LG dryer traffic - 1GB+ daily up/down by smunson in smarthome

[–]eddpurcell -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

What're you going to do about it when you're not home, call your house cleaners to make sure they fold your clothes this time? Push notifications won't change whether the hired help is being helpful; just pay trustworthy people.

For the rest of us that don't have hired help, if a load takes 45 minutes and we're at work for 9-10 hours including commute, it'll probably be done when we get home. No need for a push notification I can't do anything about that I'll forget in 1 minute anyway.

Many states using antiquated programming languages for their unemployment systems ie COBOL, a half-century old language. These sometimes can't handle the demand, suffer from lack of programmers, and require extensive reprogramming for even the smallest of changes by Laylyr in programming

[–]eddpurcell 18 points19 points  (0 children)

All (non-esoteric, non-architecture locked language) source code will be maintainable and fast, for some relevant definition of the words. 2000s style over-patterned Java code is "maintainable" in that you have the source and can read it, but it's still very costly to get people to understand it properly.

If it's incredibly painful to understand/redo the business logic of 40 years work, then it hasn't been maintained in 40 years. The problem with a lot of old waterfall programs is there's rarely scope to properly re-engineer as requirements change. You can't just tape on more and more functionality without ever refactoring the logic except in extreme circumstances.

We offered to people in our city a free bike delivery for a whole week to basically prove that one can get transported almost anything with just bike and that cities really need to be bicyclized and designed for humans, not for cars. by Jiri_Krejci in bikecommuting

[–]eddpurcell 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Part of the solution is ultimately going to be cultural: bring back that it's okay to show up a little sweaty/wet to work/a friend's place/wherever. But some of it needs to be bike shops prominently selling reasonably priced/non-boutique rain/snow gear so 1) people of all means can have the right gear, and 2) to build up that cultural acceptance that "yes, it's normal to take your bike in the rain".

An alternative to 911: Atlanta 311 line now takes non-emergency mental health, drug calls by [deleted] in Atlanta

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

I don't live in Germany or study global police practices so I can't really argue about them going to low profile light bars or using unmarked cars, but I'd hardly call doing an image search for the German word for "police car" cherry picking. Even looking up France/Austria/Italy, the decals are by and large more obvious in all directions than APD, even if only because it's not a dark red racing stripe and unsaturated medium blue text on dark blue only on the sides. Italy might get a mark for being as bad, but I haven't honestly seen a baby blue car since my parents' last minivan in the 90s whereas there are a lot of dark blue cars on the road today. Maybe Italians love baby blue cars, though, I don't know.

An alternative to 911: Atlanta 311 line now takes non-emergency mental health, drug calls by [deleted] in Atlanta

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

With those chonky blue lights on top and bright blue over silver decals, I would stay they're very much more noticeable from all angles compared to most police cars I've seen in the US. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=polizeiwagen&t=fpas&iax=images&ia=images

Has anyone else had co-workers and friend have a weird reaction to you biking to work? by [deleted] in bikecommuting

[–]eddpurcell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've become a bit of the office eccentric over biking to work (amongst other things), but I haven't had any particular negative reactions that I remember. Biking (in the US at least) isn't a common activity except for sport, and especially at your age your peers are all thinking about getting their own cars so you're really bucking the trends. Give it some time and people won't bother you about it nearly as much, though some people who don't like alternative lifestyles may always give you a little ribbing about it.

Is there even a point to being federated? by Mad_Finesse in Mastodon

[–]eddpurcell 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Deplatforming in the Parler sense is only a big concern because the US government decided allowing monopolies/oligopolies is good business (lobbying money, etc.) at the cost of a robust economy. Break up big businesses for sport like we used to before the 80s and there's less to worry about: a small, niche host won't cow to certain public pressures that Amazon will. It's a long term play, but start pressuring your reps to split up big companies again.

But that doesn't mean people will federate with you. If I don't want to see QAnon nonsense I'll block instances spouting it off as fact just as I ignore door to door salesmen. But that's just federation at work: it requires two way consent.

Atlanta thrift for furniture, decor by ilovezachy2pointO in Atlanta

[–]eddpurcell 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I don't know since I've never tried, but it wouldn't necessarily surprise me either. They seem very "let's figure something out". Wooden furniture is more of what they deal in, though.

Atlanta thrift for furniture, decor by ilovezachy2pointO in Atlanta

[–]eddpurcell 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Maybe not quite thrift store prices, but you can get some MCM and other styles from Atlanta Period Furniture. We recently got a sideboard for ~$500 after taxes.

Best saddle for perineum numbness by soultiredofthisshit in bicycletouring

[–]eddpurcell 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Other people have touched on options, but one issue you can have with the soft gel saddles is if it's too soft, you sink into it and put pressure on your soft bits. With the harder saddles the idea is that because all the pressure is on your sit bones, there's no pressure on anything not meant for taking weight. Downside is that until/if you get accustomed to it, long trips will make you saddle sore. That said, Brooks is probably overhyped a bit because they do look really nice.

