@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch cover
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

duncan_bayne

@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch

I'm a Melbourne-based husband, father of three, and principal engineer / engineering director. I live amongst the trees out in Belgrave; you can find me online at:

🚀 Gemini: gemini://duncan.bayne.id.au/
🦣 Mastodon: https://emacs.ch/@duncan_bayne
🌐 Web: https://duncan.bayne.id.au/
◯ sourcehut: https://git.sr.ht/~duncan-bayne/
🤢 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duncan-bayne/

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. For a complete list of posts, browse on the original instance.

rms , to random
@rms@mastodon.xyz avatar

https://kathmandupost.com/columns/2024/05/30/strict-separation-is-not-the-answer
https://stallman.org/articles/benevolence.html

Yanis Varoufakis: establishing a state of Palestine should not aim for symmetrical two-way apartheid; the proper goal is to bring the two groups closer together. Let's not lose sight of where we want to end up.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@rms The Government of Palestine - democratically elected some years ago before they ended democracy there - has the liquidation of the state of Israel as their stated aim.

I applaud the sentiment of bringing them closer together, but I don't see how you could even begin that process so long as Hamas remains in power.

luckytran , to random
@luckytran@med-mastodon.com avatar

Politicians say mask bans should come back as pre-COVID, they were law since 1845.

But scientists discovered viruses in the 1890s, discovered how they worked in the mid-1900s, and discovered SARS in the 2000s.

Mask bans are outdated, anti-science laws that belong in the past.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@luckytran I'd have thought a better legislative approach would be to consider masking an aggravating factor in the commission of a crime, but not a crime in and of itself.

vampiress , to random
@vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

It's not looking good for Team Packidge Will Arrive Today.
https://eigenmagic.net/@vampiress/112640034349661560

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress I still have an order for cotton swabs from Amazon that dates back to 2023, and they keep sending me order updates. I wonder if they will eventually just cancel and refund automatically.

robindlaws , to random
@robindlaws@dice.camp avatar

Six episodes into the new Netflix Ripley series and they haven’t even introduced the Nostromo yet

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@robindlaws Peter Jackson series is it? 😜

vampiress , to random
@vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

The strange thing about living in Australia is you're used to terrible, nocturnal screeching things, many of which fly. You're used to spiders as big as your hand, or ignoring one of the 10 most deadly snakes turning up while you're walking around the block. You're used to, on a hike, running into furry things as tall as you hopping around the place while carrying their young in flesh pouches.

But raccoons? That’s so weird. They're real things? For serious? That rummage through your garbage?

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress I mean ... they're just cockatoos that can't fly right?

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

The sheer ambition of this tiny Camponotus discolor minor who I followed after she escaped... to the enclosure of the dubias. They are 30 times her size. She is alone, can't get back to her nest. Nonetheless she tries to chew her way into the the dubia enclosure, biting the metal screen. So she can "get" them.

I've said it would be like if a person hung around a cattle yard with a knife in one hand. a fork in the other licking their chops... but it's more like doing that for IDK some sauropods?

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@futurebird "Don't talk to Corp Dev" 🤣

molly0xfff , to random
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

back in my day we called this spyware

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@molly0xfff Back in my day, Windows users sued over it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BonziBuddy

vampiress , to random
@vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

Watch this if you want to lose even the tiniest shred of faith in the future of the internet.
https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@anchorite/112476303373492401

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress What's astounding to me is how he (Pichai) bullshits. Looking at his background, that fits: he's an ex McKinsey management consultant.

I've worked with good executives, who give straight and often uncomfortable answers to difficult questions, usually in-between asking difficult questions of their own.

Judging purely by this interview, Pichai is not one of those rare creatures.

vampiress , to random
@vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

I want a full sized iPad again, so I think I'm going to sell my Mini and buy one.

Problem is that I am unreasonably tempted by the new M4 iPad Pro despite KNOWING I will never use even a fraction of the grunt that thing has in it.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress Huh interesting.

I've taken the opposite approach with mine and my kids' hardware: buy a brace of cheap ex-corporate ThinkPads, and replace components as they fail. Cheaper than new given the kids "bump" them a lot. (Our kids have dropped laptops out of their loft beds before now).

That said: none of us have particularly demanding use cases for our laptops.

