Akir's recent activity
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Comment on MKBHD - Glass is glass || Or how the wording "scratch resistant" and "shatter resistant" misleads customers in ~tech
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Comment on MKBHD - Glass is glass || Or how the wording "scratch resistant" and "shatter resistant" misleads customers in ~tech
Akir Link ParentIve always kind of thought glass screens were kind of dumb TBH. I’ve seen so many people with cracked screens, and that practically doesn’t happen with polycarbonate. I’ve never bought a screen...Ive always kind of thought glass screens were kind of dumb TBH. I’ve seen so many people with cracked screens, and that practically doesn’t happen with polycarbonate. I’ve never bought a screen protector myself but as I understand the high end ones are that made with thin layers of that highly scratch resistant glass. It’s literally the best of both worlds.
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Comment on What’s the best 3D-printed thing you have? in ~talk
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Comment on MKBHD - Glass is glass || Or how the wording "scratch resistant" and "shatter resistant" misleads customers in ~tech
Akir Link ParentAnd that is that the idea that the glass on a phone is not significantly becoming more shatter/scratch resistant over time but instead is becoming alternatingly more shatter or scratch resistant....And that is that the idea that the glass on a phone is not significantly becoming more shatter/scratch resistant over time but instead is becoming alternatingly more shatter or scratch resistant.
In other words, marketing is marketing.
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Comment on What’s the best 3D-printed thing you have? in ~talk
Akir LinkWell, probably the printer itself, alongside several modifications that I have built. But other than that, I have two very practical things I use all the time. One is a bracket I use to fix a...Well, probably the printer itself, alongside several modifications that I have built.
But other than that, I have two very practical things I use all the time. One is a bracket I use to fix a broken bed frame. The other is a collapsible laptop stand that I use to hold my laptop up so I can use it in a dual screen setup. It holds it at exactly the perfect height and angle, something that is surprisingly difficult to get in a stand without spending considerably more money than I wanted to (which is anything at all, naturally). There’s also a handful of ultra-customized storage containers and cases.
I also designed my own personal MiSTer arcade setup that integrates an iPad screen, a power supply, and a handful of other goodies into a single package. It has some design flaws that I have been meaning to fix but haven’t gotten around to it because I don’t have enough space to actually use it.
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Comment on Is there a FLAC equivalent for digital comics? in ~comics
Akir LinkI am not aware of an image format that is optimized for comic books. But there are hundreds of different compression algorithms for images so there are probably ones that I am unaware of. To that...I am not aware of an image format that is optimized for comic books. But there are hundreds of different compression algorithms for images so there are probably ones that I am unaware of. To that extent I would consider the most important thing is compatibility with the software and hardware you want to use.
Compression is a bit of an art in and of itself. Producers usually put some care into the way their files are prepared for delivery so if you have legally acquired comic books, the main recommendation is to retain the encoding it already has.
If you are scanning in images yourself, then I would honestly say you’re probably fine using the efficient image compression du jour. HEIC was the big one the last time I checked, WebP was another big one earlier, and the last one I remember reading about was one I can’t remember the name of which used AV1’s compression tech. I heard rumblings of AV2 being in development so maybe there’s a still image format coming out for that too. The real difficulty is figuring out what settings to use for the compression to balance compression and quality. This is an area with no definitive answer, and it varies on a per-image basis if you want the absolute best compression:quality ratio.
If you do want lossless compression and you’re only going to view on displays, then honestly PNG ain’t half bad. I honestly wouldn’t bother with lossless image compression these days unless you are dealing with low resolutions where pixel precision is necessary. For example, I can’t stand looking at Octopath Traveller Zero (on Switch 2 at least) because of the compression ruining the pixel aesthetic. It’s a noisy mess. For any image stored in a greater resolution than your average display, lossy compression is more than adequate and newer encoding techniques are massive improvements over the JPEGs of our youth.
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Comment on How US doctors cashed in on the No Surprises Act in ~health
Akir Link ParentSo let me get this straight: arbitration is good because it is not as long and expensive as a court battle, but at the same time it’s expensive enough to kill the concept of in- and out-network...So let me get this straight: arbitration is good because it is not as long and expensive as a court battle, but at the same time it’s expensive enough to kill the concept of in- and out-network expenses? How does that work?
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Comment on How US doctors cashed in on the No Surprises Act in ~health
Akir Link ParentThis entire line of logic relies on trust on both the arbitration process and the arbitation providers to the same or better standard as we do government, which is a huge leap.This entire line of logic relies on trust on both the arbitration process and the arbitation providers to the same or better standard as we do government, which is a huge leap.
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Comment on How US doctors cashed in on the No Surprises Act in ~health
Akir LinkThe government being implicit in arbitration schemes is, in my view, the single most corrupt thing it has ever done. Arbitration is a waiver of your civil rights. You are put into a situation...The government being implicit in arbitration schemes is, in my view, the single most corrupt thing it has ever done. Arbitration is a waiver of your civil rights. You are put into a situation where you get into a mocking simulacra of a court situation where your chances of winning are actually lower but the penalties are real and damaging and thanks to the morons in charge they are legally binding. Instead of making laws legitimizing the practice they should be outlawing it and spending money giving the courts the resources they need to actually do the things they are built for.
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Comment on Booting Mac OSX on a Nintendo Wii in ~tech
Akir LinkI watched this earlier today. It's strange that I was so amazed that this port happened that I didn't even consider that none of the device drivers would work - no accellerated graphics, no sound,...I watched this earlier today.
It's strange that I was so amazed that this port happened that I didn't even consider that none of the device drivers would work - no accellerated graphics, no sound, and no networking either. Too bad or it would have been an incredible "fantasy Mac Mini".
