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decryption

@decryption@aus.social

mastodon 4.7.2

Writes about computers for a living. Mucks around with computers for fun. Australian.

1859 Followers

517 Following

50 Posts

Joined February 02, 2020

website:

https://decryption.net.au

decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 20h ago

Replying to

of course, when you bring this up with them "hey mate, what you posted actually kinda sucked and looks like all the other AI stuff I've seen, you're better than this" - it never goes down well so I just rant here instead of confronting anyone about it

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 20h ago

Replying to

like they'd post something "they" made with AI and go "oh wow the AI is good" and like, it's not good, it's the same generic crap everyone else is doing but slightly different - yes it sucks less than it did a while ago, but it's still so easily identifiable as AI. You used to have taste, that's why I liked following you! what the fuck happened man?

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 20h ago

Replying to

someone else I know told me they used AI to plan a holiday - that's one of the saddest things I think I could use AI for, but they were so happy about it, so happy they wanted to tell me in detail all the things the AI chose for them and how their "agent" keeps refining and curating the itinerary - sounds delusional to me

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 20h ago

Replying to

and to be clear, I'm not really an anti-AI guy, I think it can be quite useful for some stuff and it's enabling a lot of people who struggled with the computer to do things with their computers! it's also great for compliance with work bullshit nobody cared about but you had to do anyway just to keep the boss happy what I do hate is people polishing a turd and expect me to think they're amazing and boasting about the shortcuts they're taking - this is not good stuff, you should be ashamed to use AI, like use it in secret and be embarrassed about it

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 2d ago

this guy's taking the absolute piss here - $1500 for a r720 with ddr3 RAM?? should be $500 max and even that's extremely generous

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 2d ago

Replying to

@oxy@social.bsdlab.au @lilstevie@infosec.exchange I guess it’s good old gear is getting a new life, but damn

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 5d ago

Hmmm, I have been quietly thinking about resurrecting my BYOHDD plans from earlier in the year - today I get an email from one of the server refurb joints I was talking to asking me if there's any hardware I need. Is this a sign??

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 1w ago

A dodgy bastard working at the NGV had a racket going where they'd order smartphones at the gallery's expense, then sell them privately and pocket the cash - they did it for years and made $8m!! What the absolute fuck?

How did the NGV not notice $8m pissing out (wow our staff really need a lot of smartphones, whatever, this is normal).
This person has no shame. How did they think nobody would notice? What did they even do with the $8m? Why didn't they stop at like, $4m or even $2m, consider that a pretty sweet scam and ride off into the sunset never to be heard or seen again??

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/senior-national-gallery-of-victoria-staffer-stole-8m-from-workplace-ibac-20260924-p6107w.html

Senior NGV staffer stole $8m from workplace: IBAC

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 3w ago

putting a cap on my car research by writing a blog post about all the things that piss me off about new cars in 2026 - probably going to put up with my EX30 for a while longer, maybe some better cars will go on sale next year https://blog.decryption.net.au/posts/cars_suck.html

Things That Annoy Me About Cars in 2026

Things That Annoy Me About Cars in 2026

Old man yells at car manufacturers

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 1w ago

oh wow, MSY still does the PDF parts price list! https://www.msy.com.au/download_price_list it's 13 pages now, but the mad bastards actually update it

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 1w ago

I don’t think my new computer is arriving today

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 1w ago

having a cyber garage sale of random tech stuff - too good for ewaste, too cheap to sell on their own! 82 items, name your price (plus postage), no offer too insulting!! see the entire contents of this box on my website https://decryption.net.au/garagesale.html

decryption.net.au

decryption's cyber garage sale

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 5d ago

Replying to

@oxy@social.bsdlab.au @zbender@hachyderm.io yep exactly - I’m thinking about an old DL380G9 or Dell R730 with 12x LFF bays to start off with, host it at home even as a beta test with some sizzle subscribers to work out any kinks

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

Got a nice PC off The Sizzle forum for $550 HP Pro Mini 400 G9 i5-13500T 32GB DDR4-3200 RAM 500GB Crucial P310 NVMe SSD Don't think I could do much better for the budget! Probably had some leverage being the guy that owns the forum. Kinda want to write a blog post centered around "what does $500 buy you in the used PC market in mid-2026" but dunno if it's useful as there's too many variables. Might write it anyway just as a way to "close" this bit of research. Otherwise I'll keep researching or feel like the time I was spent was useless.

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

@layoutSubviews@mastodon.social apparently they were quite senior and were able to cover it up, but still - that's a lot of smartphones! Assuming each one is like $2,000 each, that's 4,000 phones, over the span of 6 years. That's 2 phones a day, every day!!

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

@web_goddess@aus.social MSY is a foundational part of my youth, bless them and their filthy stores

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 1w ago

if i wanted to make a mastodon bot account that posted whenever someone made a new thread on the sizzle forum - is that something cool for aus.social or should I put it somewhere else? (or even run my own mastodon server or something similar)

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 1w ago

Replying to on eigenmagic.net

@daedalus@eigenmagic.net @oxy@social.bsdlab.au there's people on facebook who think they have this job

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 3w ago

Replying to

if you're unaware, mr scroggie is AI-pilled to the max and a bit of a douchebag https://www.afr.com/technology/this-ceo-has-built-40-ai-clones-and-eats-seven-meals-every-day-20260527-p6011a

Inside the intense world of NextDC boss Craig Scroggie, his AI obsession and the battle to power Australia’s digital future

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 2w ago

Replying to

@oxy@social.bsdlab.au also I'd probably fuck it up, some of those wires are pretty fragile

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 2w ago

if you can find a partner what would tolerate this, marrying them is a very good idea https://www.centrecom.com.au/the-ultimate-pax-proposal

centrecom.com.au

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 4w ago

Replying to

e.g: toyota BZ4X comes in 2WD and AWD versions. The 2WD version has 591km range vs 517km range for the AWD. The AWD has 20" wheels vs 18" for the 2WD. But the AWD has driver seat position memory, the 2WD does not. The AWD version comes with a glass roof, the 2WD version does not. I want the 2WD but with the seat memory - but they don't sell that. Very frustrating as otherwise, it is the only car so far that ticks all my boxes.

