Terry Hancock

Fan of space, film, free/open-source software and free culture. Former pro astronomer. Writer, blogger, editor, visual artist. Occasional free-software developer. (Personal Account)

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npub1qe4sak9mrhjn4g6xkuv06ck4l8gvfh5x9a75z6w8gvujnkf7z2jstn0w0l

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[email protected]

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nprofile1qqsqv6cwmza3mef65drtwx8avt2ln5xym6rz7l2pd8r5xwffmylp9fgpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43q23wxqz

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relay.mostr.pub

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npub1qe4sak9mrhjn4g6xkuv06ck4l8gvfh5x9a75z6w8gvujnkf7z2jstn0w0l

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Last Notes

2024-07-31 04:43:02

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@npub18yv…xxyn
Can't we pretty much make an open hardware optical mouse that will last forever at this point?

2024-07-03 04:05:40

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@npub150q…k9uu
I did take a sign-language class in college. "Silent classroom" style -- the instructor was deaf. It was a lot of fun, but I only retained a little bit of ASL long term, unfortunately.

2024-06-20 15:07:00

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@npub1g53…v0hh
I assume that's Eevee on the left and Cycles on the right?

2024-05-07 02:48:38

Just saw a popular meme repeated that essentially reduces to this: "you can recognize true history because it makes you feel bad. If it makes you feel good, it must be false."
Yeah, that's "confirmation bias" + pessimism. It's nonsense.
True history will make you feel all kinds of ways, because "good" and "bad" have been happening all along. Plus, half the time, it's not clear which is which.
Pessimism is NOT realism.

2024-05-01 03:28:58

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@npub18lj…80hq
Funny thing about that is that it's kind of true...
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/babys-cells-can-manipulate-moms-body-decades-180956493/

2024-04-20 17:27:19

Just finished watching "Star Trek: Picard" (finally).
So much saccharine nostalgic pandering in this show!
But I am exactly the target of this pandering. So I enjoyed it. But I was kind of ashamed about it the whole time. 😅 :veri_trek4: :gonzo:

2024-04-15 23:18:25

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@npub1uw8…88kr
That sounds horrifying to debug!
Hope it's short! 😅

2024-04-09 00:10:29

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@npub1l3g…vu48
It's wild. And photos don't do it justice.

2024-03-04 22:15:14

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@npub1l3g…vu48
I wonder how Epson Inkjets are these days? They used to be good, and had more color-fast ink, as I recall.

2024-03-04 22:11:43

It's such a shame. I used to really like HP inkjet printers. I did tech support for them for awhile and learned a lot of details about how to keep them working.
But it looks like I will never buy an HP printer again (certainly rent or lease, or whatever this is):
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/02/hp-wants-you-to-pay-up-to-36-month-to-rent-a-printer-that-it-monitors/

2024-03-02 02:19:42

After @npub1gzc…fsz3 shared a video by Vienna Teng from 2013, I just went and impulse-bought the album ("Aims") on CD. Haven't done that in awhile.
Listening now. It's not bad!

2024-02-27 06:09:56

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@npub1jeq…jglm
True. Terrible art usually means risks were taken. If you gamble, you will naturally lose sometimes. The same artist may go on to do great things.

2024-02-26 16:26:09

You know, every time I hear about Trump's incoherent speeches and cognitive decline, I'm reminded of that Star Trek episode "Patterns of Force".
You know:
"The speech is disjointed..." and they find out the "Fuhrer" has been drugged and his lieutenant Melakon has taken over.
But Republican speeches devolved into "word salad" years ago, when they figured out it worked to enrage the crowd, without making any tangible promises or even being consistent.

2024-02-24 15:28:14

Honestly, though, "Catling Gun" was right there...
[I used to have this as desktop wallpaper, but I didn't know where it came from then]
https://www.deviantart.com/glooh/art/Catgun-345258360
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/111/986/916/743/628/766/original/dab3b8fb0c102e88.png

2024-02-09 20:39:27

The thing is, if Biden is getting too old and unhealthy for the job and he has to retire, then we get Kamala Harris as President.
I'm basically totally fine with that. 🤷‍♂️
She's WA-AY better than Trump, Haley, or any other even remotely serious candidates I have to consider.
Maybe not my *first* choice of all possible candidates, but nor is Biden, and she'd do fine.
Also, Biden, even with brain fog, is going to be much better than any Republican even on top form.

2024-02-06 06:41:50

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
That would actually be pretty cool, though! I've never done it.

2024-01-29 15:01:55

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@npub15zu…s7lx
I used to be quite loyal to HP printers. Dead to me now, though.

2024-01-28 18:15:43

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@npub1grx…uxfe
I haven't seen the show you're referring to, but I grew up with people who could tell you the make and model of a car from the sound of its engine.
Not that I can do this, but I know the skill exists.

