Month: August 2024

The Charming, Eccentric, Blessed Life of Lee Maxwell

the-charming,-eccentric,-blessed-life-of-lee-maxwell

The Local newsletter is your free, daily guide to life in Colorado. For locals, by locals. Sign up today! This is how it ends: an old country home with an old country woman resting in a recliner in her family room. Her head lies atop a small pillow; a colorful blanket covers her tiny body. […]

Roblox Is Already the Biggest Game in the World. Why Can’t It Make a Profit?

roblox-is-already-the-biggest-game-in-the-world.-why-can’t-it-make-a-profit?

Because of Roblox’s high cost to serve per hour, users in lower-income or lower-propensity-to-spend markets typically reduce profitability, rather than just harm overall margins. For Facebook, Twitter, Snap, etc., low monetizing users are still accretive because however little revenue they generate, the marginal costs incurred are near zero. This issue is exacerbated on the revenue […]

When Serial Isn’t RS-232, Geocaching with the Garmin GPS 95

when-serial-isn’t-rs-232,-geocaching-with-the-garmin-gps-95

Found the first Dutch Geocache, Amsterdam Urban 1. Recently I picked up a box of early 1990s Garmin GPS receivers along with an array of accessories. I cleaned up one receiver, a GPS 95, installed 4 new AA batteries, and positioned it with a clear view of the sky. After an agonizing long time searching […]

The Curious Case of QUEENCREEK

A lot of software on our machines (whether it be home desktops or enterprise servers) is designed to run automatically without manual triggers. Great examples include: Vital system and user services like networking or time synchronisation during system boot-up. Anti-virus or other security solutions starting quickly after boot-up. Update checkers for critical software running every […]

Markov chains are funnier than LLMs

Table Of Contents What is a Markov chain What is funny The predictability of LLMs Why this is interesting Before explaining any of these terms, let’s try to establish this anecdotally. 12:2 And I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and our sins be upon us, because of our use of not and […]

Mike Magee, founder of the Register, has died

mike-magee,-founder-of-the-register,-has-died

Industry gadfly and mate died yesterday One of the legends of the IT industry, tantric guru, and the inventor of the cynical red-top tech tabloid, Mike Magee, has died at the age of 74. Magee started his career as a printer before working for VNU Business Publications on PC Dealer and then at their IT […]