0x29A's recent activity
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Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
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Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
0x29A Link ParentOh wow, I had no idea they were even still around. I found them on late night Christian rock radio back in my religious days when I was a kid and taped the song Ranch On Mars Pt. 2 off the radio.Galactic Cowboys
Oh wow, I had no idea they were even still around. I found them on late night Christian rock radio back in my religious days when I was a kid and taped the song Ranch On Mars Pt. 2 off the radio.
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Comment on Master Boot Record - Computer Metal (2026) in ~music
0x29A Link ParentKeygen Church is awesome. It's one of my favorite things he's done, tbhKeygen Church is awesome. It's one of my favorite things he's done, tbh
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Comment on Opeth - The Grand Conjuration (2005) in ~music
0x29A (edited )Link ParentHeritage was the last one I enjoyed. I think they captured the thoroughly-70s-prog version of themselves perfectly on that record and despite me preferring their prior era, I thought this...Heritage was the last one I enjoyed. I think they captured the thoroughly-70s-prog version of themselves perfectly on that record and despite me preferring their prior era, I thought this departure into full-on prog actually landed, but then they've just made boring meandering nonsense since then with an occasional good track (couple of decent ones on Pale Communion). You're exactly right- they completely lost the texture/character and interesting parts post-Heritage. I like some Porcupine Tree songs but I'm not really a Steven Wilson fan either
Even as an old Opeth fan, I don't like the new record at all, but you might. Worth a shot, but it was a massive miss for me. Akerfeldt brought some growls back (yay) but I find his cleans on TLWaT substantially worse than any previous record and I think it comes down to some really weird choices of inflection and vocal melody that sounds really off to me (or sounds campy or tryhard or... something I can't exactly articulate). It sorta sounds like a knock-off version of old Opeth to me or something, tries to capture that dark atmosphere but kinda just can't land it. Honestly I find the new album unlistenable, as wild as I feel saying that as someone that loves everything up to and including Heritage. I think it's just a me problem but every time I try it, I just want to turn it off
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Comment on Master Boot Record - Computer Metal (2026) in ~music
0x29A LinkYep been excited for this one. Another great release by MBR. Love the guitar/metal focus of this one in particular and he's perfectly fit it into his stuff. Also love the ANSI art cover by Tainted...Yep been excited for this one. Another great release by MBR. Love the guitar/metal focus of this one in particular and he's perfectly fit it into his stuff. Also love the ANSI art cover by Tainted (note: suggestive imagery)
MBR's website is also pretty neat https://mbrserver.com/
(and as always the digital is practically free on the bandcamp https://masterbootrecord.bandcamp.com/album/computer-metal)
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Comment on Opeth - The Grand Conjuration (2005) in ~music
0x29A LinkThis is one of my favorite Opeth songs of all time off of one of my favorite records of all time. They do an incredible job of capturing a dark atmosphere and technical songwriting without it...This is one of my favorite Opeth songs of all time off of one of my favorite records of all time. They do an incredible job of capturing a dark atmosphere and technical songwriting without it feeling campy or overly show-off. I think they succeed where the majority of "progressive" metal/rock falls flat. Ghost of Perdition too is another favorite. The whole Ghost Reveries album is top-notch, as are plenty of their older records (Blackwater Park, etc).
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Comment on Proton’s CEO cancels AI ‘re-interviews’ in ~tech
0x29A Link ParentYep, and for a number of reasons after reviewing that situation it left a bad taste in my mouth, though I did give the benefit of the doubt because it did seem at the time, despite the mishandling...Yep, and for a number of reasons after reviewing that situation it left a bad taste in my mouth, though I did give the benefit of the doubt because it did seem at the time, despite the mishandling and doubling-down and posting on official accounts- that mostly he was simply being critical (albeit naively so) of policy towards Proton that he viewed the parties as having- and his social media seemed to echo this as he was both positive and critical of various political figures, not sycophantic.
On top of that I already didn't like that they provided some genAI products. So that was another thing that made me uncomfortable. But I get that they were trying to go after a market and position it as a secure/private way of doing so (again something I think is incredibly naive). Another bad sign but one I let slide again.
The original Trump thing was so mishandled and out of touch and just mind-boggling that I didn't feel great about it. Now to go down the road of "mediocrity at speed" and worker hostility and especially as a security/privacy-positioned business and a million other reasons I oppose their embrace of genAI, just clearly shows where they stand. The choice to use genAI internally, and the behavior that has followed from that, are both as much a political statement as anything he said previously, and it's a choice of political position I find unacceptable
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Comment on Proton’s CEO cancels AI ‘re-interviews’ in ~tech
0x29A Link Parent+1 to this for sure. i have done the same. i use fastmail as the base with my own domain(s) on top after leaving gmail, and it's so much better having an email address not tied to a particular...+1 to this for sure. i have done the same. i use fastmail as the base with my own domain(s) on top after leaving gmail, and it's so much better having an email address not tied to a particular service/company, so no matter what happens with my email providers, i can quickly migrate at anytime and just redirect my domain's mail records to whatever provider i need, without having to go log into my hundreds of online accounts and change my email (which is sometimes impossible or difficult, given not all sites provide a way of modifying this data).
