Power0utage's recent activity

  1. Comment on I'm at a loss on what to do about my backyard grass situation in ~life.home_improvement

    Power0utage
    Link Parent
    I have considered it, but my concerns are: Cost (I don’t have a huge backyard, but I can’t imagine it’s cheap, especially if professionally installed) How hot will it get in 100 degree Texas...

    I have considered it, but my concerns are:

    1. Cost (I don’t have a huge backyard, but I can’t imagine it’s cheap, especially if professionally installed)
    2. How hot will it get in 100 degree Texas summer days? I’m afraid it will burn my dogs’ paws

    As far as the urine, would it be possible to just keep my existing sprinkler system and use those to clean the turf once a week or so?

    2 votes

  2. Comment on I'm at a loss on what to do about my backyard grass situation in ~life.home_improvement

    Power0utage
    Link Parent
    The biggest issue I've had with this (specifically, I was looking at using a seed + clover mix in the past) is that one of my dogs, who I love dearly, simply will not get the message from bees...

    The biggest issue I've had with this (specifically, I was looking at using a seed + clover mix in the past) is that one of my dogs, who I love dearly, simply will not get the message from bees that they will sting if she attacks them.

    She has 8-10 tiny little permanent scars on and around her nose from bee and wasp stings.

    11 votes

  3. Comment on I'm at a loss on what to do about my backyard grass situation in ~life.home_improvement

    Power0utage
    Link Parent
    Yikes. How long does the pre-emergent "work" or stay active?

    Yikes. How long does the pre-emergent "work" or stay active?

    2 votes

  4. I'm at a loss on what to do about my backyard grass situation

    ~life.home_improvement Ask (advice)
    My backyard has become a muddy mess and it's creating some downstream effects, such as me spending WAY too much time vacuuming and mopping (3 dogs), and not being able to do anything meaningful in...

    My backyard has become a muddy mess and it's creating some downstream effects, such as me spending WAY too much time vacuuming and mopping (3 dogs), and not being able to do anything meaningful in the backyard. Here are some details:

    • I'm right on the edge of USDA zones 9a and 9b -- the map shows that my house is specifically in 9a, but one block south of me is 9b
    • The grass in the backyard was mostly St. Augustine when I bought the house. For a number of reasons (some really harsh winters and summers, three dogs trampling the grass, etc.), the St. Augustine is entirely gone
    • Last fall, as a stop-gap, I put down some weed killer to control the weeds and seeded the entire backyard with winter rye. It grew amazingly well and I had a lush, verdant backyard for one season.
    • This spring, my plan was to grow bermuda grass. My thinking was that it would be able to withstand the summers but could also handle the dog traffic a bit better. So, I did some pre-emergent, scalped the winter rye, raked up most of the detritus, got the ground really wet and muddy, and laid down some bermuda seed + fertilizer
    • Now, almost a month later, I haven't seen a single bit of growth. The pre-emergent has done a pretty good job of keeping the weeds out and some winter rye is still growing here and there, but other than that, it's just... mud.

    So, what are my options, especially this late in the season? Should I just throw in the towel and sod it with St. Augustine again? Did I do something wrong with the bermuda? Do I need to make it through a muddy summer and reconsider my options going into the fall?

    30 votes

  5. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    Power0utage
    Link
    I've been looking for a good "junk food" JRPG fix and I've come across Octopath Traveler 2. For whatever reason, I couldn't really get into the first one, but I'm about 20 hours into this one and...

    I've been looking for a good "junk food" JRPG fix and I've come across Octopath Traveler 2. For whatever reason, I couldn't really get into the first one, but I'm about 20 hours into this one and it's providing the fix I was looking for.

    Pros:

    • The battles are fun-ish.
    • There's a good element of gear collection.
    • It's very much an open world, and you can pick and choose where you want to go next.
    • Second jobs add a bit of customization to the team makeup.
    • The voice acting is VERY good.
    • Some of the storylines are interesting.
    • The concept of "path actions" (i.e. bribing, mugging, persuading townsfolk) adds a fun twist.

    Cons:

    • It can get a bit grindy.
    • So far, the crossover storylines have only been tangential, i.e. I'm not seeing them all weave together in any clear way. I'm pretty certain this will change as I progress.
    • The boss battles tend to be very long and repetitive.

