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  • I remember reading The Sniper by Liam O'Flaherty sometime in late middle school, I wanna say.

    teacher let us know after that it was about the Irish civil war, and that things similar to the story had actually happened.

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    We need to stop using /s unless there is a need.
  • upvoting because this is definitely unpopular. tone is not conveyed in text and various sarcastic phrases need the intonation to be understood as sarcastic.

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    Wavetracker a new Dn-FamiTracker alternative
  • For linux users, you can add it to Steam as a nonsteam game for proton support and add the .NET 8.0 runtime environment using the explorer app in protontricks. It runs great via that method.

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    Social interactions online
  • I'd argue Hanlon's razor is not a very good heuristic. It ultimately presupposes the user of it is the mental superior in the situation, and does not take into account polarized and ambiguous controversies. It also encourages energy wasting by presupposing the issue lies with mental capacity or education, suggesting that you could educate your opponent out of their stance.

    I'd recommend moving towards more energy-conserving practices. Rather than arguing your points directly, it's better to first understand why the opposition would be taking their current stance and adjust your argument based on what common ground you both share.

    Possibly the greatest skill is to just learn when it's no longer worth your time to argue with them.

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    Who Stops a "Bad Guy With a Gun"?
  • I think it also misses a special case, where a active shooting would have happened, but a 'good guy with a gun' stopped it before a death toll occurred by either holding the shooter at gunpoint or shooting them.

    This would likely be a rare case that would be much harder to quantify but you know it will be argued it's needed for that case.

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    Who Stops a "Bad Guy With a Gun"?
  • They're saying that if someone tries to attack you with a knife (or even no weapon), pro-gun proponents argue you should have a right to a firearm to defend yourself against that attacker, citing that most people straight up do not have the physical ability to ward off the attacker (who is on average an adult man).

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    Earbuds
  • This issue is solely the fault of capitalism. By removing choice you are forced to by a more premium product, but you're advertised it by all the supposed benefits: one less external opening on the phone, no more tangled headphones, no more dealing with headphones that only work when the cord is plugged in just right, no more chance of your headphone port going bad.

    They skip over the fact that most of these issues are directly problematic because of cost cutting and designed obsolescence (aka engineered lifetimes). The opening is one thing, but headphones tangle in pockets easily because they use such thin flimsy cords. Same thing goes for cords breaking in the lining and only working at certain angles: a more robust cord would be less prone to issues.

    On top of this, the entire designs of phones not having repairability in mind is the only reason that a headphone port breaking is a big deal. If they were designed to be disassembled with replacement parts being readily available, it wouldn't be an issue. They could even make the ports more robust to decrease failure rate.

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    TIL Samuel Little is the most prolific serial killer in America with a confirmed 60 kills and 38 admitted to.
  • Reminder about Henry Lee Lucas, who would just confess to any murder because he kept being provided amenities in prison for doing so.

    Do we have any significant evidence that Sam Little definitely committed these murders? To be clear, Little is definitely a serial killer. I just have my doubts that he isn't just being used as a scapegoat since HLL.

    From Oxygen

    The FBI confirms Samuel Little is “the most prolific serial killer in U.S. history,” and says he has been “matched to 50 cases” of the 93 murders he claims he has committed. The FBI also releases a timeline of Little’s life and crimes in hopes of identifying more of his victims.

    So half are still unconfirmed, and the other 50 are 'Matched' to him by some unknown criteria, which involves sketches

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    Explainer: American Socialists Accused of Russian Propaganda in ‘Free Speech Trial of the Century’
  • Current accusations:

    The US Department of Justice (DOJ) claims the malign foreign influence efforts at issue in the case were orchestrated by three Russian nationals — two FSB officers identified as Aleksei Borisovich and Yegor Popov, and Aleksandr Ionov, a Moscow-based activist whose anti-globalization efforts were allegedly bankrolled by the FSB. Ionov founded and ran the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia (AGMR), which, according to prosecutors, worked with a handful of US grassroots organizations to spread Russian influence and interfere with US elections.

    To this end, Ionov invited Yeshitela to Moscow in 2015 to discuss “future cooperation,” according to the indictment. The trip was fully paid for by AGMR, according to US prosecutors, who also noted that in planning logistics, Yeshitela had requested meetings with “an official representative of the Russian government” and members of the diplomatic corps of Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, North Korea, and Syria. Though the indictment did not detail the outcome of the Moscow trip, it outlined several campaigns AGMR subsequently supported APSP with, including a UN “petition on Genocide of African people in US,” which Ionov allegedly offered media support for.

    According to the DOJ, AGMR used APSP and other groups to “create the appearance of American popular support for Russia’s annexation of territories in Ukraine” and to cast Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine as a war on “Naziism.” The latter is a common Kremlin talking point; in March 2022, days after Russia launched its invasion, Putin told members of the Russian Security Council:

    I will never abandon my conviction that Russians and Ukrainians are one nation, even though some people in Ukraine have been intimidated, many have been duped by nationalist Nazi propaganda, and some have consciously decided to become followers of Bandera and other Nazi accomplices, who fought on Hitler’s side during the Great Patriotic War.

