Sven Slootweg @joepie91@pixie.town

❌ i can't figure out how to put that thought into words
✅ i can't serialize that thought

Another form of adding extra rails to the track (tho not for running trains of different gauges) is installing guard rails, also known as catching rails

Those are most commonly used (and often mandatory) on bridges and in tunnels. Their purpose is making sure the train keeps running in the same direction and doesn't fall out of the track in case of a derailment

#railway #railroad #trains #railinfodump

Usually, when traveling by train between countries that use different railway gauges, passengers need to change trains

However, sometimes on long-distance or sleeper connection, an alternative solution is used – bogie exchange

The entire train is rolled into a maintenance depot, then railcars are decoupled and lifted off their bogies (the element that wheels are attached to) using a special crane

Bogies get rolled out, and a new set is rolled in to align with a car and lower it back down onto it

That procedure is used for freight cars e.g. on the China-Russia border, but also it's a standard procedure for passenger coaches, in such cases doors get locked for the time of the operation and passengers remain inside while the cars are worked on

This allows multiple long-distance connection from Ukraine to Europe to exist, before the war and COVID also allowed multiple Russian trains to enter European rails

Video showing how it's done: https://youtu.be/2nI467sc-Eo

#trains #railinfodump

You've heard about bogie changing to make a train able to run on a different track gauge. And if you haven't: https://bark.lgbt/@rail_/113135310666591799

Now prepare for another silly railway technology to tickle at that problem: double-gauge tracks.

Installing two sets of rails (or adding a simple 3rd rail) onto the same section of the track to make it able to support trains of two different gauges at the same time

Solutions like this are not uncommon in places with old historical narrow-gauge infrastructure connecting with modern standard-gauge tracks, countries using two gauges (Spain…) as well as in bordering regions of countries using two different gauges

It's cheaper to construct compared to having two separate tracks using different gauges, and simpler and cheaper than gauge-changing technology (that is also being used e.g. in Spain)

#train #trains #railway #railroad #railinfodump

Where to Buy Books Other than Amazon

A few years back I had a habit of every six months or so doing a thread on Fedi about options for getting books other than Amazon. Eventually it finally occurred to me that I could write it once, put it up on website, and update as needed, rather than constantly reinventing the wheel.

Here’s the updated version for the new site.

https://jessmahler.com/where-to-buy-books-other-than-amazon/

#bookstodon #AmReading

Hyrule Interviews' homepage has been updated with a blog-style news feed. This feed contains content of our own: translations , and, soon, original interviews. For now it's an easy way to see all of our translations.

It also now includes the daily quote!

https://hyruleinterviews.com/

I wrote an article on how we created the look and feel of this year's blender conference!
I'm super happy how it all turned out and I had such a great time collaborating with such a talented bunch of people!

https://studio.blender.org/blog/bcon24-design-identity/

#bcon24 #b3d #blender #blender3d #design

thing 1748251946 the designers of smart tvs will never understand: it is not acceptable for the mute functionality to come online 60 seconds after everything else

Like, it is legitimately a relief when I go to download a game I'm gifted and I don't have to go "okay, how much other stuff am I gonna have to uninstall before I can fit this in, play it exactly as long as it takes to feel done, then immediately delete it."

Oh, NYT Tech Guild is on strike.

NYT Games and Cooking are BEHIND THE PICKET LINE. So, I'm not going to play or engage with Games or Cooking content while the strike lasts. Bummer.

The board is incorrect. The OSI has corrupted the term Open Source by allowing those who want to propagate AIs that launder Open Source and proprietary code/data alike to do so under the banner of "Open Source". In particular, the so-called "Open Source AI" definition permits calling an AI "Open Source" even if it was trained on Open Source code or data and the license of its weights and outputs completely ignores the license of its training data.

This is an attempt to normalize the unacceptable practice of letting AI launder away the licenses of its training data, and to continue the practices of establishing "facts on the ground" that augur towards being able to continue ignoring the licenses of training data. The flagrant behavior of current AI training should not be allowed to continue, and should not be treated as a valid negotiating position from which to "compromise". Do not normalize the violation of Open Source licenses.

Games should make HD textures an extra download so games don't have to be 50-200 GB of texture barf if you don't want to use them anyway.

Or better yet, just stop chasing the endless rabbit hole of extreme definition. It's cool seeing 2024 games come out at like 7-10 GB or less, actually.

if your software makes unsolicited network requests, it's spyware.

De negen schapen die eind augustus werden gedood bij een veehouder in Luttelgeest, zijn niet omgebracht door een wolf.
Dat blijkt uit dna-onderzoek. De schapen vielen ten prooi aan een hond. https://www.destentor.nl/noordoostpolder/dna-onderzoek-maakt-duidelijk-het-was-geen-wolf-die-9-schapen-doodde-in-weiland-bij-luttelgeest~a2955d6d/

Maar ondertussen is de wolf wel weer zwart gemaakt.

Unity bullshit update #3: So I'm a contractor for a startup that does VR healthcare software. Our biggest partner is part of the US government, and have done some user testing, but don't really pay us. (I think we paid them actually...) After explaining that to Unity they still said, "that counts, pay us $4500/year for Industry". Also we are using the 2021 LTS whose license should precede all this bullshit.

DO NOT USE UNITY TO START A NEW PROJECT. THEY WILL TURN ON YOU TOO.