<d1b2>
<attiegrande> thanks, it's been a bad week...
<whitequark>
bad one here too
<whitequark>
there's been a heatwave (25-26 degrees) and this subjectively feels like someone hit me on the head with a hard object
<whitequark>
i basically stumble around barely conscious
<whitequark>
yesterday i finally turned on the aircon and then realized what was wrong the entire time 🤦♀️
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> Same feeling here.. head hurts all the time - whitequark - decided to finally get AC because past 3-4 years summers been so horrible for 2 months straight in my old very poorly insulated under-roof flat, now not under roof but still very old building, but still cant turn on AC cuz its too energy intensive for the bill and also it's not very efficient and very noisy (cant sleep with it, which is big bummer)
<whitequark>
yeah we had to return one portable aircon with 65 dB(A) level
<whitequark>
with one that's 10 dB lower it's still affecting things but I can sleep fairly comfortably
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> sadly I think it's too late I can't return it
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> I threw the packaging away
<whitequark>
how long was it?
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> its been less than a month more or less, but we threw packaging cardboard on first day cuz it was taking too much space inside but probably shouldnt have..
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> Their return policy says explicitly you can return if there's all packaging aswell
<whitequark>
call them on the phone maybe and ask?
<whitequark>
lie about what happened, "we tried to pack it back in its original packaging but we accidentally broke it in the process, what can we do now?"
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> Ehh.. I know I could do that.. but you know.. it's a lot for me right now
<whitequark>
I do yea
<whitequark>
I prefer minisplits in general, they're super quiet and much more efficient
<whitequark>
energy bill... the energy company we're with seems to have lost our account in their database (?!) and they just don't send us any bills
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> I would love to get one but where?? in France there's only crappy portable AC
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> All other AC are prohibitively expensive, like split models
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> Window AC or caravan split units
<whitequark>
yeah I looked up the costs and in the UK it'd cost me sth like 3500 GBP to install one
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> Mine rn is 400 euros
<whitequark>
which I was ready to pay even (would have to take out a loan for it, which would be a first for me) but the landlord went back on our agreement that it's OK
<whitequark>
yeah I have a cheap portable one like that in the end
<SnoopJ>
portable as in "hot side on the inside" or?
<whitequark>
with a single hose exhausting hot air into the window
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> It seems the window design in either UK or USA is vertical which means you can have models which sit on the window which looks like a dream honestly, but unfortunately here the windows open sideways
<SnoopJ>
practical, but bummer
<whitequark>
I expected it to be total trash the first time I bought one, it was done out of extreme desperation
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> Same
<whitequark>
but it actually fit the requirements I had for it
<whitequark>
except for the noise
<whitequark>
so I just got a quieter one and now I'm fine I guess? I don't love it, I want a minisplit, but it, you know, fits the bill
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> Apparently there's 3 sources of inefficiencies which is the fact that the hot side sits inside aswell as all the noisy components and that the air which is sucked in to cool the hot side also comes from inside which means it's cooling with the air it just cooled down wasting energy and also pulls air from outside in by generating negative pressure inside the room
<whitequark>
yep
<whitequark>
there is always the very cursed option
<whitequark>
you could manufacture a split system yourself and run it on e.g. isobutane so that you do not need an F-gas license
<whitequark>
when there is a will, there is a way, and none of these things are magic nor do they require that much knowledge to get them to run to at least some satisfactory degree
<whitequark>
e.g. one option is to cut apart the portable unit, put it outside, run two refrigerant lines to it, and connect some quiet indoor unit (maybe find one in the trash? people throw them out like normal e-waste after removing the gas), then charge with somewhat more of its original refrigerant
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> I understand well I tried to look around but figured my mental state would not permit going down the rabbit hole of such a project at the risk of failing and further damaging my mental health in the process
<whitequark>
I see
<whitequark>
I've been there too
<whitequark>
it's why the last place ended up having a factory made minisplit installed
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> I read online about your past housing problems well last year for us has been similar, 1 year with no stable housing, in caravans, etc and being trans, me and my friend really need some rest now that we finally got stable housing albeit not resilient to heatwaves..
<whitequark>
oh that's brutal, I'm so sorry
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> it's ok we managed it now, for the better, and I'm all counting on Glasgow to learn more about electronics and investigate all the devices that appear in my urban adventures
<whitequark>
nice!
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> Can't wait to contribute when I get one
<whitequark>
I really hope we can make the timing work...
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> Well well no additional stress there
<whitequark>
OSS/OSHW and disability combine in really cursed ways
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> Yep weirdly..!
<whitequark>
especially if you have ambitions such as "I would like to figure out a way to stop being disabled"
<SnoopJ>
dependency graph (hard mode)
<whitequark>
I essentially refuse to compromise on quality, so my intent here is to find people or otherwise entities that can do things as well as I would, without being me
<whitequark>
(or better!)
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> Personally I'm just looking for Glasgow because I lacked a tool to investigate random electronics device at reasonable price, whenever I want to hack or investigate any device I find outside, there's often a bunch of actions I must do and all the tools that do it well are expensive and specific, it would be great to make that more "software-based" and universal so that the cost to implement such tools is much reduced and more understood, like
<d1b2>
reading any kind of flash, interfacing with any kind of processor reading flash, performing voltage glitching attacks if it doesnt want you to, or else, tools to extract keys from TPMs using known-flaws, I don't know what I wouldnt say I am disabled, I used to feel quite well and at least could be productive at writing code and doing things but since maybe 2 years, between questioning own life goals politically, going down the being trans rabbit hole,
<d1b2>
housing problems, I feel like I have been disabled. I hope to get back to where I was in terms of ability to feel good about myself when I accomplish things I want to
<whitequark>
this isn't an insurmountable task because despite allegiations I'm not special or anything, I'm just some girl, and anyone can do the things I do, but it requires communication in ways I historically avoided due to the disability mentioned before
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> I come from a software/systems security background I don't have lots of electronics experience, I tried to buy some tooling and try to poke at things however I can, learning in the process
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<whitequark>
I have fibromyalgia, at the time when I got treatment for the first time the only thing I could do is lie down on bed and scream from pain and try to ensure it is not heard by too many people
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<whitequark>
then had to do it all over again in the UK
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<d1b2>
<lle_bout> Hmm I did not know about that 'fibromyalgia', I understand
<whitequark>
it's a pain processing disorder, it's not fully understood, but one thing that anyone who's had it will tell you is that it gets a lot worse with stress and abuse
<whitequark>
and I've had a lot of that, what with the war and other things
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> I understand well reading the symptoms, I may very well be affected too lol..
<whitequark>
it's extremely common in trans people
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> I never had to scream from pain for any significant duration however
<whitequark>
it didn't start to regularly get to that point until the war
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> I understand - well neither did it when I suffered from much less stress here
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> For me I think the primary cause of any pain is lack of good sleep due to lack of prolonged lack of any stress
<whitequark>
yeah that is the primary reason I don't stay up for too long anymore, it makes fibro symptoms way worse
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> But we'll see, thanks for letting me know about this, and wish you the best. I'll be here with Glasgow anyway so probably we will talk
<whitequark>
used to be I'd go 20 hours straight working on something
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> Same!
<d1b2>
<lle_bout> Well I'm off this chat for now, thanks for the chat, very informative, DM me anytime
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<d1b2>
<sierra (she/her)> Thank you, very much needed that laugh today 🙂
<whitequark>
(a reply to something?)
<mwk>
whitequark: to "dependency graph (hard mode)"