blacksmith_tb (u/blacksmith_tb)

blacksmith_tb commented on An off-grid, flat-packable washing machine positive.news/society/fla... · Posted by u/ohjeez

> (no timers).

The automatic timer part is almost certainly the cheapest part of any washing machine.

Likely just to keep the device simpler - on/off switches should last for lots of duty cycles, timers introduce another point of failure.

blacksmith_tb commented on Making macOS Bearable seg6.space/posts/making-m... · Posted by u/seg6

tptacek · 7 days ago

I'm never going to use a tiling window manager, but I also never touch Mission Control (or Spotlight). I use Alfred.app to call things up; before Alfred.app, all the way back into the early aughts, I was using Quicksilver.app, which does the same thing. CMD-Space, type a couple letters, blam.

blacksmith_tb · 6 days ago

I really like Alfred, it's a worthy descendant of QS for sure. To be fair, it is possible to use Spotlight for the same kind of "invoke, start typing, hit return to launch" workflow (it's just uglier, and not extensible). Lots of Linux DEs have similar searchable launchers, and if you squint, Windows does too (but packed with extra crud - I think maybe PowerToys has something more QS-like?)

blacksmith_tb commented on CATL expects oceanic electric ships in three years cleantechnica.com/2025/12... · Posted by u/thelastgallon

gorgoiler · 8 days ago

If your average solar array gives 2.5MW per hectare then 15MW would require 6 x 100m x 100m to run, or a beam of 150m for a 400m long vessel (eg Evergreen G-class.)

That’s only ~4x wider than the current big classes of ship. Maybe we will see twin hulls with a solar field slung in between?

The downside of course is you can no longer romantically sail by starlight (or at least, technically, by the starlight of non-Sol stars.)

blacksmith_tb · 8 days ago

Though a smaller array (just covering the deck of a current ship) could provide some boost - 25% isn't nothing, though you need clear skies to net that, I suppose we could consider a system when the ship would make a journey more slowly, stopping to charge for four days, sailing for one (though I assume drifting means you can't really "stop" entirely so that's not entirely practical).

blacksmith_tb commented on Mechanical power generation using Earth's ambient radiation science.org/doi/10.1126/s... · Posted by u/defrost

blacksmith_tb · 8 days ago

Stirling engines are of course fun, but I wonder if the same approach but with the specially-coated radiator on a Peltier instead would net much - it'd avoid the moving-parts problem, at least.

blacksmith_tb commented on Framework Laptop 13 gets ARM processor with 12 cores via upgrade kit notebookcheck.net/Framewo... · Posted by u/woodrowbarlow

giancarlostoro · 11 days ago

Its about time, I hope System76 comes up with their own version of the Framework laptop, because I would love to buy a laptop where I can swap out all internals, motherboard etc. but I really also want to work with System76 because I love what they are doing with POP_OS! (though I prefer arch these days, I can still use their Desktop environment etc) and love that they make Linux hardware specifically.

We have needed a "Jeep of Laptops" for a while, maybe someone needs to spec out a fully open source design that any manufacturer can target.

blacksmith_tb · 11 days ago

You can always just throw money at them for Pop!_OS[1] (which is what I did when I bought my Framework 13 and installed Pop on it).

1: https://system76.com/donate/

blacksmith_tb commented on The history of Indian science fiction altermag.com/articles/the... · Posted by u/adityaathalye

ping00 · 22 days ago

Added all of these to my Goodreads -- as an Indian, I had no idea that these books existed. Great article (with some really cool UI choices); I'm looking forward to reading more from this magazine! Thanks for sharing.

blacksmith_tb · 21 days ago

I can second the article's recommendation of Samit Basu, I've liked everything of his I've read. I would also recommend Indra Das, and Saad Z. Hossain.

blacksmith_tb commented on CBP is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with suspicious travel patterns apnews.com/article/immigr... · Posted by u/jjwiseman

ddalex · a month ago

> cycling is a right which can't be taken away in the US

Why not ?

blacksmith_tb · a month ago

Practically, because bicyclists aren't licensed. It is true that in some jurisdictions cyclists have to register or license their bicycles, so potentially failure to do so could get you fined or even have your bike impounded.

blacksmith_tb commented on CBP is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with suspicious travel patterns apnews.com/article/immigr... · Posted by u/jjwiseman

crazygringo · a month ago

I'm curious what you think the solution is?

Taking a photograph of a car with its license plate is legal. As is selling a photo you've taken, whether it has a license plate or not.

Therefore taking millions of photos in public of cars, and turning their license plate numbers into a database is legal, as is selling that information. It's all data gained in public.

Obviously it's now scary that you're being tracked. But what is the solution? We certainly don't want to outlaw taking photos in public. Is it the mass aggregation of already-public data that should be made illegal? What adverse consequences might that have, e.g. journalists compiling public data to prove governmental corruption?

blacksmith_tb · a month ago

Ride a bike! I half-kid, but it's interesting to consider that cycling is a right which can't be taken away in the US, while driving is a privilege that can be revoked.

blacksmith_tb commented on Compiling Ruby to machine language patshaughnessy.net/2025/1... · Posted by u/todsacerdoti

eek2121 · a month ago

Typical. I may get absolutely destroyed for this, but being professionally proficient in a ton of languages, including Ruby and the ones I mention below, and the ones I'm about to mention:

This sounds like Microsoft when they moved from VB6 to VB.Net. At least they have a good thing going with C# though.

VB6 was quite an interesting beast. You could do basically everything that you could do in languages like C/C++, but in most cases, you could churn out code quicker. This even extended to DirectX/Direct3D! For Web pages? ASP Classic.

The tl;dr is that I really wish that ease of development were prioritized along with everything else. One of the reasons I like Ruby is the elegance of the language and ease of using it.

Note that I've been using it since the mid 2000s or so, but not exclusively (both it and VB6 defined my career, however). C# is my second most favorite.

If Ruby had the GUI design tools VB6 had, it would be interesting to look at the popularity stats

Anyway, I'm rambling, so there is that. ;)

blacksmith_tb · a month ago

What about something like Shoes[1]? I have played with it a little, just to make a simple UI to run some scripts I can run fine in a shell myself, but less-technical people may be too scared to fire up Terminal.app in order to do the same...

1: http://shoesrb.com/

blacksmith_tb commented on The time has finally come for geothermal energy newyorker.com/magazine/20... · Posted by u/riordan

adverbly · a month ago

Drill baby drill!

Seriously this would be such a dream!

Turns out that the best battery is literally 10 feet away* - and you don't even need to charge it!

*if you want to make steam its a few thousand, but for heating and cooling its literally just 10 feet!

blacksmith_tb · a month ago

Well, heat pumps are awesome, but ground-source is overkill for many places where the air temps don't fall too low (and it's a lot harder to drill holes behind your house).