darreninthenet's recent activity

  1. Comment on If you had up to US$250 to get one person into a hobby you're interested in, what would you do to get them started? in ~hobbies

    darreninthenet
    Link Parent
    Great, thank you for that will download and have a play around! I've never composed or made any music but I did do a little piano when I was a kid so I'm familiar with musical notation etc I'll...

    Great, thank you for that will download and have a play around!

    I've never composed or made any music but I did do a little piano when I was a kid so I'm familiar with musical notation etc

    I'll probably ask more questions in the future as I get stuck or learn more of the rabbit hole 🤪

    1 vote

  2. Comment on If you had up to US$250 to get one person into a hobby you're interested in, what would you do to get them started? in ~hobbies

    darreninthenet
    Link Parent
    What an awesome answer... makes me want to give it a go! Taking OPs question literally ("starting from scratch") would you recommend this approach for somebody who's never done any music...

    What an awesome answer... makes me want to give it a go!

    Taking OPs question literally ("starting from scratch") would you recommend this approach for somebody who's never done any music production or composition and fancies giving it a go?

  3. Comment on 'The Marvels' ends box office run as lowest-grossing MCU movie in history in ~movies

    darreninthenet
    Link Parent
    I've not seen it yet, what were its issues please?

    I've not seen it yet, what were its issues please?

    2 votes

  4. Comment on What are your top three video game soundtracks? in ~games

    darreninthenet
    Link
    It seems to have been forgotten by many but the Age of Conan soundtrack was awesome and IIRC won a music industry award.

    It seems to have been forgotten by many but the Age of Conan soundtrack was awesome and IIRC won a music industry award.

    1 vote

  5. Comment on GPT-4 understands in ~tech

  6. Comment on GPT-4 understands in ~tech

    darreninthenet
    Link Parent
    How would you say Claude compares in terms of features and capabilities? Is ChatGPT noticeably better but just not worth the cost (to you) or is it better at some things and ChatGPT better at others?

    How would you say Claude compares in terms of features and capabilities? Is ChatGPT noticeably better but just not worth the cost (to you) or is it better at some things and ChatGPT better at others?

    2 votes

  7. Comment on Introducing Surfboard for Tildes in ~tildes

  8. Comment on Which character from a story has impacted you most significantly, and why? in ~talk

    darreninthenet
    Link
    My wife and I watched the play of A Little Life a few days ago (it was a cinema screening of the play). She's read the book beforehand, I hadn't. It was three and a half hours of watching somebody...

    My wife and I watched the play of A Little Life a few days ago (it was a cinema screening of the play). She's read the book beforehand, I hadn't.

    It was three and a half hours of watching somebody circle a drain after they spent their entire life from 8 years old being heavily abused and then destroying everything that was good in their life because of that abuse and when finally it started working out, other shit turned up that destroyed the rest of it.

    The character of Jude St. Francis will stay with me for a few more weeks I reckon.

    My wife and I discussed it afterwards - at least when reading 800+ page book you put it down and reflect and recover between reading sessions. Watching the play was just watching non-stop trauma being inflicted on somebody and was exahausting and harrowing.

    By the way, it was fantastically acted and produced and I would recommend it to anyone who won't have issues with the obvious trigger warnings. Just be prepared to only want to watch the Disney channel for a few weeks afterwards, or maybe cool off with something less disturbing like The Exorcist or Clockwork Orange afterwards 😮‍💨

    2 votes

  9. Comment on What game, in your opinion, has the best graphics? in ~games

    darreninthenet
    Link
    Others have mentioned Cyberpunk 2077 with it's amazing fidelity and light tracing but I'm amazed nobody's mentioned the quality of the facial and body animations, they are incredibly realistic in...

    Others have mentioned Cyberpunk 2077 with it's amazing fidelity and light tracing but I'm amazed nobody's mentioned the quality of the facial and body animations, they are incredibly realistic in terms of reading facial expressions and body language.

