What do you nerd out over?
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The ESP32-S3 has become my standard goto device. If power usage is an issue, the ESP32-C3 is a great option. And the ESP32-C6 opens up Thread capabilities. I recently picked up a device with an ESP32-P4 that I'm wanting to play around with some more.
Have you done any Thread/Zigbee with an esp32? I cannot wait to get a C6 to test it!
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Talk nerdy to me
Motocross.
Love watching the pros and talking all about it. Recently got a coworker into it and it's been fun explaining all the ins and outs of the sport and, as a past rider, trying to relate track conditions/difficulties to him
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Pens
Its such a common thing that we've all used and have opinions. And the rabbit hole goes as deep as you want.
You're good with a Bic and shitty notebook paper? Cool. You have a $3,000 custom built fountain pen that's been handcrafted to fit your grip and is based on a sketch you made from a dream with a 21k gold nib? Also cool.
Honestly, regarding ballpoint pens, I've never used anything that beats bic. They write so smoothly and they just work on anything. I even use them to write my name on the plastic labels of water bottles at my job
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What is your relationship with Tolkien and his corpus?
I've read Lord of the Rings a few times. And The Hobbit. And his lesser-known works (e.g., Leaf by Niggle, which is just great). And The Silmarillion. And The Adventures of Tom Bombadil (which, honestly, isn't his best). And I know what an Istari is (and why Gandalf, being a lesser Ainur, is actually so much more than a mere "wizard"). And I know that while they changed the line from "you cannot pass" to "you shall not pass" for dramatic purposes in the movie, the original line subtly says a whole hell of a lot more about who and what Gandalf is and why the Balrog should have actually been shitting itself.
So you might say I'm passingly familiar with it.
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Talk nerdy to me
Mechanics in nature.
There's a protein that's basically a tiny little mobile suite that literally walks along microtubules.
Some bacteria propel themselves with a literal electric motor.
Your ears are more something that belongs under the dashboard of a helicopter than something growing organically... they can literally detect an air-pressure change caused by a pin dropping on the other side of the room, by allowing that pressure to beat on a drum connected to a chain of bones that transmit pressure into a little snail that squirts little jets of fluid over a tiny little field of grass stuck to the inside of the snail shell, and depending on how much grass wiggles, it sends a jolt over to your brain as an interpretation of pitch. AND IT DOESN'T STOP THERE! Connected to that snail are three little hula-hoops made of bone, each oriented to a different plane, and also filled with tiny grass and fluid; and when you move your head along that specific plane, the tiny grass wiggles and that's how your brain knows which way you're moving / gives you a perception of balance.
There's a type of grasshopper with gears in its legs.
I love this shit.
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How do you think AI can best contribute to these? Can advanced paternity recognition be helpful for spectrum analysis? Can it be used for closed loop control of the many variables inside a fusion reactor? What do you think about 3i?
How do you think AI can best contribute to these?
AI is a generic term for a number of different things. Most people these days seem to use it referring to LLMs and automated image or video generation. I don't think either of those is likely to contribute a ton until they mature a lot more. Having said that, machine learning is already being used in a lot of these fields. For example, automated systems using machine learning are being used to find new information about variable stars from old stellar images. We've been taking pictures of the stars for more than a century. No human team could ever hope to go through all those images looking for changes in stars over all that time but a computer can.
Can advanced paternity recognition be helpful for spectrum analysis? Can it be used for closed loop control of the many variables inside a fusion reactor?
No idea on this one. This is a little too much on the engineering side of things. I geek out more on the theory side.
What do you think about 3i?
ATLAS/3i? I think it's frankly amazing that we've detected three interstellar objects passing through our solar system in the last 8 years or so. Interstellar visitors must be extremely common for use to spot so many in such a short period of time.
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Have you done any Thread/Zigbee with an esp32? I cannot wait to get a C6 to test it!
Here's the guide I've used. Super easy to do in ESPHome. I've only tested it, but it seems to work very well.
https://smarthomescene.com/guides/how-to-create-thread-devices-with-esphome/
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Where can I learn how to link different tech through HA? Insteon switch to flip a wifi bulb. Z Wave switch to open the Shelly relay for the garage door. ZigBee water sensor trips insteon siren. Etc. Is that all YAML? Is the Ecobee thermostat worth it?
Just install HA and try it out! It's a lot easier to do than you might think. Every vendor or connection type has its own Integration. Most integrations can be set up through the UI very easily. I have dozens of integrations.
