1338's recent activity
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Comment on Make everything okay in ~life
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
1338 LinkI've been fully focused on the New Jedi Order series. I'm just starting the Force Heretic trilogy, so not too much more to go. First time reading through such a large series (19 books). It's...I've been fully focused on the New Jedi Order series. I'm just starting the Force Heretic trilogy, so not too much more to go. First time reading through such a large series (19 books). It's interesting to compare the different authors and how they tell the stories. Some are great at space battles, others are great at the characterization, others delve into canon deeply, etc. It is satisfying seeing the broader arc. The beginning books are all really depressing since they have to set stakes and establish the brand new enemy as a serious threat, but the books I'm on now are on the upswing. Overall I'm enjoying it, some good characters throughout and only a few stinker books.
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Comment on Pluribus full season discussion in ~tv
1338 (edited )LinkI find the morality of the hivemind interesting. I'd be curious to understand what the writer intended with that. Obviously a lot of it is plot expedience, it'd be a very different story if it...I find the morality of the hivemind interesting. I'd be curious to understand what the writer intended with that. Obviously a lot of it is plot expedience, it'd be a very different story if it didn't have the extreme apprehension to cause physical harm of any sort. But if you took every person and averaged them together, you wouldn't end up with a person who's unwilling to cause harm to plants. Were they trying for the idea that the hivemind is "enlightened"? There's of course no singular answer to what that would be like, but I feel like few people would argue that it's enlightened to place 0 value in consent/personal autonomy for sapient creatures but to be feel farming non-sentient organisms is unethical. The only plausible explanation I see is that the "virus" itself is having a much larger impact than it truly being just a hivemind.
I wonder if at some point they'll address the human vs animal issue. The disease started in a mouse, who showed super-mouse intelligence (was it even part of a collective at that point?) so it could infect a human. But after that animals seem to be totally uninfected. Obviously there's practical reasons for the show (animal actors are such primadonnas), but in the canon of the show, if the virus has an implicit need to propagate, why wouldn't it also spread to all animals?
I found myself stuck on existential issues often while watching this. Like what's the point of existence once you're a hivemind like that? They did establish the whole "super telescope to broadcast the signal to space" thing, is that it? Like obviously there's the basic practicalities of foraging and distributing food and water, but that would only take a small portion of total resources. The hivemind is shown as being so ascetic--but without any spirituality/religion--that it seems like, in absence of Carol, they'd just be sitting around 99.9% of the time. I struggle to understand what motivates them to keep existing beyond pure inertia (of course given how indifferent they are to their individuals dying, maybe there isn't much). But I suppose this aspect does help reinforce the alien-ness of the collective. It would feel like the hivemind would want there to be immune individuals like Carol around for entertainment's sake if nothing else.
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Comment on Consumer Electronics Show 2026 in ~tech
1338 Link ParentProbably https://displace.tv/ Portable/fully wireless TV that can mount to the wall with suction.Probably https://displace.tv/
Portable/fully wireless TV that can mount to the wall with suction.
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Comment on Consumer Electronics Show 2026 in ~tech
1338 LinkRoborock's stair climbing prototype is a nice upgrade over the step climbing prototype last year. Having one robot for all the house would be nice, though most likely it'll just be another failure...Roborock's stair climbing prototype is a nice upgrade over the step climbing prototype last year. Having one robot for all the house would be nice, though most likely it'll just be another failure point.
I was glad to see another Frame competitor, but the Alexa+ focus killed any interest I have in actually switching. None of the articles I read said anything about whether or not it has a base station (so you only need to run a single cable to the TV), the Hisense version seemed nice but without the base station it wasn't an option for me.
Beyond that I found this CES fairly disappointing. The display tech is all the same stuff they were showcasing last year, and still pretty much equally out of reach. Yet another light laptop, more releases of the same electronics for no other reason than the economic necessity of new releases. The AI nonsense doesn't help my negative feelings.
