Notices by Technology Connections (techconnectify@mas.to), page 2

@konradmb I kind of hate saying this but the fact of the matter is we are in an information war and we are all soldiers.

The world would be a much happier place if I could reasonably assume everyone merely seeks the truth. But that ain't the world we're living in.

@konradmb OK, well now - specifically to you in the situation of you being asked a question - I would advise that you use caution. Much of this is audience- and setting-specific, and I think in some contexts it's safe to assume that questions are being asked in good faith.

But it's not always. And if you think a certain response might be what someone's looking for, you probably shouldn't engage.

@mikej @VATVSLPR @larsmb As Mr. Rogers said: look for the helpers.

@glyph @larsmb Right, but I think the real challenge here is that honest people who genuinely want the world to get better also do this! They often don't realize they're doing it, but they're doing it.

That's what I mean by "be careful" - you have to have some awareness of what you're stepping in and what the words you leave behind will contribute.

@larsmb This post was spurred by a convo on a different platform.

It is true that to electrify everything as we need to do, we will face challenges. But if all you can do is ask "will the power grid be able to keep up with demand?" without realizing that A) yes, it always has B) it must if we are to meet the goal anyway and C) given A and B this question doesn't actually need to be asked, then you're giving credit to the opposition & also worsening the doom spiral which makes us feel powerless.

@larsmb I am not talking about sealioning. That person knows what they're doing and doesn't need anyone to tell them to be careful.

I'm talking about people engaging in conversations about things which are technically true but don't actually matter. We need to get better at recognizing when things are irrelevant and let them drop out of the conversation, because earnest people who don't do this unwittingly bring fodder to the disinformers of the world.

Let me give you an example:

This is a reality which sucks. And I know that full-well.

But it's one of the central ways we get held back from making important changes. The status quo preys on people believing we can't do things - so if you believe we need to change? Be careful that you're not playing into that hand.

Real talk time:

"Just asking questions" is a weapon. We know full-well that some people exploit it to feign innocence when deliberately throwing noise into discussions. And it works in large part because it encourages otherwise earnest discussions which then contribute to the noise.

So be careful.

@thomasfuchs Being able to see both isn't meaningfully different to me from seeing the wrong thing first - if there's room for misinterpretation at all, it's a problem. I truly couldn't believe that anyone could have the shape of the lamp influence their interpretation to the point of confusion.

@thomasfuchs Then consider my words eaten.

I guess you are experiencing a type of information overload which is foreign to me. There's not much point trying to dig at this, but my gut tells me that either my brain doesn't recognize symbols as quickly or else the other bits of context become apparent first which is why I'm not parsing the symbol as relevant if I even parse it at all.

@thomasfuchs So you looked at that video and believed the car was signaling for a right turn? Or even could be signaling for a right turn?

If that was your first conclusion, then I'll happily eat my words.

@RandomDamage @thomasfuchs I agree! But I just struggle to believe that many people would look at the back of this vehicle and interpret meaning in those shapes. There's too much other context going on - this is a car, there's a lamp on both sides, like all cars the side the lamp is on will flash to indicate a turn.

If you even get to the point of recognizing it's an arrow, I don't know how you could then think that they mean anything at all since they're pointing inward.

Several people now have tagged me in the Mini arrow-lookin'-tail light thing.

You're correct that it bothers me but you're incorrect if you think the arrow part has much to do with it.

It's bothersome to me only because it's a combined brake and turn indicator!

I am surprised at folks who think the resemblance to an arrow pointing the wrong way is actually confusing: I find it extremely unlikely that people even parse the presence of the arrow over which side of the vehicle is flashing.

For reference, this is the post:

https://hackers.town/@earthshine/112174209944026016

I think it's humorous and nothing more. A blunder in a cutesy application of the Union Jack.

The real problem, as ever, is that we allow brake lights to also function as turn signals in the first place.

Assuming enough Americans got the same middle school history classes that I did:

Remember trust busting and muckraking?

I think they're in for a comeback.

OK, new thing to address in the Heat Pump Chronicles:

HVAC pros know a lot of stuff and have pretty elaborate mental frameworks of how things "should" be designed. And usually they're correct at least on a basic level.

For instance, you don't want to size a heat pump for heating load if you also plan to use it for cooling. If the heating load is bigger than the cooling load, this would result in short-cycling in the summer.

This is still true! But only with single-stage equipment.

That line about heat pumps being a modular toolkit?

Well, any decent heat pump now can operate at several capacities. If your heating load requires a 4-ton heat pump but you only need 2-rons of cooling, then you could *absolutely* use a 4-ton heat pump so long as it's configured to run as a 2-tonner in the summer.

This all gets back to weedsy details and not keeping up with the pace of innovation. Lots of well-intentioned misunderstandings in the industry still hanging on.

Heh, well I guess the Sharp Carousel Multiple Choice doesn't know what leap years are.

@thomasfuchs Right, but it's honestly just that those things which you value... I don't.

Reed is very good at staying off the counters. He doesn't ever dare get on them when I'm around, and after five minutes the cooktop has cooled down anyway.

And the immediate response no longer holds much water for me - I'm completely used to the fact that it's going to be a bit before it's where I want it. I'm sure that's not as easy to do with ADHD, though.

HOWEVER,

@thomasfuchs There is a behavior that my Whirlpool stove does that I'm not sure how long has been standard.

The controller isn't just adjusting the duty cycle - it's aware of what it was set to previously.

So, when you adjust it down, it keeps the element off for an extended time to get the burner to your new target as fast as possible. Same goes when you adjust up - it runs the element for a long pulse before starting to cycle again.

That has dramatically diminished the need to plan ahead.