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16 votes
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Scientist cited [by Christopher Rufo to make allegations of plagiarism] in push to oust Harvard’s Claudine Gay has links to eugenicists
10 votes -
Why more PC gaming handhelds should ditch Windows for SteamOS
21 votes -
A tiny radioactive battery could keep your future phone running for fifty years
22 votes -
The young moderators sifting through the internet’s worst horrors
22 votes -
Take the lead // Episode 8: Act I Kickoff - Valorant
5 votes -
To fight absenteeism, US schools turn to private companies
22 votes -
Most essential assets for maps?
So a recurring thing that's come up when discussing ideas for games with friends, or just thinking about ideas: what are the most absolutely essential graphical assets for building a world?...
So a recurring thing that's come up when discussing ideas for games with friends, or just thinking about ideas: what are the most absolutely essential graphical assets for building a world?
Obviously, the answer will vary heavily for each game, but for some types of settings, the basic "starter set" is pretty universal. For example, nearly all house interiors will have a bed, at least one type of table (almost always dining), and at least one type of chair that goes with the table. After those crucial basics usually they'll also have some sort of shelf, a dresser, and kitchen counters and a fridge. Outdoor tilesets in 2D pixel art games typically need grass or other ground tiles, path tiles, water tiles, at least one type of tree, and at least one type of rock. From that point, you can expand to include things like fences, buildings, benches, lampposts, etc.
Trying to figure out a full list of assets needed for any game can be daunting, so I figure I'd ask for input on what you consider the most vital for various types of settings. Starting with the absolute barest necessities for building a basic map (so you can at least plot basic layouts and try to get a sense of the art direction), followed by the most commonly featured items. Could be for individual rooms, specific buildings (like gas stations or restaurants), or specific types of areas (jungles, farms, beaches, etc.).
Side-note: yes, I know you can use placeholder assets. But it's also helpful to just have a general list of what basic items are needed for reference.
7 votes -
Invisible Ink: At the CIA’s creative writing group
17 votes -
American Red Cross declares an emergency blood shortage, as number of donors hits twenty-year low
52 votes -
Why would a track be inverted?
This is probably a niche subject, but here we go. The album version of Protect Ya Neck is censored and I hate how it was done. Luckily we have Protect Ya Neck (The Bloody Version) from the single....
This is probably a niche subject, but here we go. The album version of Protect Ya Neck is censored and I hate how it was done. Luckily we have Protect Ya Neck (The Bloody Version) from the single. I don't like all of this version, so I took my European remaster and edited it all to replace the >drrrrtttt< with the swearing.
Today I got the Music on Vinyl release from 2009 and liked it enough, I figured I'd patch it. When I brought it into Audition I noticed that the audio was inverted.
Is there any reasoning behind this?
12 votes -
‘This has been going on for years.’ Inside Boeing’s manufacturing mess.
28 votes -
Utility by Jack Nicholls - fun sci fi short in which a super powerful future human tries very hard to impress and reassure a 21st century human
52 votes -
What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them?
What have you been playing lately? Discussion about video games and board games are both welcome. Please don't just make a list of titles, give some thoughts about the game(s) as well.
27 votes -
What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga)
What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was...
What have you been watching and reading this week? You don't need to give us a whole essay if you don't want to, but please write something! Feel free to talk about something you saw that was cool, something that was bad, ask for recommendations, or anything else you can think of.
If you want to, feel free to find the thing you're talking about and link to its pages on Anilist, MAL, or any other database you use!
10 votes -
League of Legends season 2024 cinematic
13 votes -
The hidden worlds of Monopoly – From Atlantic City to high fashion to Karl Marx, the most recognizable board game has had serious cultural impact
10 votes -
David O. Russell to direct Linda Ronstadt biopic, starring Selena Gomez
2 votes -
Do you sleep inclined?
20 votes -
Self-taught guitar players: How did you do it? What do you wish you could go back and do differently when you were learning?
I’ve been getting back into guitar playing and trying to have more focused practice when I play each day. I wouldn't call myself a "beginner", but I don't think I'm near the "intermediate" stage...
I’ve been getting back into guitar playing and trying to have more focused practice when I play each day. I wouldn't call myself a "beginner", but I don't think I'm near the "intermediate" stage yet. I know chords and power chords and can transition between them pretty easily. I've been working on figuring out CAGED shapes, but still really struggle with playing scales and "solo-ing"...partly because (1) I have tried exploring music theory and "learning the notes on the fretboard", but it hasn't clicked for me yet, and (2) my fret fingers feel sluggish and don’t seem to move across the fretboard with the ease that I seem to have when switching chords.
