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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: December 23rd, 2023

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  • The big, thick roots on trees are mostly just structural. The interface where trees actually absorb stuff they need to live is a thin layer under the soil made up of billions of tiny “root hairs”. Even humongous, old-growth trees are dependent on this layer of roots so small and ephemeral that they may only last a few days. Where these roots meet the soil there is such a complex mixture of bacteria, fungi, sloughed off tree cells and whatnot that it’s impossible to say where the soil ends and the tree begins. This region is called the “rhizosphere”.

    The exudates that trees secrete into this region produce an electrical gradient that pushes needed chemicals back into the roots. These secretions also support soil organisms. Over millions of years they’ve co-evolved to the point where trees release chemicals purely to feed them and, in return, they extend the tree’s “reach” into the soil and provide chemicals the tree can’t make, in some cases literally piercing and growing within the tree’s own cells. There’s some research now showing that trees (and other plants) can even communicate via chemicals in the rhizosphere. Kind of like how neurons communicate across a chemical synapse.

    I love this fact because it inverted the way I think about trees. In a way the forest we see is like a living protrusion of the rhizosphere, with trunks and leaves only serving to deliver sugar, carbon, and other stuff down to where all the action is. I hope it lightens your mood. If you can see a tree now there’s a good chance you are witnessing a fungal symbiosis that nobody has ever identified.







  • That’s why I hate the “give the government a master key” metaphor for weakening encryption. You aren’t making a master key, you’re making every lock worse. The “master key” is just knowing how to exploit the giant flaw you’ve now created in every lock, and if that knowledge escapes every lock is now worthless.

    Knocking “shave and a haircut” now opens every door, let’s hope nobody else figures that out! I know! we’ll lock that information inside this “shave and a haircut” safe!


  • Make sure there’s absolutely no wind. Those one-handed clamps and temporary lumber for bracing really come in really handy. You’ll probably also want to get the foundation totally complete first, so you can then get the structure all assembled in one day. A lot of metal structures are essentially membrane structures, which aren’t strong until they are complete, so you don’t want to leave it overnight partially complete.

    Looking at the picture on the box, you’re really going to want some help, or a tractor with a loader, or something. It’s possible if you are supposed to assemble trusses and then lift them into place that will be really difficult by yourself.


  • I was thinking Khorne wasn’t appropriate for the USA because Khorne cares about honorable combat. Then I thought Nurgle because we’re all fat and sick and because of the ivermectin brain-worms shit, but no, Nurgle is actually an avuncular and loving god in his own way. Tzeentch actually plans stuff and thinks ahead.

    I think its a Slaanesh cult. The elites are all pedos, the propaganda is obsessed with genitalia, the populace doesn’t give a shit as long as the treats flow.



  • Yeah I think the future of what you describe is Chinese. They are already making autonomous electric tractors, but its early. Tractors are kind of uniquely suited to carry big heavy batteries and never get too far from the charging station. There are smaller autonomous vehicles that can do simple tasks like mow, and of course all the good drones are Chinese. I don’t know if they’ll make it open source, but they may not be openly hostile to users like western corporations. Deere and company won’t just have a fee, all the telemetry, controls, everything will be tied into their own proprietary cloud shit, mandatory reliance on the dealer network, coupled with warranty service, etc.

    Hopefully it’s possible that even if a Chinese vehicle doesn’t have FOSS software it’s compatible with FOSS route planning software or diagnostics, or whatever. Maybe it’s not FOSS out of the box but if you flash it, it won’t brick itself because your binary isn’t signed with their private key, or some shit. The lack of dealer would suck and of course, the government could just ban Chinese ag equipment when the check from Deere clears.



  • They exist, they’re just more corporate and centralized, and inundated with basic tech support questions due to the huge install base.

    Like this: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/category/windows

    If you dig deep enough in there you’ll find administrators talking about powershell hacks and devops and group policy and stuff like that. There’s probably people who are “passionate” about Windows, I’d imagine, but since it’s closed source there’s only so much you can do without being literally an employee of MS. The people I’ve met like this are kind of smugly defensive about Windows because they’ve invested so much training and knowledge into its arcana, but it’s not exactly “passion”.



  • Somebody here said something like, “Can’t wait for libs to tell me I’m responsible for a Vance presidency because I refuse to vote for this ghoul.” I think about that every time he opens his mouth. Can’t wait for all the milquetoast liberal pushback against Newsom’s despicable rhetoric to melt away into “Blue no matter who” the minute he is coronated by the plutocracy.