cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/34674387

> >Toronto's Michael Jarman wins 2024 Microsoft Excel World Championships in Las Vegas > > Archive/mirror: https://archive.ph/vrr89

cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/72352

> [...] Many users are complaining of hallucinated artists' stats, songs they've never heard appearing in most listened lists, and more. Some users aren't happy with the way that Spotify Wrapped looked this year, complaining that it was boring, and not as creative as previous years. [...]

> One of the most common complaints seems to be that Spotify Wrapped has misreported on the stats in claims to represent. Now, while this has happened in previous years, this year it seems to be a whole lot more prevalent — as you can see in this Spotify support thread. It's filled with users complaining about top artists they've never listened to, songs appearing in at the top of their lists that they didn't even know existed, or a mixture of the two. > > Just anecdotally talking with people outside the internet-o-sphere and you'll quickly find people with iffy Spotify Wrapped statistics. I have friends who listen exclusively to bizarre, underground punk acts, and their Wrappeds were topped by the likes of The Weeknd and Taylor Swift. Even on the Tom's Guide team, we've seen strangeness — our own Millie Fender discovered Swift among her top artists, yet her songs didn't appear in her top 100.

> Just read people's reactions online, especially in the trending topic on X or even the announcement thread on Reddit. Many are blaming Spotify's pivot to AI this year for the lack of personality, and some even hold it responsible for their weird Spotify statistics. I have reached out to Spotify for comment, but I am yet to hear a response.

> What can we do? > > First off, there are other streaming platforms with year-end roundups. Deezer, for example, has unleashed My Deezer Year, and like everything the French streamer does, it's filled with creativity and personality. That's a streaming service with better sound quality too. Apple Music has its Replay feature, which similarly takes you through your year. There are options. > > If you're duty-bound to Spotify, then there is a way to really check your most-listened-to artists, songs, and genres — Track your listening with Last.FM, for example, which gives you breakdowns over the course of the year. Whatever happens, I (and many others) are hoping that Spotify Wrapped is a whole lot better next year.

Hibernation info source: https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Lagidium_viscacia/

cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/70869

> Welcome to release v1.122.0 of Immich. After a long release break, Immich is back and brings many new features with loads of bug fixes to enhance the user experience further and make Immich more delightful to use. Some of the highlights below: > > - HDR video support in the mobile app > - Multiple URLs for machine learning service > - Automatic switching between server URLs in the mobile app > - Ability to hide users when searching in an Immich instance > - Access the most recent albums through the web navigation bar > - Custom email templates > - Automatically clean up files left behind by interrupted uploads > - More responsive hosted maps for users in Oceania > - Notable fix: swiping between videos failing on older Android devices

cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/70783

Description from github:

> A C++ based, lightweight music and noise remover for YouTube and other internet media, using DeepFilterNet for audio enhancement.

Demo video:

• link to readme section

• direct video link

Source post: https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1h7k7fa/

> I am introducing you Fast Music Remover (https://github.com/omeryusufyagci/fast-music-remover); a free and open source tool that filters internet media. > > We consume, willingly or not, large amounts of media everyday, and that includes content that is emposed on us. I want to give you the choice to opt-out of them without missing out on the core content. > > We're building a feature rich media processor that is efficient, modular and cross platform. It's being built for you! This means: clean and light APIs for programmers, containerized on GHCR for remote users, with a Web UI for anyone interested! > > Today, we support background music filtering and noise removal to enhance audio quality. In the near future, we are looking at supporting multiple ML models as well as DSP modules to empower you with the tools you need to take control over the media you consume. > > There is a demo video on the readme as well as clear instructions on how to use FMR. You can immediately start by getting the docker image available at: https://github.com/omeryusufyagci/fast-music-remover/pkgs/container/fast-music-remover > > If you have any feedback at all, please let me know. Thank you!

Description from github:

> A C++ based, lightweight music and noise remover for YouTube and other internet media, using DeepFilterNet for audio enhancement.

Demo Video & Info

Direct link to demo video

Source post: https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1h7k7fa/

> I am introducing you Fast Music Remover (https://github.com/omeryusufyagci/fast-music-remover); a free and open source tool that filters internet media. > > We consume, willingly or not, large amounts of media everyday, and that includes content that is emposed on us. I want to give you the choice to opt-out of them without missing out on the core content. > > We're building a feature rich media processor that is efficient, modular and cross platform. It's being built for you! This means: clean and light APIs for programmers, containerized on GHCR for remote users, with a Web UI for anyone interested! > > Today, we support background music filtering and noise removal to enhance audio quality. In the near future, we are looking at supporting multiple ML models as well as DSP modules to empower you with the tools you need to take control over the media you consume. > > There is a demo video on the readme as well as clear instructions on how to use FMR. You can immediately start by getting the docker image available at: https://github.com/omeryusufyagci/fast-music-remover/pkgs/container/fast-music-remover > > If you have any feedback at all, please let me know. Thank you!

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.nz/post/17029892

> Public health officials in Africa urged caution Thursday as Congo's health minister said the government was on alert over a mystery flu-like disease that in recent weeks killed dozens of people.

https://downdetector.com/

I assumed my internet was down until I opened Lemmy. Looking around, I'm seeing complaints about google and google services (gmail, drive, etc.)

