Salamander
  • 206 Posts
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Joined 1Y ago
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Cake day: Dec 19, 2021

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Good idea! Do you mean the bloch sphere? I have changed it to white and added it as the black version was hard to see :-) But if that’s not the qubit image that you meant I can change it!






I know that patent trolls are a thing, but I was under the impression that these patent trolls would still have to produce lots of specific but still broad patents. For example, they will file a patent for a whole class of compounds for treating a specific group of diseases without having the data to back it up.

But in this case it is even worse!

They patented a trivial idea - “send voice commands from phone to computer” - without providing any novel practical implementations of the idea. How is this acceptable?

patent/US9794348 Using voice commands from a mobile device to remotely access and control a computer

Abstract

A method of using voice commands from a mobile device to remotely access and control a computer. The method includes receiving audio data from the mobile device at the computer. The audio data is decoded into a command. A software program that the command was provided for is determined. At least one process is executed at the computer in response to the command. Output data is generated at the computer in response to executing at least one process at the computer. The output data is transmitted to the mobile device.


The title looks dystopian but the idea seems sensible.

Assessing the quality of sources was a pretty important section covered multiple times during my schooling. But not everyone was schooled like me, and others simply didn’t practice their source-checking skills after school.

I would need to see the ‘pre-bunking’ videos to form an opinion on them, but from reading the article I get that the aim is to create high-quality videos about how to assess sources, and help distribute these videos to the masses. It is a very important skill and many people lack it, so if that is what they will do it is a great idea.


The MAX_TITLE_LENGTH is applied to posts that are fetched from other instances using activitypub. The posts that are posted within an instance do not pass through that processing step.




Yeah, no worries, I have been looking at how the Ohio situation is unfolding too


I think you are referring to a different incident - the East Palestine train derailment in Ohio, right? I agree, it is baffling.


Wow, thanks.

In my mind, I do see the concept of a revolution that way - a revolution that topples the power structures creates a power vacuum. This leads to instability and for a competition to fill that void. The idea is that the people who have a better chance of winning the race to fill those voids are those who are willing to exploit the most effective tools of power - violence, oppression, and reward. So, a revolution creates an instability that is likely to be exploited by the greedy to the detriment of others.

But I have never been in a revolution. My ideas of what a revolution looks like comes from that trope that you mention - movies, video games, and novels will narrate these dynamics, and through repeated exposure to this logical sequence it has come to feel natural.

You bringing up this point makes me re-consider what I believe. On the one hand, I do not think that these ideas are fully invented - they make sense, and many revolutions in history have indeed followed this trope, and a revolution will cause an instability that will hurt people, so I am not going to do a 180 and throw away all my intuition about the topic.

However, it is also obvious that reality is a lot more nuanced, and it makes sense that these tropes can be used to highlight and re-inforce the negative aspects of a revolution. It is good to think about that.


Well, of course, what other response can anyone expect?

"White House says blog post is factual, admits to blowing up Nord Stream - 'and we would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for that meddling journalist ', the White House representative added "


I just started watching Last of Us this week 😄 The premise is an interesting hypothesis, it makes sense. It is cool to see some work backing it up! Thanks for sharing.


Yes, I agree with your assessment. I think that from the point of view of geo-politics, countries tend to make self-serving choices. Human rights are usually not a priority. There are human rights abuses all over the world, but if addressing them does not serve a political purpose, they tend not to appear in the spotlight. As soon as an excuse is needed one can of course summon these abuses and blast them through the media.

I am not saying that I agree with this approach or that this is the way I think thinks should be. But I think that this is the answer to why the EU does not impose sanctions to the US. Similarly, the US lets the Saudis get away with a lot of human rights abuses to avoid souring relations. And the Israel <-> Palestine conflict, why is the world so chill about that?


He is a very respectable journalist. I was not familiar with his work, but I have looked at some summaries and excerpts and it is for sure fantastic work. His fame and prestige is absolutely enough of a reason to listen to him and take him seriously, but no amount is enough to accept what is attributed to an “unnamed source” says as gospel. You have to trust him, his ability to pick a reliable source, and the source itself - without identifying the source! It is quite a bit to ask for such a claim that is as important as this one.


Also, the sanctions did impact the EU economy and the leaders have had to pay a price. They have gone as far as they have in large part because the US has pressured them - the EU possibly would not have several of the more drastic measures if it was up to them, to protect their economy.


