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orev commented on Converting a $3.88 analog clock from Walmart into a ESP8266-based Wi-Fi clock   github.com/jim11662418/ES... · Posted by u/tokyobreakfast
kotaKat · 8 hours ago
Of note, having recently shopped at Walmart for a self-setting alarm clock (what I once knew to be “atomic”):

Apparently the entity today known as Sharp sells “AccuSet(tm)” branded clocks that “automatically set time”… but they’re just factory pre-set with a button cell and they include a slider on the bottom to set a timezone offset (only for US timezones). If you’re lucky, the clock’s battery is still good and the clock “set itself” out of the box several minutes late.

If you’re unlucky - surprise, you get to manually set the time anyways.

https://www.amazon.com/Sharp-Digital-Alarm-AccuSet-Automatic...

orev · 8 hours ago
These clocks are irritating because they show up in the results when searching for “radio atomic clock” and similar, and it can be very hard to figure out if they actually use the WWVB radio signal. I’ve concluded that none of them do, because WWVB is only reliable in (most parts) of the US, and companies only want to make things that appeal to a global audience now. La Crosse seems to be the only one that makes them, and unfortunately most of their designs lack any style (i.e. they’re ugly).
orev commented on Time Machine-style backups with rsync (2018)   samuelhewitt.com/blog/201... · Posted by u/accrual
orev · 8 days ago
The original post that introduced this idea into general public: http://www.mikerubel.org/computers/rsync_snapshots/

I’m sure others will chime in that they used hard links like this before then, however as noted in that page, it’s the one that made it popular enough that rsync was updated to support the idea natively.

orev commented on Ode to the AA Battery   jeffgeerling.com/blog/202... · Posted by u/Brajeshwar
cbdevidal · 10 days ago
I invested a few hundred dollars into Eneloops, but they kept disappearing. Turns out my kids were throwing them away, thinking they were disposable (cry).

I’ve since trained them and rebuilt my stockpile but that was painful, at what was then $2 a cell. (Now $3-4.)

orev · 10 days ago
I have a bright label on each saying “Do not dispose”. Hopefully it’s enough to at least get someone’s attention to read or ask further before throwing them out.
orev commented on Android’s desktop interface leaks   9to5google.com/2026/01/27... · Posted by u/thunderbong
palata · 12 days ago
Same, but my PC runs on Linux so I don't feel threatened.

I feel like at some point normies may end up just using iPadOS or Android as a "convergent" device: a tablet/phone that they can plug into a docking station and use as a computer.

I am sort of hoping that it will work with something like GrapheneOS, so that I will be able to benefit from it on my phone.

orev · 12 days ago
> my PC runs on Linux so I don't feel threatened.

Well, you should feel threatened. Where do you think the push towards TPM and secure boot is heading? Microsoft is insanely envious of how Apple and Google locked down their platforms and have total control over app stores, and that’s what Microsoft wants too. It’s a huge revenue stream they’re leaving on the table. Now that there’s precedent on mobile, they’ll have no problem pushing it through on desktop.

And once all the normies have moved to iPads, there won’t be a big enough market for anyone to manufacture PC hardware for hobbyists anymore.

orev commented on Intel's Panther Lake Chip is its biggest win in years   wired.com/story/intel-pan... · Posted by u/teleforce
tiffanyh · 13 days ago
The headline is odd to me given that the article spent so much time comparing it to M5 and still loses considerably to the M5 in single core (199 vs 130).

And it only wins in multi-core simply because it has 16-cores while the M5 base only has 10-cores.

When Apple launches the M5 Pro and/or Ultra this won't be the case.

orev · 13 days ago
The vast majority of the PC computing world still uses Windows, which doesn’t run on Macs, and Windows on ARM is still in its infancy. An Intel-based chip that’s on par with Apple Silicon is much desired by the marketplace.
orev commented on After two years of vibecoding, I'm back to writing by hand   atmoio.substack.com/p/aft... · Posted by u/mobitar
jrm4 · 14 days ago
I like this analogy along with the idea that "it's not an autonomous robot, it's a mech suit."

