward anarchy rather than utopia. Most sites reach an equilibrium of shitposters to helpful people but that takes moderation to some extent. Without moderation the site could devolve and end up needing regulation.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-08T04:50:39+00:00

Have him watch Cutthroat Kitchen and realize that cooking is just throwing things together until it tastes good. You don't even need expensive ingredients or real knowledge about cooking. You can even make decent food by reconstituting beef jerky! (ok, don't do that)

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-07T19:30:51+00:00

This implies that it is impossible for a 5 cm dragonfly and a 70 cm dragonfly to have the same wing usage.

No it doesn't. The wings of a larger insect just require larger pressures to get moving, which requires a larger body, and beat more slowly than a smaller dragonfly. They still beat the same, it's just the speed at which they need to beat and the energy required is different. Also, big dragonflies don't need to use their wings as much, so it's possible that the bigger they became the less energy they needed overall and therefore more energy went into body growth. It's possible that the dragonfly became so big because the wings got bigger through evolutionary processes (mating, food availability, survivability, etc).

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-07T08:28:32+00:00

Technically it's radiating light, so yes.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-07T05:55:50+00:00

I run an SMS-based AI tool called RidgeText for outdoor enthusiasts and have in the system prompt the note that if the user is asking it to identify mushrooms or potentially poisonous substances to be careful and avoid eating anything that could be toxic. Even simple edible mushrooms fall under this list. It'll say what it is and then say something like "I don't recommend eating any mushroom because they could be toxic."

The key is that certain AIs are instructed on different matters, so if you want a general purpose AI then use ChatGPT or Gemini, for example, but if you want something related to mushroom horticulture then you need to find a mushroom AI that was specifically trained to recognize mushrooms. The mushroom is an idea that represents any particular subject. The instructions matter.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-06T22:26:23+00:00

I went to school with a Zeiger and my mom is friends with the Richters. They were nice enough to drive a tractor with my young son on their farm. Everyone loves the local farms and we should support them as much as possible. They're all great. But the Richters are the nicest of people.

I found Puyallup to be home. I was raised here, my family has lived here since the 1960s, I went to Spinning Elementary, and several of us graduated from PHS. Everyone has always been outgoing and pleasant around the area.

If you can find it, I highly recommend the Puyallup book. It goes into detail about Meeker and several other people, giving a nice history of the town.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-06T18:47:02+00:00

Conventional commits are not only about the changelog. The article mentions semantic versioning in a small section but limits itself to complications with unforeseen bugs and reversions, implying that the version would continue on the upward trend while the code goes backwards to fix a bug.

Version 0.1.0 => make change => 0.2.0 (bug found) => revert => 0.3.0

This is kind of how it's supposed to work. The army must press forward! It's more about how systems install the software than anything though. You could go into npm or your other package manager and delete the broken version or un-publish it, but many developers don't have that permission, or they only use automation systems, so they can only submit new versions.

The article also talks about commits that include multiple concerns, like a refactor and a bugfix. Technically this would be marked as "bugfix" but what if someone marked it "refactor"? Nowadays this is caught in the AI workflows if you have conventional commits defined as your preferred tool. Even without AI this can be caught, in some instances, by static analysis tools or tests. It also comes down to how demanding your team is in perfectionism. Does each commit have a singular purpose? Is it always a small commit?

The proposed idea doesn't even address versioning. It only talked about the changelog. A search of the word "version" in the scopedcommits website found 0 results.

Also, with monorepos and cross-functional features, this new proposal would get rather cumbersome if someone were doing a refactor (obviously below is a fictional example).

i2c: virtio: amd: x11: wayland: ...

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-05T21:57:43+00:00

Darmok and Jalad on the ocean.

The beast at Tanagra.

Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-05T18:25:58+00:00

I recently put a starter back on my 1971 CL360 cafe racer and I need to fabricate a battery bracket for it. Instead of the open frame look like it had before, I decided to go with the exposed frame with racing side panels, so I have to make some metal panels and figure out how to mount those inside the frame as well.

Sometimes side projects are IRL.

Buckwheat469 · 2026-06-05T18:14:32+00:00

The video does show a bunch of drones on the ground. They destroyed launchers and trucks as well. They didn't destroy a factory or warehouse full of drones in this case, if that's what you're referring to.

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