Les Orchard

he / him; semi-hermit in PDX, USA; tinkerer; old adhd cat dad; serial enthusiast; editor-at-large for http://lmorchard.com; astra mortemque superare gradatim

Home: https://lmorchard.com/
Blog: https://blog.lmorchard.com

Public Key

npub13crqyhhc96kch4mzr5rpzl9fsj5wmwln23tgymevuz804jwd2dsqsa8dnd

NIP-05 Address

lmorchard_at_hackers.town@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsgupsztmuzatvt6a3p6ps30j5cf28dh0e4g45zdukwprh6e8x4xcq8v3vr0

Author Public Key

npub13crqyhhc96kch4mzr5rpzl9fsj5wmwln23tgymevuz804jwd2dsqsa8dnd

Show more details

Last Notes

2024-06-14 19:18:38

- reply

I feel like this is some weird deep-rooted thing that might have been useful if I were an ancient human hunter or gatherer, compelled not to do the same things too often and thereby set up a predictable pattern.

2024-06-14 19:14:27

Weird me-problem: I've been to the neighborhood pho place like 4 times now. I want to go back today for lunch but I'm anxious they'll recognize me and I don't want to be perceived. Reasonably speaking, they're probably happy to see a regular? Why is my brain like this?

2024-06-05 21:37:04

- reply

It's too bad there isn't like a magical device to just read someone's position on the Kinsey scale

2024-06-05 17:31:08

"Some commentators are snarking that Microsoft really really wants to make 2025 the year of Linux on the Desktop, and it's kind of hard to refute them right now."
(sickos: haha yes)
https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2024/06/is-microsoft-trying-to-commit-.html

2024-06-04 22:42:10

- reply

What if a bunch of people just started using LinkedIn like LiveJournal? Like instead of inspirational business memes, it's all fan fiction and 3am emo thoughts and photos of Hot Topic purchases.

2024-06-04 22:38:15

The Call of the Void to just start posting wads of Dead Can Dance lyrics to my LinkedIn on a daily basis like it's a LiveJournal account

2024-05-30 21:34:14

- reply

Yeah, there's a part of me who thinks that too. But I tend to resist it, because that's also what fascists say about folks they want to crush. But also... oof

2024-05-30 21:29:45

- reply

Like, the only thing that makes sense to me is that there are a lot of humans who don't really think things through much and just operate on immediate feelings induced by mouth noises.
And, granted, I find myself occasionally swayed by mouth noises but then my brain kicks in and says "what the fuck that makes no sense"
But it seems like for some folks, their brains never kick in and do that? And that's depressing to me

2024-05-30 21:26:31

- reply

But that's a thing I just really don't get about fascists and their fans - their enemies are both scary & strong yet also pathetic & weak depending on the paragraph of the speech.
I mean, actually I do I think I get it, but it just really depresses me

2024-05-30 21:23:48

You know, there's a part of me who WISHES the Biden administration was shady & cunning enough to actually have rigged a trial against Trump.
But, like, which is it? Biden & Co are too feeble & dumb to wipe own their asses? or Biden & Co are evil geniuses pulling all the strings?
Neither, Trump's just a crook and the system may or may not actually make it stick and Biden doesn't really have much to do with it

2024-05-30 16:12:25

helpmeiaminhell
https://hackers.town/system/media_attachments/files/112/530/916/107/678/523/original/10be2690e758db5b.png

2024-05-28 23:16:27

Playing Earthbound, I guess it’s time to fight the cops as a little psychic kid #gamedad #gaming
https://hackers.town/system/media_attachments/files/112/521/257/716/305/077/original/56e534e223993fc8.jpeg

2024-05-26 03:50:49

- reply

Now I just have to figure out how to liberate a save from this Delta emulator on iOS and load it in Retroarch, if possible. 🤔
I can "export" a save from Delta, and exfiltrate it from the phone via iCloud Drive, but that file doesn't seem to do anything in Retroarch

2024-05-26 00:50:34

A thing I just got working: my anbernic gamedad and my gaming PC both run retroarch. They both also run syncthing - as does my NAS.
So, I have “private cloud saves” for retro games shared between these two gaming devices 🎉

2024-05-23 02:26:13

- reply

Beavers, man, beavers #pdx
https://www.koin.com/local/multnomah-county/pacific-power-power-outage-portland-05222024/

2024-05-22 23:27:56

- reply

Ope. Power’s back

2024-05-22 23:03:45

Ope. Power’s out #pdx #pdxtst #portland

2024-05-21 21:38:17

Y'know, only just like a year ago, I was like "huh, modern microsoft isn't so bad! windows is not awful! my dell laptop is pretty handy!" and now I'm like "huh i wonder how many games i can play on Linux these days?"

