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Critical vulnerability affecting most Linux distros allows for bootkits
  • My first reaction would be to acknowledge them as a fellow geek, but that's because most of the people who live near me would hurt themselves trying to open Notepad. Anyone who knows enough to start hacking my config files would be a welcome guest in my house.

    Then I'd kill them with a hammer. :-)

  • Happy Blasphemy Day!
    centerforinquiry.org Secular Rescue: "A Journey of Resilience" | Center for Inquiry

    September 30 is International Blasphemy Rights Day, established in 2009 by the Center for Inquiry to reassert our commitment to defending the right to question and criticize the claims of religion. CFI’s Secular Rescue program provides assistance to those courageous writers, speakers, and activi ...

    Secular Rescue: "A Journey of Resilience" | Center for Inquiry
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    Simultaneous device use-case sync question.
  • I do the same thing, using a home-grown Git sync solution to keep my vault synced between my desktop, laptop, and Android phone. Free, and easy to setup on the computers, needed some additional SW on the Android side to get the sync to work.

  • EFF: Stop the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act
    act.eff.org Stop the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act

    The Protecting Kids on Social Media Act would lead to a second-class online experience for young people, mandated privacy-invasive age verification for all users, and in all likelihood, the creation of digital IDs for all U.S. citizens and residents. The bill will make it illegal for anyone under 13...

    Let your Congress-critters know this is not the right thing to do.

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    What fonts are the most common on Linux today?
  • My EndeavourOS (and the prior Manjaro distro) had all of them installed.

    All. Of. Them.

    I am so tired of having to scroll through hundreds of Noto fonts to get to the later ones, but I'm afraid, if I uninstall one, something will break on reboot.

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  • Kum & Go isn’t a charity, yet they found a way to go from zero charitable activity to nonzero. That’s a plus.

    So you're saying the ends are what is important, not the reason the action was taken?

    To me, there's an important philosophical question here -- if the right action (or a demonstrably good action) is taken, does it matter why? I think it does.

    Let's say my neighbor doesn't maintain their property -- they don't mow or clean the landscaping. I decide to do this for them on my own, with their permission of course. There is a difference if I'm doing this to be a good neighbor, as opposed to making sure the neighborhood looks good because I'm selling my house. My actions are the same in both cases, as are the effects and side effects -- only the motivation differs. Therefore that motivation deserves to be interrogated and explored.

    If you honestly see that as a negative, you should take it as a wake-up call that you’re using an irrationally pessimistic lens to view the world.

    I don't see myself as a pessimist, but I'll admit this observation is probably correct.

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  • Just writing a cheque to the charity for $43k would have done as much or more, but since their real goal is goosing sales numbers not donating to charity that would run counter to their goal.

    This -- it's virtue-signalling to raise sales numbers. If I make a big public statement about my charitable giving, it's seen very differently than when a big corporation does it.

    Another question I have: is anyone changing their purchasing choices because of this? Would you choose a Pepsi fountain drink or a Gatorade instead of a bottle of Coke just because of this? Or add a share size Snickers bar to your gas purchase which you wouldn't otherwise?

  • How to save kindle unlimited books after subscription ended
  • I moved from a major metro area to middle of forking nowhere several years ago. I kept my library cards from the metro area, which still work for Libby ebook and magazine downloads, while the local rural library is tied into a regional system for the occasional dead tree book.

  • Distro recommendation for ease of use and up to date software
  • I just hopped both my laptop and desktop from Manjaro to Endeavour - so far, so good. I'm still restoring files from backup and installing stuff, so it's still early days, but already things are feeling better.

  • The Fall of Stack Overflow
  • Fair point, and thank you. Let me clarify a bit.

    It wasn't my intention to say ChatGPT isn't helpful. I've heard stories of people using it to great effect, but I've also heard stories of people who had it return the same non-solutions they had already found and dismissed. Just like any tool, actually...

    I was just pointing out that it is functionally similar to scanning SO, tech docs, Slashdot, Reddit, and other sources looking for an answer to our question. ChatGPT doesn't have a magical source of knowledge that we collectively also do not have -- it just has speed and a lot processing power. We all still have to verify the answers it gives, just like we would anything from SO.

    My last sentence was rushed, not 100% accurate, and shows some of my prejudices about ChatGPT. I think ChatGPT works best when it is treated like a rubber duck -- give it your problem, ask it for input, but then use that as a prompt to spur your own learning and further discovery. Don't use it to replace your own thinking and learning.

  • The Fall of Stack Overflow
  • There was a story once that said if you put an infinite number of monkeys in front of an infinite number of typewriters, they would eventually produce the works of William Shakespeare.

    So far, the Internet has not shown that to be true. Example: Twitter.

    Now we have an artificial monkey remixing all of that, at our request, and we're trying to find something resembling Hamlet's Soliloquy in what it tells us. What it gives you is meaningless unless you interpret it in a way that works for you -- how do you know the answer is correct if you don't test it? In other words, you have to ensure the answers it gives are what you are looking for.

    In that scenario, it's just a big expensive rubber duck you are using to debug your work.

  • Cleaning build plate (was How hot is too hot for FDM printing?)
  • I'm printing PLA+ at 200C nozzle, 60C bed temp. It's been fine so far with a few failures I've filed under "User Error".

    OK, now I'm curious how I change the bed temp settings after the first layer -- something in the slicer? I'm using Ultimaker Cura, and have just recently been digging into the advanced settings.

  • Cleaning build plate (was How hot is too hot for FDM printing?)
  • Heat is ~28C outside (90F or so), more in the shed. I've no ABS since I've I read it's tough to work with and I haven't had an application for it yet. I just did a cleaning on the plate, and I'll see if that makes a difference.

