WaterWaiver

Perfect dark has a fan PC port that's really good. I couldn't stand it on console (low fps made me motionsick) but it was a hoot when I played it on PC. https://github.com/fgsfdsfgs/perfect_dark

The actual quantities are pretty small

In pure, stable form, yes. A hundred or so grams released in my house won't be noticed or cause any problems.

But a few hundred grams of burnt fluorine hydrocarbons? 😬 That's a whole other story.

Most modern domestic fridges stick with a plain hydrocarbon refrigerant anyway (akin to butane) these days.

I'm yet to see R600a in Australian domestic fridges, I thought we were lagging in that department? Can you just get them at retailers now?

if you’ve got burning refrigerant there are much bigger problems going on seeing as the refrigerant circuit is hermetically sealed

Strong disagree xD Inhaling burning fluorine compounds > fridge not cooling any more

That kind of thing would also provoke a product safety recall.

I'm not diagnosing the most likely cause of a normal fridge failure, but considering some interesting causes that align with the unusual scenario depicted in the article. Don't panic, I'm not going to go all "fridge bad" on you.

Could be burning refrigerant (some are flammable AND fluorinated).

A lot of phone modems ship with their own SoC (processor) running its own OS. It's much smaller and slower than the main phone SoC but, depending on its implementation, it can have full access to all of your main processor's memory through DMA.

I was amazed that we transitioned from one GPU heavy bubble (Crypto) to another (LLM/AI). Whilst the hype for crypto imploded the use for the hardware sort of didn't. I wonder if the next bubble with be the same, or if we get some refreshing variety to our money sinks?

Microsoft et al are subsidizing GenAI to an insane degree. [...] prices shoot up for their customers and serve as a rough awakening to all the websites that integrated a crappy chatbot.

I've run some much simpler chatbots on just my desktop PC, so they will have some fallback (if they really choose to take it). Still it locks up my entire computer for a few second for each reply, so even a few hundred users per second peak would be an expensive service.

(Insert joke here about customers not noticing or caring about the difference between website chatbots built on big company services vs smaller ones, because they have exactly the same problems just in different hues.)

Yes and no.

Different approximate voltages: yes, different connectors are a good idea. Don't put 150VDC into an input that expects 12V, its protection circuitry might not be able to block it.

Custom connectors for exact voltages, cell numbers and charging currents: next to impossible. Even within the traditional Li-ion family there is too much variation, let alone now that we have LiFEPO4, high-voltage Li-ion and sodium-ion on the market. You still need to integrate the charging controller OR at least a protection circuit into the pack itself.

I don't know exactly what happened in this fatal fire based off just the coroner's report, it mentions that much of the evidence was burned and destroyed. It's worth keeping an open mind for unexpected things like adaptor cables that come with the charger or mislabelled connectors that both say the same (wrong) things.

I do not like the central focus of the ABC article on just the incompatible charger. Events like this are not caused by a single point of failure, multiple failures have to occur (including electrical, social & regulatory) for this to occur.

Link to full copy of the coroner's report (8 pages, contents are about the same level of intensity as the ABC article, mentions burns and treatment).

The coroner concludes with TWO recommendations, not just one:

The circumstances in which Tyson died serve as a tragic reminder of the importance of only using chargers that are supplied with the equipment or device, or certified third-party charging equipment that is compatible with the battery specifications. Using chargers with incorrect power delivery (voltage and current) can cause damage to the battery that can lead to rapidly developing, intense and self-sustaining fires. The circumstances in which Tyson died serve as a tragic reminder of the importance of only using chargers that are supplied with the equipment or device, or certified third-party charging equipment that is compatible with the battery specifications. Using chargers with incorrect power delivery (voltage and current) can cause damage to the battery that can lead to rapidly developing, intense and self-sustaining fires. Large batteries and equipment such as e-scooters should be charged away from living spaces and in an area equipped with a compliant smoke alarm.

Two points of failure for us to improve on is better than only one. But I still think it's poor for the coroner to not mention all of the other factors that could have individually prevented this.

Using the wrong charger should (ideally) be something that any big battery pack can survive -- every big battery pack should (ideally) contain protection circuitry that shuts it off when abnormal conditions are detected. But I know this gets omitted (it costs a few dollars) and it's something we need to change.

I also wonder if it was a charging system without a cell balancer. Those can work safely sometimes (with very matched cells), but again that single layer of protection can be the difference between fire and no fire.

Let's not put all the blame on the poor guy that died because of this. Using the wrong charger is only one mistake, there should be other layers to protect you.

Replacing a TCP socket with a UNIX socket doesn't affect the amount of headers you have to parse.

Sorry to hear you're feeling crap.

I'm having trouble looking for work for the past few months. Very few replies, the first "no" I got actually made me feel a bit more human.

I'm convinced that some of the jobs I've applied for or enquired about are not real or just for external-advertising-before-hire requirements. I've gotten some rude responses after daring to ask questions (eg: jobs funded by research money tend to have fixed funding start dates that might not be for another several months). Most straight up ignore me.

An old boss of mine thinks that my CV isn't conforming and mundane enough, so I'm giving his suggestions a go.

What sort of work are you looking at? I design electronics and get into arguments with computers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KmXPcSxz2g

I honestly didn’t read it

Please read it.

Something weird https://ace-ev.com.au/

• Claim to be "made in Australia"
• Don't provide any photos of their production line or factory.
• Underpowered (max speed 100kmph)

Perhaps imported and then assembled in Australia?