    I went into this one completely blind and I have no clue if I'm in for another 10 hours or if it will be a 100+ hour grindfest, like Dragon Quest 11 turned into. 40 hours seems like the sweet spot for me -- I can't see how this could make it beyond that without becoming entirely too repetitive.

    7 votes

  6. Comment on Man sets himself on fire near courthouse where Donald Trump is on trial (gifted link) in ~news

    Power0utage
    Link Parent
    I am in a state of hypnosis now.

    Lastly, we string these major discoveries together: Cryptocurrency is an economic doomsday device; our government is a secret kleptocracy; The Simpsons exists to brainwash us.

    I am in a state of hypnosis now.

    8 votes

  7. Comment on PlayStation Portal sales continue to impress despite skepticism in ~games

    Power0utage
    Link Parent
    I was able to play Elden Ring *just fine while staying in a hotel room. *I'm not sure about the latency or input lag, but I seemed to be dodging stuff just fine.

    I was able to play Elden Ring *just fine while staying in a hotel room.

    *I'm not sure about the latency or input lag, but I seemed to be dodging stuff just fine.

    2 votes

  8. Comment on PlayStation Portal sales continue to impress despite skepticism in ~games

    Power0utage
    Link
    I've enjoyed it for what it is. I know I can remote play on any of my other devices, including my Steam Deck, but I paid for the PS5 controller "feel". Whereas I feel carpal tunnel slowly sneaking...

    I've enjoyed it for what it is. I know I can remote play on any of my other devices, including my Steam Deck, but I paid for the PS5 controller "feel". Whereas I feel carpal tunnel slowly sneaking in with the Steam Deck, the PS Portal feels almost as nice as the controllers do.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on 'Rust' armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter in ~movies

    Power0utage
    Link Parent
    If I'm going to be sitting in front of a judge and jury, I'm going to make absolutely certain I put on my best "good church girl" impression, even if my standard style is completely opposite. You...

    If I'm going to be sitting in front of a judge and jury, I'm going to make absolutely certain I put on my best "good church girl" impression, even if my standard style is completely opposite. You gotta do whatever you can to sway the jurors.

    4 votes

  10. Comment on Learning new programming languages with limited time: Rust, golang, or otherwise? in ~comp

    Power0utage
    Link Parent
    That's part of what was driving me so crazy, and I'm sure it's because I wasn't using Results properly. I vaguely remember being forced to handle an Sqlite exception and having to Google around...

    except having to wrap everything in Ok()

    That's part of what was driving me so crazy, and I'm sure it's because I wasn't using Results properly. I vaguely remember being forced to handle an Sqlite exception and having to Google around until I could find the proper way to handle it. I didn't think the Rust book was very helpful in that particular section.

    If could find a good primer on the RIGHT way to handle errors, I'm sure that would go a long way for me.

    4 votes

  11. Learning new programming languages with limited time: Rust, golang, or otherwise?

    ~comp Ask (advice)
    I want to learn a new language that I can use for personal projects. But I want to pick the right one for me, given the fact that learning it will be a time investment and I don't have a ton of...

    I want to learn a new language that I can use for personal projects. But I want to pick the right one for me, given the fact that learning it will be a time investment and I don't have a ton of time for "fun" stuff these days.

    I've spent a decent amount of time tinkering around with Rust and my experience has been decent so far, if I'm trying to filter it through the lens of the current Rust craze. It just seems that the code has a somewhat... ugly(?)... aesthetic to it? I'm not willing to cast it aside yet and I think the "ugliness" just comes from me not really recognizing the syntax very well.

    I started looking at golang and was immediately interested in the marketing message of it being "a better C". Aside from Hello World, I haven't done anything else with it.

    Some random notes/points about my experience and what I'm looking for:

    • I am very accomplished with PHP, quite accomplished with C, somewhat accomplished with C++ and Python. Of those, I find Python to be too "free and easy", PHP (Symfony specifically) and C++ to be so OOP-oriented that I just end up writing a bunch of boilerplate, and C is just... C (I'd rather pull out a tooth than have to work with C strings).
    • Aside from the obvious pains of C, I think it's the most fun of the bunch. I don't know why I think this, because again, I absolutely hate C strings.
    • I appreciate the package management and ecosystem of Rust, from what I've seen. C-with-Cargo would be awesome.
    • The older I get, the more I appreciate strong typing.
    • I like a language that allows me to systematically and logically organize my code into various modules, directories, etc. This is where PHP/Symfony shines in that there's a place for everything, as opposed to a bunch of .c and .h files all dumped into a folder.
    • Ideally, I'd like something that can compile into a binary that doesn't require JVM, etc.

