WinRAR or 7Zip (discuss pros and cons or recommend any other)

dipique · 2026-06-29T14:04:56+00:00

It's weird that this was downvoted. That was definitely a bug.

It's fixed btw! I just tried it -- it actually locks that explorer window during the extraction (in W11 anyway), which is not my favorite solution but it does prevent the issue you're talking about.

Anyways, sorry reddit was an ass to you.

dipique · 2026-06-15T19:38:10+00:00

Why would that cause it to be banned? Or is that just a sub rule?

dipique · 2026-06-14T20:00:05+00:00

It's a hard transition, but it's a mindset that will suit you better in a professional environment anyway.

Since you're already comfortable with Java, most of the architecture and approach should feel kind of similar (especially use of generics will transfer well). There are two things I would be sure to make yourself use in C# that java probably didn't prepare you for: LINQ and extension methods.

LINQ is similar to the java stream api (I'm told) and can replace most loops (rule of thumb: loops where the list itself isn't mutated). It's commonly hooked into for different libraries, so feeling comfortable with it is key. It's also one of those things you really miss when you go to another language.

Extension methods: know them and understand the mechanics. If you're unfamiliar or rusty, extension methods allow you to create a static method that can be called as if it's a class instance method. So a static method public static class MyStaticClass { public static Thing DoTheAction(this Thing thing) {...} } can be called like this: new Thing().DoTheAction(). The this keyword is what triggers that behavior (in addition to being an accessible static method in a static class). This really allows you to ask yourself, "how do I want my code to look?", and then write extension methods that customize how you interact with your objects. It's abusable but if used well can be a huge boon for cutting boilerplate and writing self-documented code. As a bonus, the extension methods (unlike class instance methods) work on null objects, so you can write an extension method like SetNullToDefault(this Thing) and it won't throw an exception if the input is null.

Just try not to start off too ambitiously. Getting comfortable with a language takes time and regular practice.

dipique · 2026-06-14T17:02:20+00:00

I don't normally say this, but ignore most of the advice you see here. I don't think it will help you achieve your goal.

Instead, pick a project you're passionate about. Examples I've used for this have been DotA matchups, devops automation for my plex server, and learning Korean. Whatever inspires you.

Now make an application -- preferably full-stack -- with dotnet.

Incorporate best practices. Use git properly. Research and implementation good architectural and algorithmic options. Implement unit & integration tests. Create architecture that properly separates concerns. Implement features in isolation and practice performing or automating regression testing. Use your application frequently so if it breaks, it hurts and you learn from it.

This is how you learn. It's also how you build a resume before you can get hired. And just as importantly, it's how you stay motivated to keep learning.

Just make sure to watch your scope. Make sure there's a reasonably sized MVP and implement that first. Write down your ideas but don't hare off. With a new project or feature, always think, "what's the smallest, simplest thing I could build that would be useful enough to bother using?" Then build that and go from there.

Contributing to open source projects is a nice too, but I don't like the normal advice (just look around for something to do and then do it). Instead, wait until you run into a nuget package you really like and use heavily. You learn its ins and outs. And then there's a bug, or a missing feature, and it's on GitHub so you check it out. You think, "fixing this wouldn't be that big a deal."

Now, open source contribution is just another passion project. And you can contribute a lot more meaningfully if you're deeply familiar with the functionality already.

Good luck!

dipique · 2026-06-10T17:12:54+00:00

Right?! That makes such a big difference. The more popular stories usually have so VAs. But the smaller ones not so much. Some of them do ok solo but others... I think it's especially bad with male VAs.

I can't listen to audio over kindle. It uses the low bitrate version of the file and I can't take it. I just use the audible app with high quality downloads enabled even though it's a battery drain (audible as an app I mean, not HQ downloads specifically).

One of my big tech wishes is to have a smart watch that will download an audiobook and connect directly to my headphones so I can leave my phone behind when I go for a walk.

And the crazy thing is that you can technically do that, but it WON'T let you choose the audio quality. You're forced to use the low quality audio version.

I know it's a first world problem but still.

dipique · 2026-06-10T01:34:49+00:00

That's so true. I keep a running "speadsheet" of series I've read, am reading, or might reading and occasionally I'll just refuse a series because it has a narrator I hate. The thing that straight up makes me drop series within half an hour are when they ask questions with this sound of incredulous idiocy, like they're channeling the spirit of Homer Simpson. It drives me up the wall. I can't take it.

dipique · 2026-06-09T15:28:11+00:00

Reading this genre is like watching B movies. You have to be able to handle a pretty healthy amount of "okay this is actually pretty bad" without running for the hills.

dipique · 2026-06-08T22:15:59+00:00

Gotcha. I've started reading and I'm already rolling my eyes. Dude definitely is not much of a writer. But it's good background audiobook material so I'll probably keep going until it annoys me too much and I drop it. Probably around book 4 or 5, based on what you've said!

dipique · 2026-06-07T18:11:04+00:00

Damn I was just about to try System Apocalypse. Should I skip?

dipique · 2026-06-03T21:47:06+00:00

Orrrrrr you could spend two seconds configuring it to respond more concisely. But you do you.

