madbodger.bsky.social

Scam calls always begin like "I'm David, how are you doing?" Why is "How are you doing?" part of the script? Why do ROBOTS ask? I'm starting to have a knee-jerk objection to "How are you doing?", and it's EVERYWHERE. And it's such a weird question? How am I doing what? What?

When you post a photo of a face with a caption like "this person should X", and don't identify the person or add alt text, those of us who are faceblind are stuck either guessing ("What's your beef with Steve Railsback?") or just wondering who it was that happened to attract your attention so.

"AI disadvantages will be countered by Moore's law, so it doesn't matter." While the entire explanation is fairly longwinded, the upshot is that genai produced code essentially is built by adding technical debt until it works. When you realize that, the real drawbacks become a lot clearer.

Got a job listing for an "entry level" position (with "entry level" pay), looking for an optics board developer, with FPGA, driver, SFF, CMIS, Infra, and board bring-up experience, along with Cisco IOS XR, networking, AI, C, Linux, and Python. Um, right.

If your video stops to tell me to like and subscribe, or has intrusive effects telling me to like and subscribe, I will do neither. I don't understand this mentality, if I'm watching a youtube video, presumably I know how to use youtube.

Searching for chips, I saw offerings for both a -N and -P version and wondered what the difference was. When I tried a web search, I got an AI answer with two completely wrong statements above the results. Real answer: -P has 4MHz GBW, -N has 3MHz, and -P is noticeably cheaper.

What if someone created actual playable games like the fake ones in mobile ads? I don't even care if they use AI.

People still act like we can just "get rid of" AI. Nope, it's like trying to put the genie back into the bottle. In fact, it's VERY like that. Think of how genie stories tend to go: someone wishes for something and the genie gives them something like it, but subtly wrong in a way that ruins it.

I would if I could, but I can't, so I won't.

Had a strange dream where I was working for Trump installing custom computer terminal network in airports. Bad enough, but things got weirder, at one point, I was in a meeting, trying to explain "you cannot telnet amino acids into a baby!"

When I first took a trigonometry class, they began with the unit circle, but didn't really cover what it was or why it was important. I flailed for a while until I realized its significance and went back to really understand it. Talking to a new student, this is still a problem.

Gearing up to calibrate a somewhat exotic oscilloscope probe, I have most of the required equipment, but see a line for a "BNC male-to-GR adapter". That's a somewhat obscure one, but I can understand why they specified it. I guess it's time to take this one out of its original packaging.

I think I found a nesting ground of the Gooseneck Vent.

Updated for the modern age: Boss makes a grand, I make a dime, So I browse the web on company time!

Replacing hydrogens in hydrocarbons with halogens yields halocarbons, a bunch of very similar seeming molecules, but one's a fire extinguisher, one's a refrigerant, and one's an anæsthetic.

Why yes, I have TOUCHED some GRASS.

I was looking for a fairly specific set of transistor characteristics (bipolar, 4A current, gain of 1000, TO-220 package, at least a few watts of power dissipation, complementary pair) and not coming up with much. Then I discovered the TIP142T (NPN) and TIP147T (PNP), which fill the bill nicely.

So, six things I should do? The article implies that spiders eat clothes moths, and I'd much rather have the spiders.

Took a trip up to Lancaster, PA to meet up with a friend, eat and buy Amish food, see the sights, enjoy ice cream, and ... visited a few bookstores. #booksky

Why does a hotel HVAC have both a complete set of controls, and a light that says "Use Wall Thermostat" that comes on if any of them are operated?

Acquired some weird old electronics. Not really sure what it's supposed to be or do, but I gave some power to it and was rewarded with some symbols. Perhaps it's telling me my fortune?

I sometimes see bumper stickers like "In case of Rapture, this car will be unmanned". I'm tempted to make my own, reading "In case of Rapture, this car will SEEM unmanned, as I am now treating all cars as bumper cars!"

Even if the $5k wasn't a lie like the others and it wasn't illegal, it would be a net loss. Either the govt would get the money back, costing every working person around $12k, or just create the money, devaluing the dollar, making everything more expensive: one payout, higher cost forever.