  • Cleaning build plate (was How hot is too hot for FDM printing?)

    I recently had two print failures on my Ender 3 Neo. In both, it looked like the part came free from the heated build plate after about an hour or so of printing. Both had good starts in the first 15 minutes or so. I had a successful print finish two days ago.

    It has been hot and humid here today, and my printer is in a non-AC shed not connected to the house.

    I'm wondering if I should wait to kick off the next print until this evening when it should be cooler. Do I need to clean the build plate? I've not done that at all, other than make sure these isn't any filament left on the plate when it finishes.

    UPDATE: It's apparent the problem isn't the heat, but the fact that I haven't cleaned the build plate since... well, ever. Adjusting the title to reflect that.

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    Problems with Sunlu PLA+ Matte filament on Ender 3 Neo

    I took advantage of a recent offer to stock up on filament for my Ender 3 Neo. I purchased six 1Kg spools of Sunlu PLA+ Matte in grey and white colors. I loaded one of the white spools into the printer and did a small test print -- no problems, looks good, everything seemed fine.

    So I decided to fire up a longer print, 8+ hours of an ocarina I downloaded from Printables and sliced using Cura Ultimaker. However, I have yet to have a successful print. Three different times, the filament has gotten bound up on the spool, so much so that the feed mechanism just gives up and the print stops. I've cancelled two of these prints after 2-3 hours when the filament got stuck on the spool.

    Has anyone else seen this? Is there a fix, short of pulling it all off the spool? I've never had to, but can you even respool the filament without causing more problems? I can't babysit the printer for 8-10 hours, and would like to kick off some overnight jobs again one day...

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    Atheism @lemmy.ml displaced_city_mouse @midwest.social
    Supreme Court limits LGBTQ protections with ruling in favor of Christian web designer | CNN Politics
    www.cnn.com Supreme Court limits LGBTQ protections with ruling in favor of Christian web designer | CNN Politics

    The Supreme Court Friday ruled in favor of a Christian web designer in Colorado who refuses to create websites to celebrate same-sex weddings out of religious objections.

    Supreme Court limits LGBTQ protections with ruling in favor of Christian web designer | CNN Politics

    And just like that, SCOTUS affirms that someone's deeply held beliefs are more valid and in need of protection than someone else's reality.

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    Reporter bias in local newspaper?
    thesouthern.com Resource fair offers dignity to those facing homelessness

    Arrowleaf sponsored a Digity Fair Tuesday afternoon at Shawnee Community College Anna Center to provide resources for those who are homeless or at risk of being homeless.

    Resource fair offers dignity to those facing homelessness

    A story on a local organization reaching out to help the unhoused in my current area. The director of the organization is quoted using the term "unhoused", but the reporter (or their editor) decided to use the more charged term "homeless" in the by-line and the article.

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    Atheism @lemmy.ml displaced_city_mouse @midwest.social
    "That doesn’t happen": Trixie Mattel shuts down false narratives about drag
    www.gaytimes.co.uk "That doesn’t happen": Trixie Mattel shuts down false narratives about drag

    Trixie Mattel has spoken out against politicians using drag as a “scapegoat” to get votes by creating false narratives about performers.

    "That doesn’t happen": Trixie Mattel shuts down false narratives about drag

    From the article, when talking about the "groomer" slur aimed at LGBTQIA+ people:

    > "...There’s no drag queens being arrested for sexual assault of children, that doesn’t happen,” Trixie said. “Do you know where that happens? The church, okay? That’s where. This whole country mollycoddles Christians and I’m fucking tired of it, tired of it!

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    Atheism @lemmy.ml displaced_city_mouse @midwest.social
    The Church opposes human composting alternative to burial
    abc7chicago.com Illinois considers legalizing 'human composting'

    "This is about creating choices and options and in particular choices that are less harmful for the planet."

    Illinois considers legalizing 'human composting'

    Last year, a friend of mine died in Washington state. Instead of being buried or cremated, he opted to have his remains composted in a process sometimes called terramation. It's an environmentally friendly option to normal burial, and legal in several states including Washington. Illinois had House Bill 3158 on the docket this session to make it legal here as well.

    The bill passed the house, but never made it out of the state senate committee, so it's dead for now (no pun intended). I decided to look up how my state representative voted, and because I live in the red part of a blue state, I was unsurprised to see they voted against it.

    I wondered why that might be -- could it be a simple partisan thing? Of course, that's part of it, but another part is the opposition. A little research shows that two groups opposing it are funeral directors (less $$$ for them), and <gasp!> the Catholic Church.

    Why? Human dignity, they say -- Daniel Welter, retired from the Archdiocese of Chicago, said turning humans into compost "degrades the human person and dishonors the life" that person lived. He compared it to composting vegetable trimmings and egg shells. Funeral directors also commented on the lack of dignity for the dead.

    Thoughts? Mine are simple -- I am built from the dust of stars, as is everything else on this planet. It's my birthright to return to it. Anything that prevents that is anathema to me.

    I also find it supremely ironic that, at "traditional" funerals, the priest says "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust" as they lower a preservative filled body in a lacquered box into the ground which is encased in sealed vault, completely separated from the earth and ashes and dust to which the dead is supposed to return.

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    InitialsDiceBearhttps://github.com/dicebear/dicebearhttps://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/„Initials” (https://github.com/dicebear/dicebear) by „DiceBear”, licensed under „CC0 1.0” (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)DI
    displaced_city_mouse @midwest.social

    Writer, teacher, data driven humanist. Tech geek, model builder, mini-painter, reader. He/Him.

    Posts 8
    Comments 32