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> I could be wrong, but I recall in many developing countries phones there are many teenagers who code on their phone because laptops (even tablets) are prohibitively costly.

Yes, I see that a lot here in the far south of Morocco.

> They might be wiring their phones up to some cheap keyboards, which is technically possible but I don't know if they're doing that.

They do. Adapters are about $2.


Why do that when bluetooth keyboards are cheap these days too? For like $11 you can get a bluetooth keyboard, which would most likely just work...

I could also see some of them using a cheap tablet for the larger screen, but I've also run into teens who use their phones exclusively.


It may be $11 here in the US, but it might be harder to get and more costly in a developing nation. In which case, if it is easier to get that $2 adapter and an e-waste keyboard, that likely makes sense for them

You can get bluetooth keyboards on aliexpress for under £2.

If dealing with that type of budget then scavenging is probably the better route especially as online payments may also be out of reach.

In general, as a frugal person, buying "converter" type hardware is rarely a win because mass produced things are so much cheaper than more trivial but niche things.

However, converter type things are often unused clutter someone would happily give away. Just yesterday I came across some ps2 to usb converters. I can't imagine ever needing one again...but imagine the horror of not having one if you did! I probably didn't need to keep two though...


Sure, I don't discount that, I guess my real point was that bluetooth might still be viable depending on country.

Pretty sure the people who have to choose between eating and a $2 adapter and not eating and a Bluetooth keyboard have a better understanding of the trade offs and what’s viable than you do. Not sure what real point you’re trying to make here

$2 makes sense if they have a computer already and a keyboard for said computer, otherwise it doesn't make much sense to me.

> Even the simplest business problem may take a year to solve, and constantly break due to the astounding number of edge cases and scale.

edge case (n): Requirement discovered after the requirements gathering phase.


I did not "get it" from the post itself, but it linked to a post that mentioned "subed", subtitle editing for emacs with syncing with/control of video playback in mpv. I could see myself doing that and then would be happy if I could also trim the video while I am at it.


> would be happy if I could also trim the video while I am at it.

You can, see the command subed-crop-media-file.

https://github.com/sachac/subed/blob/main/subed/subed-common...


> One question - how does this prevent mosquitos from breeding in other bits of standing water that I can't locate?

It cannot and that is not its purpose. Practically you should be able to locate any other breeding grounds by mere observation and then you have to eliminate them one by one until the mosquitos are left with the ones you set up.


> it is (from my experience) way more dangerous than LSD.

That is not necessarily related to the compound but the method of consumption. Natural sources of psychedelic compounds have, naturally, variances in potency. With Morning Glory seeds you also ingest some other probably pharmacologically active compounds, again in amounts that vary from seed to seed.


And worth a shirt "After much thinking, the solution is obvious."


There was an old joke. University math class. Professor writes a huge formula on the board. Says, "and from this, it is obvious that," and writes another very different large formula on the board. He stands for a second, says "hm...", and walks out of the lecture hall. He returns 30 minutes later, throws a stack of papers freshly-covered in writing unto the desk, mutters "yeah, that indeed was obvious", and continues the lecture.


My dad actually did a form of this, at the encouragement of a teacher.

He was working out the proof to a problem in college and got stuck half way through. He had the problem and the answer, so he worked it from both ends and got stuck in the middle. He had to present the process in class, so he went to the professor for help.

His professor (who had done it originally) couldn't remember how anymore, and told him when he got to that point, he should say "and from this, it's obvious that..." and just jump to the next step.

That's exactly what he did, and no one in class (half hour into the class) even noticed.


"It is obvious that..." usually means "with large amounts of algebra but very little actual thinking" when properly used in a math textbook or lecture. It has its utility.


Write down the problem. Think real hard. Write down the solution.

(The Feynman method—described by someone who observed him, though, not the man himself).


The Candid Naivety of Geeks

> Did you really think that "marketing" is telling the truth? Are you a freshly debarked Thermian? (In case you missed it, this is a Galaxy Quest reference.)

Did you really think that an article humiliating your readers is going to change anything?

Yes, we the people, are stupid. No, we the people, are not keen on being called stupid. We might accept that from people we admire but not from someone we have to look up on the interwebz. Someone who has to point out that there is a page on him - in, for god's sake, the FRENCH wikipedia! And yes, I missed it, because Galaxy Quest is nice popcorn TV but nothing I would commit to long-term memory.

No matter how justified the cause, badly voiced anger just sounds like something between bad impulse control and idiocy.

I get the points the author is trying to make, I sympathize with them, but I would never send that text to anyone I try to convince.


100% agreed. This is just someone self-reporting on their own recently discovered naivete, but projecting it into others.


This is travel advice I've been following for 25 years; because, as the article states, the rules are not new: Go through a port of entry that is not on US soil so being refused entry does not lead to incarceration and deportation. For people in the EU, Dublin is such a port of entry. Once on a plane from there, arrival in the US is the same as for a domestic flight.


That will only protect you from CBP.

ICE, who are currently the ones responsible for disappearing people will happily pick you up at a domestic arrival terminal.


Yes, but ICE can pick you at random (probably lawfully at least close to borders and international airports) while you always have to talk with CBP when entering the country. I personally have been avoiding travel to/through the US whenever possible just because some of the wrong people have been my friends and I happen to make my money with drugs - completely legal, helping to disseminate neutral information for free, but I would not want to discuss the finer details of ethics and drug policy with an underpaid officer of any police force.

The one thing that protects me somewhat from ICE is that I am white, in my forties, middle class and non-confontational when talking with officials. Or how a friend put it: No worries, you could be drinking a beer, smoking a joint and cops would laugh about your accent before telling to have a nice one.


Surely the US customs etc can still find a way to intimidate and screw you over.

My limited experience is that they either train their staff for it, or pick people who enjoy it. Or both.


The staff in Dublin aren't any better, but the consequences are: you're not on US soil, so you can't be detained or deported.


Sure, I got that. I more mean, does it really stop them from being assholes once you land? On paper perhaps, but in practice, I wouldn't bank on it.


The whole point of preclearance is that there is no border control on arrival into the US, you exit the airport like you were coming off a domestic flight.


What port of entry is not US soil? You can be detained in an US embassy and sent off somewhere. In fact the US doesn't even have a problem with kidnapping people in the middle of a European city sending them off for torture[1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraordinary_rendition

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalid_El-Masri


There are quite a few US preclearance facilities overseas. Dublin, Abu Dhabi, most major Canadian airports, etc.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_border_precleara...


Any links that point to U.S. transgressions under presidents other than orange man are downvoted.

People would prefer even G.W. Bush, because at least he did proper neocon wars and was aligned with the establishment.


>Any links that point to U.S. transgressions under presidents other than orange man are downvoted. Not true.


That's not the same group. "Fraunhofer" is not a single group but the umbrella organization for 76 different institutes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraunhofer_Society


Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) is a good foundation.

Darija (Moroccan Arabic) is probably furthest away because it is heavily influenced by the Berber languages (and Arabs are not the majority in Morocco, they are just the largest minority). Also, Moroccans tend to do lots of context switching to French.

Egyptian Arabic is widely understood everywhere due to Egypt's strong position in the Arabic movie/TV industry.


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