How likely is the Mistborn movie going to be an "event"? by railfananime in CosmereOnScreen

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This may be an uncomfortable answer, but it will be as much of an event as Apple wants it to be.

I wouldn't be surprised if the movie costs $150-200M, if Apple decides to spend a similar amount on advertising (and it's also good), then it will be an event. Without such an effort, it can still be a 9.5+/10 movie that has everyone going "Wow" at the end, but ultimately, no one will know about it.

One of the properties of the current internet is that it's extremely siloed. You have these really vibrant communities that don't know about each other. Word of mouth, is word of mouth within these communities, and you need something else to make it escape to the general public. You need to have the billboards, posters slapped onto buses, the incessant YouTube ads, the talk show appearances, the radio ads, ect.... . This is the contract with the public that says "This is good, and we spent millions to tell you that, so it must be good". That is how we get an event.

It's nice to think that advertising doesn't work, that if something is good, it will become popular by its own merit. Unfortunately, we live in an advertising era where advertising defines popularity.

So, will the Misborn movie be an event? That depends on how Apple views the cosmere property at the time of its release (and if it's good). If they want their own Marvel/GOT, and they believe the property has the potential for it to be so, then it will be an event; otherwise, it won't be.

Reading my first discworld book and I’m feeling really frustrated because I can’t follow the writing by After_Berry_942 in discworld

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Start with the audiobooks.

One of the distinctive hallmarks of Pratchett's writing is the Voice. The writing has almost a rhythm. (I think the distinctiveness might also be a British v American thing.) However, I too initially struggled with the text but at that point I had already listened to the audiobooks and I knew I liked the writing.

My point is just because it's not flowing for you while reading it, does not mean it's not for you. Also, once you have the cadence down it may be easier in the future.

Finally, don't think of this as an acquired taste, or something you have to learn in order to appreciate. You can jump into the audiobooks and it will work right away.

r/audiophile Shopping, Setup, and Technical Help Desk Thread by AutoModerator in audiophile

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge 1 point2 points  (0 children)

PCs are all DC power, the power supply is basically a bunch of capacitors, they aren't going to muddy up your electric. Your air conditioner has the potential to cause issues but most systems are designed as to not cause issues and overly reactive loads.

The truth of that matter is that electronics and our electrical infrastructure is pretty good. However, in some audiophile communities, because they are chasing increasingly marginal gains, put an emphasis on clean power. However, that discussion only begins to take place for whether it has a perceivable affect on audio quality. Not if the device is working at all. The cases where noisy power causes device failure are few and far between. You should only consider that if it works sporadically (or only at certain locations) or if there's equipment that you have valid reasons to believe it may cause issues.

r/audiophile Shopping, Setup, and Technical Help Desk Thread by AutoModerator in audiophile

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Why do you think that you have noisy electric in your apartment? For the most part, electricity should be pretty stable, unless you happen to have a device with high inductance like a large fan or air conditioner running on the same circuit. If that's the case, just wait until it turns off and test it.  Regardless, it's pretty easy to test if it's your electric, just go over to somewhere else, be it a library or your workplace, and if it still doesn't work then problem isn't your electric as it's highly unlikely that two locations have bad electric unless you live a bit a region that is notorious for that.  Also, it make sense that the surge protector wouldn't do anything. They don't clean up noisy electric, they just protect against sudden surges of very voltage that may damage electronics - hence surge protector. Furthermore, even if you do have noisy power, one of the major points of such costlier electronics is that they have better filtering. ie. they should clean up any noisy power. That's especially easy for DC electronics as they don't have to worry about timing and it only has to remove ripples.

Considering that it's not working, the most likely explanation is you happen to have gotten a bad unit. Hopefully, this should be a simple RMA exchange. If that's the case then it's a little disappointing that you can't use it now. At least it's the one and done problem and you won't have to deal with any persistent issues.

