V17's recent activity
-
Comment on Winamp has announced that it is opening up its source code to enable collaborative development of its legendary player for Windows in ~tech
-
Comment on Some observations about some of the conversations here in ~tildes
V17 LinkI've gone against the common opinion and if I haven't defended the status quo, it's just a matter of time till I do, so this might as well be about me. The reason why I do that here is not because...I've gone against the common opinion and if I haven't defended the status quo, it's just a matter of time till I do, so this might as well be about me. The reason why I do that here is not because I have to go against the grain, play devil's advocate or some other metareason, but because those are my actual opinions that I think are well reasoned, and because as opposed to reddit it's often actually possible to have those discussions here. That is one of the main reasons why I use this platform.
-
Comment on Generative AI for Krita in ~tech
V17 Link ParentI don't know about this specific implementation, it depends on the resolution it's generating, what else needs to be running etc., but for bare SD 1.5 and SDXL (what the plugin uses) 8 GB is enough.8 GB of memory probably isn't enough?
I don't know about this specific implementation, it depends on the resolution it's generating, what else needs to be running etc., but for bare SD 1.5 and SDXL (what the plugin uses) 8 GB is enough.
-
Comment on New NASA black hole visualization takes viewers beyond the brink in ~space
V17 LinkI am aware that this is going to sound improbable, but bear with me. I'm a member of a private czech discussion board that's been running for 20+ years, and there's a physicist who I don't even...I am aware that this is going to sound improbable, but bear with me.
I'm a member of a private czech discussion board that's been running for 20+ years, and there's a physicist who I don't even know anything about apart from seeing his work and repeatedly reading his (short) rants about artificially denoised and sharpened astrophotography.
And one of the projects that he's been working on for I think at least three years now is blackhole visualization of a very similar type that is in the Nasa video. He's been gradually sharing progress pics and short videos and posting briefly about repeatedly checking that the physics actually check out.
Well, the point of all that is that according to him the 360° visualization linked in this post, despite being endorsed by NASA, is not actually very accurate. It lacks redshift (gravitational and dopplerian), which may be on purpose to make it look clearer, and it lacks beaming, which apparently is simply incorrect. Apparently these problems are relatively common, with some of the earlier physics visualizations of black holes that came out years ago supposedly containing the same bugs that his physics simulation had at one point and later corrected.
This is one of the outputs of his program that he claims is physically correct.
I do realize that there is no way to verify any of this if you're not an astrophysicist yourself, so do whatever you want with it. I just thought it was interesting.
-
Comment on Macklemore - Hind's Hall (2024) in ~music
V17 Link ParentI know there's always a lot of annoying hysteria about these following elections being the most important elections ever, but it's not really about pretense, it's about acknowledging the...I know there's always a lot of annoying hysteria about these following elections being the most important elections ever, but it's not really about pretense, it's about acknowledging the consequences of the vote and making the decision accordingly.
In my opinion specifically presidential elections offer some of the worst tradeoffs between a possible effect on the popularity of a third party or the popularity of third-party political opinions, and the effect of objectively helping the worse of two evils by voting for someone who doesn't stand a chance.
-
Comment on NHS is broken - also, did my Pa have a stroke? in ~talk
V17 Link ParentFrom what I've read about this - and I'm not from the UK but from a different country which might be heading this way in the next 10-15 years, which is where my interest came from - the main issue...Many will chime in "Oh. That's a Tory government causing this!" but it really feels like a management and workflow issue. A simple workflow assigned to each patient with treatment and timing path would really free up nurses who seem to be bumbling along and missing basic things.
The NHS are great and very overworked/under paid but it just looks very unprofessional too.
From what I've read about this - and I'm not from the UK but from a different country which might be heading this way in the next 10-15 years, which is where my interest came from - the main issue is aging population gradually but rather significantly increasing the strain on the healthcare system, and literally every government just ignoring this main issue and kicking it down to the next one until it was too late to do anything.