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/34269340

> Here is what I found so far: > > Pokemon: > > - !pokemon@lemmy.ml (active) > - !pokemon@lemm.ee (active) > - !pokemon@lemmy.world (somewhat active) > > > Pokemon Pocket: !ptcgp@sh.itjust.works (new & active) > > Pokemon Go: !pokemongo@lemmy.world (active) > > Pokemon Cards: !pokemoncards@lemmy.world (inactive, needs love) > > Pokemon Memes: !pokemonmemes@lemmy.world (inactive, needs love) > > > Image source, supposedly it's based on a lemming**___**

Here is what I found so far:

Pokemon:

• !pokemon@lemmy.ml (active)
• !pokemon@lemm.ee (active)
• !pokemon@lemmy.world (somewhat active)

Pokemon Pocket: !ptcgp@sh.itjust.works (new & active)

Pokemon Go: !pokemongo@lemmy.world (active)

Pokemon Cards: !pokemoncards@lemmy.world (inactive, needs love)

Pokemon Memes: !pokemonmemes@lemmy.world (inactive, needs love)

Image source, supposedly it's based on a lemming**___**

The article has full details, excerpts below

> The week before Thanksgiving, Marshall Brain sent a final email to his colleagues at North Carolina State University. "I have just been through one of the most demoralizing, depressing, humiliating, unjust processes possible with the university," wrote the founder of HowStuffWorks.com and director of NC State's Engineering Entrepreneurs Program. Hours later, campus police found that Brain had died by suicide.

> Marshall David Brain II established HowStuffWorks.com in 1998 as a personal project to explain technical topics to general audiences. The website grew into a major success that Discovery Communications acquired for $250 million in 2007. He later expanded his educational reach through books like The Engineering Book and television shows on National Geographic Channel [...] > > Brain was also well-known in futurist and transhumanist circles. In 2003, his "Robotic Nation" essay, published freely on the web, predicted that widespread automation and robotics would cause a massive labor crisis by 2050, warning that up to half of American jobs could be eliminated, leading to unprecedented unemployment and social upheaval. [...]

> At 4:29 am—just two and a half hours before he was discovered dead in his office, Brain sent a final email, obtained by Ars Technica, to over 30 recipients inside and outside the university. In the detailed letter, Brain disputed an announcement made by his boss, Stephen Markham, executive director of NC State's Innovation and Entrepreneurship program. Markham had told staff Brain would retire effective December 31, 2025. Brain wrote that he had instead been terminated on October 29 and was forced into retirement as a face-saving option. > > The termination followed Brain's filing of ethics complaints through the university's EthicsPoint system about an employee at the university's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The complaints stemmed from an August dispute over repurposing the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program meeting space. > > "What got us to this point? The short answer is that I witnessed wrongdoing on campus, and I tried to report it," Brain wrote in his email. "What came back was a sickening nuclear bomb of retaliation the likes of which could not be believed," Brain wrote in the email. He stated that the accused person "excommunicated me from my department for reporting my concerns to her."

> In his email, Brain wrote that the school's head of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering later informed him the department would stop recommending students for Brain's Engineering Entrepreneurs Program. According to Brain's account, this led to disciplinary action against Brain for "unacceptable behavior." > > "My career has been destroyed by multiple administrators at NCSU who united together and completely ignored the EthicsPoint System and its promises to employees," Brain wrote. "I did what the University told me to do, and then these administrators ruined my life for it."

> [...] Dror Baron, an NCSU professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, wrote on X, "A professor I know died following various investigations. I know the people mentioned here, and call for a transparent and independent investigation." > > So far, that investigation has not been forthcoming. University spokesperson Mick Kulikowski declined to comment to The Technician about Brain's death or the allegations. To date, the university has not issued a public statement about Brain's death. > > Barry and Kashani expressed disappointment in the university's lack of public response. "It's been six days now," Kashani said at the time to the school newspaper. "There hasn't been any acknowledgment of mistakes that were made, systems that failed, no resignations, not even a call to celebrate Marshall's achievements."

cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/68977

cross-posted from: https://lemmit.online/post/4566864

> ##### This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot. > The original was posted on /r/googleplaydeals by /u/Mr_R0LTZ on 2024-12-02 15:32:14+00:00. >

I took a look around and a lot of comments mentioned to get one that uses 'LiFePO4 Batteries', and that seemed like a reasonable requirement.

They're supposed to have a longer life span, be safer, light weight, and better charge/discharge efficiency which is in line with what I'd be looking for.

Some brands/models that I saw recommended:

• BLUETTI came up in more recent posts
• Ecoflow (specifically the RIVER 2) came up a lot
• Anker was suggested a few times, but the comments weren't that detailed

edit, added an image of what I'm referring to

> Embroiled in the Paris Olympic drone-spying scandal that has already cost Canadian women's head coach Bev Priestman her job, Herdman resigned Friday as coach of Toronto FC. > > With the scandal not going away, Herdman opted to step aside rather than have the matter around his neck like an albatross. > > Canada Soccer announced July 31 it had retained Sonia Regenbogen from the law firm of Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark to handle the review of the Olympic incident "and subsequently, any related matters of a historic nature." > > A former Canada women's and men's coach, Herdman has been linked to a culture of spying within Canada Soccer. The fact that he did not speak to Regenbogen added fuel to the fire when the report finally came out. > > Herdman declined to publicly address such allegations, citing the "integrity of the investigation." But he maintained his record was clean at the Olympics and World Cups.