I've already been through that pain once and still have a few accounts stuck on my mostly-unused gmail account. I need to go through another wave of cleanup and try to get the rest off.
i do recommend going with a common/stable TLD (com/net/org/etc) for email domains in particular. while it's not required- there are rare cases of some obscure TLDs being restricted/changed or pulled out from under domain holders in ways that force them to migrate. should be a rarity- just make sure whoever owns the TLD you're getting is a well-established/stable entity
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Comment on Proton’s CEO cancels AI ‘re-interviews’ in ~tech
0x29A LinkClearly the behavior is not changing, only their realization of both the internal and external optics of this process so far. Thankfully I've only ever used free tier things and they've never been...Clearly the behavior is not changing, only their realization of both the internal and external optics of this process so far. Thankfully I've only ever used free tier things and they've never been a primary provider of any service for me, and I certainly will never become a paying customer and probably migrate what little I have there elsewhere. This isn't Yen's first misstep and certainly won't be his last.
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Comment on myNoise - adjustable soundscapes in ~life
0x29A LinkI also thoroughly enjoy https://noises.online/ (it's the same person that is behind mynoise! this just provides a simple/quick subset of sounds in a nice combo UI when you want something simple...I also thoroughly enjoy https://noises.online/ (it's the same person that is behind mynoise! this just provides a simple/quick subset of sounds in a nice combo UI when you want something simple instead)
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Comment on How have you improved your living spaces? in ~life.home_improvement
0x29A LinkBlackout curtains (I prefer the dark and controlling lighting a bunch to my taste). RGB lighting and whatnot. Home server, serving music and videos, syncing some stuff, etc. Home Assistant for...- Blackout curtains (I prefer the dark and controlling lighting a bunch to my taste). RGB lighting and whatnot.
- Home server, serving music and videos, syncing some stuff, etc.
- Home Assistant for controlling smart home stuff locally (I only use simple things, no big tech voice control/surveillance apparatuses)
- 3D printing little bits and bobs to add some quality of life to various things (little clips that help keep my HVAC filters in place, among others)
- Tons of music merch (band flags) on the walls, because I love them
- Room dedicated to music-making that has moving blankets hung on the walls for cheap sound treatment (with band flags on top for decoration)
- Countertop water filter (hooks with a small flexible hose to the faucet end with a small flip switch to switch between filtered/unfiltered, much bigger filter so it works a lot longer and is nicer to use than the cheap ones that hang off the faucet end). One of the best inexpensive upgrades I've ever done. Makes my water drinkable and perfect for my coffee
- Shower head that doubles as a hand-held shower for much more ergonomic showering
- I live alone and rarely have guests, if ever, so I've laid things out and set things up (silverware, etc) in such a way that I only have what I need, and very little in the way of excess, and just to prioritize myself in terms of comfort (furniture placement, etc).
- Mini PC as my only "set top box" for my TV. My TV itself stays in "boot up directly to HDMI" mode and disconnected from the network. The PC is connected to the network, has a full desktop OS on it and I use that to watch content (my own downloaded videos + youtube + twitch mostly, i'm not a TV/movies person at all). Wireless keyboard and wireless mouse are used for control. and set up comfortably on a side table within easy reach.
- A while back I stopped trying to make the place look pristine and perfect. While I don't like owning a ton of things, and I still have a desire for some "minimalism" it's more in practicality than in design. I still want lots of fun things and things that bring comfort and such. Not the "showroom luxury aesthetic minimalism" of bare rooms with nothing in them. It's still cleaned up from time to time, but I'd rather it look lived in than look like a show floor. It looks like someone lives here, someone with ambitions but also problems and struggles and hobbies. I just get sick of home interiors that try to "show off" and look like they're never touched. Life isn't this pristine mask that everything needs to wear, nah, I'd rather it be real.
- Flexible arm hooked to my headboard that holds a tablet so I can lay fully down and still watch or do things on the tablet
- Other tablet/phone stands
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Comment on Non-queer men of Tildes: PLEASE consider before commenting on ~life.women and ~lgbt without careful consideration. We are losing members over this issue. in ~tildes
0x29A (edited )LinkHonestly, I am unsurprised, but also sad, that this is continuing to happen, and seeing at least some uncharitable comments in this thread just reinforce that. Had a longer post typed up but I...Honestly, I am unsurprised, but also sad, that this is continuing to happen, and seeing at least some uncharitable comments in this thread just reinforce that. Had a longer post typed up but I just don't care to even go into it anymore (just a waste of time now)- I've been mulling over a number of reasons, including stuff like this, that are making me consider leaving, for quite some time now, that I will not go into here (so no one bother even asking or trying to convince me to stay).
