Rudism's recent activity

  1. Comment on Switzerland's Nemo wins Eurovision as UK comes 18th in ~music

    Rudism
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    It's not necessarily that nobody enjoyed it, they may have just enjoyed it less than other performances that it was competing against. I thought it was good, but it wouldn't have gotten my vote by...

    It's not necessarily that nobody enjoyed it, they may have just enjoyed it less than other performances that it was competing against. I thought it was good, but it wouldn't have gotten my vote by a long shot if I were casting one.

    3 votes

  2. Comment on Is TV advertising still relevant? Does anybody under 60 even watch traditional TV anymore? in ~tv

    Rudism
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    There's probably a lot of selection bias going on in the discussion here. I think there's still a fairly vast audience of people who rely on OTA and cable TV for news and entertainment (due to...

    There's probably a lot of selection bias going on in the discussion here.

    I think there's still a fairly vast audience of people who rely on OTA and cable TV for news and entertainment (due to limited internet access, for example) and there's significant value in advertising to that audience.

    2 votes

  3. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    Rudism
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    I gave the new Taylor Swift album a listen on some streaming service or other. I like it about as much as Folklore and Evermore. I'm a physical media hold out so I typically use streaming as a...

    I gave the new Taylor Swift album a listen on some streaming service or other. I like it about as much as Folklore and Evermore. I'm a physical media hold out so I typically use streaming as a preview to see if I want to buy the CD (or vinyl in extremely rare situations) or not, but in this case I guess she's only releasing half the album physically? And if you want the full 30+ track "Anthology" edition the only way is digital? Might mean I have to give this one a pass, at least until the second half also gets a physical release.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Piranesi in ~books

    Rudism
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    My kids introduced me to "the backrooms" internet mythology a while back. The premise is essentially that it's possible to "clip" outside the bounds of reality, and when you do so you end up in an...

    My kids introduced me to "the backrooms" internet mythology a while back. The premise is essentially that it's possible to "clip" outside the bounds of reality, and when you do so you end up in an endless maze of empty hallways resembling an office building with yellow walls and carpet and buzzing fluorescent lights on the ceiling. There are different levels you can ascend or descend to once there, including endless pool rooms, hotel-themed hallways, parking garages--all places that exist in the real world but seemingly infinite, eerily empty, and configured or laid out in puzzling or nonsensical ways. Piranesi made me think of that, and it was hard not to let my knowledge of the backrooms lore color my perception of the novel's setting. For a long time (before what was actually going on started to get fleshed out more) I was pretty much thinking this dude no-clipped into some weird Greco-Roman themed level of the backrooms.

    2 votes

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

    Rudism
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    I recently read something about a game called Dredge getting a film adaptation. I'd never heard of it before so I looked it up and it sounded right up my alley (single player Lovecraftian-themed...

    I recently read something about a game called Dredge getting a film adaptation. I'd never heard of it before so I looked it up and it sounded right up my alley (single player Lovecraftian-themed fishing/exploration game). Picked it up on the Switch and did literally nothing else for the entire weekend. Not sure how you'd adapt it into a movie, but the game is fun and addictive in a good way. I think I've mostly completed the main game's story line and got my ship fully upgraded, so next weekend I'll probably wrap it up and then check out the Pale Reach DLC content.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on How do you organize your phone's home screens and apps? in ~tech

    Rudism
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    Another feature of Niagara I like is that you can designate your music/podcast/audiobook/etc apps as media apps, and they will be "promoted" to the home screen when you plug in wired headphones or...

    Another feature of Niagara I like is that you can designate your music/podcast/audiobook/etc apps as media apps, and they will be "promoted" to the home screen when you plug in wired headphones or connect via bluetooth, then get "demoted" back to the normal app list when you disconnect.

    I use Niagara on all of my Android devices. I recently had to contact them because they artificially limit the number of devices you can run it on under one Play account to just 3--if you put it on a fourth then it's constantly prompting you on whichever device you used longest ago to "revalidate your membership," which then initiates the prompt on the device you used next-longest-ago. Thankfully they bumped my limit up so I don't get nagged anymore.