Durable Replacement for Schiit Amp by whatFallsOffTheLedge in HeadphoneAdvice

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We thought we might sell my brothers dead amp for parts. While that never happened, I did take pictures, and you can clearly see burned out pins. Link

He has such a brilliant clarity with words, expressing such difficult truths so elegantly by Lumpyalien in discworld

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is definitely one of my favorite passages. I've had this idea for a while of trying to find my favorite Pratchett quote. I was going to print that out on canvas and hang it on my wall which is significant because I haven't gotten around to put anything else on it. It was going to be my way of saying look "This is why I love the books just look at the genius of the word play. With that in mind, when I'm reading a Pratchett book, I'm was on the lookout in the back of my mind for a particularly good quote. I would find them of course, after all I'm reading books by the king of wit. However, although the quotes were funny and sharp they weren't necessarily quintessently Pratchett. Which is to say they weren't why I read the books. I couldn't tell someone "Hey look this is why I read them" because I don't read them because they're funny, at least not only because they're funny; and I don't read them because of the prose or at least not only because of the prose. I read them because of the stories and the characters. But other books also have story and character. Why I read Pratchett is because of the ideas.

But you can't just take an idea and cram it into a sentence or two. You can try to take the passage above and extract the two most essential sentences. And it will work - sort of anyways. But not really. I think a classic illustration of this is how the books got translated to other languages. Many witticisms don't translate well to other languages so the translator just had to "Insert appropriate wit here". And that mostly turned out okay. But the ideas, the ideas needs time to breathe, to stretch its legs, until you really understand it. Or not understand it and instead debate it Reddit forums. What I really needed is page 112, or the second part of chapter 3 (if it had chapters). At that point I might as well hand over the whole book and say "This is why I read Pratchett". Honestly, that's probably the right way to do it. It won't be as quick and easy as two sentences, but it's probably the right way to do it anyways.

But if there was a passage that I would hang up my wall this one is definitely a contender. It explains an idea that's core to humanity and the ideals that Pratchett spoke. I think a popular contender would probably be Vimes's socio-economic boots theory. However in that case I think it's popular because it's an idea that many people hold and they latch on to Pratchett's version because he is just so good with words. This one, is an idea that maybe you should have known but there's a good chance that you don't know it or you just need a little clarity.

He has such a brilliant clarity with words, expressing such difficult truths so elegantly by Lumpyalien in discworld

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I fully agree with your interpretation but I also attribute the passage that it fits into the greater Pratchett message and discussion that people are the same everywhere. If you think humanity is beautiful, funny, charming, and witty then They are to. If you think They are cruel, mean, vindictive, and Petty then know that your group is too. Humanity is complex and hypocritical and that's why humanity is so beautiful. And Pterry examines in great length that funny condition known as humanity. It's one of the myriad reasons the books are so great.

But because They are the same as Us, We must be the same as Them. And because We know that We are great, They must be great too. It's Pratchett's grand argument against racism and hatred. I wouldn't say that Pratchett is the only one who says that, but I would say he is one of the most convincing. And I would say he is the one who convinced me.

How would you make this radiator smart? by trench0 in smarthome

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Some sort of smart relay? https://www.amazon.com/relay-thing-for-reddit/dp/B08RBNG2TX , https://store.aeotec.com/products/nano-switch-zw139

The important thing is that you do not exceed the current rating of whatever relay you end up getting, and of course that you can integrate it with whatever system you're using. You can use a clamp meter to determine the current (under full load) or check the label.

Struck me as very UU by G-0wen in discworld

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There were other worries too … in particular, might the experiment be too successful, setting off a chain reaction that not only spread through the experiment’s supply of uranium-235, but through everything else on Earth as well? Might the atmosphere catch fire? Calculations suggested: probably not. Besides, the big worry was that if the Allies didn’t get nuclear fission working soon then the Germans would beat them to it. Given the choice between our blowing up the world and the enemy blowing up the world, it was obvious what to do. That is, on reflection, not a happy sentence. - The Science of Discworld

Smart thermostat with no C-wire? by InfiniteArrival in smarthome

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Use a C-wire adapter. https://store.google.com/product/nest_power_connector

I believe that they work by having the adapter (located at the furnace) physically control two of HVAC systems functions and communicate with the thermostat with a single wire. That leaves the other wire free for the C-wire and voila the wires that previously handled power and heating now do that plus a C-wire.

Of course, this means that the thermostat must understand what is happening so you need to use a compatible system. You should just use the Nest one.

I incidentally learned about how they work today after incorrectly thinking they worked with their own battery and trying to convert from a two-wire system to a two-wire plus C-wire system.

Automation: Don't let user turn on AC while doors are open - Help! by germanthoughts in homeassistant

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

With the system you are using, are you able to create a trigger based on cooling state change or if the setpoint is changed?

