Pretty cool.

I’ve been noodling on what else you can run inside a GPU shader. Problem was data persistence. This is a pretty interesting approach.

Wonder what kind of performance you get running something like this on a bare, high-end GPU (outside the VRChat/Unity scaffolding).

… to have and to hold, … in sickness and in health …

If you sit up while reading, no problem. It just rests on your collarbone. If slightly inclined and on a pillow, it presses against the neck. But it’s not uncomfortable.

I haven’t fallen asleep with one yet. Entirely possible it can destroy the vertebrae, lead to full paralysis, and incontinence. I’d be sure to keep the receipt.

Only 6 takers on the KS with a long way to reach funding level. My guess is they’ll have to relaunch while focusing on end-user benefits and software instead of hardware specs.

The Qualcomm IPQ9574 is a pretty high-end WiFi 7 platform. If someone already has a decent router, it’s a bit of a waste. The main processor is the Rockchip RK3588 module which already has dual NPUs. Adding another AI coprocessor means the system drivers have to be tweaked properly to use the right coprocessor. That’s why I think it’s important to see how they’ve implemented the software.

The RK3588 is a couple years old. Rockchip already announced the RK3688 but my past experience with them was they first released mobile versions and it took a while (1-2 years) before they made dev boards and server BSPs available. The 3688 also has a much better, faster NPU w 20 TOPs – not as beefy as the Metis with 214 TOPs – but OK for basic local inference.

All the communication slots are good for remote office or High Availability – a bit wasted IMO for home use, unless you need LoRaWAN, satellite, or multiple 5G lines.

If you badly want to use a 3588, BananaPi makes a pro board at a fraction of the price. Otherwise, for basic home server use, an old Intel laptop or headless desktop, reflashed with Debian or Ubuntu will do.

Again, I really like the hardware mix they have. It’s great for a small office or a research lab, but IMO a bit overkill for home use.

I got two USB rechargeable ones. One clips to the book and angles down, but the light drops off too hard so you have to keep adjusting it as you read towards the bottom of the page.

The other is my favorite. It’s an adjustable neck ring model. Lots of brands online, all looking the same. Has a lamp on each end of the ring that can be pointed. You can adjust the color warmth and brightness. There’s very little light spill so it doesn’t disturb anyone else. There’s also a 30min auto-shutoff timer in case you fall asleep.

USB charge on both have lasted for 20+ hours each.

Pretty loaded package. Love how expandable it is.

In its current configuration, it looks a bit underpowered for local AI (16GB), but there are a lot of slots to add your own M.2 board.

I’d be concerned about driver support. Given all the hardware, the burden is on the admin software to help with configuring all the knobs and buttons. Didn’t see any mention of that on the KS page. Mostly hardware specs (which again, are pretty good).

I’d want to know more about the software. If it requires downloading tar archives and manually configuring things, it’s not meant to be used by non-devs. They claim it was designed for medical office use, but for that they would definitely need an end-user friendly interface with a LOT of sane defaults.

Also, allowing only 15 days for a hardware KS is a bit strange. It takes a while to spread the word in the device community and get backers. Not much time to make a decision or get budget approved for a $2K+ device.

On infinite repeat.

Always been amazed this song doesn’t get used for Rickrolling during the last two months of each year. It’s a systemic failure.

Obligatory Leslie Nielsen bathroom scene: https://youtu.be/pdE83FX-Mto

I did this years ago. What was amazing was how quickly the trees completely disappeared as the altitude rose.

On other volcanic sites, like old Mt. Saint Helens, trees grew back up on top of volcanic debris. Not Lassen.

Hasbro headquarters.

• 2001: Space Odyssey
• Gravity
• The Martian

Watched a video years ago of someone doing this before re-seasoning and baking the pan in the oven.

The end result was actually pretty fabulous.

I was told by a food research lab you could scoop off the top layer (oxygenated) and consume the rest of jams and sauces.

I’m not sure I believe them. They were growing large quantities of insects in a smelly, dank room for protein.

Side effects: sharp fangs and uncontrollable drooling.

Totally expected it to spring back to life… until the drill showed up.

Pynchon’s new one, “Shadow Ticket.”

Really enjoying it so far. Throwback to then crazy shenanigans of “Crying of Lot 49” and “Gravity’s Rainbow.”

I sat hunched under my elderly mother’s car, video running on the phone in one hand, showing how to remove a ridiculously complicated headlamp cover, just to replace a busted headlight. Hand scraped and bleeding, but it got done. Would have NEVER figured it out otherwise.

Thanks that one YouTuber.

https://www.exploratorium.edu/exhibits/a-sip-of-conflict