This is unbelievably detailed.

I've totally had that happen to me before :(

That said, I love my honeywell(?) half-face respirator otherwise. It beats a standard face mask in comfort by a mile. I even got some paper N99 filter sheets + reusable holders for them, which works great and makes it so I don't blow through plastic cartridges.

Oxidation (and other processes) do affect coffee flavor, and grinding it up increases surface area / exposure to oxygen, speeding that up. Putting it in the fridge seems to also worsen flavor, but the freezer seems to be pretty reliable. Here's a nice video discussing this by a weird coffee person (James Hoffmann): Should you freeze coffee beans?

Also, KGLW, nice!

Yeah, I think if you're going to do a lot of thin strips, a jig is worthwhile (and that seems like a nice method). I liked just using the featherboard because it worked (surprisingly) well, felt safe, took a matter of seconds to set up, and doesn't require me storing a jig (I'm tight on garage space).

Schindler's List - incredible movie, beautiful case, no way I want to rewatch it any time soon.

I loved the fountain, too. It is so incredibly beautiful, and I'm glad to own it for the same reasons. I also can't imagine when I'll want to watch it again...

Thoughts on the video below? It seems like it weakens the joint a bit per his findings. I've never done it myself (I use cauls with packing tape and iterate between them and other clamps), but I've heard the salt tip recommended a lot.

https://youtu.be/QfTsHJqykMs?si=0Xq4hs7vQ6AxXwok

Have either of the kids shown a passing interest in learning to woodwork? Obviously tons of safety precautions need to be taken (including potentially changing the nature of projects to do them more safely for kids), but maybe that's a way to at least get in the shop a bit, even if it's to make some simple hand-tool boxes out of scrap with a kiddo.

Edit to add: it's definitely tough to make as much time for hobbies as a parent, and I hope you're able to find some good shop time in the New Year!

I have what look to be almost those exact wheels on my table saw platform. I have a jobsite saw for which I built a cabinet, and I also put flip casters on it. I love them! They're miles better than the "locking" ones that just roll while you're trying to cut things.

I found more up-to-date numbers that suggest it's more like 23x the aid (Ukraine:Israel):

How Much Aid Has the U.S. Sent Ukraine? Here Are Six Charts.

In any event, the US appears to have sent substantial aid to Ukraine, and it's in jeopardy only (to my knowledge) if congress can't get more through in early 2024. My understanding is that the war-specific funding (so far) requested by the Biden administration for Israel has been more to the tune of $14B requested for 2023 (e.g. this article), concurrent with a roughly-quadruple $60B+ request for Ukraine (this article).

It seems to me that the Biden administration is strongly in support for Ukraine, and is making (and, historically, getting through) requests for continued aid far in excess of those to Israel (which receives multi-billion-dollar aid from the U.S. every year and under every administration). Biden's only non-standard "funding" here is authorizing sale of arms to Israel, which is in place of any congressional funding due to the unpopularity of the Israel war in the USA (which is unpopular for a variety of, in my opinion, very good reasons).

To be clear: I'm not suggesting that the U.S.A. should blindly fund genocide. I'm simply arguing that continued (substantial) funding for Ukraine hasn't been in jeopardy until recently, and that it is still not a guarantee that extraordinary measures (beyond what Biden has already done with the lend-lease-style "loaning" of US Arms to Ukraine, etc.) will be necessary or helpful, given the broad support in the US Congress (to date) for the war in Ukraine. My expectation is that the Democrats in congress will make some concessions to the Republicans in congress, and a Ukraine funding package will pass early in the new year.

TL;DR: equating the funding of Ukraine to the funding of the war in Israel and using it to suggest the Biden administration hasn't adequately attempted to fund Ukraine doesn't make a ton of sense to me.

Israel received $3.18B in FY 2022 compared to $11.8B for Ukraine.

USNews - US Aid history

Edit to add a quote from the link:

In 2021, U.S. obligations to Israel amounted to $3.31 billion, a figure that saw Israel returning to the top spot among aid recipients that year. But in 2022, the U.S. committed $12 billion to Ukraine in its defense against Russia’s invasion, far exceeding Israel’s $3.18 billion that year. While some figures are still considered “partial,” total U.S. aid globally for 2022 currently adds up to more than $60 billion, a level not seen since 1951.