2024-01-15 20:19:39

I could boost @npub1te8…u0yq once again today, but I want to personally endorse Software Freedom Conservancy. IMHO, it's one of the best organizations for supporting free/open software today.
I'm a proud supporter, and if you make use of FOSS (and I guess you probably do if you're reading this), and you have a little cash, this is a good way to go.
They are currently raising funds on for a matching-funds offer, and are close to their goal:
https://sfconservancy.org/sustainer/

2023-12-28 13:49:07

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
Another reason for continuing ed is that the subjects are moving targets, particularly in science.
One might not think it matters in grade school, but I learned stuff then that has been obsoleted. And more often, simply not taught things that are fundamental now.
Whole disciplines have been invented since 1980: molecular biology, extrasolar planets, AI, computer vision, and even object oriented programming. All in their infancy at best, then.
@npub195z…x938 @npub1fdw…g0dv @npub1dws…xwmq

2023-12-24 19:09:34

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
Sure. Stand it upright and put a star on it!
I thought of making a silly illustration, but honestly, this is so much better than anything I could come up with on the fly. Check it out:
http://gelesesteban.blogspot.com/2015/12/mandelbrot-christmas-tree.html

2023-12-17 00:50:55

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@npub18yv…xxyn
Yeah. I'm looking forward to trying that out. This is where I really see AI being useful -- helping me make sense of my huge piles of digital art assets.

2023-11-09 18:36:14

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@npub19fk…quap
If had to guess, I would suspect this has to do with agreements required to be distributed on Apple media sites (like iTunes?).
But I'd be interested to see where the teeth actually are in this.
@npub1typ…c8hh

2023-11-09 18:33:33

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@npub1typ…c8hh
And now I feel a strong motivation to give every future villain of mine an iPhone...
I haven't signed any of their agreements!

2023-11-09 15:47:56

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
When I was young, and greatly lacking in engineering skill, I designed and built a motor controller, but I was using regular audio processing transisters.
It did work very briefly, but the transistors literally exploded, like little firecrackers. It was quite impressive.
And then I learned what a "power transistor" was for (and how to read power ratings).

2023-10-07 05:43:29

A very worrying history of Patreon, especially with the trends of the last few years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXyN3-gQwJw

2023-10-05 21:12:18

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@npub15nw…s0l7
Hmm.
I feel like I would whack myself in the gut trying to use that.

2023-10-05 20:29:12

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@npub178r…qekt
Wow. That's quite interesting perspective. Looks very much like a two-vanishing-point architectural drawing.
I guess this is what a "PC-E lens" lets you do?

2023-10-04 05:40:31

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
Polish: * A B
Reverse Polish: A B *
Arithmetic: A * B

2023-09-29 10:21:47

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@npub1g0t…tvm4
I also notice neither of these asks what a reasonable tax RATE would be.
That's the question that would be in my mind. I mean, if it's, say, 1%, why not tax even small inheritances?
But if it's 90%, that's a very different story!

2023-09-20 00:37:16

First time I heard of this: it's a "N-Body Integrator". I'm not sure I need this for anything, but I kind of wish I did. Just the thing for doing real-physics simulation of a solar system or protoplanetary disk.
Serious astrophysics software, and under the GPL v3:
https://rebound.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
[Thanks to @npub1uw8…88kr for this link]
#Astronomy #FreeSoftware #OpenSource

2023-09-17 20:32:40

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
Texas has enacted election laws whose effect is to make urban voters have to wait in long lines to vote, while rural voters can be in and out in 5 minutes.
There is also a strong fatalistic attitude ("the Republicans are going to win anyway").
If you're certain that your vote won't change anything, and you know voting is going to be an ordeal, AND you think Democrats won't help you either..? Then a lot of people will not vote.
Texas cities are majority Dem.
@npub18zt…3eka @npub1q9z…08y4

2023-09-17 00:19:08

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@npub19fe…zpxy
Oh wow. The "POW!!" is really there? That's great.

2023-08-28 22:08:28

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@npub1l3g…vu48 @npub1k56…lqmf
VLC has an option for playing a Blu-Ray movie, and I really thought I had used it before, but it didn't work for me just now. Might depend on the particular disk, I guess.

2023-08-23 01:04:01

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@npub19fc…ay3c
IDK. How many bars does a town of 1000 people need?
I mean, it's a lot of people on a spaceship, but it's still a fairly small community. And that number was including kids, I think.
There's also an arboretum if you want to go for a walk, and four holodecks.
And some places they can play poker. Are those quarters?

