I'm getting bored with nostr. Maybe I'm just following the wrong people, but it seems to be an echo chamber about how great the protocol is and platitudes about bitcoin. Interesting content outside of those two topic areas doesn't get many boosts, so when people do post it, it frequently doesn't get discovered. I've found maybe 8 people on here who post that kind of stuff. That's a pretty small social network. Combine that with the bots and technical issues DMs no longer being reliable and it's no wonder so many people bounce off and then tell all their friends not to bother with nostr. Since I delivered these bitter truths about my experience here, I'm already bracing for the reply guys who are going to tell me that I am the problem, or that it's not that bad. Probably at least one insinuation that I oppose freedom of speech or I'm using the wrong client. You know, the usual beratement and gaslighting.

If Toyota pulls off these solid state batteries, it means EVs with 620 mile range with batteries that can be charged in 10 minutes in either 2027 or 2028. That's going to basically mean checkmate for all the competition unless they are equally innovative.

Electrek

Big oil is betting big on Toyota to win the solid-state battery race

Toyota has been working on a solid-state program with Japanese refining oil giant Idemitsu Kosan since 2023. Now they're building a factory.

Proof of work: cinnamon apple chips Two ingredients. Top notch quality.

Who can answer this without looking it up? What state are the New England Patriots from? Bonus points, what city?

Tell me you're a bitcoiner without telling me your a bitcoiner. Exhibit A:

Surely there is someone out there selling military surplus gear (boots, jackets, thermals, etc.) and accepting sats, right? cc: @Bitcoin Veterans

OK, #bitcoin folks. If you run a lightning node and want to open channels to one another, I'm down. DM me for my node info. You open a channel to me, I open an equal channel to you (assuming you're not a baller who is going to open up some crazy huge amount like a .05 BTC channel or something; I'm a geek but I ain't rich). I have channels to some of the big nodes and plan on opening more, so hopefully my fees will be lower than going through a single LSP. I'm not doing this as a business, I'm doing it because I want more #decentralization, so I can afford to have low AF fees. If going through me is as few or fewer hops as going through a big LSP, it should save you some fractions of a cent. 😝 I do ask that you actually USE your lightning node though. Even if you don't buy anything and it's just for zaps. Even if it doesn't go through our channels. And I do take suggestions on to whom I should open channels. I do plan on hitting up as many of the #nostr vendors as I can and seeing if I can open a channel to them directly. Failing that, I'll open a channel to the LSP they use.

Ugh. Contractors. Had a communications error on my thermostat (system was installed in 2022, has a 10 year warranty on parts and labor). Called up the same company that installed it, told them that resetting it from the stat fixes it for about 30 seconds, powering off the HVAC at the breaker fixes ot for a few days. Said I thought it was probably the HVAC side, but just wanted them to come out and take a look. They come out and say the electric heat walire shouldn't be connected. (Context: it uses modbus, not the traditional relay system, ajd it has been wired that way since it was installed and worked fine the whole time). OK. They flipped the breaker to change the wires, so we couldn't tell if the fix really worked, but the tech seemed confident. Next day: comm error again. Call them back, they come out and replace the stat. Also flashed the firmware on both HVAC boards Again, since they flipped the breaker, we can't really tell if it worked, but the same tech was confident this would do it and if not said the next step would be to replace thr HVAC board. Next day: I get a bill for $260 for that first call. Call them up and ask if it's covered under warranty. It's covered, but the charged me more for labor than is covered because they have to drive an hour each way. OK, I pay the $130 that wasn't covered. Evening that same day: comm error again. It was after hours, so I emailed a photo of the error in to them explaining that the new stat didn't fix the issue, I understand the board will need to be replaced and that might take time to get the parts in. No worries, I can manage with flipping the breaker every few days. Also, I'd be happy to just have you come deal with this next time you are in town to save you the travel time, and me the money. They reply: the tech thinks the stat wire might be getting interference from the power line that's run next to it. I take about 35 minutes crafting as polite of an email as I can explaining that it's been wired like this from the start and nothing has changed, that I realize I'm not the HVAC expert, but I was skeptical about the first two resolutions and neither of them worked. I explain that I am frustrated that it's taking 3+ trips to resolve this issue. I ask if we can just replace the board instead. They give me a one-sentence reply. WaterFurnace said we should re-run the stat wire, so that's what we're goi g to do. I simply ask if it'll be partially or fully recovered by warranty. It's been 5 days and they haven't answered, or even ackowledged my question. So yeah. I'm frustrated. Just venting (haha). No need for trying to solve the problem. But I will say that I'd prefer a permissionless system for warranty repairs instead of this "authorized repairpersons only" approach.

This is what prototyping looks like in 3D printing land That battery is a 26700, and the cube on top is the perfect size to hold a tiny #meshtastic node. Those have substancially more energy than the 18650s. Battery has lasted over a week (and counting) of 24/7 usage without a charge. Antenna is in a sleve, which is just barely visible on the right hand side of the 4th case from the left.

Tonight was our most successful Repair Café to date! We had a good nine of mentors, a line out the door, people waiting in the lounge for a mentor to become available, and nobody bright in things we couldn't fix. Some required parts we didn't have on hand, but they're going to come back next time with the parts in hand. I think the coolest thing this month was that we fixed a Toyota product (BTW, our Repair Café is in the basement). It was the battery pack out of a Prius which had some bad cells. I wasn't directly involved in that one, but I was told it was successful, including rebalancing the cells.

To the two people on #nostr who are within a reasonable distance: Repair Cafe Urbana is tomorrow (Thursday) night at the Makerspace. Come hang out and socialize. Help people fix some stuff if you're interested. Bring something to fix if you got it.

How much should people pay to be on social media? What would you say is a fair price for the benefits it brings? What are those benefits? #AskNostr The money could go to relay operators, software devs, centralized companies, people who run a federated server... whomever you want. I'm just asking for your opinion on the value/price.

Oh man. I just found out an e2ee comms server is likely going away. 😞 If that happens it'll be a sad day. They allow public registration, for free, without providing a name, phone number, or even an email address. A real cypherpunk gem. A reminder of what the internet was like for people back in the 90s. Their concerns are personal and technical attacks, running the services not being fun anymore, multiple risks (including legal), and funding. I'm offering to step up and help if my skills would be of service. I'll post back if there's a way people can help. #FreedomTech Unless there's something the community can actually do to help, I'm not going to call them out by name. It sounds like they're going through hard enough times as it is, I don't want to have an army of people adding pressure to keep going. As much as I'd like to see #privacy respecting services like this start around, these admins don't need any more stress.

Any one in Chicagoland want a free Tivo Series 2 with a lifetime subscription? Up to five available. Only catch is you pick it up and put it to good use. Just don't want them to tgo to eWaste.

I just made the worst chocolate chip cookies of my life. I substituted in coconut flour for chickpea flour, but I made the mistake of doing it by weight instead of volume. They were way too dry and even adding some oil didn't save them. ⭐⭐Two stars. I'll eat them so they don't go bad. If they scored any lower, I'd pitch them directly in the bin.

Anyone here want to join the US military? I heard they're hiring.

BTC Postage bug report: I. email isn't listed as a required field on the registration page, but it is. II. When email is omitted, no errors are shown. It effectively refreshes the page leaving the user to wonder WTF just happened. Not sure where to send this, but these should go into your issue tracker so they can get fixed.