That said, I’m feeling pretty discouraged right now. Looking for some “pick me ups”, so to speak. And wanting to learn to play a few songs all the way through so I can feel more confident in my ability to actually play a song. But I don’t really want to get hung up on a difficult “solo” or a bunch of individual fretting stuff yet.
As I thought about making this post, I figured it might be useful to also ask about some "beginner tips" on how to best stay motivated to stick with learning, practicing, and playing the guitar. If I'm going to keep this up, I want to really invest in it and stick with the guitar. Here are some additional questions/thoughts to hopefully trigger a discussion.
Fellow guitarists:
- What has helped you in the past?
- What helped you get over the "discouraging" first steps of guitar playing and keep at it?
- What were some of the first songs you were able to learn to play all the way through?
- How did you learn the notes on the fretboard?
- How did you learn to play different chords all around the neck?
- What would you say to your younger self to help encourage them to continue pushing through the sticking points of guitar?
- What was the "key" to getting guitar playing to "click" in your brain?
Looking forward to seeing what advice fellow players can offer! Everyone's musical journey is different, and I am interested in learning how you learned to get to where you are now!
30 votes -
Is anyone else here completely unable to imagine any faces?
I don't have aphantasia - I can generally imagine things pretty vividly. I also don't have face blindness - I am perfectly able to recognize faces when I see them. I just can't remember any faces....
I don't have aphantasia - I can generally imagine things pretty vividly. I also don't have face blindness - I am perfectly able to recognize faces when I see them.
I just can't remember any faces. And I don't just mean someone I barely know or someone I haven't seen in a while. I can literally be looking at a person who I know really well, but as soon as I turn away, I immediately have zero clue about what they look like. I don't know what my parents look like, or my friends, or even myself. Everything else - the body, the hair - that I can picture just fine.
What's also interesting though is that I can imagine photos of people. So, for example, I have no idea what my face looks like and I can't imagine it, but if there is a photo of myself that I remember, then I can imagine that specific photo in great detail, including my face. But as soon as I change the photo in any way in my imagination, I stop seeing my face again. This also works with other people, not just me.
Does anyone else here experience that?
35 votes -
Portal ported to the Nintendo 64
32 votes -
The US Supreme Court will evaluate the constitutional validity of local ordinances barring homeless from sleeping on streets and sidewalks
35 votes -
Teams bluetooth audio compatibility sucks. What options do I have?
Hey! So I used to be fairly warm to MS Teams but I utterly despise its call handling. I have three Bluetooth audio devices that I used regularly - a set of Edifier earbuds, my expensive Sony...
Hey! So I used to be fairly warm to MS Teams but I utterly despise its call handling. I have three Bluetooth audio devices that I used regularly - a set of Edifier earbuds, my expensive Sony WH-1000XM5 pair, my CX-5 audio, and my Bluebus that integrates into my old BMW's hands free system. All of these work perfectly fine when I call someone via regular-ass phone calls. When I use Teams, all hell breaks loose. The edifiers work perfectly fine, so I know Teams is QUITE capable of handling these all ok. My CX-5 system won't do microphone audio when Android Auto is connected, but works fine on Mazda's infotainment call handling. In my BMW it won't handle the microphone but plays audio. On my Sony pair of headphones, it works great... And then about every ten minutes it disconnects, consistently, so I can't use them.
In theme with the other ongoing thread, nothing gets my gears moving like tech not doing what I'm asking it to. Teams barely has any options on Android for audio, so there isn't much of anything to tweak. Does anyone have any ideas of where to start? Is there something similar to Windows solutions like Virtual Audio Cable which could set up a virtual BT device to pipe audio through and simulate it being something else for Teams? Thanks all!
19 votes -
We might need to say goodbye to the global ‘conveyor belt’ based on free passage through peaceful waters
24 votes -
Singing rock vocals properly
I've been spending a lot of time working on developing my singing voice, and I'm starting to push into a loud, yelling voice at the upper end of my register. It sounds awesome, but it kind of...
I've been spending a lot of time working on developing my singing voice, and I'm starting to push into a loud, yelling voice at the upper end of my register. It sounds awesome, but it kind of hurts and makes me wonder if this sort of thing is sustainable long-term.
Someone like Dave Grohl (great example of the type of vocals I'm trying to emulate) seems to have made a career singing like this, so I'm pretty sure there's a way. I guess I'm mostly wondering if there's any sort of "progression" or way to do it properly vs improperly.
Does it get easier? Will my vocal chords adapt? Mostly I'm just wondering if I can keep doing this without sacrificing vocal range in the future.
12 votes -
Does free will exist? | Sapolsky vs. Huemer debate review
14 votes -
Will US companies hire fewer engineers due to Section 174?
