Atari 2600 glassware
Wild – the Atari joystick decanter set modeled after the CX-10 Atari joystick. Comes in at $120 for those retro Atari friends.
Updated install instructions for Flux AI
Dominik Bößl made a pretty straightforward video on how to get FLUX.1 installed and using StabilityMatrix as package manager so you can use multiple different generative AI packages.
I like Movies
“I can’t believe my job is to make you feel good about yourself”
This looks like a great film about an overly optimistic/delusional kid who has aspirations of being a big movie producer while not bringing skills to the table and spending more time talking about what he’s going to do instead of doing it.
I also think that quote from the boss NAILS what being a manager is like for Gen Z is today. Maybe that’s one of the reasons they’re getting fired at a much higher rate than other generations. Jobs are not there to validate you and bosses are not there to be your parents.
Epic Photography often is boring looking
I used a lot of interesting tricks when I was taking landscape photography. You could use a dirty mud puddle to make amazing shots that looked like you were on the beach or overlooking a lake. It works for shooting people too. Epic shots are often all about lighting and focusing on split second shot. A good reminder in the Instagram era where everyone is posting ‘perfect’ pictures.
Doughnut shop in Indiana is still using Commodore 64s as their cash register
The Hilligoss Bakery in Brownsburg, IN is a respectable local donut shop. What sets it apart, however, is the fact they are still using Commodore 64’s for their cash registers.
A recent series of photos on X attracted a lot of attention this week, as it showed staff at the Hilligoss Bakery apparently processing orders on a Commodore 64-based register system. Commenters pointed out that the last publicly posted picture of the register was taken in 2021, so Tom’s Hardware decided to give them a call—and staff duly verified that the systems were still in use.
Links:
- https://www.tomshardware.com/desktops/indiana-bakery-still-using-commodore-64s-originally-released-in-1982-as-point-of-sale-terminals
- https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/a-small-doughnut-shop-in-indiana-is-still-using-commodore-64s-as-register-systems-42-years-after-their-initial-release/#
- https://x.com/RetroVidGaming/status/1868587811517219090
Portland gets an F in city finances
A 2024 report on city finances report gave Portland a full on ‘F’ for the state of it’s finances. Primarily due to the incredible debt burden of each resident. This isn’t a surprise considering Portland has the second highest tax rates in the country, and is currently facing a $27 million budget shortfall (especially as it’s tax base flees across the state line to Vancouver and businesses increasingly are leaving as well)
Read more about the state of the cities finances as well as thoughts of your favorite other major US cities.
Articles:
Rundle Mall
John Farnham has a classic late 80’s sound and was famous for his pop songs. He also did this ridiculously banging tune for the Rundle Mall in Adelaide, Australia.
More developer attacks
A group of Israeli researchers managed to infect over 100 organizations by typosquatting an infected version of a popular theme on Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code marketplace. They reported they were able to infect ‘numerous’ high-value targets (billion dollar publicly listed companies, security companies, court networks, etc) within 24 hours of publishing the extension. It was able to collect system information and send it to a remote server via an HTTPS POST request. It didn’t get flagged by endpoint detection.
By using what they learned, they examining other extensions on the VSCode Marketplace. Researchers found the following:
- 1,283 with known malicious code (229 million installs).
- 8,161 communicating with hardcoded IP addresses.
- 1,452 running unknown executables.
- 2,304 that are using another publisher’s Github repo, indicating they are a copycat.
They found blatantly obvious issues like this code that opens a reverse shell to the cybercriminal’s server
In summary, the lack of controls on the VSCode marketplace allows threat actors to perform rampant abuse. While the researchers reported the extensions they found to Microsoft, the vast majority remain available for download via VSCode Marketplace after they published their report.
Articles:
AI Brings History to Life
AI can bring still images to life. I wrote about MyHeritage Deep Nostalgia tool before.
Adam Savage discusses work
What’s the best way to get paid as a freelancer? How do you assess the viability of a new member of your workshop team? Two topics covered by Jame’s video below.
I found the evaluation of a new team member as really interesting. I have found it’s not as simple as just hiring the smartest person. Special forces absolutely requires competency/physical ability – but will also drop candidates for reasons of integrity, perseverance, ability to take personal responsibility, professionalism, and especially ability to operate as a team player. Being a maverick or deceitful, no matter how talented you are, make you a bad team member.
“One of the less smart people – that wasn’t that great – had an attitude that was so good it made the workplace function better. I can’t quite explain it but it was really true.”
He nails it. It’s true on software teams. It’s not always true, but time and again I’ve seen personal dynamics and attitude are MORE important than ability. A rockstar that’s hard to work with or can’t get along with others might as well not be on the team. Either manage them on a project all by themselves or find another teammate that fits well.
Also, when it comes to the difficulty of being a freelance, Mike Monteiro’s “F*ck You, Pay Me” video is a must-watch.