The vibe of this entire place has shifted over the years and it's one I tend to see from a particular kind of crowd that often moves into online spaces this way, and often subtly, and this place just feels way less compatible with me than it used to feel. People were being dismissive and abusive (abusing tags/etc) directly to people in the exact thread where they were bringing up legitimate concerns last time this stuff came up. That sparked the beginning of my consideration for leaving and that feeling has never left, just my ability to commit to a decision. People got defensive under the guise of "having discussions" and then quietly were marking legitimate comments as "noise" and so on. Without question some toxicity brews under the surface here and occasionally bubbles up under tag abuse, fake good faith, sealioning, etc. among many other things. I also think "preserving discussion/site ethos" has become a bad faith weaponized defense of behavior at this point too. I just don't buy that BS half the time anymore.
It's also clear the toxicity is able to tow the line well enough to avoid moderation, so nothing's getting better nor do I see it getting any better (and that's not the fault of moderators, to be clear, it's a tough job choosing where to draw those lines and how to enforce them- moderation is extremely difficult and I think most online spaces eventually crumble under the weight). I use the hide/block userscript. I unsubscribe from or filter types of things to help myself not get involved in discussions that I don't need to be in. It's just not proving to be enough to salvage joy. Outside of an occasional thread or discussion about something specific, I've lost most of my will to contribute here anymore. So maybe it's my time to go too.
Edit: And the way the thread has progressed since initially posting this has not really made me feel any different (other than at least some of the actual assholes/mean content getting removed/banned, which is honestly more than I expected to happen). This really does feel like reddit-lite at times now, and I despise that with the fire of 1000 suns. At least, until my exit, the thread gave me some additional accounts to hide with the userscript regardless.
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Comment on New EU-created Search Index in ~tech
0x29A Link ParentYandex is one small facet, yes. Mainly I refuse to have my subscription money subsidize their AI products in general and not to mention things like their decision to include Grok as a provider...Yandex is one small facet, yes. Mainly I refuse to have my subscription money subsidize their AI products in general and not to mention things like their decision to include Grok as a provider option in their assistant, but providing AI products at all that my subscription subsidizes is a dealbreaker for me.
Kagi's partnership with Brave is also something I oppose (I refuse to use Brave for a number of ethical reasons, including Eich's views and Brave's cryptocurrency nonsense). I do not care if Kagi/Vlad take what they think is a "principled apolitical" stance regarding who they do business with- they are free to think that's what they're doing and I'm free to walk away. He is so high on his enlightened apoliticism or "hands-off approach" that he refuses to have a helpline/etc appear at the top of search results for suicide-related terms and phrases, for example
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Comment on New EU-created Search Index in ~tech
0x29A (edited )Link ParentFor some reason Waterfox Search buries the info about their indexes in their terms/privacy policy (and to trial/paying accounts which have the preference exposed). I know for a fact it has not...For some reason Waterfox Search buries the info about their indexes in their terms/privacy policy (and to trial/paying accounts which have the preference exposed). I know for a fact it has not been long since they were Serper/Google only and EUSP is a recent addition. No idea why they don't advertise it. The service is also annoyingly slow for a minimal search engine. Results really lag a lot before displaying and this is the only engine with which I've had such an experience. I will not be paying once my trial has ended.
Regardless, I now have experience to back up there somehow being a difference. EUSP was my #1 index on Uruky for a long time up until I discontinued the service. When I first started the service some other smaller index was priority #1 and that made my search results 100% irrelevant to my query. Once I swapped to EUSP the results seemed to be mostly reasonable, however, that fell off over time with no preference / reordering change on my end. Simply, over time, with EUSP set as #1 in the order, my results slowly degraded to the point where free alternatives simply and inarguably provided better and more relevant results and I did not have any luck with testing other indexes through Uruky either. Sometimes half of my results on the page would have absolutely nothing to do with my query. No idea why. It was maddening.
I now am using the free trial of Waterfox Private Search and choosing Staan/EUSP as the index (Serper/Google is the other choice) and so far the results are better than they were under Uruky with EUSP set as my #1. I cannot truly explain why outside of a potential bug within Uruky or other provider issue leading to EUSP not functioning or being the first in order despite that being my explicit choice in preferences, or some other difference in how these search engines are using EUSP.