There was enough time to do something, but nobody did, and now it's going to be bad for some time before it gets better because the problem with aging population is very likely going to keep getting worse over the next decade or two. I'm sure there are gaps in efficiency, but there is no way they will be enough to solve it.
I see some hope in interventions focused on reducing parts of the workload that are not spend on patients, like using AI to record speech to text and use it to do paperwork (there's an article linked on Tildes about it right now, it seems to be working well so far), or just hiring more non-medical assistants. But I don't know of any other quick solution.
-
Comment on ‘Escape From Tarkov’ fans are outraged at new $250 pay-to-win edition in ~games
V17 Link ParentIt's a different game, but if someone's looking for a fresh take on a similar formula in singleplayer, Stalker Anomaly: GAMMA is a modern Stalker conversion with heavy survival milsim elements,...I have heard there's a mod that allows you play single player and doesn't wipe your progress. Essentially turning the game into PvE. My friends who are still interested in the game told me it's the only way they play nowadays.
It's a different game, but if someone's looking for a fresh take on a similar formula in singleplayer, Stalker Anomaly: GAMMA is a modern Stalker conversion with heavy survival milsim elements, inspired by Tarkov. It adds realistic guns, crafting, scavenging is the main gameloop, and it shifts the focus away from the story and horror elements of the original game. So it's quite far from OG Stalker. But it still has mutants and anomalies. I think it's the best free survival shooter game there is.
-
Comment on Is there an intuitive (but powerful) music thingie? in ~music
V17 Link ParentReaper is not a tracker, reaper is a standard linear DAW that is quite surprisingly deep and flexible for how cheap it is. It's a great one. Getting something like Ableton's performance mode (or...There are other DAWs out there like Cubase and Reaper but with Cubase it's something youths talk about and I don't know about them, and Reaper is a tracker and I've said enough about them (but can you really say enough about them)?
Reaper is not a tracker, reaper is a standard linear DAW that is quite surprisingly deep and flexible for how cheap it is. It's a great one. Getting something like Ableton's performance mode (or how it's called) is only possible with user scripts though, not really made for that. Perhaps you meant to say Renoise (which is also awesome)?
What you say about Cubase is funny because in my mind it's a classic DAW that was popular when I was a kid and is mostly used by pros. Apparently still really good and deep, but again meant more for standard linear work (recording in a studio or composing).
Some unsolicited advice:
Stay way from modular/eurorack. It's a hobby for drooling idiots like myself.Signing this. It's one of the best toys ever made, but when you do realize that it really is just a toy for most people, it's expensive as hell. There is merit in doing things physically to get a different source of inspiration, but few people seem to really be able to use that benefit to create or perform music they wouldn't be able to with different, cheaper tools.
Every time I see a young dude with just a modular about to perform somewhere, I expect it to be shit, and most of the time it is.
-
Comment on Looking for help scraping and deleting a Reddit account in ~comp
V17 Link ParentJust adding that these scripts never worked for me very well, so do check the results. They did edit/delete most comments, but never managed to go back far enough and even before that time cutoff...As for deleting, there's scripts available you can add as a bookmark and then run - it'll overwrite all your posts and comments for you (and can delete them after). You want your stuff overwritten because reddit has a nasty habit of un-deleting mass-deleted stuff. If you overwrite your stuff first though and then delete it then if reddit restores anything it'll just be the overwritten stuff. Here's the link: Power Delete Suite (make sure you read the instructions thoroughly!!)
Edit: Minty's will work as well but Power Delete Suite is a lot easier to use, so I'd recommend that if you're not super comfortable with coding; For PDS just copy and paste some stuff as described in the instructions on github :)
Just adding that these scripts never worked for me very well, so do check the results. They did edit/delete most comments, but never managed to go back far enough and even before that time cutoff left out some comments (and posts) here and there for unknown reasons even with repeated attempts. I had to use some python script (maybe what Minty linked below, don't remember) which then worked with no issues.
No problems with reddit undeleting anything though, iirc that may have been a false alert due to the fact that you cannot see and access your own comments from subreddits that are set to private and you have no access to, which was happening all the time during the blackout, and as the subreddits gradually became public again, your comments made there suddenly reappeared.
