WTF Bites

Mark Zuckerberg, in response to a torrent of critical memes mocking the graphics of Meta’s newest project, has heard his critics – and changed his selfie.

Zuckerberg debuted Horizon Worlds, a virtual reality social app, in France and Spain earlier this week, sharing a somewhat flat, goofy digital avatar posed in front of the Eiffel Tower and rolling green hills.

Many compared the Metaverse design to early 90's graphics and pointed out how lifeless and childish the Zuckerberg selfie looked. It quickly won the designation "dead eyes."

In all fairness, he always looks like that. I've never seen a picture of him where he looks like an actual person.

HardwareGeek

@Gern_Blaanston said in WTF Bites:

I've never seen a picture of him where he looks like an actual person.

Are you saying robots aren't real people? How organocentric of you!

JBert

@Gern_Blaanston said in WTF Bites:

In all fairness, he always looks like that. I've never seen a picture of him where he looks like an actual person.

Now compare it to the Madame Tussauds statue:

Mark Zuckerberg | Madame Tussauds Bangkok

It's one of the few cases where the statue might look better.

Gern_Blaanston

@JBert said in WTF Bites:

It's one of the few cases where the statue might look better.

The statue is based on what he looked like in 2012. That might be before he was replaced by a robot.

Gribnit

@Gern_Blaanston said in WTF Bites:

@JBert said in WTF Bites:

It's one of the few cases where the statue might look better.

The statue is based on what he looked like in 2012. That might be before he was replaced by a robot.

The trouble is that proper cursed glass is hard to come by, and Tussaud's deals mostly in human replicas.

Arantor

Here I was innocently checking a parcel on RoyalMail when I get this CAPTCHA.

Three things strike me about this:

Why does a “check my delivery” need a CAPTCHA?
Last I checked, dogs smiling was a bad thing.
hCaptcha is more annoying than reCAPTCHA and at this point I’m not convinced it’s any better than reCAPTCHA at either stopping miscreants or training AI models, but I am wary of any venture Brendan Eich is involved with at this point. Just feels like it’ll be claiming to be all ethical and above board but maybe not in practice (see Brave and its NFT outlook)

Edit: 4. Fuck me this has a blog post defending it. Fuck you and your “what smiling dogs should look like”.

Applied Mediocrity

@Arantor I wish they all would just shut the fuck up about this idyllic, open, fun and peaceful weee so ooosom internets. That all these inconveniences are just mild, but necessary, and that they don't immediately destroy any illusion that it's not a massive garbage pit that just gets larger and larger...

Zerosquare

@Arantor: are you sure you didn't log in with @Polygeekery's account?

Arantor

@Zerosquare sadly I don’t own any dogs but I am familiar enough with dog behaviours to know about smiling being more typically either an aggression/discomfort pose or even a submissive/scared of you pose. (There is some research that indicates smiling can happen and that it’s a sign of a dog in a relaxed state but as ever, watch the whole body language and not just part of it.)

Arantor

Other WTF of the day, I received bookends today in the mail, the parcel contains 2 items, one bookend for each, well, end of the books.

The bookends themselves are constructed of several parts, these are pre-assembled, so I have a parcel containing 2 constructed items, separately bagged.

Each bearing a sticker: “WARNING!! This item is packed separately and to be assembled by customers themselves”

As in, the two bookends are to be assembled, myself with books.

Like, uh, that was the point?

JBert

@Arantor said in WTF Bites:

Edit: 4. Fuck me this has a blog post defending it. Fuck you and your “what smiling dogs should look like”.

But user studies prove that it works.

Just how Firefox's team used responses from 16 users to rationalize changes to click-to-play, despite it leaking information to advertisers.

Bulb

JSONPath is gratuitously incompatible with JavaScript. Let's say we have this object¹:

{
    "data": {
        "tls.csr": "LS0tLS1…";
    }
}

In JavaScript you say <something>.data["tls.csr"] to get the value, right? And so you can in jq. But in JSONPath² you have to say .data['tls\.csr'].

The quotes could be excused as either quotes would work in JavaScript, but the backslash . But without it, .data['tls.csr'] is treated equivalent to just simply .data.tls.csr, which is obviously a different entry.

Oh, it works the other way too, so the correct expression is .data.tls\.csr.

Why in the name of Patina³ , why‽

Side-note: The alternative is Go template syntax, which, for a change, does not have indexing syntax at all, so you have to write something like (index .data "tls.csr").