Regardless, the point is mostly moot because I don't find Waterfox search nor Uruky good enough to pay for, and the one paid engine I think is good enough to pay for (Kagi) I refuse to support, so it will be NoAI DuckDuckGo for me for the foreseeable future and it's good enough to be serviceable. If I need a different result set I'll temporarily use another place like Startpage, but that should be a rarity. I've decided at this point if I'm going to ever pay for a search engine again, the results and experience have to be significantly better than the experiences I can get for free and outside of Kagi such an engine does not exist
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Comment on New EU-created Search Index in ~tech
0x29A (edited )LinkHeard about EUSP a while back and was hoping it would provide another solid search index for the web. I'm not entirely sure about it yet. One place I've seen EUSP used as one of the available...Heard about EUSP a while back and was hoping it would provide another solid search index for the web. I'm not entirely sure about it yet.
One place I've seen EUSP used as one of the available providers is Uruky. However I discontinued that service after a while because my results got really bad and just not useful at all, even after doing a lot of reconfiguring of the "order" of the provider backends that Uruky connects to, including things like having EUSP at the top and so on, which for a time yielded decent results.
Waterfox Private Search allows you to choose Serper (Google API) or Staan (EUSP), but I have not yet tried it out. It does have a few-day trial at least.
Both of these engines avoid AI search features altogether, which I love (and require)- I think all the ones that do have them have questionable morals so China isn't of specific concern to me re:Ecosia. I currently use noAI version of DuckDuckGo, though I might give Waterfox Private a go
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Comment on RAM – Abattoir (2026) in ~music
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Comment on Repo for syncing ipods devices on Linux in ~tech
0x29A (edited )Link ParentGiven that the repo has an AGENTS.md present, and filled with information to direct agents how to act, I would say yes disclaimer I freely use vibe-coded or slop pejoratively as umbrella terms...Given that the repo has an AGENTS.md present, and filled with information to direct agents how to act, I would say yes
disclaimer
I freely use vibe-coded or slop pejoratively as umbrella terms (edit: it's 100% unnecessary to semantically distinguish between genAI use that pretends to be "responsible" vs. that which is obvious junk- both types of use should be opposed in every case as all genAI use is irresponsible ethically and indefensible politically) to refer to any commercial, personal, or open-source project, output, or situation where LLMs/agents/genAI is involved at any stage, for any reason, period, and no I will not stop. its use in any situation for any reason is a *political choice* that undebatably crosses a line for me for a hundred reasons (the only exception being those forced to use it for their labor)- that doesn't mean I can 100% avoid everything that uses it, but I do my best -
Comment on Recommend me music similar to that of Tool? in ~music
0x29A (edited )LinkWhile I enjoy Tool/APC (especially APC) they're a slight divergence from my usual likes and our tastes definitely diverge a lot, but given your description and other bands enjoyed, maybe you'd...While I enjoy Tool/APC (especially APC) they're a slight divergence from my usual likes and our tastes definitely diverge a lot, but given your description and other bands enjoyed, maybe you'd like Devin Townsend Project, Soen and/or Porcupine Tree? These I find interesting, have a nice full sound, lots of interesting parts, and mostly keep away from the things you dislike (at least, in my perception)
I think plenty of Tool fans crossover with a lot of the things you don't like which is why that happens. The sphere of bands Tool often is found in contains a lot of those. Not necessarily a bad thing, but I get that it makes it more difficult when everything "similar" recommended just falls outside the bounds of what you're into
Also +1 to Rush
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Comment on What was a small but bright moment of your day? in ~life
0x29A LinkMy cup of coffee really hit today. Sometimes when the brew is just right it's a beautiful moment. Something I 3D printed (third-party design I downloaded) worked the first time and fit the purpose...My cup of coffee really hit today. Sometimes when the brew is just right it's a beautiful moment.
Something I 3D printed (third-party design I downloaded) worked the first time and fit the purpose I needed perfectly.
Walked by a stinging insect today that was flying around my porch. Over the past months I've slowly been able to overcome a big fear of them, and being able to quietly and non-reactively still deal with them without an overwhelming fear reaction, makes every one of these moments a success and proof the fear has been overcome, because I used to be frozen by my fear every time
Small, but powerful joys
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Comment on Koi.rest: watch some fish and regain your balance in ~creative
0x29A (edited )Link ParentInteresting. Running smoothly here on Waterfox (based on Firefox) on Linux with 7800X3D + Nvidia RTX 4070 and using relatively minimal resources doing so (seems to be all CPU, and using two of my...Interesting. Running smoothly here on Waterfox (based on Firefox) on Linux with 7800X3D + Nvidia RTX 4070 and using relatively minimal resources doing so (seems to be all CPU, and using two of my threads at roughly 20-40%).
Also fine in everything I've tried it in on iOS 27 on iPhone 14 Pro (Quiche browser, Safari- every browser on iOS is forced to be WebKit so should be similar in most I would think)
M83
Low
Kings of Convenience
Otras
Bolt Thrower
Minenfeld
Starflyer 59