    I'm open to suggestions outside of Rust and Go... those are just the ones I've been seeing mentioned the most over the past decade.

    26 votes

  12. Comment on How MLS roster construction is evolving as Lionel Messi shines in the spotlight in ~sports.football

    Power0utage
    Link Parent
    Their new kits have gotten a mixed response (mostly negative if I'm just looking at Reddit) but I think they're absolutely SWEET. In fact, as soon as I reply, I'm probably going to order one. The...

    Their new kits have gotten a mixed response (mostly negative if I'm just looking at Reddit) but I think they're absolutely SWEET. In fact, as soon as I reply, I'm probably going to order one.

    The haters down here in Houston can continue to hate as I wear my Texas Rangers and FC Dallas gear.

    As far as the MLS goes, I'm not quite sure why this is the case, but I've found it more entertaining than the big Euro leagues lately. It might have something to do with parity, or how money can buy a good team in the Premier League (Man City), or just the fact that I'm American and we've got a pretty decent little league here now.

    I can definitely say that the quality has increased by magnitudes over the past ten or so years. I stopped watching MLS in 2011 and switched to PL full time. Back then, passes were shoddy, runs were slow, and audience sizes were embarrassing. Each of those have trended in the right direction. It's a very fun league if you invest some time into it.

    1 vote

  13. Is it time for a user growth campaign?

    ~tildes Ask (survey)
    Take a look at the Tildes Statistics site. Couple things: 1, and most obvious: there has been a decline in users over the past few days for the first time that I'm aware of. 2: (I was going to...

    Take a look at the Tildes Statistics site. Couple things:

    1, and most obvious: there has been a decline in users over the past few days for the first time that I'm aware of.
    2: (I was going to make this point before the user decline occurred but it's probably moot now) Due to the scaling of the Y-axis, it appears that there is healthy user growth in the site. But if you look at the numbers, we're talking about user growth of roughly 60 people over the past month.

    I know we want controlled growth, and I know we don't want to open it up to the masses. But we also want this site to succeed (i.e. provide interesting discourse and keep people coming back on a regular basis). I don't believe success can happen when growth is stagnant (or, declining!)

    I don't think that the conversations are necessarily stagnant per se, in fact there's an impressive amount of thoughtful discussion relative to the size of the user base. But if a given topic is too niche (e.g. MLS football or MUDs, two of my interests), the odds of finding like-minded users to discuss with is obviously lower.

    Is it time to consider some sort of growth campaign (one that is not reactionary a la the Reddit API changes) in order to infuse some new life into this awesome site?

    37 votes

  14. Comment on Tiny little mobile feature request: dot indicator in ~tildes

    Power0utage
    Link Parent
    I just checked and it's showing the indicator now. Either I'm going crazy, or there was an update overnight. Probably the former.

    I just checked and it's showing the indicator now.

    Either I'm going crazy, or there was an update overnight. Probably the former.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on Tiny little mobile feature request: dot indicator in ~tildes

    Power0utage
    Link Parent
    Just viewing it through a mobile browser. I've done Safari on iOS and Chrome on Android.

    Just viewing it through a mobile browser. I've done Safari on iOS and Chrome on Android.

    1 vote

  16. Tiny little mobile feature request: dot indicator

    ~tildes Text 95 words
    When viewing the desktop version of the website, there is a little orange notification to the left of my name when there are replies to my messages. When viewing the website in mobile, there is no...

    When viewing the desktop version of the website, there is a little orange notification to the left of my name when there are replies to my messages.

    When viewing the website in mobile, there is no such indication, and I have to open up the sidebar to see if I have any new replies.

    Could we get a simple, orange "dot" indicator to the left the Sidebar link in mobile to let us know when we have unread messages?

    I apologize in advance for the imgur link, but it could look something like this: Example

    10 votes

  17. Comment on How MLS roster construction is evolving as Lionel Messi shines in the spotlight in ~sports.football

    Power0utage
    Link
    Some of my unordered observations, having really dived into MLS in the past year or so: On Messi: The league is milking him for all he's worth right now, and you really can't blame them. But, many...