-
Comment on Kingdom Come: Deliverance II -- coming 2024 in ~games
V17 LinkI'm actually kind of disappointed by the trailer. One of the things I liked about the first game was how nice and even welcoming the whole world felt - despite some of the brutal things that...I'm actually kind of disappointed by the trailer. One of the things I liked about the first game was how nice and even welcoming the whole world felt - despite some of the brutal things that happened around you, the eternal summer, colorful clothes and many friendly NPCs made it feel like you're on a summer vacation adventure.
This shift in tone is not something I wanted from the game, and Vávra seemed to confirm that it's not just the trailer: "The story and plot of KCD has evolved—it’s darker, deeper, and more cinematic, yet also crueler with pivotal decisions and plot twists that challenge the players’s conscience. Nevertheless, it retains its humor and down-to-earth approach."
More cinematic also often means more mainstream-oriented and streamlined, which would be another big negative for me. I still expect it to be very good and very likely will buy it, but not on release, before I know the details.
-
Comment on Palestinian Relief Bundle — 373 games for $8 (save 99%) in ~games
V17 LinkI'm not going to post a list of recommended games, but a list of silly sounding games. It's not as ridiculous as with a tabletop bundle some time ago, but there are still some funny names and...I'm not going to post a list of recommended games, but a list of silly sounding games. It's not as ridiculous as with a tabletop bundle some time ago, but there are still some funny names and blurbs:
EXTREME MEATPUNKS FOREVER: BOUND BY ASH: Gay disaster mech pilots killing fascists, Season 2
HRT Simulator 2023: SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS SHOTS
An Outcry: Harass your neighbours. Debate with birds. Smoke to survive.
YOU ARE A WIZARD: A game where you're a dang ol wizard!!!!!
Lore Distance Relationship: Welcome to the 2000s.
Interactivity: The Interactive Experience: Please enjoy this interactive exhibition. But not The Button.
THE MILK IS SOUR: a glimpse into a future
My Strange Plane is a Thing Body Moves Through: Walk among weird objects in a weird place and hear them talk. -
Comment on The internet used to be ✨fun✨ in ~tech
V17 Link ParentA good tip, thanks! I'll look into it if I have the time.A good tip, thanks! I'll look into it if I have the time.
-
Comment on The internet used to be ✨fun✨ in ~tech
V17 Link ParentWall of text for those who haven't heard this story, because it's almost mindblowing for me. It's like watching indirect everyday reports of somebody's mental health in real time. The original...Wall of text for those who haven't heard this story, because it's almost mindblowing for me. It's like watching indirect everyday reports of somebody's mental health in real time.
The original Sinfest used to be basically a playful, lighthearted webcomic that often made fun of relationships, sex and various religions in a relatively non-aggressive way.
Then something happened and the author suddenly became a stereotypical "feminazi", around the time when aggressive online "feminism" was reaching its peak. All playfulness and subtlety vanished and were replaced with sometimes straight up calling men inferior or evil, sometimes with metaphors on the level of a woman standing inside falling code from The Matrix that says subtle words like PATRIARCHY. The author also became hostile towards his fans who were not happy about this.
Then something else happened and he switched from hating men and patriarchy to being a stereotypically far-right populist hateful. So now you have admiration towards tradwife-like values and hate towards transsexualism and any sexualization of anything in general, and seeing those as firstly one and the same and secondly an attempt to brainwash the population from either the government or some secret cabal.
The one connecting point of those two was being staunchly anti-porn and sex-negative in general (and obviously hateful, though that increased as well), otherwise it was like two flicks of a lightswitch. Nowadays he added antisemitism to the mix, for obvious reasons.
Various articles were written about this in the webcomic fandom over the two+ decades. The only thing that gives any hints about what could have possibly happened is that he seems to be a dude who spent his entire life drawing a comic that has to come out every day, and yet he never really became successful, so he kind of scraped by until he realized that it's not going to happen and perhaps thought it was too late to change careers, so he became a hateful shut-in. And those two ideological changes are just a way to channel that bitterness that he found in online communities. But who knows.
