Akir's recent activity
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Comment on What we lost when we quit using crappy old web forums in ~tech
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Comment on These twenty-five artifacts explain America (gifted link) in ~life
Akir Link ParentMaybe the fact that the author describes the country in terms of consumer products is part of the point?Maybe the fact that the author describes the country in terms of consumer products is part of the point?
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Comment on These twenty-five artifacts explain America (gifted link) in ~life
Akir LinkI honestly kind of wonder if the author is European. Red Solo cups are a thing that Europeans think is particularly American but I don’t think I have ever had that association brought up by an...I honestly kind of wonder if the author is European. Red Solo cups are a thing that Europeans think is particularly American but I don’t think I have ever had that association brought up by an American before. I don’t think I’ve ever seen plastic lawn flamingos in real life and I haven’t seen a Pizza Hut lamp since I’ve last been in a sit-down Pizza Hut location (which I am almost certain became extinct 20 years ago).
It’s so strange to me that the author brought up the automobile but hadn’t thought about the single object most central to the American Identity: their car.
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Comment on Big food versus the people in ~health
Akir Link ParentI’m not sure if you’re aware, but in the 80s tobacco companies bought some of America’s biggest food manufacturers - General Mills, Nabisco, and Kraft. So they didn’t just take inspiration from...Similar to the story of big tobacco, oil, healthcare (in the US) and pretty much every other mature industry with enough money to influence the system.
I’m not sure if you’re aware, but in the 80s tobacco companies bought some of America’s biggest food manufacturers - General Mills, Nabisco, and Kraft. So they didn’t just take inspiration from big tobacco, they just used the strategies they already developed; make the product addictive, resistIng regulation, and poisoning the discourse.
One aspect that I think is shocking that they get away with is that they are allowed to put so many ingredients as “Flavors” and not disclose what they are. The food one puts in one’s body shouldn’t be subject to trade secrets and frankly it’s an unethical form of protectionism that even free market economists should be loudly objecting to. Everyone should have the right to know what they are consuming and the fact that these products are literally addictive makes it so much worse.
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Comment on CGA-2026-07 🕹️🔥⚔️ REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals in ~games
Akir Link ParentI don’t think you should refrain from suggesting RPGs. I have been skipping most of the games in CGA and this one actually got me into it! You should also consider that enough people wanted to...I don’t think you should refrain from suggesting RPGs. I have been skipping most of the games in CGA and this one actually got me into it! You should also consider that enough people wanted to play this game that we voted it in.
Maybe in this particular case the game just didn’t meet people’s high expectations. I’d imagine that some may have been expecting a hidden gem to rival Chrono Trigger.
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Comment on CGA-2026-07 🕹️🔥⚔️ REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals in ~games
Akir LinkI didn’t finish unfortunately. I got through what I assume to be about the midpoint of the game after saving the world from the apparent big bad. Lufia II has some great ideas and I think they are...I didn’t finish unfortunately. I got through what I assume to be about the midpoint of the game after saving the world from the apparent big bad.
Lufia II has some great ideas and I think they are generally well implemented but the problem I have with the game is that it is just too mechanical and regimented. While I never felt like I should be spending too much time grinding the overall pattern - going to town, reading some extremely rudimentary dialog, going to a dungeon, rinse and repeat - got incredibly repetitive. The game desperately needed more time with its characters, both in terms of its main party members and the minor ones in town. It was really disappointing to be able to go back to Elcid and hearing all of the NPCs repeat the same dialogue as they did when I first set out! The world has changed just a bit in the entire year I’d been gone! It really illustrated the lack of overall dynamism that even contemporary RPGs were offering. In spite of clearly expending a great deal of budget and effort, it kind of made the game seem like a cut down minimalist gameboy RPG à la SaGa.
I haven't tried to play the original Japanese version (because I likely couldn’t read it), but the localization effort seemed to also be lacking. The default text speed is just a tad too fast, and I wouldn’t want to slow it down simply because the wording is usually awkward in some way and I don’t want to focus on it too much.
But as I mentioned earlier, the mechanics are fantastic. The battles are mercifully short, and even the magic animations are not too long. The game is really well balanced and I’d say combat in general is pretty easy. The puzzles are fairly well designed and don’t feel like they’re “in the way” of the overall experience, and I particularly like being able to shoot monsters in dungeons to walk past them and the challenge of getting them where you want them to be. I’ve got to say though, I really don’t get the capsule monsters. It’s nice to have an extra damage sponge who doesn’t need pampering but they are such a mixed bag and the evolution system is extremely vague and unclear. And what the heck is IP supposed to stand for?
