Nifty3929 (u/Nifty3929)

Nifty3929 commented on The unlikely revival of nuclear batteries spectrum.ieee.org/nuclear... · Posted by u/purpleko

don-bright · an hour ago

I'm missing the part where they solve for the collection problem. The article mentions the boy who gathered dangerous amounts of Americium from smoke detectors but doesn't provide any kind of mechanism to counteract that risk. It seems like any mass production of nuclear battery material risks an interested human or organizational collector amassing significant quantities of that material and that risk doesn't seem to have gone down.

Nifty3929 · an hour ago

Also missing is any indication of whether or not this is a rational and valid concern, or whether it's simply generalized fear of "nuclear" without basis. I genuinely wonder and would be interested in some facts about it.

Nifty3929 commented on Open hardware desktop 3D printing is dead? josefprusa.com/articles/o... · Posted by u/rcarmo

Nifty3929 · 10 days ago

TFA didn't really make the problem clear to me. I think it something like this, but I'm not sure. Can anybody clarify?

Problem (?): We can't produce open hardware for things that others have patented. Chinese companies (and maybe others) are patenting lots of things, including things we might have ourselves developed and intended to keep open, so it makes it difficult and/or expensive for us to continue developing.

Is that it?

Nifty3929 commented on Starbucks in Korea asks customers to stop bringing in printers/desktop computers fortune.com/2025/08/11/st... · Posted by u/zdw

paxys · 13 days ago

Density. If you paid for a parking permit then there's some expectation that a parking spot will be available for you near your house. Except in NYC residents outnumber parking spots 20:1 in some neighborhoods.

Nifty3929 · 12 days ago

I imagine you use prices and rationing to restrict the number of permits to avoid this issue.

Nifty3929 commented on Starbucks in Korea asks customers to stop bringing in printers/desktop computers fortune.com/2025/08/11/st... · Posted by u/zdw

Nifty3929 · 13 days ago

Free, common-use things are awesome - until the tragedy of the commons sets in and ruins it for everybody. This is true of so many things that start free and then later require payment. And everybody gets mad about it.

Nifty3929 commented on Fight Chat Control fightchatcontrol.eu/... · Posted by u/tokai

cobbzilla · 15 days ago

The US, at least, has a Bill of Rights that would make this illegal, it would definitely violate the 4th Amendment and maybe the 1st too.

Nifty3929 · 15 days ago

I hope you're right.

Nifty3929 commented on Lithium compound can reverse Alzheimer’s in mice: study hms.harvard.edu/news/coul... · Posted by u/highfrequency

modeless · 18 days ago

Lithium orotate is available over the counter. People could try it today.

> Since lithium has not yet been shown to be safe or effective in protecting against neurodegeneration in humans, Yankner emphasizes that people should not take lithium compounds on their own

I reject this kind of blind safetyism. A cursory search suggests that lithium orotate has been used for decades, and the article suggests that "profound effects" were seen at an "exquisitely low dose" which should be safe. They're going to need a much better explanation of why people shouldn't try it.

Nifty3929 · 18 days ago

Indeed!

Sure, maybe lithium orotate can be bad in high doses.

You know what's super-bad for sure? Alzheimer's!

If I have Alzheimer's, please let me try whatever long-shot you have. I'll be your gunnie pig.

Nifty3929 commented on Coffee-shop pitch change helped founder unlock traction for laptop campers iwantproductmarketfit.sub... · Posted by u/walterbell

Nifty3929 · 19 days ago

Why not just have a table charge? I think maybe a red light at your table, which you extinguish for a time by paying money. If the red light is on, then you start getting those dirty looks, and eventually asked to leave. If you buy something you get a 30min credit or something.

Nifty3929 commented on Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year helsinkitimes.fi/finland/... · Posted by u/DaveZale

PaulRobinson · 23 days ago

I was in Helsinki for work a couple of years ago, walking back to my hotel with some colleagues after a few hours drinking (incredibly expensive, but quite nice), beer.

It was around midnight and we happened to come across a very large mobile crane on the pavement blocking our way. As we stepped out (carefully), into the road to go around it, one of my Finnish colleagues started bemoaning that no cones or barriers had been put out to safely shepherd pedestrians around it. I was very much "yeah, they're probably only here for a quick job, probably didn't have time for that", because I'm a Londoner and, well, that's what we do in London.

My colleague is like "No, that's not acceptable", and he literally pulls out his phone and calls the police. As we carry on on our way, a police car comes up the road and pulls over to have a word with the contractors.

They take the basics safely over there in a way I've not seen anywhere else. When you do that, you get the benefits.

Nifty3929 · 22 days ago

Sure they do - but maybe past the point of treating people like adults.

I admit I'm not sure about Finland, but in some places they have hot-water stops on faucets that prevent you from turning it up to hot without additional mechanical fiddling, like and extra push or button or something. Or being afraid of normal (to me) pocket knives with 3-4" blades, as though they were a dangerous weapon. That's just too much concern over safety for my taste. I want to be treated like an adult, and I'm not afraid of minor injuries or discomfort.

Nifty3929 commented on Trying to play an isomorphic piano (2022) [video] youtube.com/watch?v=j4itL... · Posted by u/surprisetalk

Nifty3929 · a month ago

What is missing is: WHY?

Why is it helpful or interesting to have an isomorphic piano?

And what does "isomorphic" even mean here? As a casual piano player and techie, I can guess that it means that each lower key and each upper key are equidistant so that you don't have sometimes alternating raised/lowered (C, C#) and lower/lower (E, F) asymmetry. Is that it?

Nifty3929 commented on Google's shortened goo.gl links will stop working next month theverge.com/news/713125/... · Posted by u/mobilio

jedberg · a month ago

I have only given this a moment's thought, but why not just publish the URL map as a text file or SQLLite DB? So at least we know where they went? I don't think it would be a privacy issue since the links are all public?

Nifty3929 · a month ago

I'd rather see it as a searchable database, which I would think is super cheap and no maintenance for Google, and avoids these privacy issues. You can input a known goo.gl and get it's real URL, but can't just list everything out.