¹ Excerpt from a perfectly cromulent Kubernetes secret. Since the entries are often mounted as virtual files, it makes sense for the keys to have .-separated extensions.
² At least in the variant implemented by kubectl/go in case it makes a difference as I suspect it does.
³ Her symbol being a penguin makes her a goddess of Linux and, by extension things built on top of it like Kubernetes.

BernieTheBernie

@Bulb said in WTF Bites:

it makes sense for the keys to have .-separated extensions.

:there's-your-problem.png.jpeg.gif:

Bulb

@BernieTheBernie Naming convention mismatch, duh. Histerical raisins are fun. But in this case they are not really . JSON does not limit what the keys may be, and JavaScript has a perfectly OK syntax to access keys that are not identifiers. JSONPath deviating from that syntax is a .

BernieTheBernie

@Bulb And what about blanks or other types of white space?
They are valid in file names and folder names (don't know about extensions though).

Bulb

@BernieTheBernie They are not legal in Secret and ConfigMap keys for though.

Just last week I was adding a custom header and rewrite rules to the reverse proxy and web server configurations. Well, a colleague didn't want to add another column in the database, so he matches the header against the name, and the names do contain spaces (and may contain some other interpunction later). I can map that to paths in the resource bundle just fine, but for the config files that are derived during deployment and stored in config maps I had to do a separate mapping, because spaces are not allowed in config map keys.

… I am not sure whether they would be allowed in other places, like annotations, to check how that indexing syntax behaves with them.

LaoC

Yesterday, the information screens on one of Germany's wannabe TGV were consistently showing stations we'd passed through about an hour before. This one indicates they have more profound problems in 2022.

Zerosquare

@LaoC said in WTF Bites:

Germany's wannabe TGV

The original version can't ever have such problems. Because it doesn't have screens.

topspin

@LaoC said in WTF Bites:

Do these screens run Windows 95?!

Germany's wannabe TGV

Hey, the above notwithstanding, the ICE trains themselves are perfectly fine. They could blast around at 300kph in theory, it's the tracks'/construction sites' fault that shit goes 80 everywhere.

remi

@Zerosquare Newer ones do, though.

Also I'm not where an "original" TGV can still be seen. Somewhere in a rail museum, I assume. Or rather hope, since it'd be sad if none had been preserved, they are part of rail's history.

ETA: I still remember watching them closely pass by to see what city they were named after...

Zerosquare

@remi said in WTF Bites:

Newer ones do, though.

They do? I've never seen one.

I'm not sure TGV passengers are ready for such modernity, anyways. I mean, we just had to deal with the addition of USB plugs. And sometimes they even work!

remi

@Zerosquare said in WTF Bites:

They do? I've never seen one.

Wiki (in French) says so, with the earliest ones of that generation dating back to 2011 (but I have no idea () if screens were present in all iterations of that generation).

I vaguely remember seeing those screens, so yeah, they do exist. I remember that they sometimes alternate between various hugely important pieces of information, such as all the stops of the train (usually a single one, which therefore is where you are going, so I guess it's good to have reassurance that yes you are going where you want to go, but it's a tad late if you haven't noticed before the train left), or the current speed (OK, that one is at least marginally interesting, in a geeky sort of way).

At least the one I saw hadn't yet reached the Eurostar stage, where they mostly show random stupid ads (and the same one on a short loop, of course, for maximum annoyance).

Kamil Podlesak

@Bulb said in WTF Bites:

JSONPath

... is and I definitely recommend avoiding it. The few implementations that exist are not 100% compatible and the performance is usually horrible.

TIL that Kubernetes uses it.

Bulb

@Kamil-Podlesak When you want to extract specific parts of the output, you have choice between JSONPath and Go template. Both are butt-ugly and idiosyncratic and the former is usually a bit shorter so .

… meanwhile the Azure CLI uses JMESPath, which is yet another idiosyncratic variation on the theme. Because … excavator, I guess.

HardwareGeek

@Zerosquare said in WTF Bites:

I mean, we just had to deal with the addition of USB plugs. And sometimes they even work!

But are they wired correctly? (I'd quote a post about mis-wired USB cables, but it's in the Lounge (and to look for it, anyway).)

dcon

@HardwareGeek said in WTF Bites:

@Zerosquare said in WTF Bites:

I mean, we just had to deal with the addition of USB plugs. And sometimes they even work!

But are they wired correctly? (I'd quote a post about mis-wired USB cables, but it's in the Lounge (and to look for it, anyway).)