2024-05-21 16:09:05

Every time I hear a "flirty" AI assistant voice, I feel a spike of revulsion. It's creepy. Seems obvious in retrospect, but I think I figured out why:
I'm very sensitive to manipulation. Not to say I always see it - I can, in fact, be quite gullible. But, when I *do* detect it, I take it as a deep personal insult and flag the source as never to be trusted again.
Apropos of that, a "flirty" AI assistant is not attempting to form a reciprocal social connection with me. A "flirty" AI assistant is manipulation.
A "flirty" AI assistant is an attempt at an emotional security exploit by a corporation in the hopes that I'll mistakenly grant the imperfect thing some empathy and give it a trusted place in my life. It feels very crass and dystopian.
Some folks describe this as a UI affordance to make users more comfortable with the machine. With me - and probably a lot of folks - it lands as sour as a door-to-door Comcast salesperson.
Ironically, the only assistant voices I tolerate tend to be very emotionally flat and matter-of-fact. Like, I know what you are, machine, and I'll trust you more if you stop pretending.

2024-05-21 00:03:20

- reply

I'm always amazed at folks who just have, like, phones in their pockets that ring at random intervals

2024-05-21 00:01:06

- reply

Oh no, my two (2) phone calls have each generated two (2) reply calls for a total of four (4) voicemails because my phone doesn't ring for unknown numbers as a matter of self-preservation. I guess they expect me to call them back

2024-05-20 23:13:09

I have made two (2) phone calls and have exhausted my spoons. I deserve a cheese.

2024-05-20 20:14:41

Hahahahahahahahha
> “We have seen instances where people have commented that an advert was AI-generated rubbish when it was not,” he says, adding that it could become a problem for the social media industry if consumers “start to feel they are being served rubbish all the time”.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/19/spam-junk-slop-the-latest-wave-of-ai-behind-the-zombie-internet

2024-05-19 16:35:22

- reply

What I kinda want is a like an Anbernic or a Powkiddy or a Nintendo 3DS that's also a mid-level folding phone. The Nokia N-Gage was ahead of its time, sidetalking the taco and all

2024-05-19 16:28:46

- reply

I like the idea of having all my games on the computer that’s always in my pocket, but then I’m reminded why I don’t play a lot of mobile games - i.e. pretending glass is a d-pad sucks

2024-05-19 16:24:09

Yeah emulating games with Delta on an iPhone is great, but have you ever had a handheld game console with built-in buttons? /s

2024-05-13 19:39:18

- reply

Update: he’s still in there
https://hackers.town/system/media_attachments/files/112/435/472/430/211/592/original/9873681d14a465af.jpeg

2024-05-13 16:42:34

Just heard a rustling and realized Catsby found his new box #cats
https://hackers.town/system/media_attachments/files/112/434/776/189/431/351/original/064fc0fb26acf22f.jpeg
https://hackers.town/system/media_attachments/files/112/434/780/784/126/587/original/d9ed819a4443c582.jpeg

2024-05-11 03:48:03

- reply

If any of y'all start getting real thirsty after watching the lights, be sure to moisturize
https://hackers.town/system/media_attachments/files/112/420/401/835/079/371/original/c315f2ab7056fa85.jpg

2024-05-11 03:41:17

There's no aurora activity where I am, as far as I can tell.
That's probably fine, because I saw how Night of the Comet (1984) started
https://hackers.town/system/media_attachments/files/112/420/374/651/391/569/original/06ff5b202e499e46.webp

2024-05-10 18:25:14

- reply

I guess the worse thing I saw on some newsletter yesterday was a subscription form embedded between every paragraph in an essay. Like what are you doing?

2024-05-10 18:23:15

I think one of my least favorite things on the web today is that little Substack scroll-jacking feature that slowly fades out the article as a subscription form slides into view. Gives me a minor spike of rage every time it happens

2024-05-10 15:37:18

Making myself espresso:
I grind the beans, I dose the filter, I put the filter into the machine.
I get distracted by something.
I take the filter out of the machine, I whack the puck out into a basket, I dump the puck into compost. (Huh that’s a real dry puck 🤔)
My espresso cup is empty.