    Among other alleged incidents, the AMGR also pushed APSP to make statements in support of APSP Russian Olympic team as its athletes were ensnared in a massive doping scandal, encouraged APSP’s efforts to seek reparations for American slavery, and offered to finance defendant Nevel in a run for local office.

    Yeshitela, Hess, Nevel, and Romain face charges of conspiring to defraud the US. The former three are also charged with failure to register as agents of a foreign government.

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  • I kind of had this epiphany while talking with some friends about different interesting numeral systems and their various advantages and disadvantages. I ended up thinking this system up while I was in the shower, went back to my desk and knocked it out in an hour or so. It takes aspects of the Kaktovik numeral system invented by the Inupiaq tribe, and combines them with some aspects of the Cistercian numerals.

    I think that this numeral system fusion can look very wizard-y, and be easy to write and do math with.

    I've abbreviated it as b10CK, which I think is pretty clean.

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    Public Domain Book Recommendations

    I'm currently trying to get better at reading and am doing that by accumulating a library of public domain books, since they're free and easily available.

    • If you have a specific work you love that was published pre-1928, or is currently not under copyright, feel free to comment it down below.

    • if you have any authors you think are worth reading, also post them below.

    I'm currently reading Jack London's "War of the Classes", and I have "Carmilla" by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, and "The Picture of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde downloaded for later.

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    I got a Fairphone 4 after security updates were discontinued on my Samsung Galaxy S9 and I figured out it couldn't be flashed with a new OS (it was a fantastic phone while it lasted- was honestly Underutilizing its overall power. Got 5 years out of it).

    TLDR : read the last paragraph

    I am honestly taken aback by the transparency in regards to the FP4's construction. The repair manual gives the part number, quantity, and purpose of every single component on the PCBs. You get the full schematics as well.

    Obviously I can replace any major part/board until support stops (they're saying they'll support it for 3 more years minimum), but I imagine that I could stock up a couple spare parts and treat the device well and get much longer from the hardware. As for support for the OS, I got the phone through Murena who put their own custom OS on it, but I imagine I could flash a new OS onto it without much problem.

    The things I am thinking about are past that point. If replacement parts no longer get sold and something fails on one of the boards, I don't know the feasibility of finding a replacement component. Like, I imagine getting a matching capacitor wouldn't be an issue, but can you even find a replacement snapdragon or WiFi chip? And while we're talking about hot-air soldering on replacement parts: do PCBs have a duty lifespan? Is it more likely that my screen'll just die long before anything else?

    Basically, assuming I treat this phone right and don't break anything in a drop, how long can I glide this fella out? what's the shorest lifespan parts that'll fail first - and what kind of lifetime can I suspect? What are parts I could consider replacing with a similar part? (I own a 3d printer and do diverse material fabricating as a hobby).

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    Just got done installing the new shell from JSAUX! Had some pains to go through that I want to let you folks know about.

    First and foremost, if you have the 512GB steam deck that comes stock with an anti glare screen, DO NOT pry from the side that JSAUX shows in their video. Pry from the other side. They are using the standard screen in that video.

    For reference, if you look at the 512GB steam deck screen, and go to part only, and look at the rear-side image, there is a "buffer space" on the left side (opposite the ribbon cable) of the screen for prying under the adhesive (for whatever reason they have the screen upside down in the image). On the 64/256GB steam deck screen, the buffer space is on the right side, with the ribbon cable. If you try prying under the right side of the anti-glare screen, you immediately run into the ribbon cable and are likely to damage it. I just barely had to buy a brand new screen to finish this project because of this. ! !

    Second thing. When trying to pry the screen off the adhesive, it is very easy to completely slide your spudger directly in between the shell and the screen. You should reference where the positioning triangles are on your empty shell, and pry at one of those locations. It greatly simplifies removing the screen. !

    Lastly, when removing the triggers, do as shown in the video carefully. The hall effect sensors (tiny little chip on the board under the trigger magnet) used by each trigger on the board are very exposed. if you force one of the triggers off, you can easily knock that hall effect sensor off. I only noticed the little chip sitting on my desk during reassembly. I managed to hand solder the little guy back on and it ain't a pretty job but it works.

    Hopefully this hard-knock wisdom helps some of y'all avoid my mistakes.

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    People commonly quote Marx communicating that the possession of firearms must not be infringed, but I'd like more general principles and justifications than an appeal to Marx.

    I've done some reading but when I cannot I just think about things on my own, maybe bounce ideas off a friend.

    Word Vomit Contained inside

    The view that I've come to currently is that violence (defined in this case as the obstruction or frustration of another's plans and ambitions) is a core universal tool which all living things employ. Language and cooperation were evolutionary evolved as a complement to violence (communication and cooperation allowed group violence which greatly improved survival odds). However, in cases where communication/cooperation with an outgroup breaks down, violence in some form will be fallen back on.

    What's more, between two non-cooperative groups, if one group can obtain what they want through violence without losing more than they gain, they'll quite often choose that option as it is enticing.

    Because of this natural progression, force-on-force is almost inevitable. To prevent being trodden upon by others, it is wise for a community to arm itself and train, thus greatly raising the cost of confrontations, hopefully beyond what others are willing to pay.

    I would like to hear more from folks though, maybe just wise words on operation, maybe some sources to check out in my free time. Anything to better build my understanding is welcome.

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