Before I plug into any public USB port, I use one of these:

Amazon.com

hungrier

@dcon Related WTF bite: Sony game controllers will only charge from a power source that has active data lines. So no wall adapters, power banks, or presumably ports with that thing on. It has to be connected with data to a console or computer

ChaosTheEternal

@hungrier I've charged many PS4 controllers with a cable connected to a similar style of plug (the ones I have are meant for allowing a PS Vita to charge from any USB source instead of just the specific Sony chargers, but it basically does the same thing otherwise by cutting the data pins as my phone doesn't do any of the "how do you wanna connect" stuff when it is plugged in through it).

I haven't tried with a PS5 controller yet, but I could when I get home.

Zerosquare

@dcon said in WTF Bites:

Before I plug into any public USB port, I use one of these:

Amazon.com: JSAUX USB Data Blocker, (4-Pack) USB-A Defender Only for Quick Charge, Protect Against Juice Jacking, Refuse Hacking Provide Safe Charging- Red : Electronics

I like their illustration picture implying it's high-tech:

In reality, it looks like this:

Zerosquare

@hungrier said in WTF Bites:

Sony game controllers will only charge from a power source that has active data lines. So no wall adapters, power banks, or presumably ports with that thing on. It has to be connected with data to a console or computer

I remember it being an issue with the PS3. It's good to see that Sony is committed to backwards ~~compatibility~~ stupidity.

Zerosquare

@HardwareGeek said in WTF Bites:

But are they wired correctly? (I'd quote a post about mis-wired USB cables, but it's in the Lounge (and to look for it, anyway).)

You just reminded me of another anecdote I'd rather forget. But this is Lounge stuff as well.

hungrier

@Zerosquare Supposedly it's fixed. I'd try my PS4 controller, but it's somewhere else, and when I used it I would always top it up using rest mode whenever it got low

Zecc

@hungrier said in WTF Bites:

@dcon Related WTF bite: Sony game controllers will only charge from a power source that has active data lines. So no wall adapters, power banks, or presumably ports with that thing on. It has to be connected with data to a console or computer

Charging stands exist for the PS3 controllers, though I have no idea where mine is. So those third parties who sold them figured it out.

Gribnit

@dcon said in WTF Bites:

@HardwareGeek said in WTF Bites:

@Zerosquare said in WTF Bites:

I mean, we just had to deal with the addition of USB plugs. And sometimes they even work!

But are they wired correctly? (I'd quote a post about mis-wired USB cables, but it's in the Lounge (and to look for it, anyway).)

Before I plug into any public USB port, I use one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Blocker-JSAUX-Charge-Only-Blocking-Compatible/dp/B0897WB3VJ

If thou hast the protection of the Elder Sign and art ritually pure, thou mayst dispense with such trifles.

LaoC

@topspin said in WTF Bites:

@LaoC said in WTF Bites:

Do these screens run Windows 95?!

Germany's wannabe TGV

Hey, the above notwithstanding, the ICE trains themselves are perfectly fine. They could blast around at 300kph in theory, it's the tracks'/construction sites' fault that shit goes 80 everywhere.

80 sounds about right if you want to have stops every couple of kilometers like they do with this one. It stopped in FRA airport and Frankfurt Süd which must be like 20k apart. It would be cool (yes it would) if they had working air conditioning though.

LaoC

@Zerosquare said in WTF Bites:

@dcon said in WTF Bites:

Before I plug into any public USB port, I use one of these:

Amazon.com

I like their illustration picture implying it's high-tech:

In reality, it looks like this:

Good on them. I can sort of trust a plug where I can see that the data pins simply have no connections; the upper version by itself looks less trustworthy than your average public USB outlet.

remi

@LaoC said in WTF Bites:

80 sounds about right if you want to have stops every couple of kilometers

I think they could go somewhat faster than that, because here commuter trains do so.

I know because there is one stretch of road that runs along the train line, and when I drive (at 90 km/h) on that road I get progressively overtaken by trains, so they're probably going 100 km/h or maybe even a bit more. Granted, on that stretch the two train stations are a bit further apart than usual for commuter trains (it's towards the end of the line, so in the middle of the countryside) but they're still 5 km apart at most. And when I'm on the train it doesn't feel like they have to accelerate or brake particularly hard, so I think if the line (and the train) allowed them to go faster, they would.

BernieTheBernie

@topspin said in WTF Bites:

tracks'/construction sites' fault that shit goes 80 everywhere

80? Are you sure it's 80? Has the Geislinger Steige between Stuttgart and Munich been modernized already?