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Comment on China calls for ‘concerted’ efforts to tackle excess solar production in ~enviro
Akir Link ParentThat actually reminds me a lot of a random video essay I came across on building society on the concept of a "library of everything".That actually reminds me a lot of a random video essay I came across on building society on the concept of a "library of everything".
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Comment on China calls for ‘concerted’ efforts to tackle excess solar production in ~enviro
Akir LinkWow, this is the worst cookie banner I’ve ever seen. It’s the first time I’ve been prompted not only to click into another confusing form to tell them to fuck off, but then they have an additional...Wow, this is the worst cookie banner I’ve ever seen. It’s the first time I’ve been prompted not only to click into another confusing form to tell them to fuck off, but then they have an additional opt-out form to fill off which necessarily means providing them with even more PII.
The words for how I feel about this and the people who made these decisions aren’t appropriate for tildes.
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Comment on Control Ultimate Edition released for iOS and iPadOS in ~games
Akir Link ParentThere are modern cellphone games that are, from a technical and financial perspective, AAA games. Hoyo’s offerings like Zenless Zone Zero and Genshin Impact come to mind.There are modern cellphone games that are, from a technical and financial perspective, AAA games. Hoyo’s offerings like Zenless Zone Zero and Genshin Impact come to mind.
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Comment on The powerhouse of American citrus is suffering a brutal, unrelenting decline in ~food
Akir Link ParentYou have very badly misread what I had written. I am saying that it hurts me to know that the good people of Florida are being hurt. The people I am vindictive towards are the people who voted in...You have very badly misread what I had written. I am saying that it hurts me to know that the good people of Florida are being hurt. The people I am vindictive towards are the people who voted in the bad times, who I very much don’t think of as good people. The bad people deserve all the misery they have sewed.
The orange thing was partially in jest but in reality the vast majority of oranges grown in Florida are Valencia oranges, which are used nearly exclusively for juicing. AFAIK California also has some Valencia groves, but they are just not a very good breed of orange IMHO. They go bad very quickly, which is part of why they are grown for juice to begin with, and my memories of eating them have me remarking how bitter the flesh itself was.
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Comment on What is watts, volts and amps? in ~science
Akir LinkIf I may take the wider perspective, I wonder how long it will be until AI completely supplants this kind of post? I’ve been using Claude to cram quiz questions and explain difficult concepts and...If I may take the wider perspective, I wonder how long it will be until AI completely supplants this kind of post? I’ve been using Claude to cram quiz questions and explain difficult concepts and it’s been going pretty well I think. It’s one of those things that is easy to forget that everyone isn’t doing after a while.
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Comment on I found it: the best free restaurant bread in America (gifted link) in ~food
Akir LinkI know some people might find this kind of article whimsical, but when it came to the point they were regaling me about the stories about asking celebrities about bread I kind of had to nope out...I know some people might find this kind of article whimsical, but when it came to the point they were regaling me about the stories about asking celebrities about bread I kind of had to nope out because of just how unhinged the author started to sound. I kept getting the feeling of visiting an insane assylum and being locked in with someone who could only talk to you about dinosaurs, being desperate for them to talk about anything else or to shut up but they are so passionate about it you fear they will attack you if you try to stop them.
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Comment on The powerhouse of American citrus is suffering a brutal, unrelenting decline in ~food
Akir LinkI’m going to organize my thoughts in most to least positive. This is some fantastic journalism. It’s great that they put so much effort into making the big picture fleshed out. This might end up...I’m going to organize my thoughts in most to least positive.
This is some fantastic journalism. It’s great that they put so much effort into making the big picture fleshed out.
This might end up slightly good for public health. The oranges they grow in Florida are meant to make juice with and juice is really bad for your health because it gets rid of the important fiber from the fruit and usually some of the vitamins as well; it’s basically a sugar bomb made worse because it is in liquid form and could be worse than soda in that respect, especially considering healthwashing. Furthermore the kind of things being sold as juice isn’t really “juice” anymore, it’s a mad scientist concoction made from oranges rather than of oranges.
As a Californian I hope the US realizes that California is the true citrus king; we make the eating oranges that people love. Nothing is better than a fresh local mandarin in my book.
Florida has some truly awful politics, and as a queer person I really don’t appreciate their attempts to erase my existence. They have the most comically exaggerated caricature of an evil conniving governor as I have ever seen. As much as I hate how negative things like this are going to hurt people I legitimately care about who live there, the government and the people who voted for it absolutely deserve every single bad thing that happens to it.
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Comment on Have you played with bubbles recently? in ~talk
Akir Link ParentIt took me a very long time of me pondering why these children are in super tall ECVs for your me to get your meaning.It took me a very long time of me pondering why these children are in super tall ECVs for your me to get your meaning.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #1: How old are you? in ~talk
Akir Link ParentReposte: I am younger than you, and I am old. Therefore you must be old.Reposte: I am younger than you, and I am old. Therefore you must be old.
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Comment on Do I need dating apps? (same-sex, a bit of ace) in ~life
Akir Link ParentI’ve actually come to disagree with being the best version of yourself. YMMV, of course; but I have realized that showing your flaws upfront does a lot to filter out the noise and time wasters.I’ve actually come to disagree with being the best version of yourself. YMMV, of course; but I have realized that showing your flaws upfront does a lot to filter out the noise and time wasters.
Great plastic designs can be incredible. Cassio’s calculators, for instance, have incredible case designs that I’m frankly not sure how they managed to manufacture them with the combination of overhangs and fine details. And that was on a device that cost maybe $20!