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phantom784

457 karma · joined July 5, 2009

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phantom784··on Kids turned low-traffic NPR Spotify comments into a secret group chat
I did this in high school. I hosted an SSH server at home on port 443 so it'd get through the school's filtering, then tunneled in and connected with VNC.

Only time I got yelled at was when the teacher saw the SSH window open and yelled at me for being in the command line. So I changed the colors to black text on a white background and they never said anything again.

phantom784··on Can a MUD evaluate LLMs? A $99 proof of concept
That sounds very different than my memory of MUDs. The ones I remember were much more a text-based version of "World of Warcraft" or other similar MMOs where you navigate through a world, complete quests, etc. You could chat with other players but it was more about teaming up for quests than a creative writing/roleplaying exercise.

Not to say that what you're describing didn't exist, but I don't think it was defining feature of all MUDs.

phantom784··on British Columbia, Time Zones, and Postgres
How would this solve the British Columbia issue as described in the article?
phantom784··on Wages in America Are Too Low for the 30% Rule to Work for Renters Anymore
Realtors earn commissions as a % of the price a house sells for.
phantom784··on The 2-Year Apartment Rule
Even if you're renting, it's worth keeping an eye on the humidity and setting up dehumidifiers if it's consistently getting high.
phantom784··on Failing grades soar with AI usage, dwindling math skills in Berkeley CS classes
> I read a few years ago about a teacher (I think highschool) who put his lectures on YouTube for students to view in their own time and then used the in class hours for interaction, questions, tests.

That seems like a smart approach. It reverses the traditional model of "lecture in class, homework outside of class".

phantom784··on SFO Gate Explorer
Pittsburgh International Airport had a program like this for a few years, but it was suspended during Covid and never came back.
phantom784··on Meta tells staff it will cut 10% of jobs
I've not worked at Meta, but I was at a similar scale of company for 2 years before being let go. Once you factor in RSUs, they essentially paid double what I've ever made anywhere else. Knowing how volatile those sorts of positions can be, I just saved & invested all the extra, which worked out quite well.
phantom784··on Artemis II crew see first glimpse of far side of Moon [video]
The sun still. It's just that that side never points towards the earth, but it still gets sunlight. Same as how the side we see isn't fully lit except during a full moon.
phantom784··on Artemis II is not safe to fly
I read this as "accepting a risk of death in exchange for getting to have the incredible experience of flying to the Moon", not that they want to die.
phantom784··on How the AI Bubble Bursts
Do tokens just cover ongoing operating costs, or are they also able to pay back the cost of training that model originally?
phantom784··on Data centers are transitioning from AC to DC
Plus you save money on the conductors running to the lights.
phantom784··on Microsoft's 'unhackable' Xbox One has been hacked by 'Bliss'
Could a chip detect this and reset?
phantom784··on Asian governments roll out 4-day weeks, WFH to solve fuel crisis caused by war
First time around, luck mostly. Happened to get hired by a company that switched to this schedule. I eventually left for higher pay (but gave up my Fridays). Eventually got laid off, and a friend who was still there managed to get me a spot back on her team. By that time, they'd embraced remote work during Covid and decided to keep it permanently.

Granted, I could probably be making way more if I were to leave - I took a pay cut when I went back the second time. But at this point in my career, I value the 4/10 and lower stress job (no on-call rotation) more.

phantom784··on Asian governments roll out 4-day weeks, WFH to solve fuel crisis caused by war
I've been working 4/10 schedule (4 days, but 10 hours/day, so I still work 40 hours). It's a HUGE perk, and is the biggest thing keeping me at my current job.
phantom784··on Suburban school district uses license plate readers to verify student residency
Sounds like the license plate readers basically are stalking out homes though.
phantom784··on No leap second will be introduced at the end of June 2026
You could look at it either way. I couldn't say which system the dinosaurs actually used.
phantom784··on Cell Service for the Fairly Paranoid
A few Mbps would be nice - fast enough to make the modern web mostly usable. 256 Kbps is almost the same as not working at all.
phantom784··on GrapheneOS – Break Free from Google and Apple
Especially in Europe! They shouldn't be forcing you to run an OS from an American company.
phantom784··on Teaching my neighbor to keep the volume down
Noise from neighbors is the biggest thing that drove me to move to a single-family home.
phantom784··on 6-Day and IP Address Certificates Are Generally Available
I'd have it renew Monday and Thursday to avoid weekend outages.
phantom784··on Lock-Picking Robot
I don't see how this would bypass the need for a warrant. It'd allow for picking the lock rather than breaking it when you _do_ have a warrant (and whoever has the key isn't available or isn't cooperating).
phantom784··on What a year of solar and batteries saved us in 2025
I could potentially see value in a car with a smaller built-in battery for use around town, and an empty space for a larger battery, that you rent from swap stations for longer road trips. Of course, that doesn't work with anything on the road today.
phantom784··on Influencers and OnlyFans models are dominating U.S. O-1 visa requests
How is "extraordinary ability" defined? At what point does an influencer or OF model (or a traditional actor for that matter) have enough "extortionary ability" to get the visa?
phantom784··on Start your meetings at 5 minutes past
Not to mention that managers are way more likely to have back-to-back meetings.
phantom784··on Why Is Greenland Part of the Kingdom of Denmark? A Short History
> 1. Winner takes all. You may have been voted by 50% + 1 (even less) citizens but the other half is totally not represented like in a parliament.

I agree with your argument in general, but couldn't this still happen with a parliament? If a party controls 50% + 1 of the parliament, then they're in control. Still, it's better than that control being given to a single person of course.

phantom784··on The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app
"Check" is the US spelling, and I still see them often enough here.
phantom784··on The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app
It's the ability to take a picture of a check and deposit it into your account that way, vs having to take the check to an actual branch of a bank.

Here in the US, I still get checks frequently enough that it's nice to have.

phantom784··on The Vietnam government has banned rooted phones from using any banking app
That probably means giving up the ability to mobile deposit checks - every bank I've ever had only allows that through their app.
phantom784··on Eat Real Food
Given that money is fungible, SNAP could in theory be replaced by a direct cash payment with no strings attached. This would also have the benefit of reducing overhead costs.
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