    Some of my unordered observations, having really dived into MLS in the past year or so:

    1. On Messi: The league is milking him for all he's worth right now, and you really can't blame them. But, many people have become disillusioned or balk at the constant marketing around him/Inter Miami. Taylor Twellman seems like he is going to explode every time Messi gets a touch. Hopefully there have been significant "gains" league-wide (in terms of attracting new talent abroad and from the young'ins) because as soon as Messi's gone, this component of marketing for the MLS will vanish entirely.
    2. On the other Miami transfers: Busquets, Alba, and Vampire, even with being some of the greatest players from the recent past, haven't really moved the needle like Messi or Beckham have. Apparently, nothing short of a superstar on the world soccer stage will attract American viewership when there are so many other sports options.
    3. The league is really fun to watch, but I miss seeing defense. I'm not sure what the solution is to this and I've been told over and over again that we Americans love to see high scoring games so it's in our blood and best interests to keep the attacks strong and defenses weak.
    4. I really hate the way the MLS is handling the US Open cup. On the other hand, I really did have a blast watching the Leagues Cup last year. If only the US Open could get the pomp and marketing dollars that Apple poured into Leagues last year, it might have a better chance at surviving. But, I get it -- there's not a lot of media money in airing a soccer team Minot, ND playing someone from Midland, TX.
    5. I would love to see more inter-league games to see how MLS teams stack up against the elites. NOT MLS Allstars vs. Arsenal or friendlies.
    6. After a year of indecision, I think I'm finally settling on FC Dallas as my team. Nashville and LAFC are runners up because I really like some of the players, but I have no roots or loyalty to either. Hani Mukhtar has been my favorite player to watch because of his talent as well as his upbeat personality.
    5 votes

  18. Comment on Why do the English love non-League football? in ~sports.football

    Power0utage
    Link
    Warning: American take ahead. Just going through the Wikipedia page on the pyramid is mindblowing to me. I thought I was an indie follower from the States when I discovered Wrexham in the National...

    Warning: American take ahead.

    Just going through the Wikipedia page on the pyramid is mindblowing to me. I thought I was an indie follower from the States when I discovered Wrexham in the National League (5th level)*. Then, I started following** a club that is currently in the Isthmian League North Division (8th level).

    *I'm not a complete Welcome to Wrexham bandwagoner... I discovered them after the acquisition announcement came out but before the documentary announcement came out.
    **Following is a loose term -- the best updates I can get are post-match tweets about the final score and photos on Instagram a few days later...

    But it goes SO much deeper than that. Below the Isthmian League is the Combined Counties League (levels 9/10). Below those are, let's pick one, the Hampshire Premier League (levels 11/12). And it just keeps going. And to think, everyone gets a chance at the FA Cup!

    There's no comparison with sports in the USA since we don't use promotion/relegation, but maybe one could compare the levels of the pyramid to college football teams, roughly based on attendance sizes. FBS teams would be Premier League teams (actually NFL teams, but bear with me for the sake of this dumb thought experiment). FCS teams, perhaps League 1 or 2? Directional U-type schools, perhaps National League North/South? Junior Colleges, perhaps levels 10+?

    Luton Town's rise from National League to PL would then be akin to Southwestern Oklahoma State (the fightin' SWOSU Bulldogs) rising through the ranks up to FBS, and the Luton result against Liverpool today would be akin to SWOSU hanging in there, but ultimately being bested by the University of Michigan. Can you imagine an SEC team having to travel to Weatherford, Oklahoma to play on a muddy field with a few bleachers (a.k.a. PL teams playing at Luton)?!

    It's a really awesome system and I wish we had something comparable in the States. Until then, I'll keep following my Isthmian League team in hopes that they will get promoted to where one day I'll actually be able to stream one of their games.

    6 votes

  19. Comment on Why Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami will open the new MLS season with replacement match officials in ~sports.football

    Power0utage
    Link
    I couldn't read past the summary because of the paywall, but did they reference where the replacement referees are coming from? Are they going to be somewhat competent tonight/this weekend?

    I couldn't read past the summary because of the paywall, but did they reference where the replacement referees are coming from? Are they going to be somewhat competent tonight/this weekend?

    1 vote

  20. Comment on Side projects that were actually good? in ~music

    Power0utage
    Link Parent
    There's also Big Red Machine which has put out some great stuff in the past few years.

    If you're a fan of Bon Iver's most recent albums

    There's also Big Red Machine which has put out some great stuff in the past few years.

    1 vote