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One of the fun things about setting up again from scratch is contemplating the engineering thoughts behind some of the professional, coporatized descriptions. Especially:

1. "If you don't turn this option on, you're crazy. It should be on by default. Why isn't it on by default? Don't ask."

2. "If you turn this option on, you're crazy. Unfortunately, some idiots have lots of money to spend on Windows licenses. This is for them."

and

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OFFICER: The victims were dismembered and sacrificed on an altar made of antlers

DETECTIVE: Dear god

OFFICER: Most likely yes

If you're designing an I²C device that has the slightest chance of being used across an isolator and you have an extra pin to spare, please be so kind and split SDA into input and output.

That way one can use cheap unidirectional isolators instead of a ludicrously expensive I²C isolator. If one doesn't care about isolation, just short the two pins.

As seen on the MAX5980A PSE controller. I haven't encountered any other chips doing this.

July 8: What's your least favorite stage of writing a story? Why?

Not that it comes up a lot in the nanofic work that is my bread and butter, but filling in the intermediate details.

My muse is great at filling in the overall arc of the story and a whole bunch of great vignettes set here and there throughout it. Filling in all the gaps between them, though - that's where the "dragging ideas out of my brain with rusty razor wire" bit comes in.

On the gripping hand, I've got compliments on how solid the world feels even from people who hate my writing, so... 😂

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July 10: What are you good at when it comes to writing?

Worldbuilding.

On the one hand, I was doing that for fun for, like, fifteen years before I actually took to *writing*, so that's sort of to be expected. On the other hand, it's much more in my comfort zone and where my talents lie than writing, which sometimes feels like dragging thoughts out of my head with rusty razor wire, so.

So, I've been neglecting everything (sorry, folks) for the last few days, because I finally got access back to everything and have been restoring backups and recreating networks from scratch after the raid. So please pardon my distraction.

Now to catch back up!

(If you said anything to me over the last couple of days I might have missed, please poke me to be sure.)

Among other things I resent regarding seized computers is that I spend friggin' decades carving this network/domain into a tiny polished jewel where Everything Just Worked, and now I have to recreate the whole damned thing from memory.

And shit, I don't have a perfect memory of last week.

July 5: Has your MC ever been involved in a physical altercation? If so, why?

Well, yes. It comes with the job, and so she's been specially trained in Constabulary martial arts, designed to hold and restrain without doing harm.

Most of the time, it's been to prevent people from hurting themselves, which pleases her. Otherwise - well, it's always a failure to have to use force as a poor substitute for authority.

But sometimes, despite everything, they run.

@FrostPoem

Runes etched into the stone door glowed blue. The wizard studied them intently.

"Ooh! I know this one!" said the thief. "Speak friend - in Elvish - and enter!"

"This is not the entrance to the mines of Moria," stated the warrior.

"Talk to the door calmly," the cleric suggested. "Because communication is key!"

"Guys," said the wizard, "I'm struggling to remember my password, and You. Are. Not. Helping!"

#microfiction

@andy_twosticks @amro @APoD Metallic asteroids taste like rust (iron oxide). Silicate asteroids taste like not much of anything. Carbonaceous asteroids would taste like tar, with notes of arsenic and mercury.

Do not try to eat the rocks.

@mikamckinnon

Related. I fucking HATE open source projects which use the "Discord as Documentation" anti-pattern.

Just write down some instructions rather than getting grumpy that newbies are asking the same predictable questions again and again and again.

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All the debates with politicians about encryption backdoors follow the same pattern: one side is making a detailed argument on why backdoors are bad and the other side just screams "THINK OF THE CHILDREN" periodically.

Also shortly before the development of ‘gaydar’, men could dress flamboyantly and still be assumed to be straight. This was known as dazzle camouflage. #lgbtq #queerhistory

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Reminder: even now, you are committing the moral atrocities your great-grandchildren will tweet about.

OH MY GOD LOOK WHAT I JUST FOUND IN THE #BAYCON DEALERS’ ROOM!

I’m so completely delighted! I, big dumb #Trekkie, wrote that thing back when Twitter was fun! Ahh!

(Actually my brother found it and played it all smooth and casual like he didn’t know because he is the best)

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