    1 vote

  10. Comment on Yes, you can measure software developer productivity in ~tech

    darreninthenet
    Link Parent
    Although it doesn't measure the 3-4 hours I sat with a notebook and pen where-the-fuck-I-like planning and brainstorming the next project 🤦🏻‍♂️

    Although it doesn't measure the 3-4 hours I sat with a notebook and pen where-the-fuck-I-like planning and brainstorming the next project 🤦🏻‍♂️

    6 votes

  11. Comment on What’s in your go bag for the apocalypse? in ~life

  12. Comment on What’s in your go bag for the apocalypse? in ~life

    darreninthenet
    Link Parent
    How do you keep the water potable?

    How do you keep the water potable?

    4 votes

  13. Comment on Unlimited Kagi searches for $10 per month in ~tech

    darreninthenet
    Link Parent
    You mean racist right wing tabloid

    You mean racist right wing tabloid

    6 votes

  14. Comment on How often do you brush your teeth? in ~life

    darreninthenet
    Link Parent
    There are other ways of sorting bad breath if it's an issue though

    There are other ways of sorting bad breath if it's an issue though

    2 votes

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

    darreninthenet
    Link Parent
    The development studio for that game was setup by ex-Blizzard (from when they were good) WoW devs.

    The development studio for that game was setup by ex-Blizzard (from when they were good) WoW devs.

  16. Comment on Bringing back the minimal web in ~tech

    darreninthenet
    Link Parent
    I think that's driven by a need to survive - each generation seems to have a tougher time financially whilst the world around them gets technologically and scientifically more advanced, and those...

    I think that's driven by a need to survive - each generation seems to have a tougher time financially whilst the world around them gets technologically and scientifically more advanced, and those with money get wealthier. A gen-z (or really any post-boomer generation) born into a family with a reasonable amount of money will do just fine but the rest largely struggle and are left fighting for scraps - it would take a hugely strong willed personality to not become selfish in that situation, and it would take a strong willed personality with charisma to bring everyone else along for that ride and break the cycle.

    I just don't see that happening with the control over the media preventing such a charismatic individual from becoming known.

    3 votes

  17. Comment on Ozempic cuts alcohol cravings. Liquor companies aren’t ready. in ~health

    darreninthenet
    Link Parent
    I wish they would do that here in the UK - my wife can't get the normal dose of her diabetes medication because it's being sucked up by people wanting a quick and easy weight loss pill, so she's...

    I wish they would do that here in the UK - my wife can't get the normal dose of her diabetes medication because it's being sucked up by people wanting a quick and easy weight loss pill, so she's having to take a lower dose for now and watching her blood sugars remain higher than they should be 🤬

    It's only available on prescription here as well - the government just needs to say "no more off label prescribing until the supply issues are sorted"

    11 votes

  18. Comment on A British Columbia study gave fifty homeless people $7,500 each. Here's what they spent it on. in ~finance

    darreninthenet
    Link
    I'm not convinced of the value of this study: "we set out to see if homeless people really would spend free cash on drugs and alcohol" "we excluded all addicts and alcoholics" 🤔
    • Exemplary

    I'm not convinced of the value of this study:

    • "we set out to see if homeless people really would spend free cash on drugs and alcohol"

    • "we excluded all addicts and alcoholics"

    🤔

    38 votes

  19. Comment on USENET, the OG social network, rises again like a text-only phoenix in ~tech

    darreninthenet
    Link Parent
    One of the most popular Windows UseNet clients was Forte Agent (which had a free version back then called Free Agent) - it's still being updated and sold today!

    One of the most popular Windows UseNet clients was Forte Agent (which had a free version back then called Free Agent) - it's still being updated and sold today!

    2 votes

  20. Comment on Young climate activist tells Greenpeace to drop ‘old-fashioned’ anti-nuclear stance in ~enviro

    darreninthenet
    Link Parent
    Even the original founder of Greenpeace is pro-nuclear. Actually, might be Friends of the Earth... but it's definitely one of them 🤦🏻‍♂️

    Even the original founder of Greenpeace is pro-nuclear.

    Actually, might be Friends of the Earth... but it's definitely one of them 🤦🏻‍♂️

    3 votes