Because the US is a closer ally and the EU was forced to pick a side. The EU did not move spontaneously and alone, it moved as part of coordinated action. Furthermore, Russia launched a direct attack into European territory, making it a much more direct military threat.

What you are proposing here is different. You are asking the EU to spontaneously and unilaterally decide to go after its most powerful ally because of the human rights violations that they are committing somewhere else.


Sounds to me like that would be a very expensive choice that would severely affect the quality of life of EU voters. Since those in a position to impose sanctions are those who play the game of getting elected, I don’t think that it is in their best interest to tank the economy.


I read “Postdocs deserve the” and looking through the comments I was rather confused about the strong anti-postdoc sentiment 😰



We all have biases. I am not trying to say that a “bias” is necessarily “wrong”. Biases can be very helpful - perhaps even necessary to stay sane. Imagine trying to live a perfectly un-biased life!

What is important is to be aware of our own biases - and also to think of how the biases of the “other side” will manifest themselves.

In this case, you have said:

But deranged liberals of all ranks, from mainstream “journalists” to the rabid NATO defenders of lemmy.ml, tried to gaslight you into thinking that at best the jury was still out on who did it and at worst accused Russia for doing it even though they stood to lose the most because of the outcome.

And I take this to mean that this article will once and for all settle the question of who was responsible. But using a secret source is not going to be enough to settle the question - those biased in favor of the US will claim that the source is a lie, some of those without much of a vested interest either way might think "Alright, great story, but what’s the evidence? "

Answering this question is going to require a lot more than “Someone told me. Trust me. I won a Pulitzer”.


The article sets forth an interesting case, and the idea that the mines were planted during BALTOPS 22 is compelling.

However, the author uses a top-secret source that conveniently has a birds-eye view of the issue, personally participated in different secret meetings at different points of the process, and is knowledgeable in multiple key areas. With so many specific details, it should be easy for this source to be identified by the other people involved.

This is an extraordinary source that is perfect for this piece. Accepting an extraordinary source requires extraordinary evidence. The source chooses to remain anonymous - and that is sensible - but without supplying any evidence to validate the source’s claims the author won’t earn the trust of many of us.

When accepting whether to trust a piece of information or not - ask yourself: would I believe equally-sourced claims of the opposite? For example, if a journalist claims that Putin personally ordered the attack - and the evidence provided for the claim is “a close source to Putin told me”, followed by a cohesive and sensible story of why Putin would want to do that, would you believe that right away? If the answer is “no”, but you do find yourself trusting this source immediately, then you are experiencing a confirmation bias.



Yup, this was fixed in version 0.0.24! No worries.


What version do you have? I think you have one of the older versions, you can find the latest one here: https://github.com/dessalines/jerboa/releases/tag/0.0.26


I think that the newest update changed something such that the the instances that updated to 17.0 are no longer being recognized by the crawler. So the crawler hasn’t been updated to deal with the changes.


This is an article from shortly after Osama Bin Laden was killed.

The official story is that the Navy Seal team took the body somewhere in Afghanistan where it could be positively identified. Then, while on board an aircraft carrier, Bin Laden was given a Muslim funeral and his body thrown into the ocean.

The Pentagon claims that this was done in order to respect Muslim tradition and because they did not want the body to be buried somewhere on land where other extremists would be able to build a temple.

There are multiple reasons why the body can be considered of value. For example, interested parties might need very hard evidence of Bin Laden’s dead, with a ‘trusted’ test result made abroad not being enough. And also because of the body’s historical value and its value as a collectible (as bad as that sounds).

So, if the US is faced with two options:

(1) Bury the body at sea

(2) Lie about burying the body at sea

Option (2) would give them every benefit of (1), but they keep the body and its associated value. Since there is no possible way to disprove the claim of a body being thrown into the ocean, other than finding the body and identifying it, it is quite an easy lie.

The conspiracy theory is that those in charge of making this kind of decisions in the US would chose to lie in situations where it will optimize the outcome, and that they have done this in this case.

As a ‘conspiracy’, it is part of the larger topic of trusting the government and those in power. Will those in power tell the truth when an unfalsifiable lie will lead to a better outcome?