At one point I decided to write a script that would download all of his comics, run them through OCR and do simple statistics on the words used, to identify the points of ideological change. But I quickly realized that the overwhelming majority of words used were non ideological and I'd have to filter out the relevant ones by hand, which is firstly a lot of work and secondly not trivial to do without introducing my own biases. But I may try to finish it in the future.
-
Comment on NPR suspends veteran editor as it grapples with his public criticism in ~news
V17 Link ParentI agree with this, though from my side of the ocean it seems that american right wing media are too tolerant of hateful right-wing opinions whereas left wing media are too uncritical of dumb ideas...However not all ideas/views should be given equal treatment nor should they be assumed to be of any inherent quality simply because a particular type of person holds them. Ideas should be considered on their own merit alone and some ideas have none.
For example, if someone is anti-LGBTQ, I have zero need to include their perspectives in the name of diversity.
I agree with this, though from my side of the ocean it seems that american right wing media are too tolerant of hateful right-wing opinions whereas left wing media are too uncritical of dumb ideas expressed by members of marginalized groups, which is also wrong. Nevertheless, I am not saying that all ideas are equal.
They are tied together in some ways sure, in that by focusing on real diversity of race, orientation, gender, etc you will get varied perspectives.
There are two issues with this. Firstly if you limit diversity only to selected individual traits, you limit the diversity of opinions quite a bit. A black gay woman from California and a white heterosexual man from California have significantly more similar life experiences to each other than either has to a white heterosexual man from rural Appalachia. Some sociologists would also argue that for a majority of people their political affiliation is about as unchangeable as their sexual orientation, though I never bothered to check how legitimate some of that research is.
Secondly, excluding truly unacceptable opinions is the logical thing to do, but what seems to usually happen is that people throw out the baby with the bathwater and decide that nearly half of the US population is evil or stupid. Not only is it not true, it's making the political division in society worse. The way I understand the original article of the NPR editor, this is a big part of his problem.
-
Comment on NPR suspends veteran editor as it grapples with his public criticism in ~news
V17 Link ParentHonestly I find this really weird because I think it's the other way around. When ignoring the possible benefits for the individuals (giving a job to someone who might otherwise be discriminated...Separately, equating diversity of inherent traits (race, orientation, etc) to diversity of worldviews/ideas/opinions/viewpoints (choices) I think is pretty flawed.
The former are not chosen. The latter do not need to be given the same default weight or respect or pursuit of "diversity"
Honestly I find this really weird because I think it's the other way around. When ignoring the possible benefits for the individuals (giving a job to someone who might otherwise be discriminated against), what is the benefit of any kind of diversity if not diversity of opinions? Is that not the goal?
-
Comment on Ukrainians contemplate the once unthinkable: Losing the war with Russia in ~misc
V17 Link ParentThe problem with this is that the US absolutely will face consequences, it will just take more time. US economy and geopolitical position require Europe to be stable and to see US as its most...Again, it's a matter of practical interest. If Ukraine was in NATO, it would be a different story, but as is, the US providing military aid is no different than the US providing aid to the regime it propped up in Afghanistan. It's subject to the whims of politics because it's in the end, not something needed, nor promised - it's just part of the foreign policy machinations of the current administration.
The US will never face direct consequences from Russian aggression, aid from it will always be unstable, because its populace will never have non-existential foreign policy ambitions as their number one priority (in fact, it's about as low as it gets on American voter's priority list).
The problem with this is that the US absolutely will face consequences, it will just take more time. US economy and geopolitical position require Europe to be stable and to see US as its most important and reliable partner. Isolationism may be "fair", but it absolutely will make the US worse off in the medium term.
We would greatly prefer if mainstream political opinions realized and reflected this instead of having to go through the motions and seeing the consequences play out in real life because fixing what's broken always takes more time and makes everyone (hopefully temporarily) worse off.
