Akir's recent activity
-
Comment on What's good in modern flashlights/headlamps? in ~hobbies
-
Comment on Bethesda X Nintendo Switch 2 | Reveal trailer in ~games
Akir Link ParentPlease stop trying to convince me to sacrifice more of my life to that game. ðŸ˜Please stop trying to convince me to sacrifice more of my life to that game. ðŸ˜
-
Comment on The Boring Company faces Nashville tunnel criticism in ~transport
Akir LinkFrankly after the Las Vegas Loop dramatically underperforming their promises it’s incredible that anyone would ever hire the Boring Company for literally anything. For those who don’t know, the...Frankly after the Las Vegas Loop dramatically underperforming their promises it’s incredible that anyone would ever hire the Boring Company for literally anything.
For those who don’t know, the Loop isn’t even a real loop. They send traffic both ways on a single lane tunnel, which means having to stop all traffic on a segment until the car inside of it clears. They were supposed to launch with fully autonomous cars to ferry people and instead they use regular teslas with chauffeurs. The loop isn’t even entirely underground; there are one or two places where it surfaces and the cars take surface streets. The end result is a transportation system that is both more expensive and slower than the preexisting bus system. It may actually be worse than getting a taxi, since most of the places often have them waiting around nearby.
-
Comment on Hair loss open discussion in ~talk
Akir Link ParentArgh, it’s worse when they’re doctors! You can’t even get fully angry because they are at least in theory trying to help you. Shitty doctors hurt everyone, so I hope you submitted complaints for...Argh, it’s worse when they’re doctors! You can’t even get fully angry because they are at least in theory trying to help you.
Shitty doctors hurt everyone, so I hope you submitted complaints for all of them. Last year I switched doctors and I found out that I had many misconceptions because of how poor the communication was from my previous doctor, including one that made me think my walking was going to be permanently impaired from arthritis!
-
Comment on Hair loss open discussion in ~talk
Akir Link ParentMy hair loss is also hereditary but unlike you the men in my family were almost exclusively assholes I would rather not be associated with. The only exception is an uncle who’s path to god led him...My hair loss is also hereditary but unlike you the men in my family were almost exclusively assholes I would rather not be associated with. The only exception is an uncle who’s path to god led him to be an army chaplain who was pushed into service of people of different faiths. Coincidentally he’s the only one of his generation still alive so I’d like to say if there is a god that he is just.
While I do admire my uncle I’m still clinging to my hair loss drugs like a lifeline.
-
Comment on Hair loss open discussion in ~talk
Akir Link ParentI honestly don’t understand why they sell the foam. You’re supposed to get it on your scalp but the foam will get it all over your hair instead. Grab the liquid stuff instead; the dropper can be...I honestly don’t understand why they sell the foam. You’re supposed to get it on your scalp but the foam will get it all over your hair instead. Grab the liquid stuff instead; the dropper can be put right against your scalp, and it’s less expensive as well.
-
Comment on Hair loss open discussion in ~talk
Akir Link ParentOh my god are there still people who say those stupid things? I’m not a woman but that is so incredibly dumb that it makes me want to punch someone.Oh my god are there still people who say those stupid things? I’m not a woman but that is so incredibly dumb that it makes me want to punch someone.
-
Comment on Jeff Bezos orders layoffs at 'The Washington Post' in ~news
Akir Link ParentI think you may be looking at this with the wrong paradigm. Instead of youtube, think of all "news influencers" as a category. News influencers don't need foreign bureaus because there's always...I think you may be looking at this with the wrong paradigm. Instead of youtube, think of all "news influencers" as a category. News influencers don't need foreign bureaus because there's always news influencers in every country (more or less - don't expect to see a reliable source from North Korea anytime soon).
They still have a problem with authority and vetting how reliable they are in general, but frankly most legacy news sources have become so unreliable that I think it's less of an issue than you might think.
-
Comment on Steam Hardware: Launch timing and other FAQs in ~games
Akir Link ParentThere's a kind of irony that there is a rough correlation between Valve releasing computing hardware and major disruptions to society, given that the Steam Deck came about the tail end of the...There's a kind of irony that there is a rough correlation between Valve releasing computing hardware and major disruptions to society, given that the Steam Deck came about the tail end of the COVID pandemic. If they announce Half Life 3 I would start preparing for the apocalypse.
-
Comment on I'm annoyed with mundane revisionist history in ~talk
Akir Link ParentI think you get me. It’s not so much the specifics about the PS2 that matters, but people are so engrossed into the story that any attempts to simply add nuance is met with indifference at best...I think you get me. It’s not so much the specifics about the PS2 that matters, but people are so engrossed into the story that any attempts to simply add nuance is met with indifference at best and venom at worst.