    1 vote

  7. Comment on The Assist - Thoughts on AI coding assistants in ~comp

    Rudism
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    The sentiment that using an LLM essentially converts your work from writing code into doing code reviews feels pretty spot-on to me. It's the main reason why I'll probably never use AI assist to...

    The sentiment that using an LLM essentially converts your work from writing code into doing code reviews feels pretty spot-on to me. It's the main reason why I'll probably never use AI assist to generate code--it removes the part of my job that I actually find enjoyable and replaces it with one of the things that I enjoy doing the least.

    1 vote

  8. Comment on Bad Boys: Ride or Die | Official trailer in ~movies

    Rudism
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    I just recently watched all of the first three films over the course of a couple weeks (didn't even know this one was on the horizon) so I'm primed for the new one. The first one was great...

    I just recently watched all of the first three films over the course of a couple weeks (didn't even know this one was on the horizon) so I'm primed for the new one. The first one was great (largely because of Tia Leoni), the second one was a masterpiece if you can get on the same wavelength as Michael Bay, and For Life was a decent follow up. I probably won't see the new one in theaters, but once it's available to stream or rent I'm expecting it to make another fun popcorn movie.

    1 vote

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

    Rudism
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    Not entirely sure I follow... if the G Cloud works with a specific version of Android and a specific version of a PS5 game streaming app today, there's nothing that should stop them from working...

    Not entirely sure I follow... if the G Cloud works with a specific version of Android and a specific version of a PS5 game streaming app today, there's nothing that should stop them from working 10 years from now, even if you couldn't update to the latest and greatest versions at that time. Since it's a standalone gaming device there's no real pressure to keep updating everything, especially if you've got it in a working configuration.

    1 vote

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

    Rudism
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    Personally I think the opposite is more likely to be the case. Android has an open ecosystem and 3rd party game streaming clients are more likely to be developed and receive support from their...

    Personally I think the opposite is more likely to be the case. Android has an open ecosystem and 3rd party game streaming clients are more likely to be developed and receive support from their devs in perpetuity than a proprietary console peripheral which could lose support each time a new generation of console is released. Look at the PS Vita as an example--it can remote play PS3 and PS4 games, but Sony never added support for PS5 (if you hacked it, you can stream PS5 to it via 3rd party clients).

    I don't use the official streaming clients for either Xbox or Playstation streaming to the G Cloud because the 3rd party clients are already far superior.

    1 vote

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

    Rudism
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    I picked up a G Cloud when they first came out, which runs Android. But since it's a dedicated gaming device the only apps I have installed on it are the streaming apps for Xbox, Playstation, and...

    I picked up a G Cloud when they first came out, which runs Android. But since it's a dedicated gaming device the only apps I have installed on it are the streaming apps for Xbox, Playstation, and Steam, as well as RetroArch for emulation, and the stock OS essentially hides notifications, so there's no competition for attention from other things. It makes a lot more sense for me over the Playstation Portal since I game across so many different platforms. I think dealing with Android as a hub OS is less annoying than having to buy separate dedicated streaming devices for each platform would be.

    2 votes

  12. Comment on Best foreign films and TV shows? in ~tv

    Rudism
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    I love Lexx. I'd describe it as what you'd get if Farscape was made by David Cronenberg on a shoestring budget.

    I don't even know where to begin describing this.

    I love Lexx. I'd describe it as what you'd get if Farscape was made by David Cronenberg on a shoestring budget.

    3 votes

  13. Comment on Leprechaun lore in ~movies

    Rudism
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    If you'd believe some random thing I read on the internet somewhere (and can't remember where), work on the script kicked off after some studio exec pasted the Leprechaun's face over Tom Hanks on...

    If you'd believe some random thing I read on the internet somewhere (and can't remember where), work on the script kicked off after some studio exec pasted the Leprechaun's face over Tom Hanks on a promo poster for Apollo 13. I suppose that doesn't rule out the possibility that they may have reused an existing script though. That story does make me a little sad because I think the Lep showing up in a more serious Apollo 13-esque sci-fi could have been amazing, compared to what we got which, like you said, had so many different sci-fi/fantasy threads going on that the Leprechaun almost felt more like an incidental background character.