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

maybe I didn't need to buy a new PC after all, I could just use this little guy with some sort of USB hub so I can get ethernet and some extra USB ports and see how I go

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 2w ago

$87k for a 2 bedroom pre-fab house - get some cheap land, connect it up to some services, could get everything sorted for under $275k somewhere like Ballarat and it'll probably be better built than a "normal" house https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/975532

75m² Designer Prefab Home: 2 Bed + WIR $87,500 (Save $5,000) & More @ Express Portables

75m² Designer Prefab Home: 2 Bed + WIR $87,500 (Save $5,000) & More @ Express Portables

Deal: 75m² Designer Prefab Home: 2 Bed + WIR $87,500 (Save $5,000) & More @ Express Portables, Store: Express Portables, Category: Home & Garden

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 2w ago

Replying to

I'll also include this neat little USB-C dock that lets you plug it into a display over HDMI

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 2w ago

Replying to

@jpm@aus.social FAFO lol

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 3w ago

for a brief window a few years ago, I was given EVs to review by various car makers back when EVs were weird and new, so they figured giving them to tech nerds was a good approach (now they want to give them to tiktok influencers) - I liked it, I would do it again, I wonder if a car review blog in 2026 is still a viable thing

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 2w ago

Replying to

@oxy@social.bsdlab.au some sort of foundation for it (can’t just plonk it on the bare dirt) would be the main cost I reckon

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 2w ago

$1699 is a very decent price in the current environment for a laptop with 32GB of RAM (fast LPDDR5x-8000 RAM too) https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/975554

HP OmniBook 7 Laptop 14" 2.2k AMD AI 9 HX 475 32GB 512GB SSD AMD Radeon 890m $1,699.15 Delivered @ HP eBay

HP OmniBook 7 Laptop 14" 2.2k AMD AI 9 HX 475 32GB 512GB SSD AMD Radeon 890m $1,699.15 Delivered @ HP eBay

Deal: HP OmniBook 7 Laptop 14" 2.2k AMD AI 9 HX 475 32GB 512GB SSD AMD Radeon 890m $1,699.15 Delivered @ HP eBay, Store: HP Australia, Code: HPSEP26, Category: Computing

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 2w ago

Replying to

also I hope the dispute between ELLISON and FRILAY is resolved amicably

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 3w ago

please sell this in Australia Volkswagen! ID3 GTI looks cool https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Icbrv1_q0A

VW ID3 GTI REVEAL - the first RWD GTI!

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 3w ago

Replying to

@benno@eigenmagic.net he could smear shit on his face instead of coal dust

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 3w ago

looks like another LLM-free edition of the sizzle today

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 3w ago

Replying to

@peterrenshaw@ioc.exchange it's cosplay for the investors

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 3w ago

uhoh, my blog post about shitty cars has broken containment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49698423

news.ycombinator.com

Things That Annoy Me About Cars | Hacker News

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

Yeah this blog post sucks and is boring me, imagine how boring it would be for you to read it. Deleted.

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 2w ago

Boosted by @oxy@social.bsdlab.au

Anyone interested in buying my MacBook Pro with a broken screen with a well worn patina? I got it cheap off Facebook when I needed a low priced Mac and it did the job as a desktop Mac, but I need something now I can move around! Specs: 14" MacBook Pro A2992 M3 Pro SoC 18GB RAM 512GB SSD Yours for $700 posted (or I can bring it to you in MEL/VIC) - cheaper than a Mac Mini with only 16GB of RAM

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 3w ago

Replying to

@nbailey@mstdn.ca mazda used to give a shit about this, but they appear to have given in to the trend https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a71614324/mazda-touchscreens-vs-physical-controls/

roadandtrack.com

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

@andyb@mastodon.au i swear i saw some sort of basic low-end mastodon server thingy that's designed for single person instances that don't follow anyone or federate, but I could have made that up

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 1w ago

Replying to

@warkolm@aus.social i'd love to know the logistics justification for sending a parcel to orange, only to go back to sydney, then to orange again and on its way to dubbo

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 2d ago

Replying to

@lilstevie@infosec.exchange I see a lot of r730s for $1k - it’s crazy, these were $400 or so just a few months ago

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 5d ago

Replying to on hachyderm.io

@zbender@hachyderm.io no I sold the big 90 bay boys :( they were pretty cumbersome, I don’t think they’d fit in any racks at a colo facility

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 4w ago

Replying to

@projectgus@aus.social yep, same thing - the 2024 base model Solterra has 18" wheels and no seat memory - the "Touring" model has 20" wheels and seat memory. But the specs say both versions have 485km range (NEDC!) which is bullshit, the 20" wheels are gonna have less range. https://web.archive.org/web/20241015123253mp_/https://www.subaru.com.au/solterra/specs

web.archive.org

2024 Subaru Solterra Specs and Features | Subaru Australia

Explore the all-new Subaru Solterra full specs and features here, a fully electric SUV with advanced safety features and impressive performance.

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decryption @decryption@aus.social

· 2w ago

Replying to

@oxy@social.bsdlab.au hmm, possibly an option

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