It'll be interesting to see what that chart looks like for 2023 and 2024. And hopefully there's less genocide all around, eh?

It looks like there's some precedent for workarounds that FDR used to aid the UK when Isolationists didn't want to help during WWII, and that Biden has already been doing a good chunk of it. Without direct cash, I do think there are fewer options, but I'm curious what will happen if an aid package isn't passed by Congress in early 2024 once the current one runs out.

Politico: The WWII Strategy Biden Can Use to Bypass Republicans on Ukraine

Roosevelt’s effort to arm Britain ran the gamut from outright executive fiat (bases for destroyers, surplus transfers) to skillful negotiation with Congress (cash and carry, lend-lease). But there was a common thread running through these maneuvers: The United States never appropriated direct military assistance to the United Kingdom. It traded stuff for stuff. Allowed the British military to buy war materiel from private manufacturers and transport it on British ships. Offloaded “surplus” goods.

...

Biden faces a similar set of circumstances. To sustain America’s support of Ukraine, he will need to find creative ways to bypass the handful of GOP congressmen who currently enjoy functional control of the House. He already enjoys some leeway. Last year, he signed into law a latter-day version of the Lend Lease Act, patterned after the original law, that allows him to lease military equipment to Ukraine on a five-year basis. He might also look for ways to use NATO or other allies as a middleman in the transfer of arms.

More info from a different article that provides context:

Bypassing Congress with emergency determinations for arms sales is an unusual step that has in the past met resistance from lawmakers, who normally have a period of time to weigh in on proposed weapons transfers and, in some cases, block them.

In May 2019, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made an emergency determination for an $8.1 billion sale of weapons to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan after it became clear that the Trump administration would have trouble overcoming lawmakers’ concerns about the Saudi and UAE-led war in Yemen.

Pompeo came under heavy criticism for the move, which some believed may have violated the law because many of the weapons involved had yet to be built and could not be delivered urgently. But he was cleared of any wrongdoing after an internal investigation.

At least four administrations have used the authority since 1979. President George H.W. Bush’s administration used it during the Gulf War to get arms quickly to Saudi Arabia.

AP Article Link

As others pointed out, this appears to only apply to arms sales, not for aid packages as in the case of Ukraine.

This got a good laugh out of my wife this morning when my son asked to hear "Let it Snow" again.

Excellent - thanks for the heads up on those others

That was phenomenal.

I made this comment on another thread, but clearly it's how the Romans spelled it: Tvvix. /s

Ah, yes, the traditional Latin spelling: Tvvix.

DOOM: Eternal (single-player) and Star Wars Battlefront 2 (2017) (with friends). DOOM is incredibly fun and great to play even for 30 min at a time as a busy adult. Battlefront likewise supports my relatively busy group of friends being able to play for a bit at a time and in various combinations without being a huge commitment. I love that I can play easily with 1 or 5 friends without issue and still have fun.

I'd add Bee's Cakes on Sandy (which has a variety, including good cinnamon rolls when they're in rotation), and a vote that I really love the Franzbrot from Fressen (basically everything from them, honestly).

It is a bit lengthy but well worth a watch

This was how I knew it was a Technology Connections video before I clicked haha. His stuff is always so informative and interesting.

Yeah, infants are cute and I loved my kid when he was that age, but I unequivocally prefer the toddler stage. He's a person now. I think the 6- to 8-month range was when he started to get more interesting. All of our friends who are parents seem to have similar feelings. That said, there are a ton of special "firsts" that you can look forward to, and they're pretty enjoyable.

Gotcha; well I laughed anyway :)

Ok, I got an imgur warning for erotic or adult imagery. I'm assuming that was intentional, OP, because it was a dangerously good deal? The planes look great!

There's a way to do this in Auto1111 (sort of):

1. generate an image with part of your steps
2. Enable openpose
3. Add the partially generated pixel image
4. Set controlnet to start at the halfway point, etc.
5. re-generate the image with the same settings

This feels pretty janky, though. I think you could do it better (and in one shot) in comfyUI by processing the partially generated latent, feeding that result to a controlnet preprocessor node, then adding the resulting controlnet conditioning plus the original half-finished latent to a new ksampler node. You'd then finish generation (continuing from the original latent) at whatever step you split off.