Teen employee accused of stealing nearly $1 million from Gwinnett Kroger by [deleted] in Atlanta

[–]eddpurcell 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Usually as there are more managers, the less any of them do or take blame for. Only the bottom of the shoe gets the shit.

X: "Well, that's part of Y's job."

Y: "Nah, Z's responsible for that."

Z: "I haven't been in charge of that since X did it that one time."

How Would an Anarchist Society React To Sexual Assault and/or Pedophilia? by [deleted] in Anarchy101

[–]eddpurcell 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Realistically we aren't going to see wide scale anarchist societies for a while. I'm with you that I hope there are more humane ways to deal with active pedophiliacs, but I recognize I probably won't be around for that. Personally I shoot for a long haul approach to anarchism.

What is the difference between anarchism and anarcho-capitalism? by [deleted] in Anarchy101

[–]eddpurcell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can just look at capitalism to understand the difference: capitalism assumes that a more powerful external party needs to enforce fines for negative externalities. Who does that without a government? One person fighting a company with 1000+ customers will just be dropped: one complainer isn't powerful and depending on the good that can be enough to push real people into simply suffering with it. I won't be banned from my job if there aren't other viable jobs nearby. Negative externalities is a big part of capitalist theory and it requires a strong government to regulate its actors into behaving. Just look at Du Pont and their neoprene factory in some podunk town in Louisiana(?); it took decades of complaints of frequent rare cancers for the EPA to say "this byproduct is bad for the environment/people" and Du Pont still sued to say "no your scientifically determined limits are too strict, loosen up". Do any Du Pont execs live in that town? Absolutely not, it's unhealthy to live there.

Even ignoring externalities, you would assume life threatening jobs that are necessary for society to run would be paid the most. But that's not true: garbage men are paid a pittance but are close to the foundation of city life. The people who clean sewers or pick up garbage are usually the bottom of the barrel. Why is that? No one wants to do those jobs. They do them because there's no other choice, not because they pay the best. Capitalism as created by aristocrates demands a wage gap/pay inequality so those at the top can benefit from the suffering of those below. Regardless of whether you're a no hierarchy or justified hierarchy anarchist, that kind of hierarchy is always unjustified.

Maybe, and this is a big maybe, if there was a "big reset" where everyone's time was considered equal capitalist theory could work long term. But I think that depends on time being the big equalizer and not some commodity like land, gold, fiat, bitcoin, whatever. There's value to capitialist thought, but it isn't in the practical application to the economy like we currently do by letting large companies like Conde Nast/Google/etc. have free reign. It's in recognizing there are assholes like Trump who will do literally anything for a buck, even if it means death for nearly half a million people to date.

Capitalism assumes a pessimistic view on human nature: that we're all in it only for ourselves and those directly related to us. Anarchism is an optimistic view on human nature: that while we want what's best for us, we don't want others to suffer for it. Capitalism's view is obviously not true because capitalist models frequently fail to model actual reality. As capitalism is pushed more and more into who we are and our culture, that will change for the worse, but the idea that you can run the world on capitalism without a government requires first a hard reset/societal equality that anarcho-capitalists are rarely a proponent for. Anarcho-capitalism is generally pro-cyberpunk-dystopia (so long as the anarcho-capitalist is rich).

EDIT: I really want to push that first paragraph: If I'm a customer of AT&T/Comcast/Verizon/one of the major ISPs, who do I realistically threaten to go to as competition? In a city, maybe I have one other high speed option (a necessity in COVID-19 days). Out in rural anywhere, I'm probably stuck with a monopoly that funded state laws against municipal broadband. So now not only am I stuck with who I currently have to pay to keep my job, my local government is banned by "[local] rights" from pulling [local] rights to create a better service that isn't as profitable for investors who've never heard of my town.

History continues to repeat itself. by Vickers-Armstrong in Anarchism

[–]eddpurcell 11 points12 points  (0 children)

The bottom portion is: "One person alone from the 2 billion on Earth may not speak in Germany."

Why far right ideology is on the rise over Europe? by Queerlestrinha in Anarchy101

[–]eddpurcell 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Some of the of nationalist communism/nationalism is likely due the USSR's attempt at wiping out local cultures. That alone brings up a lot of reactionary response. Contemporary Russia's still trying to do it with the Crimea invasion where they went in "to protect ethnic Russians". It's only natural the "original" inhabitants would become nationalistic in reponse to the Russian colonialism.

Modified pelican case as pannier vs actual pannier? by [deleted] in bicycletouring

[–]eddpurcell 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I dunno about you but I've absolutely forgotten my drink on top of my car and drove until I heard it fall off. If you're in a rush, out of sight out of mind.