I am not convinced that the people who have spear-headed several of the crypto projects are being dishonest to make money. So, then, who is the scammer? A pump-and-dump scheme is a scam, but that does not make the underlying asset a scam. The market price of growth stocks is extremely inflated, but that does not mean they are a scam. These are speculative assets that are expected to appreciate due to the self-serving feedback loop of the market.

From an investment perspective, crypto can be seen as a highly speculative volatile asset with a value that is largely decoupled from intrinsic value. That does not make it a scam. Someone can scam someone else by making guarantees about the future - but it is entirely possible to do this with any other asset.

But, more importantly, crypto is practically useful. What is a better way of paying for drugs online than using monero?


Great job figuring that out!

At some point it would be fun to work on some new guides anyway :-)


Oh… Yes, I can. I had not encountered before a tor-only clearnet url. That’s cool.


Url appears to be broken at the moment


I know of a few experiments that are used to showcase the confidence that understanding the laws of physics can give you - like placing the heavy pendulum against one’s nose or briefly sticking a hand into an extremely hot or cold liquid (Leidenfrost effect).

I think that holding a metal spoon with the hand as it bridges a metal-burning circuit is on a higher plane of confidence 💀


Hey, thanks! And thanks @sascuach@lemmy.ml for the initiative! It is a good idea to have these sidebar swap links!

Sorry I had missed this. I missed the post in my own instance, I just found it by coincidence while browsing beehaw to discover communities 😅


“There is no law against prisoner organ donation,” he said

the bill will “restore bodily autonomy to incarcerated folks by providing opportunity to donate organs and bone marrow”

🤔 🤔 🤔 🤔


I think that if you use the new docker-compile file, the one that includes the NGINX block, then you might not need to go through the step of the nginx configuration.

I have not tested this myself though, but I can test it when I make the updated tutorial.


I can do that, but I can’t right now, I am very busy writing for my thesis unfortunately :/

If I manage to write enough tonight I might be able to do it tomorrow.


I would be lying if I gave you a number. I have never had to deal with many users, so I can’t really tell you at what point you can expect problems. It could be 50 active users at once, it could be 500, maybe even 5,000 - I really don’t know. Consider that uploaded images will fill up your SSD, and that multiple active users at once will go through your network connection.

But I really don’t know the limits. Someone else hopefully can chip in.


Oh no! It is possible to save your SSL certificates by simply copying the files into your computer, then you don’t need to run the certbot again.


Try removing the lemmy.conf file from /etc/nginx/sites-enabled,

And then run:

sudo wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Kradyz/Tutorials/main/files/uebishe.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/uebishe.conf

sudo systemctl restart nginx


Or, I have made an nginx config file that will work for you

If you already created an nginx configuration file, move it somewhere else. Then, get the new configuration file to the nginx folder, and then restart the nginx service by running these two commands:

sudo wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Kradyz/Tutorials/main/files/uebishe.conf /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/uebishe.conf

sudo systemctl restart nginx

Ah! So you skipped this step:

Now i skip old step about “wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LemmyNet/lemmy-ansible/main/templates/nginx.conf -O lemmy.conf”

You need to have the lemm.conf file under /etc/nginx/sites-enabled, this is the file that tells nginx how to manage the connection. Don’t skip that step! Get that file and modify it by adding your domain name


I just encountered [this BBC article](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64507225) that includes an image to educate reader about different types of aircraft and the altitudes that they usually fly at. I think that they *very accidentally* omitted a small detail about weather balloons that could be a bit important for a reader trying to build their own educated opinion, so I've added it ([Source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-altitude_balloon)).



A realistic look at CO2 emissions, climate change and the role of sustainable chemistry
**Abstract** >The increase of man-made greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is a serious global problem. Hence the 2015 Paris Agreement and the COP meetings, which show the willingness of governments to reduce emissions and fight climate change. Their main goals are keeping average temperatures to max 2 °C above pre-industrial times, and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050. But how realistic are these goals? GHG emissions may be everyone's long-term problem, but they are nobody's short-term problem. The huge benefits we all reap from the free energy provided by fossil fuels, and the way that governments, companies and people handle risk, create enormous barriers. I will show here, using simple back-of-the-envelope calculations, that we will not reach the Paris Agreement goals. Moreover, I will explain the reasons why much excellent research in sustainable chemistry will not make a sizable dent in CO2 emissions. This doesn't mean we should give up. We must keep on developing and implementing sustainable technologies. But we should also prepare to adapt to living in a world with average temperatures 3–4 °C higher than pre-industrial times. Optimistic scenarios make people complacent. Wake up. It is later than you think.