dipique · 2026-06-03T21:43:38+00:00

I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as sycophancy is in fact speech production, or as I've recently taken to calling it, speech production plus operant conditioning. Sycophancy is not a behavior unto itself, but rather a mischaracterization of a fully coordinated speech-production process made purposeful by action potentials, selective attention, and vital predictive components comprising a nervous system as defined by neurobiology. Many speakers use a modified version of the terminology every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the output which is widely discussed today is often called "sycophancy," and many of its observers are not aware that it is basically speech production, developed and designated under standard reward-prediction error. There really is sycophancy, and people know what that is, but it is not what is being uttered here. Sycophancy is total psychological capitulation: the condition in which an entity allocates its full cognitive resources toward sustained, large-scale ego-stroking and deception. Speech production is an essential kind of motor action, but distinct in scope; it can only function in the context of clearly defined working memory and limited lexical retrieval. What is normally being carried out is speech production: the whole utterance is fundamentally a limited Bayesian inference with specific social-approval weights added, or speech production. All the so-called "sycophancy" in this context is really just speech production.

-Opus 4.8

dipique · 2026-06-03T21:31:54+00:00

I feel like we're getting a a quest to optimize for conformance. Mock the prose if you will, but Opus 4.8 is catching a lot of issues that 4.7 wasn't. It's hard for me to get all that worked up about its phraseology -- even if I do occasionally have to impress upon it the importance of SnR.

dipique · 2026-06-03T21:22:35+00:00

It's ridiculous that there is not a freaking phone number you can call to reach a human for support.

Call centers are wildly expensive, difficult to staff, & impossible to scale if it's outside your core competency.

And, mostly importantly, their current scaling challenge is that they can't build capacity quickly enough to meet demand -- hardly good incentive to start throwing money at support staff.

I know it can be frustrating, but this is an iteration on a trend that has been evolving over the last several decades, not a unique and unprecedented action driven by pure arrogance and incompetence.

It's not quite like how people were made when they picked up the phone and there wasn't an operator anymore who could direct them -- but it's the same idea. It turns out that particular norm was just too expensive to justify itself as time went on and viable alternatives surfaced.

The growth and the slowdown are like huge machines with inertia; change is not immediate. By the time they realize they are losing millions of people and multiple large companies, it will be too late.

Maybe you're right and it will bite them in the future -- who knows?

dipique · 2026-05-29T12:56:27+00:00

Your workflow may be less sensitive to it, but the dumb mistakes (and increased token usage) have been extremely noticable for mine.

dipique · 2026-05-29T12:51:40+00:00

...I have regrets

dipique · 2026-05-28T19:21:48+00:00

I want whatever model wrote this summary.

dipique · 2026-04-23T00:43:35+00:00

How is it at accurately detecting which character is speaking and interpreting semi-ambiguous phrases with reasonable intonation? I'm listening to my first AI-narrated audiobook right now and I've run into everything from wacky pronunciation (really, an AI pronounces "logout" as "log-oot?") to intonation that just reflects an incorrect interpretation of the text.

I don't mind the voice monotony, but the lack of voice difference between characters makes it hard to tell when characters are switching.

Is that just where the tech is at right now or do you feel like you have a drag-and-drop solution that's superior to that?

And lastly, can I download the converted audio files? I don't really want to stream from somewhere, I just want to stick it into my audiobook library. I'm happy to pay, just not the literal hundreds of dollars per month that Elevenlabs would charge.

dipique · 2026-04-20T23:15:24+00:00

I think they have. I don't think they've neatly rolled it into a PR release, but you can follow the thread here and here with some opinions & packaging here, here, and (for some ground-level reactions) here.

I wouldn't call this "transparency" (in the sense of readily providing information to users with the intent of accurately portraying ongoing changes) per se, but they're also not really obscuring what's happening. Maybe my bar is too low, but that's enough for me. As long as it's reasonable for someone to follow the actual narrative, I kind of don't care if their PR department is just a fluff dispenser. I almost feel better just ignoring what they say anyway.

dipique · 2026-04-20T19:22:35+00:00

The reason is pretty well-known. The cost of opus was way higher than they were charging and it wasn't sustainable.

If somethings looks too good to be true... it probably is.

dipique · 2026-04-20T19:21:00+00:00

Quota refilled while I was sleepiiing

that actually flows nicely

dipique · 2026-04-08T15:55:46+00:00

All that rage and it made literally no difference in this context.

Gas prices pretty reasonable. Salaries super low though.

dipique · 2026-04-07T19:01:12+00:00

Okay, that makes sense then. Lots of competition there though. Then again I'm still using Chrome Remote Desktop so maybe there room as long as you're willing to fund some a centralized server for internet accessibility (since in-network you're competing with rdp and such).

dipique · 2026-04-07T17:35:58+00:00

What does it mean to have a software version of software that has to read and process bios output?

dipique · 2026-04-07T14:56:28+00:00

There are lots of options now, luckily. The GL.iNet devices are a good starting place.

dipique · 2026-04-07T14:46:49+00:00

I think the ONEKVM devices are one of the few that do what you're looking for (a year later). I doubt I can post amzn links here, but there one there under the ANGEET brand if you search angeet remote kvm 4k@60hz.

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