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Lexarius

216 karma · joined May 12, 2011

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Lexarius··on Google account deleted after 2 hours of Aurora
I've got protonmail connected to a personal domain (in case I ever want to switch providers and keep my address), works fairly well.
Lexarius··on Google stores billions of lines of code in a single repository (2016) [pdf]
Despite almost everything being in one big repo, it has silos. Not everyone has read access to everything. Some code, like the important bits of Search, is only available on a need-to-know basis.
Lexarius··on To-do waves
As the old saying goes, "’Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Needing to Pee and Taxes."
Lexarius··on I accidentally used YAML.parse instead of JSON.parse and it worked
That's an old YAML 1.1 behavior. It was removed in 1.2 (in 2009), though some implementations (looking at you, pyyaml) are still on 1.1.
Lexarius··on An update to storage policies across your Google Account
If you're worried about your data evaporating, consider using Google Inactive Account Manager to set up a way to automatically gift your data to a family member. https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3036546?hl=en
Lexarius··on YubiKey 4C
We use the nanos heavily at my workplace. I've seen people make a chain out of paperclips when their nearest USB port is too far away (and they can't be bothered to grab an extension cable).
Lexarius··on Flat Pack Chainless Bicycle from IKEA
That's like asking "Why are people still manufacturing bikes, you'd think everyone who wants a bike would have one by this point". Bikes generally have shorter lifespans than people, and we're also making new people-who-want-bikes all the time.
Lexarius··on Illegal Math
The government also can't stop you from robbing your neighbor, but that's not how laws work. Laws are about punishing you after the fact. If they catch you, of course.
Lexarius··on One-electron universe
It would be terrible to design it that way, but I think it's fine as a compiler optimization. Most of that datastructure is constant anyway, think of the memory savings!
Lexarius··on Harvard stores 700 terabytes of data into a single gram of DNA (2012)
Just imagine the sexually transmitted advertisements. Get a strange rash for a few days that has an ad for condoms printed on it.
Lexarius··on Use Google Spreadsheets as a CMS
Or maybe they just use push notifications?

https://developers.google.com/drive/web/push

Lexarius··on She's Her Own Twin
Depends. The article didn't reveal which parts of her had which DNA, we just know that her eggs had different DNA than whatever they were sampling from. If she left blood behind and they did a blood test, it would come out as a match. If she left some other random bit of cellular structure behind, it might not match against her blood.
Lexarius··on Kevo – Bluetooth Electronic Deadbolt
Yep, the extra non-physical keys cost money.

"Additional eKeys are available as an in-app purchase for a one-time charge of $1.99. eKeys never expire and can be passed from one person to the next by a lock Owner or Admin."

Lexarius··on Model aircraft operators free to operate commercially in US, rules federal judge
Have you considered buying solar-powered drones from Titan Aerospace before Facebook snatches them up? Probably a bit pricey, but they are marketed as atmospheric satellites.
Lexarius··on Show HN: Google Music for Mac
It's just an interface to Google Play Music, which already makes your music available on your Android.
Lexarius··on Tin Can: WebRTC that uses Persona to authenticate the callers to each other
Tried signing in with a gmail account and it wanted me to create a password. The gmail bridge seems to be functioning normally at persona.org, so what's the deal?
Lexarius··on Python for Android
Make Dalvik/JVM a compile target for Go? There is at least one project working on this.
Lexarius··on Python for Android
> Until recently(?) the primary JIT back-end for PyPy was, in fact, still the JVM.

This sounds false. The PyPy Features page does mention that PyPy will run on the JVM, but that it is incomplete there, and in particular they don't have their JIT ported to it yet. Do you have any source on that?

Lexarius··on Chaffing and Winnowing: Confidentiality without Encryption (1998)
Depends, how good are you at creative writing? I can think of a lot of messages you might send to someone that you'd want to be private that aren't nefarious plots. Weird fan fiction. Deviant porn. Messages exchanged with a secret mistress. Depending on the situation, you might even want to give them a fake copy of your nefarious plot. Include more than one extra set of messages if you like and give them whatever keys you like in whatever order is appropriate.
Lexarius··on Chaffing and Winnowing: Confidentiality without Encryption (1998)
Near the bottom they mention using more than one wheat stream to achieve something like deniable encryption. If they ask you for the key, give them the one that produces innocent-looking messages.
Lexarius··on Statement from Edward Snowden in Moscow
Jury nullification is possible, but it's unusual for any jury members who have heard of it to make the cut.
Lexarius··on Making the web fun again
CGI-based images or pages. I don't believe GeoCities let users upload their own CGI scripts, but I believe they had a set of pre-defined CGI tools you could call. You could also set up things like guestbooks using an external service. It wasn't unusual to see "Guestbook provided by $FOO" at the bottom of guestbook pages. Kind of like Disqus, but before JavaScript.
Lexarius··on Mac Pro
They're going with external expansion options. There are enclosures you can buy for PCIe cards to plug them in to the Thunderbolt ports if you need to.
Lexarius··on Cold fusion reactor independently verified, has 10k x the energy density of gas
Let's see him pop it into an electric car and take a cross-continent drive without stopping for a recharge.
Lexarius··on Prove: Phone verification for developers
You might want to look into getting a prepaid phone of some kind, even if it's not a smart phone. Having a portable emergency communication device seems like a good idea even if you're opposed (for whatever reason) to cellphone use in general, and a prepaid phone won't give you monthly bills or contracts to worry about.

If that's no good, then how about Google Voice? In addition to its other useful phone-related features, it allows sending and receiving of text messages.

Lexarius··on NASA grants $125K to create a prototype of a universal food synthesizer
The materials for this still need to be grown. They just have very long shelf lives.
Lexarius··on Poll: What Text Editor Do You Use?
SublimeText
Lexarius··on Gun Homicide Rate Down 49% Since 1993 Peak; Public Unaware
The Boy Scouts even have separate Rifle Shooting and Shotgun Shooting merit badges.
Lexarius··on Stray Dogs Master Complex Moscow Subway System (2010)
It's possible that some of the dogs were either previously owned by someone who used that route or were following around a friendly stranger. There's a cat in my neighborhood who will follow me around since I give her food occasionally, and I imagine stray dogs might behave similarly.

Once they've used the subway a few times, they probably learn to distinguish the sounds and smells of the stops they're interested in. Even if they can't read or understand spoken announcements, most dogs seem to figure out what vehicles are for without much trouble.

Once one or more dogs have learned this trick, transfer of information kicks in. At the end of the day, the other dogs at the shelter can probably tell who ate well that day, and they're likely to want to go with that dog to see where the food is at. The subway dog may even encourage his friends to come along; most of us have probably seen and understood a dog's "hey come with me and see this thing" signals, and dogs are pack animals.

Lexarius··on #ifihadglass I would jailbreak it and modify the software
Given the way that babies flail around uselessly and can't produce meaningful output for years, I was under the impression that vim was the default editor ;)
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