And the automations have had a lot of work the last few years. They are getting much easier to set up in the UI without having to worry about code or yaml.
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Honestly, regarding ballpoint pens, I've never used anything that beats bic. They write so smoothly and they just work on anything. I even use them to write my name on the plastic labels of water bottles at my job
Ya ballpoints are really the workhorse of the pen world. Even with all the advancements in writing tech, a standard ballpoint will always get the job done. I have Fisher space pen refills in a few of my work pens because I know they will always write whenever and wherever I need them.
These days there is a pretty good consensus around the Uni Jetstream as the "best writing" ballpoint ink. Its a hybrid oil-based ink formulation with lubricants that really flows. Other brands have started to get on the hybrid wagon too so it's been great for budget pens all around.
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Old mechanical things.
The Japanese have a myth called tsukomogami. It's the idea that things get a soul after 100 years.
And while I don't believe that's technically true, per se. It's fundamentally based on something that I adore, and that's the fact that mechanical things all age individually and that it's something that we've lost with modern technology.
My go to examples are always typewriters and vintage camera lenses.
Each typewriter will age differently. Different keys will become sticky, it'll become misaligned in different places. They develop individual personalities as they get older. So much so that forensics can actually pinpoint when a specific typewriter typed a specific note.
In terms of camera lenses it's much the same thing. Different lenses will wear differently depending on what aperture/focal length, etc... that the photographer uses most often. Mold and discolouration between the glass elements will eventually form a unique look to a specific lense.
It's magical (to me) and something that I am sad that we are losing with modern consumer technology based on on "throw it away and get a new one".
Sorry. Longer than I intended. But you asked for it.
Machine spirit 40k lore
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Talk nerdy to me
Self-hosting, device modding and homebrew, and getting the most out of PC hardware/DIY gaming setups.
IT jobs are a ton of fun for me when I'm helping someone new to the hobby because they love to get invested in all of the little tips and tricks to bring the most out of their machine (Even if they have to use Windows ;-;).
Every single console I've ever owned has been cracked open with homebrew installed, and it's a large reason I got into retro gaming and 3D printing spare parts for things.
Also, hosting PC game servers for yourself and friends instead of paying a provider is so liberating, you start looking at it as "I paid for the whole machine, how far can I push the experience?" and start pushing mods and configs in games that would bring most VPS systems to their knees.
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Honestly, regarding ballpoint pens, I've never used anything that beats bic. They write so smoothly and they just work on anything. I even use them to write my name on the plastic labels of water bottles at my job
If one is only going to have one pen, any model of Jetstream ballpoint is a nice cheap upgrade you won't be too upset to lose.
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Talk nerdy to me
Art history :3
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Pens
Its such a common thing that we've all used and have opinions. And the rabbit hole goes as deep as you want.
You're good with a Bic and shitty notebook paper? Cool. You have a $3,000 custom built fountain pen that's been handcrafted to fit your grip and is based on a sketch you made from a dream with a 21k gold nib? Also cool.
Once I found the plethora of good but >$10 pens, I had a lot of fun. The Precise V5 is one of my fav, and at the job I had where people would frequently need to borrow my pen, that received steady unprompted compliments.
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"Aztec" by Gary Jennings.
https://bookshop.org/p/books/aztec-gary-jennings/784861bf1a137811?ean=9780765317506&next=t
It's a novel about coming of the Spanish.
I had to read it when I came across an article the author wrote. He wanted a word for 'orange.' He wanted to book to sound authentic, and the Americas didn't have oranges. He ended up using jacinth
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Who is the most criminally under appreciated philosopher/author and why is it Ursula LeGuinn?
Go read Joanna Russ.
imho she writes rings around the popular woman.
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Go read Joanna Russ.
imho she writes rings around the popular woman.
I will. Thank you.
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Ha! My glob, she was so amazing. I had the opportunity to attend a reading she did from The Lathe of Heaven years ago, and I was struck anew not only by her creativity, but by the philosophical ideas underpinning it. A lot of people think The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas is her most philosophical work, but I actually found what Lathe had to say about control, obedience, and power incredibly compelling.
Agree. AND. Left Hand of Darkness. Dispossessed.
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Just install HA and try it out! It's a lot easier to do than you might think. Every vendor or connection type has its own Integration. Most integrations can be set up through the UI very easily. I have dozens of integrations.
And the automations have had a lot of work the last few years. They are getting much easier to set up in the UI without having to worry about code or yaml.
The integrations are working. I just don't know how to cross link them...
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Art history :3
Any specific regions or time periods?
