Spyke

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quatre-vingts

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The other way around. We started with base 20 everywhere then simplified some of it.

During medieval times it used to be :
10 Dix (10)
20 Vingt (20)
30 Vingt et dix (20+10)
40 Deux-vingt (2x20)
50 Deux-vingt et dix (2x20+10)
60 Trois-vingt (3x20)
70 Trois-vingt et dix (3x20+10)
80 Quatre-vingt (4x20)
90 Quatre-vingt et dix (4x20+10)

Then they switched to base 10... But only up to 70 for some reasons in France. Belgium and Switzerland (and some parts of France) have gone all the way to 100 by using Septante (70), Octante or Huitante (80) and Nonante (90).

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Completely untrue nowadays...

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Since I've moved in South East Asia, I have discovered that:

  • Almost every single printer that exists has a conversion kit available on Taobao to use big ink bottles
  • There's not a single firmware that hasn't been hacked, nor a single part that hasn't been cloned
  • Therefore, most printer manufacturers have a specific line of durable products that allows the use of third party ink because if they don't, other people will bank of their product maintenance and they won't sell much.

The only reason we in developped country get scammed like we are, is because of IP laws and governments that allow manufacturers to abuse them with no consequences at the expense of the customers (and the planet).

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Missing women on Lemmy and decentralised networks

I'm a male who has been managing online communities for more than two decades. I'm not sure what the answer to this issue is. But I'm quite sure it can't come from men... :D

I'd say, we need women admins of fediverse instances, and more female moderators. The only communities I'm part of that see little to no sexism have one thing in common : they are mostly run by women.

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Five rail workers killed in Italy after being hit by train

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This is already how it works.

When workers need to access a portion of railtrack (a block), they need to request a possession and isolation from the command center of the line. A possession means no train can approach less than two blocks from the block they will work on, and an isolation means the power is cut (most lines in Europe are electrified).

The procedure to perform this has been specifically designed to avoid miscommunications, with multiple back and forth between the operators on the ground and the command center to ensure one doesn't mindlessly make a mistake. Usually it's done by phone but I believe some lines now have apps for it.

This accident should not have happened. If the possession had been granted then at the very least the signaling system would have warned the train driver to stop several kilometers before he reached them. On modern lines the train would have stopped automatically, without human intervention. And signaling systems are extremely robust, they don't "bug" in a way that makes this possible.

To me this must be a human error. Either the workers worked without a possession (because they though it would be ok, the line was not operating at that time, it was a short operation, yadda yadda. The exact reason why possession requests are mandatory...) or it was an old line and the train driver was not paying attention to the point of ignoring several, big reg lights telling him to stop.

Either way, no GPS location sharing would have helped if someone disregarded safety instructions. :/

Source : I'm not an expert but I did an internship in a company who designs signaling systems in Europe and my project was specifically on the subject of replacing phone calls for possession and isolation with an app on a PDA.

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quatre-vingts

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It's base 20.

80 in French is 4 x 20. A long time ago, 60 was "trois-vingt", 3 x 20. We still have a hospital in Paris called "Hopital des Quinze-Vingts", 15 x 20 because it used to have 300 beds.

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*Permanently Deleted*

I'm pretty happy with Linux actually. I've used a few distros and DMs over the years and honestly we're at a point in time where it's pretty nice. A more user friendly and robust connectivity management would be nice, and a few of the file browsers could benefit from a UX revamp. DMs could also enforce stricter design choices by default to gently guide developers towards a consistent UI/UX. But overall it's quite solid.

The same can't be said about most of the OSS that goes with it. Most of the apps available for Linux are garbage. I mean, they do some things well obvioulsy, but are overall terrible to use. With their crap UX and a UI stuck in the last century the only reason people use them is they have no other choice and are desperate...

linux

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Two new versions of OpenZFS fix long-hidden corruption bug

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You're a senior CS person and you are asking if you should have a backup system in place? o_O

Sorry if this sounds like a personal attack but it's something you should have though of a long, long time ago, as a CS person. Even when still using Windows.

Assuming you are serious, then yes there are ways to save your data under Linux, with different levels of complexity and privacy.

The bare minimum is some basic cloud backup. Not ideal for privacy, but at least if your drive dies you won't lose your files.