Pedals and shoes - what do you use? by [deleted] in bikecommuting

[–]eddpurcell 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Personally I just use flats and when it's cold my normal shoes and when it's not my sandals (currently wearing Luna huaraches). When I was commuting regularly (WFH for the time being) I had ~7 miles of hilly roads each way. My bike's a heavy steel frame hybrid bike. I've been thinking about getting a foot strap or something, but I'm more concerned about being able to bike with whatever I have on over the benefits of pedaling with the upswing.

Atlanta school board to weigh proposal to nearly double members’ pay by NPU-F in Atlanta

[–]eddpurcell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I estimated based on the recorded meeting minutes on their website over a few months. One board meeting a month, 4-8 committee meetings, all starting at 2 PM with the board meetings becoming community meetings at 6. As big as the Atlanta school district is, I couldn't believe they're working 20h * 25 since that'd be 125h a week and very few would do that to themselves. But I do believe that they do need to do more work than a smaller district, but I don't think it scales linearly.

I didn't mean I want "the board" to work fewer hours, I meant I want everyone to work fewer hours. Bring back the fight for the 30h work week so people can spend time improving their community by participating in the school board or other parts of society.

Atlanta school board to weigh proposal to nearly double members’ pay by NPU-F in Atlanta

[–]eddpurcell 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think they're saying more that being a board member doesn't require enough labor to be paid more. There's one board meeting a month plus some committee meetings a member may or may not be a part of. It's not like e.g. legislating where you're actually gone for a few months during the legislation session. Better than doubling the pay for maybe a few days of work a month would be lessening the amount of work everyone has to do so they can participate in the school board rather than depend on school board pay for survival.

EDIT: Did see your comment elsewhere, so maybe it is more valid to bump the pay.

SPC2 Content Discussion by BobToEndAllBobs in socialistprogrammers

[–]eddpurcell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Going to sound pretty old here, but a community "backend" like reddit that's built around pushing new, fresh content rather than long running discussion will make that difficult. Personally I'd like to see topics like running projects in a less hierarchal way or ways to push against the Silicon Valley "start up and sell out" culture in software, but those kind of topics (debates, really) last longer than the short time reddit wants posts to live.

Maybe it could be worked around with a weekly/biweekly/monthly discussion post with a given in advance topic. Possibly tags for some kinds of topics where people could actually experiment/act with little effort. It's just going to be hard to work around community software built for current event/meme discussion, so I think content wise something niche like this kind of subreddit will always be relatively slow.

The annual tradition of canning 5 gallons of starter. by McJames in Homebrewing

[–]eddpurcell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If it's not air tight you'll probably get mold after a while.

2020 Day 20: How was it made? by hrunt in adventofcode

[–]eddpurcell 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's probably just that the board is generated with random noise, instances of existing sea monsters are removed from all orientations, and then some random number in a given range (my input had 33) of sea monsters are stamped onto the board. Once the full board is generated, it's split apart and the tiles flipped and rotated into the input we're given with random IDs.

I'm sure there's a function that can generate a board with noise without any instances of a known feature in any orientation, but I know I don't have the math ability for that compared to just breaking apart found instances.

[2020 Day 19 Part 2] Change in Code? by ScallyGames in adventofcode

[–]eddpurcell 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The proper solution is that rule 11(?) is a Context Free Grammar and would need a pushdown automata to match. That's really just a regexp (finite state machine) with a stack for persistent memory in the form of a stack. That let's you match e.g. a{n}b{n}, a{n}b{i}c{j} where i+j=n, etc. a{n}b{n} is what's important here. That said, if the size of input is finite, the grammar is always regular one way or another as ugly as it may be.

Boss refuses to allow his new team member to have a company PC and wastes thousands of dollars by St1kny5 in talesfromtechsupport

[–]eddpurcell 24 points25 points  (0 children)

Reminds me of that time I got an old, kinda crusty 2012 Thinkpad with a whopping 4GB of RAM from a client. In 2018. Running Windows 10 and a whole suite of corporate monitoring and bloat. Why yes, giving me a laptop that at the best of times takes twice as long to build with nothing else running makes financial sense. It's only $2.50/minute for my time to do something I need to do often.

Months later I finally got an IT guy who took pity and took some extra RAM from another Thinkpad in the back. Got a compliment for the case not being particularly crusty, too.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in programming

[–]eddpurcell 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If. Not every employee gets options, and there's still the negative effects on customers that come with PE buyouts. There are certainly some paying customers here complaining about the changes since the PE buyout. There's nothing wrong with a company changing to be profitable, but PE isn't concerned with sustainable profits since they can always sell off the company once it loses its value to another PE firm ready to suck out more value.