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Cake day: July 12th, 2023

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  • Truck_kun@beehaw.orgtoScience Memes@mander.xyzsafety first
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    24 days ago

    The boiling method, and using ultrasonic devices so far sound promising:

    https://projectboard.world/isef/project/eaev062t-harnessing-ultrasound-for-microplastic-filtration

    Neither method is 100%, and sadly even if it were, there is no way to avoid ingesting microplastics. It’s basically in all food sources at this point. Any animal, or plant have them in them, and those sources are going to be exposed to them; even rain has microplastics in it now.

    I suppose the best way to actually avoid microplastics in the food chain would be growing plants in a greenhouse type environment (with dug up deep pre-plastic dirt?) only using properly treated water? For meats, I guess lab grown meat would be the way to avoid it, using plastic free (or less) sources for material?

    I’ve actually been throwing out old spices in recent years, but maybe I should be saving them. Maybe they are the last vestiges of plastic free spices, and will be worth a fortune to paranoid rich people that want flavor?


  • … I had an IT tech from our old MSP tell me her knowledge/recommendation of ABP is what got her the job.

    I knew her boss, and doubt that was the reason (probably more because she was cheap entry level labor), but that some people have that take in a professional setting shocked me. I don’t think your ad-blocker recommendation will ever be what lands you a job, but I do think it’s possible for it to be the reason you don’t get a job.



  • My typical recommendation would be:

    Normie: uBlock Origin

    Techie: uBlock Origin + uMatrix

    Security Critical/Paranoia/Just Hate Yourself: uBlock Origin + uMatrix + NoScript

    I use the last option at work, and the middle option at home, and the first option for my wife’s computer.

    For me, a lot of it isn’t about ads, it’s more about the security risk of cross site scripting. Typically, if I’m visiting a site, I probably trust it, but I have no trust for people they sell ads to. I don’t mind sites I trust having a few non-intrusive ads, but of course that’s not the reason I use blockers; if a site has so many ads it is unusable, I just don’t ever visit it again (plenty of 'don’t show articles from ’ flags in my google news feed for this very reason. I’ll never know if you redeem yourself, because I will just never visit your site again.).




  • The linked batteries all appear to have energy densities of about 130 Wh/kg or less.

    I wasn’t denying sodium batteries are not commercially available/viable, just pointing out that while currently available sodium batteries have lower energy density than lithium ion batteries, in the lab, sodium batteries have the ability to reach similar energy density to currently commercially available lithium ion batteries.

    The linked batteries are plenty useful for many purposes. I would gladly use them for home energy storage, electronics, or recreation vehicle use. I’m generally wary of lithium battery safety in outdoor, or high heat environments, and look forward to safer options becoming more available/common.




  • My first reaction is yeah, you don’t just plug into random Ethernet.

    The wi-fi is likely a visitor network setup for guests to the library. That ethernet port could provide access to their private intranet, and be a security risk to the library. Worst case scenario, it could result in malware, ransomware, and/or millions of dollars in expenses to recover (on a library budget, that could mean permanently shutting down the library even).

    After reading your post, I would say, no harm intended, just don’t do it again.

    After reading your comments about intentionally being vague about ‘plugging in’ to lead the librarian to think you were asking to plug in a power cord, and not specifically meaning ethernet connection… yeah, you’re clearly in the wrong. Just be up front; if they say no, so be it. They may be able to direct you to a visitor ethernet plug-in, or maybe not. If this were an AITA thread, i’d say yes, YTA in this case.

    Asking in an security community… I would assume some level of technical awareness, and you are likely well aware of network segmentation, and that no IT department would be happy about a guest plugging their laptop into random rj-45 jacks around the building. Maybe it’s not well designed, and that actually has access to firewall administration?


  • I keep hearing ‘sanctions arent working’.

    And every now and then I see things about them working; it’s almost like sanctions are a long game that don’t immediately show all the results in want within 3 months, and you need to keep them up long term. That said, of course when some don’t comply with those sanctions, it will permanently alter the landscape as the sanctioned try to work around them. Russia’s movement toward the Yuan, and reliance on China and N. Korea are not going to be undone anytime soon, if ever.

    Pre-Ukrainian invasion, 1 USD was ~78 Russian Rubles. Now, that 1 USD is valued at 92 Rubles. After the start of the war, the Ruble lost a lot of value immediately, but appears to had gained value for a few months, and has steadily decreased in value as the sanctions drag on, and seem to have semi-stablized at a much lower value than going into the war. As a generalization, it appears looking back to 2003 (max on the chart i’m looking at), as Putin’s leadership drags on, the Ruble has steadily decreased in value (in 2003, it only took about 30 Ruble to value 1 USD). Looking at other major economic powers in the world is like looking at an inverse chart, where their currencies have increased in value against the USD consistently.





  • I do use passphrases, but I combine with randomness.

    I memorize one random 8 character string to use with something more memorable.

    Then when I need more security, or I feel that random 8 character string is no longer safe (password leak/hacked), I memorize a new 8 character string.

    Then I combine them.

    Then I memorize a new 8 character string and mix it in.

    It’s a process built up over years that ingrains into memory. Sometimes I forget the order, or if i added spaces, or did no spaces. Luckily, as long as I am sure of the discrete segments, I can remix them to recreate until it works (in a reasonable time).

    My last addition was when I made the move from Lastpass to another password manager, after their endless bad news.


  • You said you are ‘in the EU’, as in currently living in the US for said job?

    Are you considered an independent contractor? Or an actual employee of the company?

    As a US citizen… I would just advise EU citizens to ‘in general’ avoid working for US companies, we have bad employment policies, and our companies think they can just do the same things in other countries. Obviously everyone should choose for themselves; if you think the extra income is worth it, that is your call, but our work culture is awful.

    At the very least, if you do decide to work for a US company… keep it remote. Cost of living in the US is really high, work culture is awful, it’s dangerous, and healthcare costs are crazy. Unless your household is making at least $150k USD/year, you’ll be considered poor to middle-class.