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Old Kentucky Shark posted:It's genuinely my favorite thing he's ever written, but it is wholly committed to that mannered semi-archaic style of writing all the way through, so if you can't stomach that then it's pretty rough. Honestly the best part of the Baroque Cycle is that completely separate novella nestled in the second book about Shaftoe getting marooned. It's like a chill, refreshing break from everything else, you can just focus on this one character and this one linear plotline and it actually has a resolution.
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Jan 12, 2024 01:05
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Kagrenak posted:and then in the last act he just takes it completely off the loving rails. Neal Stephenson is famous for being completely unable to write endings.
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Jan 12, 2024 05:14
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The one bit that sticks with me from my aborted attempt to read the Baroque Cycle is the scene with one character entering a basement littered with rats dead of the Plague. All of the fleas abandoning the rat corpses tik-tik-tiking against his thigh-high leather riding boots was just... 
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Jan 12, 2024 05:37
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Neal Stephenson is a weirdo with weirdo beliefs, but I guess that makes his books fascinating. Anathem going off the rails hard is foreshadowed many times during the book. It's like how Iain Banks' Matter gets taken over by a different plot smashing into the original plot like a freight train annihilating a Mercedes sprinter stuck at the railway crossing. It's honestly kind of glorious how hard it goes.
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Jan 12, 2024 12:00
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Antigravitas posted:Anathem going off the rails hard is foreshadowed many times during the book. Yeah honestly for me the end just felt not so much like a twist but tying everything together. There was a few things that were mentioned more than once in the book that just felt extremely chekhov's gun'ish. Felt like an actual good ending for him. But yeah Diamond ages ending felt a bit scattered. Most of the book is great though. Snow crashes end is great in just insanely quickly it wraps up. If you weren't aware of Stephenson sucking at writing endings you'd think it was just more 80's action movie satire or something. "The Villains dead now? Um cool, yeah we can probably just cut to credits here then, whatever." (this isn't a Snow crash spoiler, just a spoiler for 80's action movies in general. If you haven't seen every 80's action movie ever made don't read!!!)
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Jan 12, 2024 12:29
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dr_rat posted:"The Villains dead now? Um cool, yeah we can probably just cut to credits here then, whatever." (this isn't a Snow crash spoiler, just a spoiler for 80's action movies in general. If you haven't seen every 80's action movie ever made don't read!!!)  (The gif cuts a bit short but yes the freeze frame is the end of the movie)
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Jan 12, 2024 12:36
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mobby_6kl posted:(The gif cuts a bit short but yes the freeze frame is the end of the movie) Hey not quite the end! They did have that title card saying the hero turned himself in to the police for, you know, all the bad guys he killed and got a life sentence or something. Absolutely perfect.
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Jan 12, 2024 12:44
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Romantic comedies from the 1930s can be incredible when the credits are frontloaded and the reel immediately stops during the Final Earned Kiss. Got what you came here for, now piss off
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Jan 12, 2024 13:14
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withak posted:Neal Stephenson is famous for being completely unable to write endings. and women
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Jan 12, 2024 17:07
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EDIT: Wrong thread
AceOfFlames fucked around with this message at 18:04 on Jan 12, 2024 |
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Jan 12, 2024 17:28
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New tech nightmare just dropped: a student of mine apparently decided all his locks should be replaced with electric Internet of Things locks. Well, turns out the batteries in those things don't stand up very well to -40, and will lock you out of the house with a life-threatening windchill. Luckily he was inside the house to mend it, while his wife was stuck outside.
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Jan 12, 2024 17:56
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PT6A posted:New tech nightmare just dropped: a student of mine apparently decided all his locks should be replaced with electric Internet of Things locks. Well, turns out the batteries in those things don't stand up very well to -40, and will lock you out of the house with a life-threatening windchill. Luckily he was inside the house to mend it, while his wife was stuck outside. Tech nightmare, or an attempted spouse murder? You decide.
