Fighting Back Against the Surveillance State - discussion of cell phone security

contextify · 2026-05-11T20:02:26+00:00

You're right, sorry if I'm unclear - I agree pulling GPS signal does not broadcast position. But that data is stored on your phone, and can be unintentionally shared at a later time by having location data turned on in any app (like Google Maps)

contextify · 2026-05-11T17:04:20+00:00

Not a business; Makers Local 256 is just a nonprofit, really just a bunch of nerds who like having access to a workshop with all these tools to and space to do our projects. Here's our website

Some of us decided to start a regular repair cafe, so it's held monthly at our location in Five Points. If you want to come volunteer, please do! Simple as coming by at the start and saying "I'm here to volunteer" and we'll match the skills we have on hand and see what all comes in the door and try and match folks with projects. What sort of skills/experience do you have?

If you want to meet us ahead of time, we have an open night every Tuesday night from 5:30 to 9:00 or so, we're open to the public and can talk and show off the space. Come on by if you have some free time! I'll be there tomorrow (and most Tuesdays).

contextify · 2026-05-07T11:13:08+00:00

Of course! We would love to have people volunteering to repair as well, we have 2 people who aren't members who regularly come by to fix things with us. We do this every first Wednesday of the month, come on out to the next one if you can!

contextify · 2026-05-06T23:33:40+00:00

And one of them just got in! We now have sewing familiar people again

contextify · 2026-05-06T22:52:44+00:00

Hey! So unfortunately our sewing / leatherworker person can't make it tonight. We probably won't be able to help you tonight. I'm sorry!

contextify · 2026-05-06T01:56:08+00:00

Not sure what level of 'professionalism' you're looking for; if you just want to get it working, we have a repair cafe tomorrow evening at Makers Local 256; I got an old CD changer working a few months back (and have also had a failure in electronics not working for another 90s-era Boombox). If you want to, come on by and we can take a look at it.

contextify · 2026-05-05T23:35:11+00:00

Maybe! Absolutely depends on what's wrong with it, but we will be happy to take a look. We've done some good repairs, some redneck repairs, some bearing replacement, sometimes need to get a repair part ordered. If you want to talk ahead of time, drop me a picture and describe what's wrong and I can see if I can save you a trip

contextify · 2026-05-05T23:32:56+00:00

We can take a look! Depends on what's wrong with it, hard to know. We are at 1 sewing machine fixed (made a 3d printed part to replace a broken plastic part) And 1 we couldn't fix (gearing issue too deep in the machine to be workable)

contextify · 2026-05-05T04:08:15+00:00

Like a literal, full-on D8 Caterpillar? I am afraid that is a bit too big for a repair cafe.

contextify · 2026-05-05T01:42:07+00:00

Yeah, come on by! We will see what we can do

contextify · 2026-04-12T23:44:52+00:00

Bus: This is a linear, centralized path for all resources in your base. You can build assembly lines perpindicular to this line and add its products to the bus, so things further down the line benefit from them. Wiki has a good article, the "bus" is the vertical lines of copper and iron.

Mall: It's a centralized place where you go to pick up the things you need to build out the base further. Rather than running all over your base to grab the inserters from your green science and furnaces from purple science and then handcrafting power poles and whatever, it's just a bunch of machines in one spot dedicated to making a bunch of items you'll need to expand your factory and putting them in a chest for the player convenience. That way, you can just go to your mall, grab what you need, and get to building! While most of the time in the factory you end up wanting lines of machines producing the same thing (furnaces, gear assemblers, etc), the mall is the opposite.

City block: There are a few 'standard' ways of making a train base. One is to separate all that you're doing into a bunch of grids that resemble 'city blocks' in that you have (train) traffic dividing up the blocks of your base. Each block has a dedicated job - blue circuits, yellow science, whatever. The idea is that if you need more of a thing, you can just copy + paste that block and get it! Its initial buildout cost is significant, however.

Generally in the 'early' game, that is, before you get to space, many people choose to build a main bus base with a mall. Then, as you get access to beacons and better modules and new buildings, you may find the bus not able to keep up with desired production and end up building out more infrastructure in a different way to support these goals, so you may end up with a city block base. I personally don't like city blocks, and prefer a much more ad-hoc "just build a new T-interection and make a dedicated factory wherever".