2024-05-08 19:33:40

- reply

Once, as a fresh youth, I sat in on an ESR admiration sit-in (with ESR present). It was... eye opening

2024-05-08 00:11:54

"bring your whole self to work!"
...
"wait, how much self is that? there's more? whoa whoa whoa how do you still have more self piling in through the front doors? what do you mean 'i contain multitudes'?!"
(the commercial enterprise drowns in selves)

2024-05-07 20:09:46

Well WINDOWS95MAN from #Finland look like nice boys.
#eurovision #denim
https://hackers.town/system/media_attachments/files/112/401/614/525/962/486/original/b7ba68a915ea5df4.png

2024-05-06 18:43:48

- reply

I'm thinking some combo of microcontroller nonsense and 3d-printing for new non-destructive guts in one of these Merlins

2024-05-06 18:38:32

Today's dumb idea: Use one of these old 1978-era Merlin toys as the shell for a terrible AI assistant. Poke at the buttons like Al did with Ziggy in Quantum Leap.
I have a few Merlins, at least one of which has an intact case but the innards seem beyond repair from battery corrosion.
https://hackers.town/system/media_attachments/files/112/395/591/038/767/182/original/33d716a28ca0c67f.png
https://hackers.town/system/media_attachments/files/112/395/592/076/284/183/original/b7a35dd4b3a7d7c4.png

2024-05-03 00:37:14

Rather than an "add to wishlist" button, I'd like an "add to curse list" or maybe "trebuchet into the sun" #gaming
https://hackers.town/system/media_attachments/files/112/374/347/923/721/557/original/50ce1b65f1a979e7.png
https://hackers.town/system/media_attachments/files/112/374/348/906/012/017/original/8a5b457e1600da90.png
https://hackers.town/system/media_attachments/files/112/374/349/971/741/060/original/ba6b4e10c9c8cb36.png

2024-04-23 00:41:04

- reply

Somehow, fetch returned

2024-04-23 00:38:51

What if, against all odds, fetch was made to happen?

2024-04-19 23:10:22

https://blog.geocities.institute/archives/7358
https://hackers.town/system/media_attachments/files/112/300/404/388/426/309/original/35a47c4dd6dbf66f.png

2024-04-19 19:57:39

- reply

I guess my starting to learn Z80 assembly this month was very timely!

2024-04-19 19:02:46

- reply

eink animated t-shirt plz

2024-04-15 18:00:16

- reply

Like, you know what can really sour an organization's favorability toward a leader? Learning that that leader sent off a little money as a treat to groups aiming to ensure you won't be able to visit your spouse in the hospital as family if they get seriously ill. That can put a damper on inspiration

2024-04-15 17:41:22

- reply

And a lot of folks were like, well that's just his personal opinion.
But, the guy was looking to lead a company. Would his personal opinions be firewalled away? Or would we see practical changes to things like benefits - because there's more to running a company than technology choices? I mean, if you want to see certain things happen at the legal level, why not also make them happen at a level under your leadership?

2024-04-15 17:33:34

This little article is really just so Christian Emo, isn't it?
"It was a warning that the Leviathan of technocracy did not care how well I did, how hard I worked, or how well I treated others."
The thing is, when I was there at the time, many folks that Eich was seeking to lead as CEO felt poorly treated by his support of a cause intended to nullify their personal relationships & families with the power of the state. I guess you can call that reaction "ginned up" and say one is "emulating Christ" by enduring the reaction.
But, folks tend not to easily compartmentalize that sort of existential threat with a dispassionate "agree to disagree" attitude. It has an impact on a subsequent working relationship, to say the least. And that, alas, has an impact on the effectiveness of a CEO to rally the team.
https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2024/04/the-anti-fragile-brendan-eich

2024-04-13 03:23:20

Had a brain fart and just now and could have sworn that the "3TB free" on our NAS storage was short for "3 turbo-bytes free"

2024-04-07 17:52:00

- reply

Whoa, there's a Dianetics commercial in this marathon! Holy scientology volcano, batman!

2024-04-07 17:44:31

This 12-hour marathon of the Sci-Fi Channel from 2001 is twisting my melon a bit. Like, check out the commercial for Metal Gear Solid 2 on PlayStation 2. Man, I miss ye olde Sci-Fi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7DcZZRZa7Q&t=8573s

2024-03-27 05:33:29

You know what makes me feel old? I can't remember the last time I went up stairs in Beast Mode. Gonna have to address that

2024-03-26 16:10:49

"How We Built a Full Text RSS Feed"
Whatever, big deal, this was a hot topic in 2002.
"We paid for the development of full text RSS feeds for Ghost-based publishers. Now we can offer them to our paid subscribers, and other Ghost sites can use the service too."
Ohhhh, actually that's really cool!
https://www.404media.co/email/4e6c0b81-03f6-4370-8fc8-98dab30bfd45/

2024-03-22 17:38:39

Man, I wish most video & audio platforms didn't top out at 2x speed in their playback controls. I know I'm weird, but sometimes I want 3x or 4x especially if there are captions available