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Jan 12, 2024 18:06
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A happy accident
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Jan 12, 2024 18:40
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PT6A posted:New tech nightmare just dropped: a student of mine apparently decided all his locks should be replaced with electric Internet of Things locks. Well, turns out the batteries in those things don't stand up very well to -40, and will lock you out of the house with a life-threatening windchill. Luckily he was inside the house to mend it, while his wife was stuck outside. Do the IoT door locks not come with like, physical keys anymore? A battery powered door lock that doesn't have a physical key to override sounds like just about the stupidest thing on earth and / or there's probably a profoundly stupid way to bypass it or slip the latch. Though on the flipside, maybe lockpickinglawyer or Deviant Ollam have a fun way to bypass them. Any time door / lock security comes up I always go back and watch this. https://youtu.be/cbgHZgO6wiE?si=n6sk7N28z2O_X3wG
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Jan 12, 2024 18:49
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DeathSandwich posted:Do the IoT door locks not come with like, physical keys anymore? A battery powered door lock that doesn't have a physical key to override sounds like just about the stupidest thing on earth and / or there's probably a profoundly stupid way to bypass it or slip the latch. The outdoor ones I have witnessed have a key which is essential to the lock, because turning the key gives the lock the necessary electricity via dynamo. Probably because I have seen them in Finland, so frost proof is a necessity. I haven't found out what the smart lock part of it is but I assume that the key has a similar chip to what car ignition uses. For sure there are more advanced locks than that but I haven't seen in wild any that didn't accept a physical key, at least not on outside doors. Nenonen fucked around with this message at 19:12 on Jan 12, 2024 |
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Jan 12, 2024 19:10
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DeathSandwich posted:Do the IoT door locks not come with like, physical keys anymore? A battery powered door lock that doesn't have a physical key to override sounds like just about the stupidest thing on earth and / or there's probably a profoundly stupid way to bypass it or slip the latch. If you have to carry a key anyway, there's precious little point to having an IoT lock, so it doesn't really avoid that situation.
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Jan 12, 2024 19:10
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DeathSandwich posted:Do the IoT door locks not come with like, physical keys anymore? A battery powered door lock that doesn't have a physical key to override sounds like just about the stupidest thing on earth and / or there's probably a profoundly stupid way to bypass it or slip the latch. Saw a post the other day where about how a lot of managed buildings in NYC are starting to do iot only entry unlocked via an app. I forgot where I read it but the locks have physical key slots but for whatever reason the property managers are opting to go app only and don’t pay extra/order the keys.
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Jan 12, 2024 19:23
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Boris Galerkin posted:Saw a post the other day where about how a lot of managed buildings in NYC are starting to do iot only entry unlocked via an app. I forgot where I read it but the locks have physical key slots but for whatever reason the property managers are opting to go app only and don’t pay extra/order the keys. Are you really unsure of why a landlord would go app-only for locks that they have remote control over?
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Jan 12, 2024 19:24
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PT6A posted:New tech nightmare just dropped: a student of mine apparently decided all his locks should be replaced with electric Internet of Things locks. Well, turns out the batteries in those things don't stand up very well to -40, and will lock you out of the house with a life-threatening windchill. Luckily he was inside the house to mend it, while his wife was stuck outside. -40 C or F?
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Jan 12, 2024 19:47
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PhazonLink posted:huh somehow i have never notice the zebra dick before. Tech Nightmares 6: somehow i have never notice the zebra dick before
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Jan 12, 2024 19:51
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PhazonLink posted:-40 C or F? Yes.
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Jan 12, 2024 19:54
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Boris Galerkin posted:Saw a post the other day where about how a lot of managed buildings in NYC are starting to do iot only entry unlocked via an app. I forgot where I read it but the locks have physical key slots but for whatever reason the property managers are opting to go app only and don’t pay extra/order the keys. Wow, because breaking my phone won't be a huge headache already. Edit: and hope you don't run out of battery!
