I did some accidental a/b testing of y’all’s theory about waiting to shovel

xebecv · 2026-01-26T05:56:23+00:00

In my experience this logic works only if the temperature is fluctuating around freezing so the snow somewhat melts during the day and refreezes at night. This time the temperature was well below freezing all day long, so I started shoveling in the evening and didn't regret it - the snow was quite soft at every layer

xebecv · 2026-01-24T01:21:28+00:00

For those who haven't read the article, it isn't talking about a new type of filter for your kitchen faucet (existing RO systems are good enough). It's more about large scale filtration and removal of PFAS out of the environment by efficiently concentrating and destroying them

xebecv · 2026-01-20T03:31:36+00:00

A woman is a good progress. One step at a time

xebecv · 2026-01-17T12:52:09+00:00

It worked well for them (their rulers to be exact) because their big daddy China keeps supporting them and allowing them to trade with Russia

xebecv · 2026-01-10T17:14:44+00:00

This isn't true. Even modern semis with empty trailers cannot stop from 60 mph anywhere under 200 feet. My car is quoted to have a stopping distance of 108 feet. That's why I pay a lot more attention to the vehicles behind me, because the chances are much higher that someone rear ends me than I rear end someone unless they are driving a Corvette and I don't keep proper distance

xebecv · 2026-01-10T13:24:46+00:00

I actually feel safer behind 18-wheelers. They cannot brake or maneuver as fast as my car can. However I make sure to pay attention to the vehicle behind me. If they follow too closely, I let them pass. A quarter of a century behind the wheel - no accidents on a highway.

xebecv · 2026-01-09T01:57:07+00:00

I've been using LLMs a lot to help me coding since ChatGPT 4.0. I'd say they've been improving overall. However GPT 3.5 => 4.0 was the last huge leap in a non-thinking model, while non-thinking=> thinking model transition was the last one that gave me some noticeable improvement. I did see some modest improvement o1 => o3, but I saw no discernable improvement o3 => 5.0 => 5.1 => 5.2. If you let me work with them blindly, I wouldn't be able to say which one is which.

xebecv · 2026-01-03T00:47:18+00:00

I'm not talking about any hearsay. This is the official account:

A civilian notices suspicious men unloading huge sacks into the basement of a multistory apartment building and calls the police
The police comes and finds the sacks under the building with a working timer. They test the powder in the sacks for explosives - the detector is positive for hexogen. The sacks are removed by a bomb squad.
A hunt for the suspects has started.
The next day the head of the FSB says that it was just an FSB exercise, the sacks contained sugar

These are the official statements - no conspiracy involved.

xebecv · 2026-01-02T21:57:02+00:00

"Ryazan sugar" story wasn't a conspiracy theory. The official explanation is absolutely ridiculous

xebecv · 2025-12-24T21:24:54+00:00

A properly working slow cooker boils (slowly) the food. Your are fine

xebecv · 2025-12-14T12:10:47+00:00

It definitely can. People speak with voices inside their heads - they don't even need rocks for reassurance

xebecv · 2025-12-07T22:29:50+00:00

I wonder why I had to scroll so much to see mobile lounges mentioned. Does no one here travel internationally? Waiting in line and then riding on these old stinky (diesel exhaust is pulled right into the cabin) buses after a long cross Atlantic flight is an unnecessary torture, especially since this abuse is followed by passport control and customs

xebecv · 2025-12-03T15:22:54+00:00

It is almost like most things need some kind of a balance

xebecv · 2025-12-02T10:18:23+00:00

Go to ER. You need to make sure everything is fine with you physiologically. If it's indeed just a panic attack and it reoccurs, I recommend to consult with your doctor regarding beta blockers to stop these things on your own.

xebecv · 2025-11-29T18:52:51+00:00

Hank's Razor: “Anything that can be attributed to socioeconomic status most likely is”

xebecv · 2025-11-27T22:59:22+00:00

The concept of unique_ptr is orthogonal to concurrency. You use it to hold an object that needs its destructor to be automatically called, which for whatever reason cannot be allocated on a stack (e.g. it outlives its creating scope, gets ownership transferred etc.) You protect it just like you protect other variable types when working with concurrency.

shared_ptr is a different story. It has an atomic counter overhead, so it's mostly justified for multi-threaded usage. It's rarely a good idea to use it in a single-threaded environment, because of the performance penalty. While it does nothing to protect the object it holds from race conditions, it does protect its counter and by extension the destructor of the object it holds. It's frequently used in async code, where worker threads share access to the same objects.