Local backup in the form of a NAS or home server is also an option, and allows different systems (Windows, Mac, Linux) to save a copy of their files. Way better from a privacy perspective if setup properly BUT your are one fire or one burglary away from losing everything.

If you want to reconcile privacy AND safe storage then to me there are a few options :

  • End to end encrypted cloud storage if you trust the third party (Proton drive, Tresorit, etc)
  • End to end encrypted cloud storage that you control (requires very high skills and a lot of work and money. And a lot of maintenance)
  • Local network storage (NAS/homeserver) with an encrypted backup regularly sent to the cloud
  • Hybrid end-to-end encrypted cloud using a non encrypted cloud solution (like Google Drive) with Cryptomator or equivalent (if you trust them).

So many options, depending on your sensibility to privacy and your technical knowledge. You can also mix. For example most of my personal files are hosted on Microsoft OneCloud because it's stable and fast enough. I mean almost my entire home folder (excluding configuration) is replicated there. But some of the sensitive files, mostly scans of official documents like tax returns, healthcare receipts, etc, are end to end encrypted using Cryptomator. Also my passwords are saved in an shared encrypted Keepass database. And all my drives are encrypted (with LUKS) including my external drives.

Anybody who has dug that topic long enough knows that total privacy and total security are a myth. It simple doesn't exist. You need to find the balance between privacy, security and practicality that suits you. If you are paranoid, then getting to a reasonable level of all three is going to be a LOT of work and money. If you are just cautious, and are willing to trust reputable third parties, then it's quite possible to have a working solution without spending too much time and money. And the very bare minimum is to chose between a backup with little privacy, or more privacy with the acceptance that you may lose everything.

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Missing women on Lemmy and decentralised networks

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I'm not saying it's not the job of admin men to tackle this issue, it very much is. What I'm saying is I don't feel they're good at it, and I don't believe they will bring the most significant contribution at this level.

In my experience of moderator, sexism in online communities is a typical case of oppression dynamics. Small group of diverse people grows, some new people come in with oppressive opinions that are initially tolerated in the name of free speech. Oppressed group initially reacts, then as those opinions turn into hate speech gradually withdraw themselves. Next thing you know, the diversity is gone and you're left with a toxic community.

Key to keeping a sane community in my opinion is to react swiftly when sexist opinions are voiced, and to scarify some of the freedom of speech to prevent the hate from settling in. And from what I've witnessed in many communities I've been part of, countless subreddits I've been lurking around, men are just not very good at that. I'm not saying all men, I'm not saying this means they shouldn't do anything. I've been there and I've tried my best. I'm sure most male admins and moderators are acting in good faith. But I also feel like the general state of the internet shows that's not enough. Again : the few communities I engage in where sexism is almost non existent are moderated by women.

Am I wrong? Quite possibly, I believe I've been on the internet long enough to make an informed opinion, but I'm also not that bright so... :D

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'Couldn't See Anymore:' Bored Ape Conference Attendees Wake Up With Searing Eye Pain, Vision Loss

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Probably a mix up of sorts and the responsibility lies with the contractor that installed it. I don't believe the Bored Apes crew organized everything themselves down to the lights, it's not their job. They just paid a company to do it for them.

Asia is much, much more serious than the West regarding sanitation, especially since COVID. UV door frames at the entrance of public transportation is a thing. Where I live, before entering a pharmacy during COVID I had to step in a pond of sanitizer, then was sprayed with the same, then had to wash my hands.

I'm not surprised the contractor had a stockpile of UV tubes to be used specifically for sanitation purpose. Now, did they just confused them with regular black light tubes or did they use them on purpose, or a mix of the two? I guess there's going to be an investigation to sort that out. Wouldn't like to be them, the Hong Kong judicial system is not known for being lenient, quite the opposite.

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Inmate charged with attempted murder after George Floyd killer Chauvin stabbed 22 times

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I'm going to go even further than you and say the director of the prison should face severe consequences (as in, years in jail) for failing to protect a convict.

Prisoners have most of their rights stripped away from them as a punishment. Defending themselves or avoiding situations where violence can happen is not possible for them, and the responsibility for that therefore falls on the people in charge of applying the punishment. Here, the management of the correctional facility.