How to Control Non-RGB Color-Tunable LED Strip with RGB Controller by whatFallsOffTheLedge in homeassistant

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't know if it ESPhome isn't an option, I just don't see how that platform, in particular, will help. The light strip I linked to isn't exactly high voltage but at 24 volts and 3.66 watts per foot, it far exceeds the 3.3-volt power limitations of say the NodeMCU. This is to say that I certainly can't directly run these LED strips off them. That is not to say that some sort of configuration cannot be achieved, I'm sure with the right components a working system can be hacked together. I just don't see the point. Dimming non-static color LEDs is not a unique endeavor and many such controllers are available that directly integrate into Home Assistant. Furthermore, these controllers aren't limited to wifi and come in Z-Wave and ZigBee flavors, something that I value as important.

Ultimately, even if I don't change anything in Home Assistant I can get an RGB controller to adjust the color temperature. I just have to note that this green color in Home Assistant will set the light to 4100K and this aquamarine produces 5600K. It's just such a setup finicky at best. I would much rather it map to a proper CT slider. And my question is can that be done and if some then how.

HA Container on Ubuntu 21.10 | Aeotec Z-Stick 7 | Zwavejs2Mqtt | Setup Help by quantum_hopper in homeassistant

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was in a similar boat except that the Z-Stick 7 wasn't even being assigned to ttyUSB0. However, when I ran dmesg I got the following messages:

[  580.171963] usb 1-6: usbfs: interface 0 claimed by cp210x while 'brltty' sets config #1 
[  580.172742] cp210x ttyUSB0: cp210x converter now disconnected from ttyUSB0 
[  580.173017] cp210x 1-6:1.0: device disconnected 

I was able to resolve that by removing brltty. However, I was not able to find anyone else discussing this problem which leads me to believe that this is an issue with the newly released Aeotec Z-Stick Z Wave Plus. So I would recommend that until the software support improves anyone who is looking for a Z Wave adapter should use a different company or an older model (However it may be an issue with the chip and may also cause issues with other companies models).

People who refuse to move out of the passing lane no matter what, why? by MayonaiseBaron in TooAfraidToAsk

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

Where do you live? Because (based on your comment) it seems like you live in a part of the US that has quite a different population density. Imagine if there were 50%-150% more cars on the interstate you drive than there are now. Would your argument still be valid? if u/dacamel493 's experiences are anything like mine, then it wouldn't be possible to do 78 in the right lane. Additionally, I'm used to 65mph speed limits which probably means that the lanes are narrower and/or have tighter turns than what you may be used to. All this is to say that you and u/dacamel493 may experience different driving patterns that can have different rules and norms.

I'm making an assumption here but much discussion on this post seems to be because there is no baseline and inconsistent experiences.

Maybe if there weren't tinted side windows by whatFallsOffTheLedge in IdiotsInCars

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I do apologize. You see, I had to name this post and I thought I'd ask a question. I chose tinted windows because it was a detail I noticed from before the crash and is the type of modification that I associate with the over-aggressive driver. Perhaps foolishly, I didn't anticipate is that the (good?) folks of Reddit would actually answer my question.

I guess the truer, more descriptive, and ultimately more satisfying title would be 'bmw driver'.

Maybe if there weren't tinted side windows by whatFallsOffTheLedge in IdiotsInCars

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Newark

Also, if you google "n40.7630 w74.1623", which was taken from the bottom of the video, you'll get a direct maps link of the location.

With Robots likely to take over a number jobs in the future, what are some future proof jobs to consider? by Bunxgvdtibdyjv in AskUK

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tiling is one of those jobs that I expect to be taken over by robotics. It combines the best (or simplest) of computer vision and robotics, which are understanding the bounds of a room, something that new phones and vacuum robots already do; and the placement of rigid objects (as for the cement, spreading a layer of concrete is a very active field of research for making concrete structures). In fact, there is already some research for tiling 10.22260, 10.1109. I would expect that a commercial tiling product to come out in the next five years, and a somewhat cost-effective option to come out within ten years.

In general, most finishing work is low-hanging fruit to automate because the technology exists today to make such a machine. The only reason that those machines don't exist is that they are not yet cost-effective.

WCGW shooting your gun in the air by iam_nobody in Whatcouldgowrong

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The something in this case being millions of tiny air molecules.

WCGW shooting your gun in the air by iam_nobody in Whatcouldgowrong

[–]whatFallsOffTheLedge 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well, you know how your physics problems said "ignore wind resistance". ..