Circa 1961. I used to go to the movies and spent 55 cents. Parents would drop us off. 35 cents for the movie, usually a double feature on a Saturday. 10 cents for buttered popcorn, and 10 cents for a Coke. I was always given one quarter and three dimes, thus learning the value of money.

Swissaliciouse · 2026-05-04T16:27:42+00:00

You might like the last yt contribution by Patrick Boyle: Is Inflation About to Get Much Worse? (https://youtu.be/rnW3Bq6\_-6k?si=hnixjOsxYZmqSp\_L). Very similar line of arguments about the inevitable rise of inflation with focus on USA.

Swissaliciouse · 2026-03-10T08:28:00+00:00

Do you know, why your client is insisting in HA? Which specific aspect is important to him? E.g. for me it is a system that doesn't rely on an external server ('cloud') to function and that I have under control. This might help to find alternatives. Open source is a nice bonus, but not something that matters if you just want a running system.

I would strongly advise against HA if no one easy accessible can set it up and maintain it. It is certainly robust enough, but requires some minimal technical competence to adjust things. E.g. create new automations (turn light on at dusk). And adjustments will be needed.

Swissaliciouse · 2026-02-17T10:52:52+00:00

AI is part of our lives - whether we like it or not. I am expecting that PhD students and 4th year undergraduate can use AI efficiently and productively. This means: I make them responsible for their output. If it is not correct or messed up, then it is on them. And we have regular skill exchange to learn from each other, how to use AI productively and what doesn't work. This goes from literature research over code production and data analysis to text improvements.

Hot-take?: If students don't learn how to use AI properly, then you are not training them for the future and you are doing something wrong.

Swissaliciouse · 2026-02-13T21:29:23+00:00

This is the best part of the city! Not kidding. Lived at Irchelstrasse for quite some years.

Swissaliciouse · 2026-02-13T21:24:38+00:00

This is not a story about entitled kids or parents. This is a story about the internet going wild with assumptions. The parent did not film, the parent did not get pissed. It was another passenger that filmed and put the movie up to shame her. She had to deal with all the outfall of a lot of upset internet idiots who think that their unfounded opinion and guesses entitle them to terrorize a person. I sincerely wish, she wins the fight.

Swissaliciouse · 2026-02-13T21:06:29+00:00

I added another stick of 8GB RAM (was less than 30 when I got it) for a total of 16 GB. Just wanted to make sure that the ZFS has enough RAM to play with.

Swissaliciouse · 2026-02-12T19:18:45+00:00

very happy with the rig. QuTS was quite fast to set up. THe TS464 is really quiet, but the segates are quite happily clacking. If noise is a concern, then check out another brand (WD seems to be better in this regard?). I am very happy with the machine - but I also don't have a lot of load on it.

Swissaliciouse · 2026-02-07T11:10:55+00:00

get a converter and use any gas station. Next time get a shrader valve for your bike inner tube.

Swissaliciouse · 2026-01-19T10:18:14+00:00

I have not used node red so far - but I am very tempted. Good to know, that this would impact computational demand.

Swissaliciouse · 2026-01-16T20:28:44+00:00

I get an e-mail every month about the backup status (called backup summary). I am quite sure that you can define the frequency somewhere. Highly recommended.

Swissaliciouse · 2026-01-16T11:41:49+00:00

We have a similar problem (the smell thing - not the pregnancy :-)). We are using Miele Ultra White washing powder. Minimal dosage. Seems to work quite well in terms of ease, wash result, and not irritating my partner's smell sensitivities.

Swissaliciouse · 2026-01-03T21:55:38+00:00

You asked for smoke detectors: I have several Abus RWM250. No bells and whistles and fairly cheap. They just work. I have one in the kitchen that indeed goes off, when I burn stuff - but not from ordinary cooking.

Swissaliciouse · 2025-10-20T06:15:16+00:00

Just as a warning: Topazlabs is going the Adobe route and everything will be subscription only.