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Jan 12, 2024 19:56
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Old Kentucky Shark posted:Baroque Cycle had a satisfying ending. I hate read the last book just to say to myself that I finished the whole thing. Baroque Cycle is when he fired the one editor who got him to pare poo poo down, and good lord does that show.
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Jan 12, 2024 20:39
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OddObserver posted:Wow, because breaking my phone won't be a huge headache already. Locked out/in every time us-east-1 fails.
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Jan 12, 2024 20:44
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sinky posted:Locked out/in every time us-east-1 fails. Don't worry that's in the cloud, it never fails
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Jan 12, 2024 20:52
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PhazonLink posted:-40 C or F? Yes.  Anyone who lives in a cold place for long enough has learned this particular factoid! :suicidebyfreezing:
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Jan 12, 2024 21:00
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PhazonLink posted:-40 C or F? Maths have taught me that this is the intersection of reported C and F 
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Jan 12, 2024 21:55
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Happy layoff season to all who celebrate https://twitter.com/Lucas_Shaw/status/1745905137128980807
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Jan 12, 2024 21:56
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PT6A posted:If you have to carry a key anyway, there's precious little point to having an IoT lock, so it doesn't really avoid that situation. You hide the key in a fake rock or bury it or whatever, it's there for emergencies. We have keypad locks and it's great - back in my less fatass days it was really nice to be able to go for a run and not have to worry about carrying a key.
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Jan 13, 2024 07:19
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PhazonLink posted:-40 C or F? −40 °D, hotter than the boiling point of water.
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Jan 13, 2024 07:30
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PhazonLink posted:-40 C or F? -40 K
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Jan 13, 2024 07:37
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Negative temperatures in Kelvin are actually super hot.
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Jan 13, 2024 07:39
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Zachack posted:You hide the key in a fake rock or bury it or whatever, it's there for emergencies. We have keypad locks and it's great - back in my less fatass days it was really nice to be able to go for a run and not have to worry about carrying a key. I've stayed in a few airbnbs with keypad locks and they're fantastic if you're with a group of friends out partying. Theres no debate over who gets the one or two keys on a night out, theres no someone arriving home early and using the one key and then falling asleep, theres no someone losing their key and being locked out at 4am etc. People are just free to arrive home by themselves whenever they want, it should be the norm.
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Jan 13, 2024 09:07
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Blut posted:I've stayed in a few airbnbs 
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Jan 13, 2024 09:10
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Zachack posted:You hide the key in a fake rock or bury it or whatever, it's there for emergencies. Maybe don't bury anything that you hope to retrieve in -40 Celsius with no guarantee of having access to tools.
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Jan 13, 2024 12:07
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Maybe don't live in places that go down to -40, that seems like a very unwise decision to me
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Jan 13, 2024 13:13
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BabyFur Denny posted:Maybe don't live in places that go down to -40, that seems like a very unwise decision to me I feel the opposite
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Jan 13, 2024 13:16
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BabyFur Denny posted:Maybe don't live in places that go down to -40, that seems like a very unwise decision to me How far did Texas go down that one time? Because if Texas gets to count as being too cold to live in, I'm not sure where you want people to go. Florida maybe?
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Jan 13, 2024 15:00
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SerthVarnee posted:How far did Texas go down that one time? Texas just built a power grid that was independent of the rest of the country (so they don’t have to follow evil government regulations) and also is specifically built not to deal well with freezing temperatures because the dumbass randian energy market they constructed made it so power plants made a years’ worth of profits in a day when half of them shut off because they were designed not to function in the cold. Federal regulations would have prohibited that, you see. and also because they’re disconnected from the rest of the country to avoid federal oversight they couldn’t just ask a neighbor for some electricity.
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Jan 13, 2024 15:16
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Amazon Is Selling Products With AI-Generated Names Like "I Cannot Fulfill This Request It Goes Against OpenAI Use Policy" https://futurism.com/amazon-products-ai-generated
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Jan 13, 2024 15:18
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