My overall arbitrary rating for this game is a 4.5 out of 10. It’s a mechanically super solid game but it commits the cardinal RPG sin of having a world, characters, and plot which are completely unmemorable. The art and music are very well realized but they don’t stand out much in the echelons of SNES RPGs.
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Comment on What are your favourite fragrances, and why? in ~talk
Akir LinkOrange peel. Particularly mandarin varieties. Honestly, just about any citrus peel. The smell of most fresh cut wood, but pine is the best. Even finished antique wood furnature has a pretty...Orange peel. Particularly mandarin varieties. Honestly, just about any citrus peel.
The smell of most fresh cut wood, but pine is the best. Even finished antique wood furnature has a pretty amazing smell.
Basil. Fresh bread.
…
Oh, you all were talking about commercial fragrances. I don’t particularly care for the vast majority of them; I find them to be kind of… distracting? For the most part I want things to smell like what they are, or the idealized versions of them.
Although I will admit that I love scented candles. The best scents are waaaaay too expensive so I basically just get whatever discount ones I can find that don’t have offensive scents, a disturbingly rare find.
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Comment on Atari makes Universal movie deal for ten iconic game properties in ~movies
Akir Link ParentAFAIK that isn’t a thing anymore. I seem to remember that was a thing the owners of the name were doing before Infogrames bought them and assumed the name for their company.AFAIK that isn’t a thing anymore. I seem to remember that was a thing the owners of the name were doing before Infogrames bought them and assumed the name for their company.
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Comment on Survey: The temperature in my room now is _____ and it feels _____ in ~talk
Akir LinkWhere I work the thermostat is locked at 70°F and I hate it so much because the weather is around 95° or higher. I’m pretty acclimatized to the weather and have gotten used to wearing short...Where I work the thermostat is locked at 70°F and I hate it so much because the weather is around 95° or higher. I’m pretty acclimatized to the weather and have gotten used to wearing short clothes to keep cool, but when the temperature is approaching a 30° difference that’s just plain stupid. I can’t just change into pants when I get there, especially because I’m typically there for just an hour at a time. Even before the summer I had a younger kid I could barely get to focus on his studies because he would be frozen by the cold air coming out of the vents. It’s so incredibly dumb that I was close to doing a rant thread on how air conditioning was a mistake and shouldn’t have been invented.
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Comment on Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO | Teaser PV in ~anime
Akir Link ParentYou are right! I’m sorry for the error. In my defense, it is very trigger-like.You are right! I’m sorry for the error.
In my defense, it is very trigger-like.
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Comment on Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO | Teaser PV in ~anime
Akir Link ParentSeed really seemed like the low point in the franchise. W wasn’t that great IMHO even though it was my entry point into the franchise and even it seemed dramatically better in just about every...Seed really seemed like the low point in the franchise. W wasn’t that great IMHO even though it was my entry point into the franchise and even it seemed dramatically better in just about every way.
One of the most interesting entries is the last one they made, animated by Studio Trigger and set in an alternate history where Zeon won.
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Comment on Mobile Suit Gundam RG XARX-ZERO | Teaser PV in ~anime
Akir Link ParentThere is a video on bamco’s youtube with a native English annnouncer and they pronounce it “Alex”. アレックス Is exactly how I would spell “Alex” in Japanese so I'm choosing to roll with this one. No...There is a video on bamco’s youtube with a native English annnouncer and they pronounce it “Alex”.
アレックス Is exactly how I would spell “Alex” in Japanese so I'm choosing to roll with this one. No idea why the first X is silent but to its credit the logo has that letter hollowed out.
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Comment on Introducing XBOX backward compatibility on PC in ~games
Akir Link ParentOrta is literally the only reason why I bought an Xbox 360 - emulation still wasn’t a thing at the time and I didn’t want a huge console that only output low quality analog video. That and the...Orta is literally the only reason why I bought an Xbox 360 - emulation still wasn’t a thing at the time and I didn’t want a huge console that only output low quality analog video. That and the only version of Deadly Premonition that isn’t completely terrible. There are probably a lot of hidden gems for the console but that was the only one that really mattered to me.
(As a side note it is shocking to me that the consoles with the “best graphics” for 2 generations had such shockingly terrible analog video output. Using the pack in composite cables negated the need for antialiasing because it output a smeared off-color mess.)
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Comment on How has climate change affected your life / plans? in ~enviro
Akir LinkI live in Southern California. I was born in the area and then right before I started to go to school I moved to Las Vegas so I grew up in a desert. My family would regularly take trips back...I live in Southern California.
