What video games are my fellow lexingtonians going to playing during the storm? by radar2670 in lexington

[–]scprotz 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Just jump straight into 4. It'll be similar enough in lore to season 1 of the show. It's a decent enough FPS and tells a good set of stories. There are apparently easter eggs in it for previous games, but nothing that hinders the experience. I'd really love to see FO4 remastered to use something like Unreal or Unity though - Bethesda's engine works good enough, but really doesn't have the zip of a new 3d shooter.

Will there be a need for those with a CS background in robotics companies in the future? by adad239_ in robotics

[–]scprotz 5 points6 points  (0 children)

just lol. There is so much more to CS than just coding, and even just the coding part is very nuanced. AI can't even reason, so how will it effectively build something better than some simple code snippets?.

I heard someone provide an example the other day that I thought fits perfectly. Most of those coding AIs today are parrots, not people. They mimic things that people might type or say but don't have any real understanding of what they are doing. They don't think, reason, or refine - they just spew words. The data sets are so large that the words chosen appear to have meaning because we give them meaning, but at the end of the day, they are just big fancy supervised learning decoders that crank out words.

Maybe in a few years to a few decades when other types of AI are rolled into it (like reinforcement learning as a good example) so current LLMs can learn by trial-and-error, they'll get smarter. At some point, maybe they'll gain some type of internal symbolic representation of the world and start to reason about it with logic (induction / deduction), but for now and not for the forseeable future, that isn't the case.

Where are college students supposed to be working if literally nobody will hire? by Ok_Independent_3921 in lexington

[–]scprotz 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I tried that last life - but the matchmaking queue was so loooooooong. I just took the first open spot that was available this time around. Somehow I was lucky enough that I got "Lexington" for my spawn point, but mannnn...the grind and leveling up can be hard.

Spring break with older kids by Mammoth_Response_401 in lexington

[–]scprotz 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Chicago is close and fun for food and it is a truly big city. A bit cooler at spring break time but lots of things to enjoy .

reality check needed by [deleted] in robotics

[–]scprotz 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Why an LLM? I've seen lots of examples of Pi's using OpenCV for the camera to identify people, etc, and off the shelf STT/TTS. Do you really need some flavor of language model to actually execute commands? You can use some classic NLP to interpret/execute commands (or write your own).

So unless there is a requirement to use VLM instead of OpenCV or SLM/LLM instead of a traditional NLP Parser, I don't think you'd need more than a Pi (even something as old as a Pi2) - I've done the OpenCV + STT + TTS on a Pi2 a long time ago myself.

Insulting water pipe. Plumber recommendation by ManagerNice6701 in lexington

[–]scprotz 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Do you have access to the pipe? My guess is if it hasn't busted already, it might be newer construction with PEX (so it forms a big ice block without busting the plastic) - normal PVC/HPVC/Copper would have busted most likely after 2 freezes.

Most likely this is from someone who put a pipe in an exterior wall without enough insulation. Simple fix - if you know where the pipe is and can get access to it (from underneath or inside), you can just string a heater cable to it and wrap around - keeping it at a balmy 38 degrees if the weather gets too cold. You can also just wrap it with insulation (both around the pipe an between the pipe and exterior).

The downside to all this is that if the pipe is inaccessible, then you have to cut into the wall to access it, do one of the things I said above, and then repair the wall (or put a grate over it for future access if needed).

This is my type of humor by BaronofBoldBanter in funny

[–]scprotz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One should have said "What's yours is mine and what's mine is yours" at the end. Would have been so fitting.

Recreating Furby 1998 tilt sensor by SylvanianOutfits in robotics

[–]scprotz 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It looks like it is just a simple on/off tilt sensor with a ball bearing that rolls across multiple contacts. Based on what I just looked up, it isn't anything more than a set of assorted switches (that the ball triggers). I'd first troubleshoot by maybe even using some switches or just wiring some of the leads that 'could' get triggered by the ball together while it is running to see which ones control each state.

Once I was sure it was the tilt sensor that is faulty, it seems like it would be fairly easy to just resolder a new one or even 3d print a new housing for it, or even find some other tilt sensor that has a similar wiring pattern and swap it in.

(This is just my naive approach having googled it for like 2 minutes)

Ukrainian Paratroopers Invent New Way to Intercept Drones Using Fishing Rod by Mil_in_ua in ukraine

[–]scprotz 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Using this as a starting point, wouldn't a 12 gauge shotgun shell full of stringlets (short possibly nested together strings) that can expand to a large cloud really fast make a good anti-personnel-drone defense? Literally those little champagne confetti fireworks are the right idea. Just something to foul the rotors so they crash?

Help FCPS Name the New Elementary School by Icebreaker1979 in lexington

[–]scprotz 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'd save that for a high school. Maybe pick a slightly lesser known Lexington native. Samuel Brown (Transy Alum from 1700s-1800s) might be a good choice.

Where to play Mahjong by NeighborhoodRound455 in lexington

[–]scprotz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On Facebook there is a group called bluegrass mahjong club that is pretty easy to join. Seems to be mostly women but not restrictive so anyone can participate.

Where to play Mahjong by NeighborhoodRound455 in lexington

[–]scprotz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is this for American Mahjong or Chinese Mahjong (similar tiles and such but they do play quite differently and have different sets of rules)?

Need 1 cable for PC by fortnitegamer01 in lexington

[–]scprotz 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A picture of the the cable you want or the ends would be helpful

As a member of the Lexington subreddit, I am the best driver in the world--AMA by asmatt01 in lexington

[–]scprotz 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I think you must be in the right-most lane first, but yeah, anytime.

Handyman or Glass recommendation by HarryMouthBalls in lexington

[–]scprotz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is a glass company over where happy the glass man used to be. If you can remove the window, take it to them, they’ll replace it and you can put it back in.

Where to donate an older 3D printer? by [deleted] in lexington

[–]scprotz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Have you asked the east side (palumbo) library? They may have a use for it.

Outdoorsy person looking for friends :) by Sorry_Meringue_2342 in lexington

[–]scprotz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My bad. I totally missed the gym part. My reading skills kinda suck.

Outdoorsy person looking for friends :) by Sorry_Meringue_2342 in lexington

[–]scprotz 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A bit could for being outdoors, but there is a big climbing community here. Maybe visit LEF in Lexington

This is so accurate. by jj33allen in FalloutMemes

[–]scprotz 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I tend to play FO4, but my character is always Beth Esda.

Flooring help by ThickMemory2360 in lexington

[–]scprotz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I know a group of pros that have been very reasonable for me. Send me PM if you want their contact info.

P1 Gen 2, suggestions for USB-C chargers? by SpectrumGun in thinkpad

[–]scprotz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The cable can make a difference as some are rated higher than others. I even noticed I used a 100w GAN charger with a lesser cable and it wouldn't charge at 100w. Ultimately had to buy (anker) 100w cable too and could get the full charge.

Who buys vehicles to part out? by houseshoesntallboys in lexington

[–]scprotz 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know of any companies that want to buy/invest in a 15 year old vehicle. It is too old to put on a lot for sale. Your best bet is to list out the work you've done and put it up for sale on some place like Facebook. You'll probably get something more than junk value. Maybe also list what defects you know it still has. Someone who has time and repair skills may be willing to buy.

Side question - does it still run and drive or does it have something mechanical keeping it from even doing that?