2023-08-22 20:51:50

#AskFedi #Rsync
Hmm.
How does rsync *know* that a file has "changed"?
Relative to what?
Does it keep track of when it was last run?
Is there some kind of hidden file that it's using? Is it marking the files somehow?
Or does "changed" just mean "relative to the destination"?
And if it's that, then why is there an "update" option?
The man page is kind of vague on this.
Just want to make sure I'm not going to accidentally destroy important data.

2023-08-22 09:31:32

Something you should try if you are on #PeerTube (or want to see more PT videos on your Fedi account, regardless of what it is):
#SepiaSearch
https://search.joinpeertube.org
This is a search engine that you can use to search across federated PeerTube instances for keywords.
With a few minutes on it, I've found a dozen or so new channels to follow.

2023-08-16 21:47:58

What is truly stupid about SELLING vaccines is that a major benefit of vaccination is to the OTHER people around you. It is a classic example of a PUBLIC good.
They should be free.
We can afford to do that.
We can afford to make most medical care free.
We're choosing not to, and for dumb, self-destructive reasons.
:welp:

2023-08-15 02:08:29

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@npub1ec7…933z
The more they tighten their grip, the more I want to just destroy copyright entirely.
:dumpsterfire:

2023-08-14 22:31:54

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
I had a similar sensor I was looking at to do experimental monitoring for a closed-ecology project. Because you could drop it inside, so you don't need to worry about connecting wires -- just take it out at the end.
But yeah, disposable/single-use.
I suppose it must have a coin battery inside. Could maybe figure out how to replace it?

2023-08-09 16:30:47

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
I moved from YouTube to Vimeo, and now to a self-hosted PeerTube, but there's no denying YouTube has more reach and discoverability.
And that's even though I only had a few hundred views on my YT videos (max views on PT for original content is currently 10 -- I did get more on one of the "Pepper & Carrot" releases that I participated in, but then not on the next one, so it's also hit-and-miss).
It's hard to imagine getting 1K, much less 100K, views on PeerTube.

2023-08-07 19:40:02

I think we need to add new terms beyond "pay wall":
"spy wall" -- you must give us your personal info before you can see this. (Or "pry wall"?).
"ad wall" -- you must turn off your ad-blocker so we can show you ads, before you can see this.
I mean. I'm not necessarily saying it's evil to share such links, but unless it's really important to me, I'm not going to go past those. And it rarely is.

2023-07-14 18:17:03

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
Which are basically just binary numbers, right?
2/3 = 0.101010... bin
1/3 = 0.010101... bin
3/3 = 0.111111... bin
[Which I guess is where you started. Just following along...]

2023-07-09 21:50:22

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@npub1zdp…vqv8
*Awkward* 😅

2023-07-09 05:27:36

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@npub12ty…vnqc
You seem to have a very different sample than the-federation.info and https://fediverse.observer/stats sites.
Not only are the curves different, but e.g. the number of Lemmy servers is quite different.
Is there a discussion somewhere about how these selections are made? The data is interesting, but I fear drawing any conclusions from it.

2023-06-21 14:58:53

Someone needs to tell the technical writers at Dell that, not only is "leverage" an annoying buzzword, but it has a specific meaning which is NOT a generic synonym for "use".
In this context it's just someone trying to sound clever, instead of clear. It adds no meaning.
And by the time you get to this page, *trying to sound clever* is NOT what you want to see. 🤬
https://realsocial.files.fedi.monster/media_attachments/files/110/582/288/944/156/023/original/b61881833f4da17a.png

2023-06-08 19:25:29

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@npub1094…2wum
Yep. I discovered this on my own installation. Very useful for streaming access.
I think it transcodes it into a video, though. Haven't really tried to see if there's a way to download the original audio file.

2023-06-05 19:25:21

Remember the meme about how there was a brief fad in the 90s for Gregorian Chant?
And I said, "I may still have that CD".
Turns out I have at least 4 CDs!
Includes a Christmas album and 3 disks from a 4 volume set (I'm guessing there's a 4th here somewhere, but I haven't found it yet).

2023-05-02 20:18:11

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@npub1cpp…2uya
Yeah.
I probably spent much more of my youth than was reasonable, trying to figure out mental tricks to defeat mind readers. :gonzo:
I take some comfort from the fact that these machines can't work from a distance, anyway. 😅

2023-05-02 19:57:58

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@npub1cpp…2uya
I mean that "reading minds" to figure out what a person is listening to may not the same problem as "reading minds" to know what the subject is thinking (which I imagine means *subvocalizing* -- "word thoughts").
Or equally, what I imagine hearing is not the same as what I imagine saying.
Or so I imagine. Maybe they tested this?

2023-05-02 18:59:10

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@npub1cpp…2uya
Hmm. I wonder -- is the "inner sound" of a speech that is heard the same as the "inner sound" of a speech that the person is generating (either subvocalizing or vocalizing)? I would have expected them to be different.