The lego smart brick is interesting, but since I don't have kids it doesn't do much for me. The promise of a Rosie remains vague and distant, but maybe a little less distant. -
Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
1338 LinkI don't have too much to say about any of the things I'm reading, but I recently listened to the "complete" set of Oz books (as in Wizard of). I never realized just how many books there were and...I don't have too much to say about any of the things I'm reading, but I recently listened to the "complete" set of Oz books (as in Wizard of). I never realized just how many books there were and never really got into the movie or anything, but of course knew the major plot points from cultural osmosis. The books were, of course, written for kids, but it's hard not to consider it from an adult perspective. Because, oh my god, Oz is a hellish totalitarian dystopia with an eternal monarch that hoards all magic, dictates where everyone is allowed to live, and uses magic artifacts to spy on and constantly record every single action everyone does. Not to mention the tin emperor sitting on a throne of tin (the tin woodman of oz has a lot of moments right out of a horror story, like when he is cloned Ship of Theseus style). Baum also got weirdly fixated on shapeshifting magic, especially non-consensual shapeshifting into demeaning forms.
The funniest thing is the way the "canon" goes utterly off the rail as the books add up. At some point along the way, he establishes the "fairy people" are all immortal. This is even though the very first thing that happens when Dorothy arrives in the first book is one of them dies, which they in-character explain as the witch being very old, even though later it's established that all the fairy people were created as-is, and unaging, at the beginning of time and therefore were all equally "old" (even though an earlier book establishes that the throne of Oz that Ozma took {side note, I'm a little surprised I hadn't heard of Ozma before given her quasi-trans origin story, like surprised she didn't get Wicked-ed} had previous generations of Oz-s and Ozma-s).
The most hilarious part of the whole thing is the gradual reveal over the course of many books that Toto could speak the whole time but just chose to keep barking.
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Comment on US strikes Venezuela and says its leader, Nicolas Maduro, has been captured and flown out of the country in ~society
1338 Link Parenthttps://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/trump-venezuela-nicolas-maduro-strikes-run-country-transition-military-rcna252044"So, we are going to run the country until such time as we can do a safe, proper and judicious transition. And it has to be judicious, because that’s what we’re all about," Trump added. "We can’t take a chance that somebody else takes over Venezuela that doesn’t have the good of the Venezuelan people in mind."
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Comment on Clicks Communicator: the ultimate communication companion in ~tech
1338 LinkSounds interesting and they checked most of the boxes of modern phone grievances (only one that seems to be missing is replaceable battery). But having never heard of the company it feels a bit...Sounds interesting and they checked most of the boxes of modern phone grievances (only one that seems to be missing is replaceable battery). But having never heard of the company it feels a bit hard to trust. It seems they previously made a USB keyboard for phones so (assuming there's people who would vouch for those) it's probably not a total scam (or just a reskin/dropship of a Chinese model), but making a phone isn't an easy thing. The weird screen size is bound to lead to compatibility issues and the FAQs indicating this isn't primarily meant to be your primary phone make me cautious.
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Comment on One piece of news from every country in the world in 2025 in ~news
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Comment on Steam: Best of 2025 in ~games
1338 LinkI didn't realized so many people still played L4D2. It's kinda heartwarming. tModLoader being so high in most played as a Mod is also awesome. I love indie games that embrace mods still thriving....I didn't realized so many people still played L4D2. It's kinda heartwarming.
tModLoader being so high in most played as a Mod is also awesome. I love indie games that embrace mods still thriving.
It's actually interesting just how many of the most-played games are relatively old. I guess we are past that point of diminishing returns when it comes to how much games change. A 1995 game was a lot more different from a 2005 game than a 2015 vs 2025 game.
I somehow totally missed that Borderlands 4 came out. I saw there was chatter about it, but for some reason I thought that was just about a release trailer.
I only have a few of the top new releases, and the only one I've actually played so far is Oblivion. A few are on my wishlist, the one I'm most tempted by is Digimon Time Story, but I played the previous incarnation on Switch and found it worked well there. Something about Digimon feels anti-PC to me, not sure why.
A few games I would have loved a few years back: Outer Worlds 2, Borderlands 4, Bloodlines 2, Avowed (which I already have but haven't played yet). But with my recent habits, I'm not sure I have the attention span for them. -
Comment on Half way through the 2020's. What's your favorite games so far? in ~games
1338 LinkBG3 is, of course, obligatory. Wanderstop stands out as a once in a decade special game Spiritfarer similarly is a very iconic and poignant game I would say FFVII Remake, but I think for a...BG3 is, of course, obligatory.
Wanderstop stands out as a once in a decade special game
Spiritfarer similarly is a very iconic and poignant game
I would say FFVII Remake, but I think for a decade-level comparison it would need to stand as a complete unit, and we're only mid-way through so far.
