[-] dgriffith@aussie.zone 11 points 3 months ago

If it seems stupid, that just means that it was cheaper to do it this way.

Program ROM/EEPROM + RAM, or just RAM connected to a USB interface with a reset line tied to the camera processor? See the USB device ID connect , fill the ram with the camera software, toggle processor reset , off you go.

[-] dgriffith@aussie.zone 11 points 3 months ago

I don't understand it. If I was a politician right now, I would not, under any circumstances, hitch my political wagon to the shitshow that is going on in the US. But Dutton and that "Trumpet of Patriots" crowd - bless their 1950's White Australia hearts - are all for it.

Labor would be wise to stall the election for a month or two, just to let things unfold a bit more over there.

[-] dgriffith@aussie.zone 11 points 3 months ago

It doesn't have to be "buy local", per se, it just has to be "buy non-US". But there are few tangible things I actually buy from the US. I don't mind stuff from the EU, it's a little pricey due to our exchange rate, but for the things I buy it's generally OK.

There are heaps of services that are bought from the US though - just about every streaming service, Google/Apple, Starlink, and so on. Those can fuck right off , if possible. Sometimes that's not practical (eg google/apple's ecosystem), but at least have a look for alternatives.

[-] dgriffith@aussie.zone 11 points 10 months ago

"Old timey journalism" was usually when someone with a political axe to grind started a local newspaper to try and counter the other guy who had started a newspaper. That's when you get editorialism and a particular slant on your news.

You probably want something like large public-funded-but-relatively-neutral news agencies, who have the resources, time, and budget to allow proper investigative journalism to take it's full course, and are large enough that they don't have to pander to the politicians of the day or big business.

So we're talking at this point about BBC, ABC (Australia), Al-Jazeera, Deutsche Welle, and other similar organisations.

None are without bias - it's very difficult to actually be bias-free, most will have a home country bias, for example. But they're better than the billionaire's media circus.

[-] dgriffith@aussie.zone 11 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I hate the camera bumps. Just make the entire phone the same thickness and - hey! This is crazy, but maybe then you could then add a bit more structural integrity and put a bigger battery and a SD card slot and a headphone jack in there as well.

[-] dgriffith@aussie.zone 11 points 11 months ago

You're never going to live in a world where you're allowed to fly without photo id amigo

Move to a different country.

Eg in Australia I can book a domestic ticket and have two interactions after that:

  • x-ray/security where they scan my carry on
  • boarding at the gate where they scan my pass.

No photo ID - or any ID really - needed. Now there's enough dribs and drabs of information when I book the ticket and etc etc that they can identify me, but there's nothing stopping someone from booking a ticket for someone else under their name.

[-] dgriffith@aussie.zone 11 points 11 months ago

I end up having to play twenty questions with chatgpt. For example, I've been asking it for code examples for ffmpeg mpeg4 encoding with C++.

It will happily spit out completely non-working code, where the core part - feeding image frames to the encoder - works, but it doesn't initialise or tidy up the encoding afterwards.

Until I say, "hey this code doesn't seem to work and creates corrupted files", and then it's like, "oh yeah you also need to do a bunch of other stuff, just like this". Repeat as it slowly adds more and more pieces until finally you end up with something that actually works.

Or it will happily dream up function names or mix python and C functions, or will refer to older APIs even when I've specifically said "use API version x.y" and so on and so forth.

If I didn't know enough about the subject already, I'd never be able to tease out the answer. So in a sense it's a mostly useful reference, but it can't be relied on to actually and consistently provide a result because it's all statistics and fuzzy text generation behind the scenes, not actual knowledge.

[-] dgriffith@aussie.zone 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

The bug is the lack of documentation and that a simple unguarded command can erase all user's data on the system.

Also, the principle of least surprise would like a word.

If I look at the command line arguments of a program called "systemd-tmpfiles" and one of them is called "purge" I will generally assume that option will purge temporary files.

Now it turns out that someone decided that this program would be a simple way to do something with /home directories(*) so they included /home in the config file for the program, the file that the program reads by default when it is invoked.

Who decided it would be a good idea for it to deal with /home?

Wellllll...

https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/main/tmpfiles.d/home.conf

(*)I have no idea what this program is doing with /home in its config file. I will presume that there is a useful and mostly logical reason for it, and that this command line option was just an unfortunate footgun for those users who were not intimately familiar with systemd.

[-] dgriffith@aussie.zone 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Turns out it seems the Australians have public health insurance for everyone - Medicare.

To follow from your comment , because Australia has a publicly funded health system, the government actively works to reduce preventable diseases because it reduces the load on the system.

So they have had:

A sunscreen campaign and skin cancer check initiatives since the '80s.

Anti-smoking campaigns (and high tobacco taxes) where resources are available to help quit.

Every citizen gets a free bowel cancer test mailed to them when they turn 50 to help find and treat cancer earlier.

Road safety laws are tight and helmet / seatbelt regulations are strict as it reduces hospital loads.

Vaccinations for a multitude of easily preventable diseases are given for free in childhood, particularly now for the virus that causes cervical cancer.

Those and a myriad of other public health initiatives all help Australians to live longer.

Coupled with the fact that the cost for the whole population is borne by an income tax of approximately 2% , it means that if you are poor or unemployed, you still have access to health services. That also means that small health issues among low income earners don't snowball until they are life threatening.

It has the knock on effect that people don't end up trapped in a job because it offers "good benefits and a low deductible" and concerns about pre existing conditions interfering with insurance and etc when changing jobs is generally moot.

Then throw in mandatory government regulated retirement funds that require all employers to put in 12+ percent of an employee's gross earnings into an employee's fund of their choosing for their retirement. That coupled with public health generally means the whole US style worker=slave arrangement can't exist.

Which means the US will get nothing like this as all that screams of nanny state overlords and death panels and moar taxes killing freedom and so on and so forth. Sorry guys.

[-] dgriffith@aussie.zone 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Make laws that give consumers mandatory, irrevocable warranties that include fit-for-purpose clauses, and has phrasing such as "reasonable expected lifetime" for the goods. Make those laws apply to whoever sells you the goods, not the manufacturer.

Laws like that weed out a lot of crap. Shops won't buy crap in because they have to deal with the warranty on said crap. Manufacturers won't make (as much) crap because they have to deal with returns.

You won't be able to buy a $4 air fryer any more, but the one you do buy will last a lot longer.

Edit: I'm Australian, and we have consumer rights over and above warranties offered by manufacturers. Those rights would be a good start.

They start about half way down this page:

https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/buying-products-and-services/consumer-rights-and-guarantees

[-] dgriffith@aussie.zone 10 points 1 year ago

What? FLNTRGY brand products are the best ones out there! The cream of the crop! Much better than ZNGTOPF or PNOPTY!

[-] dgriffith@aussie.zone 11 points 2 years ago

I'd bet it actually is more sustainable to not include it tbh, plus it is likely more affordable.

Mmm now you're dealing with powered devices that have another two batteries that wear out, plus the battery in the charging case, all the electronics involved, etc etc

Vs a simple plastic connector and an associated amplifier IC that costs about $3 in quantity.

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dgriffith

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