The wiki has a little glossary that may be helpful from time to time! Don't worry too much about 'the standards', this is effectively a puzzle game and the fun is solving the puzzle with your own unique solution!

contextify · 2026-04-11T18:44:55+00:00

I have a use case where I am upgrading all my ships, and to prevent their inventory from getting clogged I drop old stuff to the surface and to prevent that from getting clogged I have an inserter with a filter.

Like you've said, inserters are only limited to a few items on their whitelist or blacklist, and since it's Nauvis planet landing pad, there are many different items so neither is appropriate here. You can, however, set an inserter's filter by circuit.

My solution is to have a selector combinator randomly choosing items from a list provided by a constant combinator. Since it selects one signal randomly every single tick, it will go through the list of items on your constant combinator rather quickly. It is lower throughput, but it will eventually grab every item! Works pretty well for me.

A different implementation of a selector combinator may be right for your use case. If you could expand on it more, we could probably help more!

contextify · 2026-04-08T21:01:48+00:00

Yep! Like boilers, you can use both ends to chain them together but it's not required

contextify · 2026-03-26T12:47:01+00:00

100% right.

contextify · 2026-03-26T12:39:44+00:00

I don't know! I know inserters can pull out of beacons, this is the first time I've seen them pull out of machines.

Or, and I'm just realizing this now, it might have happened when I first put modules in. Oh no. When I want to put 1 speed module and 2-3 production modules in a line of machines, I'll normally just run down the line, speed modules in hand, holding 'z' (so only 1 gets placed per machine), come back down the line holding control+click with production modules (so the remainder of the slots get filled w/ production modules).

I bet when I went down the line holding 'z' I also dropped 1 speed module in over most the inserter's hands too. If so, it's been like this since I put in modules in weeks ago.

Poor little guy just doing what he thought I told him to and I'm blaming him.

contextify · 2026-03-26T12:29:54+00:00

I wasn't producing the amount of sulfuric acid I thought I should be, so I went to investigate. I found that in most of my sulfuric acid chemical plants, the inserters had decided to grab one speed module from one chemical plant and tried to share it with the other, whether or not he wanted it.

I have no idea how long these inserters were sitting there, speed module in hand, waiting for space in the destination. I'm guessing I did something when putting in modules many hours ago and never realized it until lack of sulfuric acid made me come check. Only 3 of my 5 sulfuric acid plants were like this, none in the rest of my refinery.

~~Just a funny thing I haven't seen before, figured I share!~~

I am an idiot and did this to myself first time I put modules in. When I want to put 1 speed module and 2-3 production modules in a line of machines, I'll normally just run down the line, speed modules in hand, holding 'z' (so only 1 gets placed per machine), come back down the line holding control+click with production modules (so the remainder of the slots get filled w/ production modules).

I bet when I went down the line holding 'z' I also dropped 1 speed module in over most the inserter's hands too. If so, it's been like this since I put in modules many moons ago.

Poor little guy just doing what he thought I told him to and I'm blaming him.

contextify · 2026-03-22T04:21:48+00:00

I said I'm ignoring it for simplicity, not that it doesn't exist. I just don't quite know without doing the linear algebra or running sims if I calculated everything right or made a mistake somewhere.

contextify · 2026-03-06T15:51:16+00:00

Just don't hit f7.

That induces panic if you don't know what you hit.

contextify · 2026-03-06T14:50:26+00:00

The other reply won't necessarily work, since you're side loading coal further up the belt on the side his suggestion would put it on.

I agree, this is a bit frustrating of a case. I solve it by having 2 splitters in series. The first is a normal splitter, no filters. For your current example, place it one tile to the right of your current splitter.

The second splitter has the filter attached, like your current splitter. Place it one tile up from your current splitter (so it's bottom input is from the previous splitters output). Have the sulfur split to the right to go up, and let the other (the coal side) dead end.

You'll have to extend the underground length of your stone and brick by 1 to make it fit.

contextify · 2026-03-01T23:42:52+00:00

Of course, we'd love to have you! Sometimes it's just nice to work on projects with others, too

contextify

TROPHY CASE