BernieTheBernie

@remi said in WTF Bites:

that generation dating back to 2011 (but I have no idea () if screens were present in all iterations of that generation

The german "ICE" trains had those screens in the 1990ies, often showing currrent speed. But they did not show that when the train was slow.
Bernie being bad Bernie, used his wrist watch and the "milestones" (actually every 100 meters) along the track to calculate the speed. And wow: some common regional trains made almost 200 km/h when using the most modern ICE rails, and the ICEs did some 60 km/h on normal rails...

remi

@BernieTheBernie said in WTF Bites:

the ICEs did some 60 km/h on normal rails...

Not really surprising since you need both the train and the rails to be "high speed" for high speed to actually happen.

But that doesn't prevent rail companies from hiding the fact when they can: I remember a time when the rail company proudly said you could now take a TGV from Lyon to Strasbourg, despite there being no high speed rails on that line. The ads were implying that you would get high speed (but of course, not saying it clearly!), which obviously wasn't (and still isn't, on that route) the case.

Bulb

@LaoC said in WTF Bites:

80 sounds about right if you want to have stops every couple of kilometers like they do with this one. It stopped in FRA airport and Frankfurt Süd which must be like 20k apart.

20 km is plenty of distance to accelerate to 160 or 200 km/h.

topspin

@remi said in WTF Bites:

@BernieTheBernie said in WTF Bites:

the ICEs did some 60 km/h on normal rails...

Not really surprising since you need both the train and the rails to be "high speed" for high speed to actually happen.

But that doesn't prevent rail companies from hiding the fact when they can: I remember a time when the rail company proudly said you could now take a TGV from Lyon to Strasbourg, despite there being no high speed rails on that line. The ads were implying that you would get high speed (but of course, not saying it clearly!), which obviously wasn't (and still isn't, on that route) the case.

If you go Paris - Frankfurt, either with TGV or ICE the first part is at roughly 10% lightspeed, then slows to a literal crawl at the German border for the next 100km.

Medinoc

@LaoC said in WTF Bites:

@Zerosquare said in WTF Bites:

@dcon said in WTF Bites:

Before I plug into any public USB port, I use one of these:

Amazon.com

I like their illustration picture implying it's high-tech:

In reality, it looks like this:

Good on them. I can sort of trust a plug where I can see that the data pins simply have no connections; the upper version by itself looks less trustworthy than your average public USB outlet.

AFAIK it's because charge power is negotiated through data, so if you use one with just the power lines it will charge very slowly. Therefore the "electronic" one needs to act as a proxy/firewall that allows the negotiation while blocking everything else.

Zerosquare

@LaoC said in WTF Bites:

I can sort of trust a plug where I can see that the data pins simply have no connections

They exist:

@Medinoc said in WTF Bites:

AFAIK it's because charge power is negotiated through data, so if you use one with just the power lines it will charge very slowly. Therefore the "electronic" one needs to act as a proxy/firewall that allows the negotiation while blocking everything else.

Yup. If you want to support fast charge and maximum compatibility with devices, you need a chip. Otherwise you can get by with resistors (for  stuff) or just shorting D+ with D- (for most other devices).

boomzilla

@remi said in WTF Bites:

@LaoC said in WTF Bites:

80 sounds about right if you want to have stops every couple of kilometers

I think they could go somewhat faster than that, because here commuter trains do so.

I know because there is one stretch of road that runs along the train line, and when I drive (at 90 km/h) on that road I get progressively overtaken by trains, so they're probably going 100 km/h or maybe even a bit more. Granted, on that stretch the two train stations are a bit further apart than usual for commuter trains (it's towards the end of the line, so in the middle of the countryside) but they're still 5 km apart at most. And when I'm on the train it doesn't feel like they have to accelerate or brake particularly hard, so I think if the line (and the train) allowed them to go faster, they would.

Yeah, the DC Metro will get up to somewhere around 70mph when above ground and a few miles between stations (again, speed checked vs car). If those chuckleheads can manage it I'm sure you guys can.

dkf

@boomzilla said in WTF Bites:

Yeah, the DC Metro will get up to somewhere around 70mph when above ground and a few miles between stations (again, speed checked vs car). If those chuckleheads can manage it I'm sure you guys can.

My local commuter trains will hit 85mph when they have a suitable stretch (there is a station in the middle of it, but only some trains stop at it). I wouldn't describe those as high-speed trains! Moderate-speed sardine cans would be closer...