I loved playing the PS2 when it was out. I own more physical games for the system than any other. But I’m also in my 30s and don’t actually care about it anymore outside the remaining vapor of nostalgia. It’s the response that kills me.
-
Comment on I'm annoyed with mundane revisionist history in ~talk
Akir Link ParentIt is apples-to-oranges in that the RCA player was competing against a device that did not yet exist. Beyond that, in 2000 RCA was still known for having decent quality to my memory. A standalone...It is apples-to-oranges in that the RCA player was competing against a device that did not yet exist. Beyond that, in 2000 RCA was still known for having decent quality to my memory. A standalone device would have also likely had better picture quality simply for the ability to use better quality cables than the proprietary ones that Sony manufactured for the PS2.
Look in the 2001 catalog, which would have been published just a few months after the release of the PS2, and you will find one that is $100 less. Either way, the PS2 would not have come with a DVD remote, so if you wanted all the features you would have gotten with the standalone DVD player you'd need to spend at least an additional $20 for the remote.
I acknowledged that the DVD capabilities were a selling point, but it was not the primary reason why someone would be purchasing the system. If you wanted a DVD player you would buy a DVD player. If you wanted a game system too, you might have purchased a PS2 instead of a DVD player, but you would not buy a PS2 if you just wanted a DVD player.
-
Comment on Most and least expensive US supermarkets in ~food
Akir Link ParentFood4Less is their value brand?! The last time I bought something from one of those stores was because I was in desperate need to get some whole wheat flour and they were the only store who had it...Food4Less is their value brand?! The last time I bought something from one of those stores was because I was in desperate need to get some whole wheat flour and they were the only store who had it in the area I was in at the time. It cost about 3 times more than what I would usually pay!
-
Comment on I'm annoyed with mundane revisionist history in ~talk
Akir Link ParentI actually ended up responding to my naysayers on reddit even though it won't make a difference. I looked up the Radio Shack catalog for the year 2000, and on page 178 it lists a DVD player for...I actually ended up responding to my naysayers on reddit even though it won't make a difference. I looked up the Radio Shack catalog for the year 2000, and on page 178 it lists a DVD player for $50 less than the PS2 launch price. The catalog would have been published nearly a year before the release of the PS2.
I don't doubt that the DVD capability of the system made it a more attractive option than the only other option at the time, the Dreamcast, but people were very clearly buying it to play games on, not to watch movies. I can't speak for everyone in the world, but by the time I had a PS2 our family already owned a DVD player (hooked up with S-Video for the ultimate in picture quality). Then again, I grew up in a TV repair shop, so I'm probably not the ideal choice for a statistical sample.
-
I'm annoyed with mundane revisionist history
Yesterday I did something stupid. I went to reddit and responded to a comment. The comment in question was talking about how popular the PS2 was because it also functioned as a DVD player. I...
Yesterday I did something stupid. I went to reddit and responded to a comment. The comment in question was talking about how popular the PS2 was because it also functioned as a DVD player. I pointed out that few people would have bought a PS2 because it was more expensive than a standalone device, and didn't come with a remote. People often get confused about this because the PS3 basically fit this description: it was one of the best and cheapest blu-ray players for quite a while. Naturally when I went back to look at reddit today I found a bunch of people saying "nuh-uh" and my response had negative karma.
There's a lot of revisionist history when it comes to video games. For the earlier generation, there seems to be this idea that the Sega Saturn couldn't do "real" 3D graphics and the Playstation couldn't do "real" sprites - in spite of a massive library of titles that directly prove that they both draw 2D and 3D graphics just fine - heck, there's a bunch of people out there who think Symphony of the Night on PSX is one of the best pixel art games of all time.
I don't really care much about these specific examples, because they're ultimately meaningless. It's not remotely likely that these "factoids" will make a difference to anyone's life. What I do care about, however, is what it says about society. We already know reddit is an echo chamber, but if we can't figure out what the actual truth of history was, we're doomed as a species.
39 votes -
Comment on Humble Choice - February 2026 in ~games
Akir LinkWow, finally a Humble Choice that is actually worth it. I've been wanting to play Date Everything and RE Village for quite some time but never enough to actually buy either of them. I guess I'm...Wow, finally a Humble Choice that is actually worth it. I've been wanting to play Date Everything and RE Village for quite some time but never enough to actually buy either of them. I guess I'm re-subscribing.
-
Comment on Most and least expensive US supermarkets in ~food
Akir Link ParentTo be fair, these are major metropolitan areas, and so I think there's an assumption that you'll be able to get to an alternative option nearby without a huge difference in time. Where I live...To be fair, these are major metropolitan areas, and so I think there's an assumption that you'll be able to get to an alternative option nearby without a huge difference in time. Where I live Costco locations are 30 minutes away from eachother, so you'll theoretically never be over 15 minutes away from one.