    2 votes

  14. Leprechaun lore

    ~movies Text 1357 words
    So to celebrate St. Patricks day this year I decided to watch all 8 Leprechaun movies (each one for the first time, incidentally), and did so over the course of 3 days. While they're still...

    So to celebrate St. Patricks day this year I decided to watch all 8 Leprechaun movies (each one for the first time, incidentally), and did so over the course of 3 days. While they're still somewhat fresh in my mind I wanted to document all of the "lore" from the franchise and how it changes from sequel to sequel because... um... well I don't really know. Fun?

    Leprechaun (1993)

    • Four leaf clovers repel and can harm the Leprechaun (think crosses and vampires). If he eats one he'll explode.
    • Trapping the Leprechaun in a box and putting a four leaf clover on top of it will make it so the Leprechaun can't escape until the clover is removed.
    • The Leprechaun bites at least one person with no ill effect other than a bite wound (this becomes pertinent in a later sequel).
    • Possessing the Leprechaun's gold essentially marks you for death as he will take it back and kill you as revenge for having it in the first place (also becomes pertinent later).
    • The Leprechaun is a cobbler by trade and can't resist the urge to shine dirty shoes (so throwing dirty shoes at him can be used as an effective distraction technique).
    • If you leave tiny vehicles or other cute methods of transportation around the Leprechaun will use them and it will be amazing.

    Leprechaun 2 (1994)

    • Contrary to what was pretty firmly established in the first movie, now if you have a piece of the Leprechaun's gold he can attack you but you can't actually be hurt or killed by him.
    • The Leprechaun can be hurt by weapons, or trapped within containers made of wrought iron (it glows red like it's burning him when he comes into contact with it).
    • If you trap the Leprechaun he has to grant you three wishes, but it's like monkey's paw on steroids. (It's not actually clear to me whether this is true, or if the Leprechaun was just bluffing and playing along with the idea in order to escape. He does "grant" some wishes but basically just used his powers to turn the wishes against his captor.)
    • No mention of four leaf clovers in this one.

    Leprechaun 3 (1995)

    • This is the first appearance of an unexplained gold medallion that will imprison the Leprechaun by turning him into a statue when placed around his neck.
    • Each piece of the Leprechaun's gold now grants its holder one wish, but if you lose possession of that gold piece the wish will backfire (typically resulting in death).
    • It's not clear whether posession of the gold still protects you at all. There's no specific mention of it, but I think in all of the kills the person being killed has already somehow lost possession of the gold piece that granted them a wish.
    • In this one if the Leprechaun bites you, you slowly begin turning into another Leprechaun (think werewolves). This is the only sequel in which this is a thing, it's never brought up again (even though I'm pretty sure the Leprechaun bites more people).
    • Leprechauns are extremely territorial and will fight other Leprechauns if they come across them, even if one of the Leprechauns was created via a bite from the other one.
    • To kill the Leprechaun you must destroy all of his gold.
    • No mention of four leaf clovers in this one that I can remember.

    Leprechaun 4: In Space (1997)

    • The Leprechaun may be an alien? At least he has knowledge of and interactions with other alien races in the galaxy (but humans do too at this point, so it's not really clear whether the Leprechaun was already involved in galactic affairs prior to whenever humans made contact).
    • No mention of clovers, shoes, wishes, the medallion, bites, or for that matter (I think) the Leprechaun's gold at all that I can remember. In fact I don't think anyone even says the word "Leprechaun" throughout the entire movie.
    • The Leprechaun can transfer himself into your body via your urine if you pee on him (or a chunk of him).

    Leprechaun in the Hood (2000)

    • The medallion that can turn the Leprechaun into a statue is back in this one.
    • The Leprechaun possesses a magical flute that makes everyone who hears it blindly follow and adore the person who played it (think pied piper). Once its effects wear off the listeners have no memory of anything that happened while they were under its spell.
    • If the Leprechaun smokes weed laced with four leaf clovers he'll lose his powers and/or pass out for a while.
    • The Leprechaun has the ability to summon "zombie fly girls" from hell who will assist him in fighting and/or escaping from people who stole his gold or trapped him, and also act as backup dancers when he's performing rap numbers. The final sequence actually confuses this a bit, as it shows him turning normal girls into the zombie fly girls by touching them, so it's unclear to me if he actually ever summoned anything from hell or not.
    • As mentioned, in this one the Leprechaun has the ability to mind-control or possess humans by touching them (you can tell when someone is possessed because their eyes glow green).
    • No mention of wishes in this one.

