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FedEx Robot Solves Complex Packing Problems

via Hackaday by Bryan Cockfield on Sat, 30 Sep 2023 02:00:33 GMT
Despite the fact that it constantly seems like we’re in the midst of a robotics- and artificial intelligence-driven revolution, there are a number of tasks that continue to elude even …read more

Peak Obedience

via Free-Man's Perspective by Paul on Sat, 30 Sep 2023 02:20:28 GMT
PeakObedience(Originally published in 2015) Not too many years back, warnings of Peak Oil circulated widely, and they made me consider something a good deal more dangerous: Peak Obedience. If that concept strikes you as odd, I understand, we’ve all been living inside an obedience cult. In our typical “scary cult” stories, we find people who have given up their own functions of choice and do crazy things because they are told to by some authority. While inside their cult, however, it all makes sense; it’s all self-reinforcing. So, inside a cult of obedience, obedience would seem righteous; more than anything else, it would seem normal. And I think that very well describes the Western status quo. Obedience, however, should not seem normal to us. Obedience holds our minds in a child state, and that is not fitting for any healthy person past their first years of life. It also presupposes that the people we obey have complete and final knowledge; and in fact, they do not: politicians, central bankers, and the other lords of the age have been wrong – obviously and publicly wrong – over and over. So, obedience is not a logical position to take. But the mass of humanity believes that something horrible will happen if they don't. After that, they merely need to be supplied with a defensible reason to comply. But all of that, even though true, isn't what I’d like you to take away from this discussion. My primary point is this:

When we obey, we make ourselves less conscious; we make ourselves less alive.

Why Obedience Is Peaking

Over the past two centuries, authority has benefited from a perfect storm of influences. There was never such a time previously, and there probably will never be another. Briefly, here’s what happened:

Morality was broken

For better or worse, Western civilization had a consistent set of moral standards from about the 10th century through the 17th or 18th century. Then, through the 20th century, those standards were broken.

Note that I did not say morality was changed. The cultural morality of the West was not replaced, but broken. The West has endured a moral void ever since.

Previously, people routinely compared authority’s decrees to a separate standard (most often the Bible), to see if they held up. But with Western morals broken, authority was freed from examination, and thus from restraint.

Economies of scale

Factories made it much cheaper to produce large numbers of goods than the old way, in individual workshops. Economists call this an economy of scale. Thus a cult of size began, making “obedience to the large” seem normal.

Fiat currency

Fiat currency has allowed governments to spend money without consequences. It allowed politicians to wage war and to provide free food, free education, and free medicine… all without overtly raising taxes. Fiat currency made it seem that politics was magical.

Mass conditioning

Built on the factory model, massive government institutions undertook the education of the populace. And more important than their overt curriculum (math, reading, etc.) was their invisible curriculum of obedience to authority. Here, to illustrate, is a quote from the esteemed Bertrand Russell, who is himself quoting Johann Gottlieb Fichte, a founding father of public schooling:

Education should aim at destroying free will so that after pupils are thus schooled they will be incapable throughout the rest of their lives of thinking or acting otherwise than as their school masters would have wished.

Mass media

Mass media turbocharged authority and obedience in the 20th century, followed by the "free account" vultures of Facebook, Google and others. All of this went beyond authority’s grandest dreams.

These things created an unnatural peak for authority. But now, this perfect storm is thinning.

Peak Obedience Is Brittle

Through the 20th century, the people of the West built up a very high compliance inertia. They complied with the demands of authority and taught their children to do the same, until it became automatic. People obeyed simply because they had obeyed in the past. Authority quickly became addicted to this situation, basing their plans on receiving every benefit of the doubt. Automatic obedience, however, is a brittle thing. Economies of scale are failing, the money cartel has been exposed, government schools have lost respect, mass media is fading away and everyone knows that Facebook is an addiction. The game continues because the populace is distracted and afraid, but that won't last forever.

And Then?

It has long been understood that complex systems breed more complexity, and eventually break themselves. As central authorities try to solve each problem they face, they inevitably create others. Eventually the system becomes so complex, and its costs become so great, that new challenges cannot be solved. Then the system and its authority fail, as they did recently in the Soviet Union. But again, that’s not my primary point. Obedience turns off the best parts of you. It degrades and kills your creativity; it undercuts your effectiveness and especially your sense of satisfaction. Don’t sign away your life, no matter how many others do. Live consciously. Paul Rosenberg www.freemansperspective.com

How to Install and Use LibreOffice Extensions

via Linux Today by Web Webster on Sat, 30 Sep 2023 02:00:31 GMT

In this article, I will guide you through how to install and use LibreOffice extensions, enabling you to tailor it for your own workflow.

The post How to Install and Use LibreOffice Extensions appeared first on Linux Today.

How to Monitor Network Bandwidth With vnStat in Linux and BSD

via Linux Today by Web Webster on Sat, 30 Sep 2023 00:00:15 GMT

This tutorial describes how to monitor network bandwidth usage using vnStat network traffic monitor tool in Linux and Unix systems.