Shamelessly stolen from [reddit/r/piracy](https://www.reddit.com/r/Piracy/comments/10r5qrb/they_got_some_humor_at_my_regular_illegal/)

Bookmark shortcuts
I just figured this out and it is so convenient. I will show by example. I am using Firefox, but other browsers might work the same way. (1) Go to lemmy.ml (2) Ctrl+D, then enter to save as a bookmark (3) Ctrl+shift+O to open the bookmark settings (4) Select the lemmy bookmark that you just created (5) At the bottom of the menu, you can set a Keyword. Write the letter "l". (6) Close the menu You can now type "Ctrl+L" to jump to the navigation bar, then type "l", enter. You can create single or few-letter keywords for the sites that you visit often. Bonus related tip: In the browser preferences, under "search", you can define a keword for specific search engines. For example, if you set wikipedia to "@w", you can then search directly from the navigation bar by typing "@w whatever"

I've set up a new mastodon instance. It is named *Plethodon* after the genus name of the North American woodland salamanders, and it can be found at http://plethodon.nl I also added some buttons to my three instances (peertube, mastodon, lemmy) so that it is easy to jump between them. You can find them in the header of mander and the sidebars of the other two instances. ![](https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/9a84152e-185b-4dd5-b426-84a8b4c50359.png) ![](https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/05e8f76f-ab09-4f7c-979d-68f328a394cd.png) ![](https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/ad7645eb-f6c2-4598-8e46-0d2442ad3c25.png) Unfortunately, it is necessary to create an account for each project. I will try to find out how to create a single account for the three in the future. It would also be nice to find a way to integrate the three applications into a single site - similar to what @ernest@karab.in is doing at https://karab.in/.

First part of a three-part series about the origin of life, given by Nobel Prize winner Jack Szostak. A fascinating topic. The lectures are a bit old, but the information is not outdated. [Part 2](https://bolitoglossa.com/w/s7G9TUse32fJBZ2hKSHc4A) [Part 3](https://bolitoglossa.com/w/s7G9TUse32fJBZ2hKSHc4A) These lectures come from [iBiology](https://www.ibiology.org/), a non-profit that produces educational content and releases it under a creative commons license.

Trying to add some custom ‘webfont’ icons for Mastodon
I would like to create icons to link my lemmy, peertube, and mastodon instances to each other. I've managed to achieve this for Lemmy and PeerTube without much of a hassle by creating the SVG icons and duplicating the code for the donate symbol (lemmy) and the about symbol (peertube): Lemmy: ![](https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/63def97b-b267-476f-bb3f-fed653e07ecd.png) Peertube: ![](https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/016937b9-c863-4a55-b951-06d74df8635a.png) I thought I would be able to use the same logic to modify the menu bar in Mastodon, but I must say I am very confused by it. I can't find the files that hold the icons, the syntax is un-intuitive for me, and it seems that there are several levels of files calling each other before finally producing the icon on the page. Mastodon: ![](https://mander.xyz/pictrs/image/65b4cbc9-ded0-4ff1-8644-771dbdbd6d57.png) While trying to figure out where the SVG files are stored, I found this issue: [Consider: SVG for icons?](https://github.com/mastodon/mastodon/issues/1469) Here, I learned that Mastodon uses something called "Webfonts" to generate the icons. From that issue it appears that they never transitioned into using SVG. I can't find much about how to work with this format - what is this? What would the workflow be like for finding the webfont file and creating a new icon? Any suggestions? Thanks!

New peertube instance: Bolitoglossa! 🥳
I set up a peertube instance last night! It can be found at https://bolitoglossa.com The name of *Bolitoglossa* comes from the genus of the [mushroom-tongued salamanders](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolitoglossa), which are arguably some of the coolest salamanders out there. I've modified the style CSS to match the style of mander.xyz and to give it what I think is a clenar look, feedback is welcome. In my opinion, what the ecosystem needs is more 'regular' videos, similar to old-style youtube. Video blogs, amateur tutorials, home experiments, videos about a birds eating food in the backyard - simple content that anyone can share. Things to make people engage with each other through video. So I will moderate the instance with this view in mind - most topics are allowed, but NSFW, hate speech, and misleadingly dangerous content will be removed. As of now I have the registration unrestricted and a 20GB daily upload limit. If I run into problems with these settings I will adjust accordingly in response. The data is stored on an SSD that I physically own. I will leave the instance running indefinitely, but if for any reason I have to take it down I will do my best to give a fair warning and I will try to make sure the owners can keep their videos. But as an amateur self-hoster I am not able to make stronger guarantees. Feel free to use this instance to upload content, or ask me questions about how to set up your own.