    Leprechaun: Back 2 Tha Hood (2003)

    • Splashing the Leprechaun with holy water laced with four leaf clovers can summon demons that will drag him back to hell (maybe only if you're a priest though). The Leprechaun will only be released from hell if someone finds and takes his gold from wherever he stashed it.
    • In previous films the Leprechaun's gold was always represented by a pot that typically had exactly 100 gold pieces in it (counting it is how the Leprechaun would know someone still has some of his gold). In this one that's been replaced by a small wooden chest that contains essentially unlimited gold pieces because it magically refills itself whenever closed.
    • This is the first one where I don't think the Leprechaun uses any magical powers at all, instead relying purely on physical attacks (except maybe when fighting the witch, I forget now).
    • Shooting the Leprechaun with bullets containing four leaf clovers will hurt him, but not very much.
    • Oh yeah, and witches (or at least humans with magical powers) are real too now, but not really powerful enough to effectively fight the Leprechaun.

    Leprechaun: Origins (2014)

    • The Leprechaun isn't even a Leprechaun anymore, they're more like those things from the cave in The Descent.
    • The Leprechaun(s) will feed on villagers unless they satiate him/them with occasional human sacrifices.
    • The less said about this one the better.

    Leprechaun Returns (2018)

    • This is the kickoff of the Leprechaun Multiverse because it's a direct sequel to the first movie, erasing all the other ones from history (except possibly Leprechaun 4: In Space, since that one occurs in the distant future).
    • Four leaf clovers can hurt the Leprechaun again. He'll explode if he eats them again.
    • The Leprechaun's compulsion to shine dirty shoes is a thing again. To be fair this did come up in some of the other movies too, but only as a gag and never really utilized as a distraction like this since the first movie.
    • I think wrought iron was mentioned again, but I don't recall it actually being used.
    • The Leprechaun's gold is exactly 100 pieces in a pot again.
    • If you leave things that he can ride laying around he'll do that again too.
    • Ghosts are real.
    • The Leprechaun can transfer himself into your body if he can get some of himself into your mouth. I think this is the only time some new lore established in Leprechaun 4: In Space makes an appearance in another movie.

    I'm sure I forgot some things (or possibly even got some wrong), but I find it interesting and entertaining that it seems like other than "the Leprechaun likes his gold and will kill you to get it" there isn't really a single "rule" that sticks across every movie in the franchise (even if you exclude Origins, which basically isn't even a Leprechaun movie at all).

    30 votes

  15. Comment on What watch do you wear daily? in ~hobbies

    Rudism
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    I wear a watch every day (and night, only really take it off to shower). I also don't ever really spend more than around $100 usd on them. A few watches back I was on a Seiko 5 automatic. I loved...

    I wear a watch every day (and night, only really take it off to shower). I also don't ever really spend more than around $100 usd on them.

    A few watches back I was on a Seiko 5 automatic. I loved the look, and I love the idea of an automatic watch, but found it annoying how inaccurate it was (it might have been magnetized, or I might have jarred something into misalignment at some point, but it was constantly losing or gaining a few minutes per day).

    After that I moved to a hybrid analog/digital Casio Waveceptor that was solar powered and would auto-adjust itself using atomic clock radio frequencies. Accuracy was fantastic, but I like using nato wrist straps and the way the pin things were positioned on the watch meant the strap put a lot of outward pressure on them, and eventually one of them tore right through the plastic case of the watch.

    Most recently I've replaced that one with a Timex T80 steel, which has a pretty sweet nostalgic/retro look to it and stainless steel casing. It's not solar powered and doesn't auto-adjust, but I just checked and it's only lost about 4 seconds in the 4 months that I've been wearing it, so that's good enough for me. Also I haven't had to yet obviously, but I expect the battery to be fairly easily user-replaceable.