Here's the thing -- I don't care about "getting stronger." I want to make things, and now I can make bigger things WAY faster because I have a mech suit.

edit: and to stretch the analogy, I don't believe much is lost "intellectually" by my use of a mech suit, as long as I observe carefully. Me doing things by hand is probably overrated.

orev · 14 days ago
The point of going to school is to learn all the details of what goes into making things, so when you actually make a thing, you understand how it’s supposed to come together, including important details like correct design that can support the goal, etc. That’s the “getting stronger” part that you can’t skip if you expect to be successful. Only after you’ve done the work and understand the details can you be successful using the power tools to make things.
orev commented on After two years of vibecoding, I'm back to writing by hand   atmoio.substack.com/p/aft... · Posted by u/mobitar
recursivedoubts · 14 days ago
AI is incredibly dangerous because it can do the simple things very well, which prevents new programmers from learning the simple things ("Oh, I'll just have AI generate it") which then prevents them from learning the middlin' and harder and meta things at a visceral level.

I'm a CS teacher, so this is where I see a huge danger right now and I'm explicit with my students about it: you HAVE to write the code. You CAN'T let the machines write the code. Yes, they can write the code: you are a student, the code isn't hard yet. But you HAVE to write the code.

orev · 14 days ago
It’s like weightlifting: sure you can use a forklift to do it, but if the goal is to build up your own strength, using the forklift isn’t going to get you there.

This is the ultimate problem with AI in academia. We all inherently know that “no pain no gain” is true for physical tasks, but the same is true for learning. Struggling through the new concepts is essentially the point of it, not just the end result.

Of course this becomes a different thing outside of learning, where delivering results is more important in a workplace context. But even then you still need someone who does the high level thinking.

orev commented on What twenty years of DevOps has failed to do   honeycomb.io/blog/you-had... · Posted by u/mooreds
firesteelrain · 23 days ago
I genuinely despise the identing requirements of YAML.

For comments, I use a _comment field for my custom JSON reading apps

orev · 23 days ago
I dislike the idea of _comment because it’s something that is parsed and becomes part of the data structure in memory. Comments should be ignored and not parsed.
orev commented on Americans Overwhelmingly Support Science, but Some Think the U.S. Is Lagging   scientificamerican.com/ar... · Posted by u/beardyw
mmmBacon · 25 days ago
By what metric is the US lagging? By any objective measure we can see the dominance of US technology. I think it’s most of the rest of the world that’s being left behind; Europe in particular. If what you’re saying is true the US economy would also be flagging but it’s not. If what you’re saying is true, you’d see the list of the world’s most valuable companies dominated by non-US firms.

I think you are confusing the current climate of immigration enforcement and reform with being anti-immigration. The US will continue to draw top talent because the US is where the bulk of the opportunities are and will be for at least the next 5 years.

It’s been widely discussed that the immigration system has been abused, especially by the tech industry. This reform started under Obama. The current outcry is a reaction to the most recent federal election. Reform does not mean the US is anti-immigrant. It may mean lower levels of immigration that’s more selective for talent.

orev · 25 days ago
Science creates the seeds, and what you’re citing are the fruits of seeds that were planted decades ago. Big tech only exists because of random science investments that were made long ago.

The metric isn’t how much fruit you have now, but how well you’re preparing the soil and planting the seeds for the next generation.

orev commented on Gnome dev gives fans of Linux's middle-click paste the middle finger   theregister.com/2026/01/0... · Posted by u/beardyw
jalk · a month ago
I have it the opposite way. Moving my right hand from the keyboard to the mouse doesn’t save me time - so as with most things: YMMV
orev · a month ago
Having mouse paste as an option doesn’t remove the fact that keyboard paste is also an option, so that’s really immaterial to the topic.

u/orev

KarmaCake day7112March 19, 2010View Original