Do you heat the pan first, then add oil? Or put the oil in and heat up with the pan?
I personally heat up the pan first, then put the oil in and after it's heated up add the ingredients. I go with the line of reasoning that doing it this way gives the oil less time to burn, thinking that if you do it the other way, by the time the pan and oil has heated up, the oil could already be starting to burn. I've never experimented, but I think this is more of an issue with electric stoves since you can modulate the heat more quickly with gas, ie turn it off if the oil's starting to smoke. [Asked by Ward - Reinstate Monica to cooking/stackexchange](https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/2690/do-you-heat-the-pan-first-then-add-oil-or-put-the-oil-in-and-heat-up-with-the)

How can I chop onions without crying?
Onions are an excellent addition to many dishes, but cutting them can be frustrating when they make you "cry" all the time. Does anyone know any tips or tricks to help minimise the tears when chopping onions? [Asked by Caleb to cooking/stackexchange](https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/567/how-can-i-chop-onions-without-crying)





If hand sanitizer kills 99.99% of germs, then won’t the surviving 0.01% make hand sanitizer resistant strains?
[Asked by /u/ClF3FTW to /r/AskScience](https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/75p8dn/if_hand_sanitizer_kills_9999_of_germs_then_wont/)

Why do we have to “fall” asleep? Why can’t we just decide to be asleep?
[Asked by /u/SixthGrader to /r/AskScience](https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/8zlzuy/why_do_we_have_to_fall_asleep_why_cant_we_just/)

I have created the community [/c/answered](/c/answered@mander.xyz). If you run into an interesting question online for which a good answer was provided, this is the place to share it! The point of this community is to aggregate interesting questions that have been answered from all over the internet (like stackexchange, reddit, quora, etc). You can copy the questions into the post body and the best answer(s) into the comments. Other users may then address the answers directly by replying to the comments, or add their own answer to the question as a new independent comment. As of now, there is no constraint on the topics. Any answered question is fine! I have already made an example post, but I don't know how to create a relative hyperlink that would send you to the post in your instance. So just check it out in the community ;)

Why don’t metals bond when touched together?
It is my understanding that metals are a crystal lattice of ions, held together by delocalized electrons, which move freely through the lattice (and conduct electricity, heat, etc.). If two pieces of the same metal are touched together, why don't they bond? It seems to me the delocalized electrons would move from one metal to the other, and extend the bond, holding the two pieces together. If the electrons don't move freely from one piece to the other, why would this not happen when a current is applied (through the two pieces)? Asked by jcw in [physics.stackexchange](https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/87107/why-dont-metals-bond-when-touched-together)

How do you feel about this personal e-mail format?
Let's say as an example that my full name is Robert Frankel If I purchase the domain `nkel.com` and use that to create my custom e-mail: `RobertFr@nkel.com` And then use this as my personal e-mail in a professional setting (resume, contact e-mail, business card, etc..). Do you think this would be perceived as unprofessional and silly in a negative way, and even confusing to some? Or do you think most people would understand it right away and think of it in a net positive way - perhaps a bit silly, but memorable. Don't worry about whether the e-mail will be filtered as spam, I am curious about how it is perceived. I am asking because I have a domain like this that I use for private personal stuff, and I wonder whether it would be a good or bad idea to use that e-mail when applying for jobs, as a small extra detail to stand out 😁

I finally got around to setting up the e-mails correctly for my instance (mander.xyz) and noticed that the e-mail deliver-ability is awful, as I get heavily penalized by spam filters for having an .xyz domain. I would not be surprised if search engines penalize this too. It is not a simple task to change a domain name for an instance without breaking federation, so once you have a federating instance you are are stuck with that domain name. I would not recommend picking an .xyz domain for your instances unless you intend it to be a private instance forever. If possible, try to go for a .com, or some other more standard TLD!