I was born in the area and then right before I started to go to school I moved to Las Vegas so I grew up in a desert. My family would regularly take trips back “home” to see my grandparents and whenever we did I would get upset because to me California was a lush green paradise, especially compared to the endless flat expanses of dirt that is the valley LV is situated in.
Today it’s full of brown, essentially dead brush. And it’s constantly, literally, on fire. The husband and I have literally had to cancel multiple trips because there were no routes to the destination from fire. The greenery can come back to an extent after heavy rain but that’s not too likely to happen. When it does the truly dead brush will still be brown and grey.
The houses I grew up in and around had not been built for air conditioning, and that wasn’t because they were made before it was a thing, but simply because the climate was temperate year-round. Now the years regularly go over 100°F days in summer and even though I am very inland I have become familiar with the marine layer because it reaches all the way over here and makes things extra humid and miserable.
When people talk about the world changing they usually mean the people around them are changing, or maybe the buildings. But my world literally has changed and it’s not going to go back: it’s actively getting worse. The fact that climate change is not the number one thing on everyone’s mind is a sign of just how sick our society is.
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Comment on What have you been eating, drinking, and cooking? in ~food
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Comment on Avengers: Doomsday | Official trailer in ~movies
Akir Link ParentIt really was surprising that First Steps was good, wasn't it? I feel that a lot of this "phase" of marvel seems to be either creatively neutered or created as a cynical cash grab, but I really...It really was surprising that First Steps was good, wasn't it? I feel that a lot of this "phase" of marvel seems to be either creatively neutered or created as a cynical cash grab, but I really felt like everyone in that movie was well invested into it.
I also found myself really liking Wonder Man, but I highly doubt that Doomsday is going to be an introspective character exploration.
Edit: I actually take this back. There's been good ones. I enjoyed Thunderbolts*.
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Comment on How are you different than you were last week? in ~life
Akir Link ParentThey just appear. It’s a physiological reaction to stress.They just appear. It’s a physiological reaction to stress.
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Comment on How are you different than you were last week? in ~life
Akir LinkI realized I have an issue with anxiety after realizing that the bug bites on the back of my legs were actually welts, which is a thing that happens when I am very stressed.I realized I have an issue with anxiety after realizing that the bug bites on the back of my legs were actually welts, which is a thing that happens when I am very stressed.
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Comment on Guerrilla London Bus ads mock Kylie Jenner’s Meta glasses campaign in ~tech
Akir LinkA couple of weeks ago I went on my favorite roller coaster, Ghostrider, which is the largest and most intimidating one in Knotts Berry Farm. I was in the last row and there was this father...A couple of weeks ago I went on my favorite roller coaster, Ghostrider, which is the largest and most intimidating one in Knotts Berry Farm. I was in the last row and there was this father bringing his daughter on the ride in the row in front of me. It was clear from their conversation that this was going to be her first real “grown up” coaster and her father was bringing her on it to build her confidence. As the train started clinging the big lift hill, she was bawling because she was so afraid of what was happening, but at the end of the ride she was cheering alongside her father. It was the most wholesome thing I’ve ever seen and everyone who was in earshot to hear the story was proud of this little girl.
And then the father said “hey meta, stop recording”.
I had no idea that he was recording. I didn’t even know he was wearing that kind of glasses. I heard just about everything he was saying but I never heard him say anything about beginning the recording and from the back I couldn’t see any indicator LED - and besides that, how would this LED be visible in the bright midday sun if we weren’t in the shade? On one hand I was happy for them for being able to capture such a precious memory, but on the other hand I felt violated even though I was behind them because I didn’t know about the recording whatsoever until it was over. And what was I going to do, ask them to delete the recording?
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Comment on Boycotting palm oil in general is actually bad for the environment in ~enviro
Akir LinkI don’t think this is as simple as palm oil is good or bad. Yes, you are right that you can produce more yield per acre with oil palms, but while some organizations do say that you shouldn’t...I don’t think this is as simple as palm oil is good or bad. Yes, you are right that you can produce more yield per acre with oil palms, but while some organizations do say that you shouldn’t boycott it, there is plenty of disagreement.
In actuality, palm oil is filling the market demand of oil in general, and the problem is that that has been ballooning for decades at this point. If you are concerned about vegetable oil production, your best option is to limit how much you consume in general. But frankly if agricultural land use is a problem for you then the number one thing you should be reducing is meat and animal products, which consume the greatest amount of land and water.
AOL actually predated the internet. It was originally an online network in the same general vein as prodigy and GEnie.