20 votes -
Icelandic scientists are planning to drill two boreholes to a reservoir of liquid rock – world's first tunnel to a magma chamber
16 votes -
Saving the drought stricken Panama Canal will take years and cost billions, if it’s even possible
11 votes -
Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of January 7
Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week! Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle...
Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!
Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”
Rules:
- No grey market sales
- No affiliate links
If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.
All previous Save Point topics
If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add
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to your personal tag filters.16 votes -
UEVR is here! Hype or legit? [it's legit]
10 votes -
In a setback for Beijing, Taiwan elects Lai Ching-te as president
30 votes -
Sourcehut [open source competitor to Github] is being DDoSed
43 votes -
‘We are ready for a war’: Somalia threatens conflict with Ethiopia over breakaway region [the Somaliland deal with Ethiopia]
9 votes -
Erling Haaland has been ruled out of action due to a foot injury – likely to be out until the end of January
4 votes -
Predictions from 2018 reviewed
8 votes -
Finnish presidential frontrunner Alexander Stubb said NATO should become "more European"
14 votes -
What have you been listening to this week?
What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as...
What have you been listening to this week? You don't need to do a 6000 word review if you don't want to, but please write something! If you've just picked up some music, please update on that as well, we'd love to see your hauls :)
Feel free to give recs or discuss anything about each others' listening habits.
You can make a chart if you use last.fm:
http://www.tapmusic.net/lastfm/
Remember that linking directly to your image will update with your future listening, make sure to reupload to somewhere like imgur if you'd like it to remain what you have at the time of posting.
8 votes -
Hertz is selling 20,000 electric vehicles to buy gasoline cars instead
26 votes -
How do you keep up with smaller indie game news?
How do people here keep up with upcoming niche games? Most of the blogs I've followed for this have been abandoned over time and I'm looking for new one(s). Ideally, I'm looking for something...
How do people here keep up with upcoming niche games? Most of the blogs I've followed for this have been abandoned over time and I'm looking for new one(s). Ideally, I'm looking for something that:
- Supports RSS
- Highlights trailers or other creator-made pages showing off lesser-known games
- Focuses on the "hobby itch.io experiment" to "Annapurna / Devolver-published" segment of the Lo-Fi to AAA spectrum (nothing more AAA than that)
- Posts occasional reviews/interviews with games/creators (optionally)
- Has no/little focus on industry-insider news
I'm obviously biased towards "small-web" blogs or forums, but I'd love to hear about however you stay up to date with cool things creators are making!
30 votes -
The future of e-commerce is a product whose name is a boilerplate AI-generated apology
17 votes -
Queen Margrethe II is the first Danish monarch to abdicate in 900 years – but it is just a sign of the times
17 votes -
Is Apple Music on Android good?
So before the question let me add some context: I'm planning to move from iOS to Android, mostly because how difficult is to backup photos from iPhone into my computer. I don't want my photos on...
So before the question let me add some context: I'm planning to move from iOS to Android, mostly because how difficult is to backup photos from iPhone into my computer. I don't want my photos on iCloud so I make my backups copying all the photos and videos into my computer, I currently use Fedora Linux and keep my photo library on digiKam which I think is better than the Apple Photos app for Desktop. It certainly was easier when I used my Macbook for that, but being a Macbook from 2015 the battery is almost dead and I no longer use it.
Recently I saw reviews for Android phones from last year and fell in love with the Asus Zenfone 10, I love small phones and that one looks amazing, but I'm still tied to the Apple ecosystem, and the service that I would miss the most from them is Apple Music. So that is actually the only reason that I'm still using an iPhone, (that and the camera which was pretty amazing back when my iPhone13 was released).
So I'll have several options:
- Keep using iOS and suck it up, maybe even giving up and doing my backups to iCloud (it's 10 years worth of photos and videos).
- Move to android and use Spotify like everyone else. (I really don't want to go back to Spotify so that's the last thing I want to do).
- Use Apple Music for Android. Which I really don't know how good or bad it is. I'm even surprised that there's a version for Android.
- Just have an mp3 library like in the good old days. This is a viable solution since I listen to music almost exclusively by albums and it's easier to download music album by album than song by song. But that also means I'll need to be caring around my music library and making backups of it.
So the question is: have anyone here used Apple Music on Android? Is it good?.
16 votes -
Norway is to allow mining waste to be dumped in its fjords after the government won a court case against environmental organisations trying to block the plan
29 votes -
West Virginia bill would mandate "curing" trans people under 21
47 votes -
New miniature PC's from Minisforum
14 votes -
Iran wins with US airstrikes on Houthis in Yemen
7 votes -
Boeing discovers accountability a little too late
20 votes -
My 3D printed Catan upgrade set is now live
20 votes