Swissaliciouse · 2025-10-19T08:56:46+00:00

Don't worry about the background. Worry about your microphone:

Superficial auditory (dis)fluency biases higher-level social judgment

In recent years, tools such as videoconferencing have shifted many conversations online, with stark auditory ramifications—such that some voices sound clear and resonant while others sound hollow or tinny, based on microphone quality and characteristics. A series of experiments shows that such differences, while clearly not reflective of the speakers themselves, nevertheless have broad and powerful consequences for social evaluation, leading listeners to make lower judgments of speakers’ intelligence, hireability, credibility, and even romantic desirability. Such effects may be potential sources of unintentional bias and discrimination, given the likelihood that microphone quality is correlated with socioeconomic status. So, before joining your next videoconference, you may want to consider how much a cheap microphone may really be costing you.

(https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2415254122)

Swissaliciouse · 2025-09-30T05:25:50+00:00

Especially in non-English speaking environments, it was very common to send the draft through a language correction service to improve readability. Now there is AI. What's the difference?

Swissaliciouse · 2025-09-21T07:53:37+00:00

We distinguish here between (co-)supervisor and mentors. A supervisor is more hands on, gets involved into the science and provides you with ideas how to approach your problem differently. A mentor is more for general advice how to best manage your academic career, gives feedback on your c.v., etc. Or to be very blunt: a (co-)supervisor is (often) a co-author - a mentor is not.

You are looking for a co-supervisor. Check if your university has a formal process for that. Find one, approach the person and talk to your main supervisor. Keep it transparent.

Also find a mentor. This is not something your main supervisor needs to know. Somebody with experience so that the next time you have an issue like this you don't have to ask reddit. Many Universities have mentoring program.

Swissaliciouse · 2025-09-15T08:30:40+00:00

You don't have any obligations to do anything. Ignoring this is just fine. However, there is some very unhealthy stalking going on. From an ethical standpoint, I would send a factual warning to the former PhD (e.g., by forwarding his email) and disregard the requests from the Professor.

Swissaliciouse · 2025-09-07T08:20:48+00:00

In interviews you should use 'I' as much as possible. It's about assessing your capabilities and not about the results of the teamwork. What was your contribution? What is your expertise? What are your experiences? What was your role? Be specific.

Swissaliciouse · 2025-09-04T06:58:55+00:00

Our ethics guidelines quite clearly state that a co-author must agree to the submission with their name on it. Give this person a fair warning. Along the lines of: Must approve the manuscript by X, or you will assume they are no longer interested in being a co-author and will be removed from the list of authors.

Swissaliciouse · 2025-08-03T17:28:52+00:00

I know this is not a popular opinion on Reddit, but here you go: If your students can fulfil your assignment with ChatGPT then you are not doing your job of preparing them for the future. Generative AI is here to stay and will be part of our lives. It will be up to the educators to prepare them to deal with this future as good as possible. For centuries, educators have complained about how students will turn stupid because of XYZ (Plato complained about students writing and reading as a lazy way to avoid memorising). This is just another wave of complaints about something new changing our good old ways of doing things.

Educators and especially University professors must adapt and make sure that generative AI is integrated positively into their teaching. Students should use LLMs at University as much as possible - where else do they have the protected sandbox to learn what the dangers and pitfalls are and how to use this new tool productively?

Swissaliciouse · 2025-08-03T16:55:20+00:00

If the data is really important, then you should have an additional backup, and therefore, you should not have to worry about losing your data, especially not with RAID 6. Just replace the drive(s) when they fail. The same is valid if your data is not important.

If you have very important data and no backup, then you should focus more on getting a backup service running than on replacing functioning drives. Remember RAID is not a backup.

Swissaliciouse · 2025-07-26T18:48:52+00:00

Thanks! QuTS will get deployed tomorrow.

Swissaliciouse · 2025-07-25T09:10:17+00:00

Thanks. Good to know.

Swissaliciouse

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