I always try to get the best value for everything, but realistically I like a bunch of weird ingredients so I end up going to a bunch of different stores to get all the things I need.
-
Comment on Most and least expensive US supermarkets in ~food
Akir LinkThis didn’t tell me much that I didn’t already know, but I did learn some interesting tidbits. I stopped shopping for groceries at Walmart years ago because it was actually surprisingly expensive....This didn’t tell me much that I didn’t already know, but I did learn some interesting tidbits. I stopped shopping for groceries at Walmart years ago because it was actually surprisingly expensive. The prices were about the same as, say, Albertson’s or Von’s. I know that they’ve done a lot to improve their grocery department in more recent years, though, so this is more of a factor of them being in a relatively inconvenient location for me now that there is better competition.
The choices of stores to represent seem a bit odd to me. For Southern California they include WinCo (a great company I wish more people knew about), but they only have a handful of locations in the region and none of them are near Central LA. They don’t include Smart & Final which has significantly more locations. With them excluded it seems ever so slightly unfair to include Costco who is playing a different game than the rest with their exclusively bulk-sized packaging, something that S&F at least partially tries to compete in with select bulk items in their stores.
I’ve said this a lot but here in SoCal the Asian markets have fresh products that are higher quality, freshness, and with better variety while generally having lower prices. The same is likely true at Hispanic grocers.
-
Comment on How Norway accomplished a near-total electric vehicle transition – almost 100 percent of new cars registered in November were electric in ~transport
Akir Link ParentThey're bad at it because they have perverse incentives. In the long run, the money Ford spent on EV development pales into the amount of money they've spent incrementally building their ICE...They're bad at it because they have perverse incentives. In the long run, the money Ford spent on EV development pales into the amount of money they've spent incrementally building their ICE drivetrains over time. They want to continue making ICE powered cars because it already makes them money and it makes a lot more sense for them to keep focusing on the "sure thing" than to try to spend a lot of money on a "maybe". In this case, the "maybe" in question is actually an inevitability, but pretty much every major business has been operating on short term logic since at least the 1980s.
Tesla, on the other hand, managed to succeed at their endeavors because they not only lacked those perverse incentives, they had every reason to avoid competing in the ICE market, which famously ate up just about every company to try it.
Honestly, part of me thinks that having the US auto makers fail might be a good thing in the long run. I don't want their factory workers to lose their jobs, but it seems that these companies simply aren't sustainable as businesses, environmental issues aside. The government is already doing a lot to keep them alive, including closing out foreign competition. Heck, they already failed around 2008 when we had to inject them with cash to keep them running.
-
Comment on How Norway accomplished a near-total electric vehicle transition – almost 100 percent of new cars registered in November were electric in ~transport
Akir (edited )Link ParentThe big problem in the US is that the automakers who make cars for the market have largely been avoiding investment in BEVs. And surprisingly the domestic manufacturers - specifically Ford and GM...The big problem in the US is that the automakers who make cars for the market have largely been avoiding investment in BEVs. And surprisingly the domestic manufacturers - specifically Ford and GM - have been more aggressive than many of the foreign manufacturers like Toyota, who has still only offered a single fully electric vehicle which I have yet to see in public outside of a showing inside of a mall.
Of those manufacturers it seems like most of them are still largely focused on making affordable EVs. There’s really only two companies that I think are even moderately succeeding at it: Tesla and GM.
I think that the only way to fix this in the US would be to use the government to force manufacturers to invest in it, particularly by setting a date in which the sale of new consumer vehicles with combustion engines would be banned. Unfortunately it would need to be a long period of time and the mere existence of shithead conservatives and representatives bought by oil companies - who, to be clear, also deserve to be called shitheads - basically makes this impossible.
-
Comment on How Norway accomplished a near-total electric vehicle transition – almost 100 percent of new cars registered in November were electric in ~transport
Akir Link ParentEvery modern EV will engage a heater to keep the battery healthy, and AFAIK if it’s plugged into mains electricity they will use that rather than the battery to power it.Every modern EV will engage a heater to keep the battery healthy, and AFAIK if it’s plugged into mains electricity they will use that rather than the battery to power it.
I'm not really an outdoorsman, but lithium batteries store much much more energy than old-school NiMH rechargable and alkaline batteries, and additionally they can be power cycled far more times with less wear. I would imagine that modern flashlights don't need you to bring spare batteries because they essentially have "spares" included already - by orders of magnitude if you are comparing bulb flashlights! Lithium seems pretty much to be the way to go for now, at least until newer generations of battery chemistry come to market at a reasonable price.
If you must have redundancy, you can always bring a power bank with you. I will warn you that you should buy one from a reputable brand because I have heard that there are many sellers who are giving completely made-up specs for their products.