Notices by Veronica Olsen 🏳️‍🌈🇳🇴🌻 (veronica@mastodon.online), page 2

Looks like we're in for an era of bloatware on phones mostly there for the manufacturers to inflate their stock prices. It will certainly encourage me to hang on to my current phone for longer.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/03/google-says-the-pixel-8-will-get-its-new-ai-model-but-ram-usage-is-a-concern/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

#AI #Bloatware #Google #Tech

@BethanyBlack I'd retire by lunch today if I got a call that I'd inherited some rich uncle I didn't know about.

@siege So the cat version of this, which was allegedly meant for humans (haven't seen it in real life since my grandparent's generation were around).

Context: It is complete snow chaos in the south of Norway right now. This isn't very common this far south, and on the coast. A little further west, where I live. There isn't any snow at all. In the north and in the mountains in the south, this happens more often. Although the volume of snow in such a short time is unusual in general.

Meanwhile, in Norway.

Photo: Adrian Smith / NRK

#Meanwhile #Norway #Snow #Winter

I've been working on a new welcome dialog for @novelwriter, combining the old open project dialog and the new project wizard into a nicer and simpler tool.

The artwork in the background is a preview, and not the final artwork. It's made by @ldurrant, and I'm really looking forward to the final result!

#Writing #Programming #Python

@forteller Ja, nei, herregud. Standpunkt har jo ikke noe i politikken å gjøre.

@BethanyBlack I've heard it's the same for the large drinks!

@forteller Altså, døgnfluen som nå kaller seg Folkets Parti er ikke en standard å trakte etter i norsk politikk. Vil ikke overraske om INP lider samme skjebne.

@goatsarah Also, accusations of being "aggressive" is a common tactic against marginalised groups. If you don't respond to hostility and bigotry calmly enough you're blamed for causing it by being "too aggressive".

@goatsarah On the flip side, being a calm and articulate bigot gives you a lot of traction with the media, who is always incredibly eager to "both sides" such issues.

A particularly bad case here was one of our country's more public legal experts commending a TERF for using an "indoor voice", more than implying that queer people were not, which she found "tiring". It's an incredible display of privilege, at best. I lost whatever respect I had for her at that moment.

John: Is it possible?
Rodney: Doubtful.
John: But maybe?
Rodney: It's a long shot at best.
John: Perfect. Get to it. What do you need? 15 minutes?

A fun nod to the long tradition in SciFi of doing the impossible in a few minutes 😄

#Stargate #Atlantis #SciFi #TV

Goddammit season 2 of Foundations is great. I'm annoyed at the end of every episode because it's the end of the episode. Only one more to go, and the suspense is killing me. Please don't let it be another two years until the continuation!

#Foundation #SciFi #TV

My new hand crafted VFD display desk clock finally arrived from Kyiv this weekend, and it looks really cool!

CC @ruari

Edit: Link to the shop https://www.etsy.com/no-en/shop/KirovNixie

#Nixie #HandCrafted #Retro #Tech #Etsy

@dagb Mediene er dessverre generelt svært dårlige på å formidle forskning, noe man legger merke til hver gang de skriver om noe en selv kan. De gjør ofte forskningen en bjørnetjeneste, og burde heller samarbeide mer eller overlate helt slikt til forskere med interesse og kompetanse på formidling.

Det er også vanskelig å få forskningsformidling publisert i mediene som forsker om det ikke er spektakulært nok.

If a human is exposed to raw space vacuum, they will not freeze any time soon. Vacuum is an excellent insulator, because there is no matter that can transport away your heat (convection), like in an atmosphere or liquid. Managing heat is actually a problem in space, especially with sunlight.

Rapid evaporation may cause cooling in certain parts of the body though.

Latest episode of Star Trek: SNW got this wrong, so has a lot of other shows, movies and books in the past.

#Space #SciFi #StarTrek

Came across another error message from the super computer "Hex" at the Unseen University, Ankh-Morpork, Discworld.

Naturally, I had to add it to my list of randomly selected window titles for the critical error dialog in @novelwriter 😁

At least when the app crashes on someone, it should try to make up for it a little 😋

#Code #Programming #EasterEggs #Discworld #UnseenUniversity #AnkhMorpork #TerryPratchett

I want to get an electric car soon, so yesterday I was looking at the new Volvo EX30 online. I was surprised to see that they've gone for the large, centred touch screen display for everything.

My car has a decent display, but I have a regular instrument panel behind the wheel and a HUD for the essentials. I think of screens as a safety hazard, and my HUD to be a significant improvement to traditional instrument panels.

Why are (some) cars moving in the opposite direction now?

#Cars #Safety

@aaribaud
Sure, here's the breakdown from our budget:

Maintenance: 23.0%
Cleaning: 18.0%
Fire Alarm: 16.5%
Insurance: 15.1%
Elevator: 14.3%
Electricity: 6.9%
Internet/TV: 4.1%
Administration: 2.1%

Last year I bought an apartment in a six unit apartment building. I'm doing the accounting for all of us, and I was surprised how expensive it is to run such a building. It costs 15-16,000 € a year. And that is *not* including heating, water and waste.

#Housing #Bills