My wife on the other hand gets the good stuff. She's running a Ryzen Framework 13, and loving it.

randahl , to random
@randahl@mastodon.social avatar

Just as you thought the Putin regime could not go any lower… In Russia, there is now a proposal to perform checks of a person's sexuality, so as to prevent the hiring of gays in the public sector — in a country where the state dominates many industries.

And the state tv debate is not about why this is wrong, but about how to reveal homosexuality most effectively.

And Russia calls other countries nazi states — take a look in the mirror Vladimir!

https://youtu.be/K29Om64ImEU?si=R45eBiFewdxTLDXB

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@randahl This is why, as much as I hate the idea of war, sometimes it's necessary. Imagine these people running the country you live in.

vampiress , to random
@vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

I'm trying to figure out what the collective noun for folks at Terrible Toybox are.

Terrible Toyboxer?

I kinda like that.

@grumpygamer

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress Toybox implies elves, to me.

vampiress , to random
@vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

So, starting this week... things will be a bit different.

For reasons that I'll talk more about later in the week, I now have time to work on my own projects, along with [redacted].

For my first task, well…

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress The aesthetic reminds me of Tau Ceti 💖

randahl , to random
@randahl@mastodon.social avatar

The parliament of Denmark today signed a law which ads USD 14 billion to the Danish defence budget, in order to finance a an armored brigade with 6000 soldiers, tanks and armored vehicles. As part of the deal, young women will now be force conscripted into the military.

You could see it in our politicians’ faces, they are not keen on doing this, but this is the reality of living 300 km from Russia.

This is the real price of cheap Russian gas.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@randahl We'll learn about the real price of cheap Chinese manufaturing at some point, too.

/me eyes Taiwan with pity

vampiress , to random
@vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

Sometimes, I wonder how much the internet is making us all weirder. Like, as humans we were ALWAYS weird, but I do wonder how much the internet has fast-tracked our various paths to extreme weirdness.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/before-2

futurebird , (edited ) to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Listen it's very simple. The president can't be prosecuted for any official act.

Some worry warts keep asking "well what if the president tells the military to stage a coup?" Always with the "what about a coup?" questions! Listen, Cassandra, we have a safe guard: if something so bad (and unlikely pfft) as a coup happened the congress would obviously impeach the president. Happy? No?

We don't need a judicial check AND a legislative one too. That's too much! The president must be free!

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@futurebird "stage a coupe"

vampiress , to random
@vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

The use of "credits" as a name for space opera currency has always irrationally bugged me. Just the idea that everyone is living off actual honest to god bank credit sounds horribly dystopian, whether or not that's the point.

BUCKAZOIDS. SPACE BUCKS. Now that's how you name a space opera currency.

Gold Pressed Latinum Strips can stay too.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress I mean in fairness, with fractional reserve banking, that's how money works today. I wonder if renaming the AUD to "Australian Bank Credits" would trigger a run 🤣

futurebird , to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

Joke justices on a joke court.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@futurebird So ... this is the exact argument, in reverse, that I've been having with people about entities like the Federal Labour Board, FCC, FDA, etc.

Starting with the labour board they were jammed through as "technically legal" after FDR personally pressured the supreme court to accept the commerce code excuse.

From the perspective of a non-American it looks like this is just how it goes. One "side" bends the rules egregiously, while complaining about the other "side" doing it. Rinse and repeat.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@futurebird Yeah but people mostly don't see it that way. E.g. people who simultaneously strongly oppose recent overreach by the Democrats, while simultaneously strongly opposing Tesla's lawsuit against the constitutionality of the labour board.

vampiress , to random
@vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

Do you ever wonder how many people John Wick did a murderkill on? Like, even just on-screen in the films?

I searched the information superhighway to see if someone had counted.

Apparently it's about 450 people.

That's a lot of murderkills.

https://www.distractify.com/p/john-wick-body-count

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress That's closing on Simo Häyhä.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simo_H%C3%A4yh%C3%A4

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress Maybe this thread should come with a trigger warning 🙃

luckytran , to random
@luckytran@med-mastodon.com avatar

This was avoidable.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@luckytran Was it really, though? 🤣

vampiress , to random
@vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

I loaded up my Windows 10 dev box for Reasons, and figured I'd do system updates. You gotta click through like three "NO I DO NOT WANT WINDOWS 11" things before you can even get to critical updates any more.