Yeah, we've gone back and forth. The leaf actually has a few nice amenities as a 2nd car (heated seats, back row is easier for a kid's car seat) and the range is irrelevant (it's used for 5-mile trips or less). The volt doesn't have heated seats, is worth a lot more when it comes it financing a new car, and has an engine that still needs annual maintenance. That's why we're still leaning towards replacing it over the leaf.

We're driving an old Leaf (2013) and a 2018 Volt. We kind of want to swap the Volt for a full EV (to get better EV range, ditch the gas engine, and get a little more space), but manufacturers seem to resent selling sub-$50k EVs except for the Bolt EUV... which isn't really an upgrade over the Volt for our needs. I'll keep waiting I guess.

How are you liking the ID.4? I have a colleague who bought one (it wasn't really the right vehicle for his use case) and who didn't love it. It seems like a good vehicle, but (like most EVs) is hard to find cheap.

Yeah, I never had good luck with jerboa... it worked sometimes, but I was mostly using liftoff (which is pretty good, in my opinion).

This was my feeling on it, too. Way more depth than I first expected. It felt like a spiritual successor to TNG.

...Bortus?

Agreed on the Auto1111 UI; I like the idea of ComfyUI but making quick changes + testing rapidly feels like a pain. I always feel like I must be doing something wrong. I do appreciate how easy it is to replicate a workflow, though.

What are you running SDXL in? I tried it in comfy UI yesterday and it seems really powerful, but it seems like it always takes a long time to mess around with images. I haven't tried it in SD.Next or Auto1111 yet.

LOL. I didn't immediately get this one. Well done.

Thanks for reporting on that! It's honestly rare to hear anyone using one, so real-world info is sparse haha. I was seriously considering an RTX 7900 series, but skipped it because of reading a few scattered experiences like yours. Maybe someday I'll switch to Linux haha.

Man, that's.... awful pricing and bizarre. Best of luck finding something sanely priced!

Unless they're about the Qudelix 5k(can't find this in Brasil for a reasonable price)

Bummer! How much does it cost there?

I was also considering the Fiio before I got a Qudelix (which I love). A colleague has the Fiio and is quite happy with it, for what it's worth. I think either Fiio is a safe purchase.

This is the what I'm aware of for ROCm: AMD: Partial RDNA 3 Video Card Support Coming to Future ROCm Releases. TL;DR is that it's still not clearly committed with a date, and consumer GPU support is pretty weak.

There's DirectML, which is what SD.Next (Vlad Diffusion) and some others use in Windows. I think it works OK, but can be slow, and it seemed to have a lot of bugs and limited support from perusing the issues lists (though I could be wrong there). I haven't tried it, so others may know better. For perspective, I analyzed the public Vladmandic SD benchmark data and saw 0 7900 XT(X) results using Windows. It seems like almost nobody uses windows + AMD.

Thanks for sharing this!

I guess what I meant to say was I wish it had a population breakdown (as in total percentages, not percent changes) to see how it has impacted Portland's demographics. As you say, Portland is very white, and I was curious to see how this has changed (without doing math or much digging because I was on mobile yesterday). I was also thinking it would be interesting to compare PDX to the broader U.S. population to see if Portland is uniquely experiencing rapid growth in (e.g.) Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander community, or if that's a broader trend in the US.

As luck would have it, I'm not on mobile today, so I found the 2nd info from Axios (conveniently formatted in the same way: https://www.axios.com/2023/06/29/fastest-growing-demographics

Comparing PDX to the US at large, it looks like there was a significant influx of Hispanic and Native Hawaiian & other Pacific Islander people, and a bigger growth in Asian and Black groups vs. the US at large as well. I really wonder what Portland's demographics will look like in 10 years, and if it'll be meaningfully less white (it seems so). I'm not sure what's driving the huge growth in Native Hawaiian & other Pacific Islander populations (I'm ignorant there) and would be curious to understand that.

I've been going to Junior's a lot for beans lately; I think they're pretty great.