    4 votes

  16. Comment on Boy Kills World | Official trailer in ~movies

    Rudism
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    H. Jon Benjamin was also the voice of Dr. Katz's son on late-night Comedy Central way back in the 90s. He's always been great.

    H. Jon Benjamin was also the voice of Dr. Katz's son on late-night Comedy Central way back in the 90s. He's always been great.

    4 votes

  17. Comment on Walmart buying TV-brand Vizio for its ad-fueling customer data in ~finance

    Rudism
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    Does such a thing exist already!? Part of me wants to say that no TV manufacturer would be that brazen, but I suppose something like that (or maybe embedded sim cards) is probably inevitable.

    Does such a thing exist already!? Part of me wants to say that no TV manufacturer would be that brazen, but I suppose something like that (or maybe embedded sim cards) is probably inevitable.

    1 vote

  18. Comment on Walmart buying TV-brand Vizio for its ad-fueling customer data in ~finance

    Rudism
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    I'm not sure I follow what you're saying here. To me if I want a dumb TV, and a smart TV that stays offline essentially functions as a dumb TV, then I got what I wanted. I guess you could consider...

    In relation to "smart" TVs the general advice is not connecting them to internet which entirely misses the point. It means going out of ones way to get the bare minimum advertised functionality using workarounds that will get deleted as soon as practicable.

    I'm not sure I follow what you're saying here. To me if I want a dumb TV, and a smart TV that stays offline essentially functions as a dumb TV, then I got what I wanted. I guess you could consider that a "workaround" but it actually involves doing less work than if I did connect it. I probably also got the TV at a lower price than I would have if it were a true dumb TV, because the manufacturer can sell it at a lower price thanks to the additional money they're earning off less savvy people who do suffer through their ads.

    1 vote

  19. Comment on Walmart buying TV-brand Vizio for its ad-fueling customer data in ~finance

    Rudism
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    If you search for stuff like "commercial display" or "digital signage" instead of TVs then you can still find some high quality displays without any of the shitty consumer smart functionality, but...

    If you search for stuff like "commercial display" or "digital signage" instead of TVs then you can still find some high quality displays without any of the shitty consumer smart functionality, but they also usually come at a premium cost.

    Best compromise is to just buy a smart TV and never hook it up to the internet--then all you need to worry about is whether it's one that will nag you about it or not. I've got a couple offline Vizios and they essentially function as dumb monitors when they're not connected.

    9 votes

  20. Comment on Disney Movie Club closing after twenty-three years in ~movies

    Rudism
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    Maybe it's because I was born in the 80s and lived through cassette tapes, VHS, CDs, laserdiscs, game cartridges, DVDs, and Blu-rays... or maybe because I'm part of a (possibly dying?) breed of...

    Maybe it's because I was born in the 80s and lived through cassette tapes, VHS, CDs, laserdiscs, game cartridges, DVDs, and Blu-rays... or maybe because I'm part of a (possibly dying?) breed of consumers who like to regularly revisit media and consume it in a very focused and mindful way (no staring at my phone during movies, for example)... or maybe I just have hoarding tendencies... but for me, owning something on physical media adds an intrinsic value to it that streaming services can't recapture.

    I love and take great pride in my music and movie collections--even though I've ripped pretty much everything and consume it all digitally, there's just something about knowing that I can access and enjoy these things forever, even when all the streaming services shut down or replace everything old and good in their catalogues with new exclusive self-produced drivel, this copy of this thing I like is legally mine and I can enjoy it whenever and however I please. I do watch movies and listen to music on streaming services, but it's almost always with the mindset of "is this thing good enough that I want to add it to my collection?" The transient and uncertain nature of online content spoils it for me. To the extent where if something is completely unavailable to own and consume outside of streaming I feel compelled to either dismiss it as worthless or else get kind of upset about it (like the fact that there's no Blu-ray release of Idiocracy, and that RRR is probably never going to have a physical release of any kind, makes me so sad).

    At the same time I'm sure there were folks who felt similarly about the loss of horse-and-buggies when automobiles started taking off. Just the cost of technological progress, I suppose.

    5 votes