Disgusting.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress I'm really worried about the next step here, once Microsoft has dragged their customer base onto TPM-enabled hardware.

vampiress , to random
@vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

Just misread a bio as reading "Riesling-award winning” and now I like the idea of this really low-key awards ceremony where if the judges even vaguely like your shit, you get a nice bottle of Riesling.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress If you better than "vaguely" you get Shiraz.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress Well I vaguely like it 😜

randahl , to random
@randahl@mastodon.social avatar

While the US congress is blocked for the 166th day by Mike Johnson, South Korea now donates

USD 2,300,000,000

to Ukraine.

Gamsahamnida Korea! 🇰🇷♥️🇺🇦

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-economy/3849225-south-korea-to-donate-23-billion-to-ukraine.html#:~:text=South%20Korea%20will%20provide%20Ukraine,Ukrinform%20reports%2C%20referring%20to%20Yonhap.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@randahl Provided they don't put Samsung UIs on the military hardware it'll be great 😉

vampiress , to random
@vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

Me: "I am going to relax tonight.”
Me, 15 minutes later: "I am just going to open up and clean and fix my two sega mega drives."

But, hey, at least I'm doing it with some low-carb ciders? That counts as relaxing, right?

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress Relaxing takes many forms. Weirdly I like sharpening my kitchen and pocket knives; it's almost meditative.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress I should probably clean mine. I have a few Atari 2600 carts, and a Vader that plays one subset, and a Jr that plays another.

Including River Raid, my all time favourite 2600 game.

duncan_bayne ,
@duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

@vampiress IMO it's one of those games that doesn't need excuses ... like Thrust. Just timeless.

vampiress , to random
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[Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    duncan_bayne ,
    @duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

    @vampiress I still remember the excitement as a child, holding a new (Atari 2600 / Master System / Megadrive) cartridge or (Amstrad CPC) cassette. The physical item was a part of the joy.

    lowqualityfacts , to random
    @lowqualityfacts@mstdn.social avatar

    Me: The pain is unbearable. I need more morphine.

    AI Nurse: Morphine does not exist. There are no medications that start with an M.

    Me: That is wrong. Please give me something to help relieve the pain.

    AI Nurse: Of course! You are a 185 pound male. An adult, male kangaroo weighs up to 190 pounds. Therefore, I will administer kangaroo medicine.

    duncan_bayne ,
    @duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

    @lowqualityfacts All you need to ask is whether Nvidia execs will be seeing those nurses, or skilled human nurses, when they get sick.

    vampiress , to random
    @vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    duncan_bayne ,
    @duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

    @vampiress In NZ we had a different strategy for possums, seeing as they're an introduced invasive pest there.

    https://citysanctuary.nz/news/tasty-possum-recipes

    vampiress , to random
    @vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    duncan_bayne ,
    @duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

    @vampiress Then something weird happens right?

    vampiress , to random
    @vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    duncan_bayne ,
    @duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

    @vampiress to quote Churchill,

    "Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…"

    He said democracy but might as well have said capitalism; the two have been hand-in glove at scale since forever. All attempts at de-gloving (ewww) have been disasters.

    vampiress , to random
    @vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    duncan_bayne ,
    @duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

    @vampiress Years ago I worked at Lonely Planet on a Ruby stack.

    I was in the midst of a lengthy discussion about (IIRC) Capybara, Gherkin, Cucumber, and Vagrant when one of our PMs opined he had no idea whether we were taking the piss or not.

    vampiress , to random
    @vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    duncan_bayne ,
    @duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

    @vampiress The page for my first computer, the Amstrad CPC 464 ...

    https://starringthecomputer.com/computer.html?c=140

    luckytran , to random
    @luckytran@med-mastodon.com avatar

    We absolutely need an alternative to Twitter, but Threads, Instagram, and Facebook all being down at the same time shows how dangerous it is to consolidate all social media under a single corporation, and people need to stop encouraging it.

    duncan_bayne ,
    @duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

    @luckytran "Threads, Instagram, and Facebook all being down at the same time"

    And nothing of value was lost

    vampiress , to random
    @vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    duncan_bayne ,
    @duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

    @vampiress Can't comment on Spain, but that'd deliver yet another kicking to the general aviation industry, in particular charter operators.

    vampiress , to random
    @vampiress@eigenmagic.net avatar

    [Thread, post or comment was deleted by the author]

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    duncan_bayne ,
    @duncan_bayne@emacs.ch avatar

    @vampiress How, how, have you managed to resist such a beautiful opportunity for educational trolling?

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