The post How to Monitor Network Bandwidth With vnStat in Linux and BSD appeared first on Linux Today.

Hackaday Prize 2023: Automated Shuttle Launcher Enables Solo Badminton Practice

via Hackaday by Robin Kearey on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 23:00:46 GMT
A badminton shuttle launcher loaded with shuttles
If you want to get better at your favorite sport, there’s really no substitute to putting in more training hours. For solo activities like running or cycling that’s simple enough: …read more

How to Install Google Chrome on openSUSE

via Linux Today by Web Webster on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 22:00:14 GMT

Learn how to import Google’s RPM and install Google Chrome on openSUSE Leap or Tumbleweed stable, beta, or unstable version.

The post How to Install Google Chrome on openSUSE appeared first on Linux Today.

Building a Human-Sized Pop-Pop Boat

via Hackaday by Lewin Day on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 20:00:54 GMT
Pop-pop boats are a neat little science teaching tool that many children end up playing with at some point or other. They’re normally sized to float around a sink or …read more

Bazzite: Distro for Linux Gaming on Steam Deck and PCs

via Linux Today by Web Webster on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 20:00:11 GMT

Bazzite is a new Fedora-based distro that designed for gaming on Linux desktops and even the increasingly popular Steam Deck.

The post Bazzite: Distro for Linux Gaming on Steam Deck and PCs appeared first on Linux Today.

Power Supplies Without Transformers

via Hackaday by Bryan Cockfield on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 18:30:16 GMT
For one-off projects or prototyping, it’s not too hard to find a wall wart or power supply to send a few joules of energy from the wall outlet to your …read more

21 Useful Terminal Shortcuts Pro Linux Users Love to Use

via Linux Today by Web Webster on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 18:00:10 GMT

Become more efficient in the Linux terminal by mastering these super useful keyboard shortcuts.

The post 21 Useful Terminal Shortcuts Pro Linux Users Love to Use appeared first on Linux Today.

Retrotechtacular: How Communism Made Televisions

via Hackaday by Jenny List on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 17:00:22 GMT
For those of us who lived through the Cold War, there’s still an air of mystery as to what it was like on the Communist side. As Uncle Sam’s F-111s …read more

Steps to Install GIT on CentOS Stream 9

via Linux Today by Web Webster on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 17:00:08 GMT

In this guide, we will show you how to install Git on CentOS Stream 9 using either DNF or compiling from source.

The post Steps to Install GIT on CentOS Stream 9 appeared first on Linux Today.

USBImager: Cross-Platform Disk Image Writer

via Linux Today by Web Webster on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 16:00:07 GMT

USBImager is a small utility designed to offer users an extremely simple graphical tool to write compressed disk images to USB drives.

The post USBImager: Cross-Platform Disk Image Writer appeared first on Linux Today.

Hackaday Podcast 238: Vibrating Bowl Feeders, Open Sourcery, Learning to Love Layer Lines

via Hackaday by Tom Nardi on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 16:00:03 GMT
Elliot Williams and Tom Nardi start this week’s episode off with some deep space news, as NASA’s OSIRIS-REx returns home with a sample it snapped up from asteroid Bennu back …read more

Dammit! This has become my signature injury…

via The Ultimate Answer to Kings by Joel on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 15:53:45 GMT
Took a fall yesterday during evening walkie. I have now officially screwed up both shoulders twice. This doesn’t feel as bad as the last one almost exactly seven years ago which took years to more or less heal. But you … Continue reading

On the subject of dogs wanting rides…

via The Ultimate Answer to Kings by Joel on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 15:43:53 GMT
A Generous Reader sent me this overnight…

How to Switch from Debian Stable to Testing: A Step-by-Step Guide

via Linux Today by Web Webster on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 15:00:05 GMT

Keep your Debian system fresh and current by switching from Stable to Testing with our easy-to-follow step-by-step instructions.

The post How to Switch from Debian Stable to Testing: A Step-by-Step Guide appeared first on Linux Today.

10-Foot High 3D Printer Based on Ender 3

via Hackaday by Lewin Day on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 15:00:00 GMT
There are two main ways to 3D print large things. You can either make lots of small 3D prints and stick them together, or you can use a larger 3D …read more

No Title

via Scripting News on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 14:47:43 GMT
When Google says having a certificate isn't enough to operate a website, now you have to be cleared by the US Department of Homeland Security, will you still think it was smart to let Google deprecate HTTP? Or, why do people lose their minds when it comes to Google?

This Week in Security: Magic Packets, GPU.zip, and Enter the Sandman

via Hackaday by Jonathan Bennett on Fri, 29 Sep 2023 14:00:47 GMT
Leading out the news this week is a report of “BlackTech”, an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) group that appears to be based out of China, that has been installing malicious …read more

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