Back in the 1970s, I decided to produce a video sign for a science fiction convention. In those days, 64x32 graphics were kinda futuristic.

Two firemen, big strong guys, they grabbed me under the arms --- 'got to get our of here!' -- and they lifted me up, and they started running with me. We ended up in a hotel room and they started playing with my hair and undressing me. After some kissing, they both peed on me, which I enjoyed. DJT

Happy Star Trek Day!

It appears TiVo is taking away their commercial skip feature, and moving it into a "premium" pay tier. As I have lifetime service, they aren't making any money on me, so apparently they'd like to alter the deal so they can.

Apparently Ikea sells Qapla' (but they spell it "Koppla" for some presumably Danish reason).

Has anyone noticed the Walmart logo is basically two opposing arrows?

Watch out for tire-eating insects!

Want to mess with some scammers? Call your "agent" at 814-936-9585 about winning an $8.5M prize, claim number 0199. Give 'em a fake name, tell 'em you bank at Bank of America, make up the last 6 digits of your debit card, and give 'em Todd Davis' SSN (457-55-5462). Use a silly voice.

I've noticed some people are uncomfortable about wearing skimpy swimwear (which is understandable), but are fine being nude. I kind of understand that, while being aware of how it's a little odd. Trying to figure out if it's the concept of being on display, or in public, or feeling judged.

Chatting with folks at a library table at an event, they asked if I had a library card. I proudly said I had two. One of the people started listing the counties she held cards for. It was an impressive list. It made me smile.

I understand "LEV" is "low emission vehicle". But what is "HEV"?

Looking for information on Vectrex, I tripped across a Grokipedia page filled with rampant inaccuracies. It states the Vectrex draws power from an external supply (wrong), has die-cast metal chassis (wrong), 9x11" CRT (wrong), with electrostatic deflection (wrong), and a P31 green phosphor (wrong).

Vegas casinos used to display a fancy car you could win immediately by getting the max jackpot from linked slot machines. These days, it's just an econobox you have to wait for some raffle in the future to win. How far we've fallen.

Shout-out to Rio Las Vegas, being reasonable and helpful. To get a very late checkout, we had simply booked an extra night. So when our late flight wasn't going to work, we called the Rio and asked if we could get back in after checking out. They were happy to let us.

You know how private equity can destroy a company by buying it out and loading it up with debt? I think amazon should buy out spacex and wreck it, removing some competition. Then the Walton family (of Wal-Mart) can buy amazon and wreck it, removing some competition.

Shout-out to Frontier Airlines, who, when a delayed flight would have us miss our connection, let us know, let us rebook for the next day, and retrieved our checked luggage in less than 15 minutes.

Do you pronounce "yoink" with one syllable or two?

I just realized "fanboy" seems a more pejorative term than "fangirl". Which may be why I describe myself as "fangirling" over various things, even though I'm male presenting.

Amused by the labelling on these flavour packets.

The electric tractor stopped charging, so I opened it up to investigate. I found three smoking guns: the wire from the charging connector was corroded through, the internal connector had obvious heat damage, and a wire on the fuse holder was burnt. I replaced everything with upgraded components.

C, Python, Java, XSLT, PostScript, PHP, C++, Objective-C, TCL/TK, FORTRAN, FORTH, COBOL, SNOBOL, assembler, APL, BASIC, lex/flex/yacc/bison, Ruby, Logo, Go, bash, SQL, PL1, HTML/CSS, troff, pic, graphviz, lilypond, ORACL. (referencing an recent xkcd strip)

I think my vehicle is annoyed with me, it lit up like a Christmas tree. At least the check engine light is (finally) off.

Had a dream I was in France and saw an ambulance, but it was labelled with the French word for ambulance, which (in the dream) was "acetabulum". I do know the term (it derives from a Latin term for "vinegar cup", and is used in biology to refer to cup-shaped structures) but in dreamland it's weird.

Oh cat, why do you have to leave a stinky poop in that litterbox every time I take a shower?

Having two airstrips near our house means we get a lot of low flying planes. Here's a 1958 Dornier, N211KM.