Notices by John Deters (targetdrone@mastodon.social)

@fesshole I'm not sure his dietary habits were the reddest of flags here. Even if he can't be arsed to pack out the trash when he parks the car, how immature does he have to be to leave trash on the floor before picking up a date?

@ryanc Does everyone there call them TAY-kos? I have an ex-pat Brit friend who's pronounced them that way for decades, and as a midwestern American it drove me nuts. I want to know if it was just him yanking our chains or if that's a widespread annoyance.

As I haven't been to GB since 1997, I don't have a lot of other datapoints.

@fesshole Sure, you didn't notice immediately. How many of those seven takes did you spoil?

@fesshole That's it! We've found the AI that's going to take over the world!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrumental_convergence#Paperclip_maximizer

@fesshole Somewhere around 15-20 years ago, after having to retie my loose shoelaces multiple times per day over the previous 50 years, my wife said "double-tie them. Instead of one wrap around the loops, go around twice." So I did.

The added friction keeps them tied all day. As a bonus, they untie just like the regular knot--pull either free string.

It was a a similar revelation to me that shoes could be tied any other way.

@mattly "Why do you keep a gun in the kitchen drawer?"

"If the dishwasher ever starts sending packets I don't recognize..."

@fesshole That's just like him to not post important news on Facebook.

@fesshole I avoid those awkward conversations by closing the door on them as soon as I understand what they're asking about. If I feel bad because they're a charity, I might mumble "sorry, no thanks" through the closing gap. And really, it saves them time arguing with someone who isn't ever going to help them.

@fesshole "Tories Turned Me Queer" wasn't on my list for 2026, but I'm willing to read more.

@ryanc One last guess and I'll give up: a capacitive touch switch?

@ryanc A Very Specific Denial. A power switch operated by a deadbug 8 pin package that is neither an op amp nor a 555 timer (you said it didn't oscillate, but a resistor-capacitor controlling a 555 makes it an oscillator, so I have to believe it's not a 555.) Aha! It's a debounce circuit to flip the switch. With a 555 that is not astable.

@ryanc So it's a blinking light flasher.

@ryanc An opto-isolated power switch?

@dansup Can someone please ELI5 how/if I can use my mastodon login to log into loops?

@fesshole Blame the happy couple's dinner menu.

@fesshole "Attention passengers, the flight crew has fallen ill. Are there any passengers who have extensive experience in pretending to fly multi-engine aircraft? It would be helpful if they could also say stuff on the radio that sounds plausible to air traffic control."

Unbeknownst to our 'fessor, Sam Altman was also on the same flight.

@fesshole A true fan of The Princess Bride would not have blundered into this trap.

@fesshole Vibe coded todo app, or jira.

Not sure which one makes me sadder.

@hellomiakoda I would try using pyCEC. It's supposed to remotely operate the CEC port on an HDMI connected device. So you could plug in an old RasPi 3 into a free HDMI port, then run the bridge on it. The docs even provide a little HomeAssistant example for remote telnet control.

https://github.com/konikvranik/pyCEC

I got a request at work last week to fill out some paperwork that was *urgently* needed by the deadline this week. To submit it, I had to request permission to their site to upload the document. After 4 days permission has yet to be granted.

I replied that I might be slow in complying and in my note I set the "passive aggressive level" to "annoyed Minnesotan".

Even if I don't get results, I at least get the amusement. 🙂