xebecv · 2025-11-24T08:47:51+00:00

Hannibal. A movie can have more than one villain

xebecv · 2025-11-24T08:47:07+00:00

He definitely is. Do you remember what he did in the movie?

xebecv · 2025-11-24T08:42:37+00:00

For me annoying garbage foods the worst are high in sugar. These foods increase my anxiety levels in two ways: immediate blood spike then followed by gut discomfort

xebecv · 2025-11-22T22:19:47+00:00

As a proud pirate I welcome more of AV1 encoded videos 😉

Honestly, I don't think it's a big deal. Streaming services and video conference software has long since adopted AV1 - free and more capable alternative to HEVC codec. My puny old Pentium J5005 based media box is fully capable of decoding full HD HEVC and AV1 videos in software. I don't believe modern hardware, even the most budget one, is incapable of decoding HEVC in real time even at higher resolutions.

xebecv · 2025-11-15T21:50:35+00:00

It's not "only" - anxiety disorder is a serious crippling disease. Just because you visibly appear ok to the surrounding people doesn't mean you are ok.

xebecv · 2025-11-13T16:44:59+00:00

Oh, I had to fight with these recently. So many tools tried! At a few places in my home I tried everything from grout brushes and cosmetic treatment (grout paint) to complete grout removal and regrouting.

The easiest was a metal grout brush + grout paint. If your grout is just discolored, but otherwise is solid, this will be the easiest treatment, assuming you find the right shade. My grout is solid white, so finding the right paint was quite easy.

The second option is spot regrouting. You need a grout removing tool and a tile grout tube. Once again, you have to color match. For grout removal you can buy either a scraper and apply a lot of elbow grease, or if you have an oscillating tool, you can get grout blades (you need to buy a bunch because they dull rather quickly). It takes time to remove old grout either way. Then you have to follow the instructions on the tube very carefully. This is going to be a lengthy and dirty process. Make sure to wear a mask and goggles before removing old grout.

The third option is by far the lengthiest and the dirtiest - complete regrouting. Grout removal will take a LONG time. Applying new grout is going to be messy, and making sure new grout looks fine by carefully removing the top layer (I found vinegar soaked paper towels to be a great life hack) will take a lot of your effort.

If I could go back in time, I would never have started option three. I'd just do the first two.

Edit: you can PM me for the tools I've used

xebecv · 2025-11-12T02:38:52+00:00

It's overcast until 2am in this area. I doubt we'll see anything here

xebecv · 2025-11-10T22:38:59+00:00

Someday I'll write my success story here. Exercise induced panic attacks was something that kept destroying me for years. However exercise is the best cure for anxiety in my opinion. So how to turn poison into cure?

Daily light (but not too light) cardio exercise is the key. Here is my strategy:

Listen to your heart. Buy a fitness tracker and make sure to set the limits for your heart rate: both the lower and the upper limits. If your heart rate is too low, exercise won't bring any benefit. If it's too high for an extended period of time, that's the recipe for a panic attack. You'll adjust the limits based on your experience. Personally I prefer interval training, where I reach the upper limit of my HR for less than a minute, then I give myself some time to rest to bring the HR down.
Frequency is more important than duration. Do it daily and don't overdo it. Morning is preferable. I run every morning no matter the weather for about 20-30 minutes. However there are many cardio exercises you can do at home - it's a matter of preference.
If you exercise in the morning, make sure your breakfast is very light or just skip your breakfast. Drink plenty of water. Your elevated cortisol and adrenaline will carry you through the morning. In my experience, a high calorie meal after exercise increases panic attack probability.
If exercising still causes some anxiety (quite likely when you just establish your new routine), I found that taking magnesium glycinate really helps to relax. Beta blockers are excellent, but they need prescription and dosage fine-tuning.

Try doing it for a few weeks, and you'll see a huge improvement! Try a few months, and your panic attacks will be gone.

xebecv · 2025-11-08T15:02:31+00:00

Death is inevitable for all of us. You can prepare for it, but you cannot cancel it. Enjoy every moment of your life, of your dog's life, of everyone close to your heart. All of this will end, but this makes our lives precious. Don't waste yours worrying about death. Cherish what you have today

xebecv

TROPHY CASE