-
Comment on Ukrainians contemplate the once unthinkable: Losing the war with Russia in ~misc
V17 Link ParentNot exactly important, but I think you're underestimating the size of Ukraine here a bit, heh. Half a day's train ride is still eastern Europe, and we've been trying to help, but we don't have the...The backbone of Ukrainian support should be the countries who are literally half a day's train ride away from Putin's soliders.
Not exactly important, but I think you're underestimating the size of Ukraine here a bit, heh. Half a day's train ride is still eastern Europe, and we've been trying to help, but we don't have the cash. By percentage of GDP our contributions have been acceptable imo, and I'm quite proud of our recent actions, namely finding a source of over 1 mil pieces of artillery ammunition and acting as a middleman in their purchase.
It is absolutely true that at least some countries in western Europe do not seem to understand the gravity of the situation at all though.
There’s been a lot of incorrect expectations - that the sanctions would cripple Russia, that the people would rise up against Putin, that Ukraine would have the strength against an incompetent and ill equipped Russia to at least reclaim their territory up to crimea.
These seem like beliefs of the public based on dubious evidence, not beliefs of analysts or people in charge. The effect of sanctions was weaker than hoped, but it's still important. Russians rising up against Putin was naive nonsense from the beginning (plus the alternatives to Putin are hardly better) and while people believed and believe that Ukraine may reclaim its territory, at no point was it considered a highly probable option.
-
Comment on Can noise canceling headphones be effective against non continuous noise such as music? in ~tech
V17 Link ParentI can't speak for headphones, but as someone who knows a bit about sound reproduction (I've designed and built loudspeakers commercially for a bit), their loudspeaker reviews are often completely...I can't speak for headphones, but as someone who knows a bit about sound reproduction (I've designed and built loudspeakers commercially for a bit), their loudspeaker reviews are often completely useless and at odds with measurable facts, so personally I'd be careful when heeding their recommendations regarding headphones as well.
I do take that as a sign that Bose might have innovated as well and my information is outdated, that is quite possible, but don't take What Hifi's word for it.
-
Comment on Can noise canceling headphones be effective against non continuous noise such as music? in ~tech
V17 Link ParentThis used to be the case years ago, but afaik they did not manage to innovate as well as Sony for example, so at the least I don't think the difference is as clear now.From everything I've read, Bose are the best for noise cancelling if that's your main goal. My priorities are sound quality though.
This used to be the case years ago, but afaik they did not manage to innovate as well as Sony for example, so at the least I don't think the difference is as clear now.
-
Comment on Can noise canceling headphones be effective against non continuous noise such as music? in ~tech
V17 Link ParentSpecifically with earmuffs (OP's situation) this is incorrect. Earmuffs are very bad at attenuating bass and well made active noise cancelling is pretty good at it. I don't have a specific...Active noise-cancelling is never going to be better than very good passive noise-cancelling.
Specifically with earmuffs (OP's situation) this is incorrect. Earmuffs are very bad at attenuating bass and well made active noise cancelling is pretty good at it. I don't have a specific comparison, so I'm not saying noise cancelling is objectively better (they work differently, so it's tough to compare or measure) or which one is cheaper, but when dealing with bass I'm pretty sure there are situations where active noise cancelling is going to be more practical and also more comfortable.
I do really like it when older projects are preserved by making them open source. And I used to love Winamp 2.xx as a kid and teenager.
But then I found Foobar2000, which does everything that winamp does and more with the exception of skins (it is theoretically heavily skinable, but almost nobody really cares about that anymore,) and visualizations (though it may still be possible to use milkdrop, it used to be). It's just as fast, completely free, new features are still being added and it has a large repository of user-made extensions. It's one of those killer apps that made me completely stop caring about the existence of any alternatives.
I also remember that people who wanted a Winamp-like with more modern features were pretty happy with Aimp (though disclaimer: it's proprietary russian freeware and I've never tried it).
So, while undoubtedly good, I don't see this having any significant impact.