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Joined 8 months ago
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Cake day: February 1st, 2024

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  • this was always bound to happen as we expand our presence in space.

    Yes and no — from a different article:

    Radiation associated with Starlink satellites was detected at observing frequencies between 110 and 188 MHz, which is well below the 10.7- 12.7 GHz radio frequencies used for the downlink communication signals.

    (The original article said 5M radiation, which should be around 60MHz.)

    So Starlink is emitting RF in spectrum where they shouldn’t, which is avoidable, but takes effort.

    My guess, and I could be wrong, is that this could be related to something other than the radio(s), such as switching power supplies finding opportunistic structures from which to radiate.






  • Track stands! Not a contradiction to your statement at all though: you need to be moving just ever so slightly.

    With a fixie it’s easy, because you can pedal forwards and backwards in tiny amounts. With a freewheel, it’s trickier but you get the hang of it with practice. Ideally you’ll have an incline, so you pedal forward to go forward, and ease up to slide back. After some practice I can use the raised reflective paint from e.g. crosswalks as the “incline.” This miniscule motion is enough to balance — and like you said, it ain’t the angular momentum that does it.



  • Right. But I think it’s a mischaracterization to represent the EC as a “technicality,” as it’s very central to the way voting in the USA works. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s stupid and should be abolished, but it’s very much ingrained in the voting system.

    I think I’d counter your example — keeping the sports theme — by saying it’s like the World Series: it doesn’t matter if there are three absolute blowouts, all the matters is who wins four games. So you could easily win the World Series, but have fewer total runs across seven games (game = EC votes, runs = popular).

    (Again, I think the EC should absolutely be abolished.)






  • Yeah, I wanted Harris to completely eviscerate Trump, which didn’t exactly happen. But I don’t think that’s because she did poorly — it’s because I know who I’m voting for, and I’m not the target audience.

    Had it been the proverbial bloodbath that I wanted to see, it might not have played well with independents/those on the fence (which I blame largely on sexism — a ruthless woman is “a bitch,” but a ruthless man is “strong,” etc.).

    Judging from the headlines and conversations I’m seeing, I think she really threaded the needle — came across as strong, intelligent, leader-like, all the while giving Trump enough rope to hang himself. More might have alienated voters, and less might have come across as too soft. Really good stuff from her and her campaign.




  • No, they make a profit if your premiums are more than your care+overhead. Preventative care is sometimes offered with no co-pay — presumably because you end up costing them less over the long haul if you keep up to date with your Dr. appointments.

    It’s not a great system; but it does work very well for some customers, and failing to recognize that tends to preclude having a productive discussion.