Honorable Mention: Dave the Diver
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Comment on Half way through the 2020's. What's your favorite games so far? in ~games
1338 Link ParentLiterally since there was no year 0 Decade 1 AKA 0's: 1-10 Decade 2 AKA 10's: 11-20 ... Decade 203 AKA 2020's: 2021-2030Literally since there was no year 0
Decade 1 AKA 0's: 1-10
Decade 2 AKA 10's: 11-20
...
Decade 203 AKA 2020's: 2021-2030 -
Comment on I force my shell prompt to the bottom of the screen in ~comp
1338 Link ParentThis works for me, at the top of my ~/.zshrc so there's no gap between my prompt and the commands in my rc. Having the -1 just causes it to miss a line, not sure if there's something weird about...This works for me, at the top of my
~/.zshrcso there's no gap between my prompt and the commands in my rc. Having the -1 just causes it to miss a line, not sure if there's something weird about my terminal.printf "\033[$LINES;1H" -
Comment on Are you still using social media? in ~tech
1338 Link ParentWhy not? Because they're pseudonymous? What about X/Bluesky?Why not? Because they're pseudonymous?
What about X/Bluesky?
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
1338 Link ParentI just read that earlier this week! I had a little trouble squaring the way it tries to straddle the scifi vs supernatural line but there were some enjoyable moments, especially in the first half...I just read that earlier this week! I had a little trouble squaring the way it tries to straddle the scifi vs supernatural line but there were some enjoyable moments, especially in the first half when the big bad was first emerging (like the boat scene and the monolith scene).
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
1338 LinkI read through Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff, ending the Nevernight trilogy. Damn it was good. It did an excellent job combining the expected/obligatory and the shocking/disappointing. The new...I read through Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff, ending the Nevernight trilogy. Damn it was good. It did an excellent job combining the expected/obligatory and the shocking/disappointing. The new characters were excellent. It really culminates Mia's arc well and has no shortage of badass moments. And I love the way the overall mythology/worldbuilding comes to such a tight close.
Among other books, I've started making progress through the Star wars: New Jedi Order series. I read the first one earlier in the year and have had the rest of the series sitting on the shelves since. I'm on #5 now (of 19), so making progress but have a ways to go. This is my first time actually reading through a multi-author series like this and hitting #4 was a bit jarring by how different the author was compared to #3. Stackpole was really great at characterization and the thought processes and emotions of the characters which Luceno didn't do nearly as well. It sort of works due to the different characters the two books focus on, but was jarring. I'm also a bit worried about the consistency of the Yuuzhan Vong.
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Comment on What do you leave out for Father Christmas? in ~talk
1338 Link Parent"If you're naughty, you're next"hangs gifts to the children in person
"If you're naughty, you're next"
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Comment on What are your predictions for 2026? in ~talk
1338 LinkTrump trips on the stairs leading into Air Force One. A war experiences a major escalation involving neighboring countries. Botswana wins a major sporting event. A token C-list figure is arrested...Trump trips on the stairs leading into Air Force One.
A war experiences a major escalation involving neighboring countries.
Botswana wins a major sporting event.
A token C-list figure is arrested in connection with the Epstein files, but then Epstein returns to mostly meme status.
Elon Musk reveals he is actually a time traveler. A few days later he admits he traveled from the past, not the future. He quickly proceeds to claim he was joking about the whole thing.
Taylor Swift enters an experimental phase after she releases an all-glockenspiel album.
Major scandal involving inappropriate actions behind-the-scenes of a Netflix production.
A new social media site whose core functionality is heavily AI powered is launched by a major figure/company in a billion-dollar campaign. It fails to meet investor expectations, but finds a very devout core audience.
An animal escapes from a zoo and evades recapture shockingly long. It becomes a major news story and many claim it was a distraction from some political event.
A massive meteor hits Earth and we all die.
...Some of these might be long-shots.
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Comment on The 2025 Steam Winter Sale is live (runs Dec 18 - Jan 5) in ~games
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Comment on Steam Replay 2025 in ~games
1338 Link77 Games Played 76 New Games And the one that wasn't new I had first played in December 2024. 555 Achievements Unlocked 59 Rare Achievements 89 Days Longest Streak The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion...77 Games Played
76 New GamesAnd the one that wasn't new I had first played in December 2024.
555 Achievements Unlocked
59 Rare Achievements
89 Days Longest Streak
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered = 20% of Play Time
Travellers Rest = 11% of Play Time
Fields of Mistria = 10% of Play Timehttps://i.imgur.com/fRvZ7iM.png
I like how May is almost entirely gray.
A Russian website from 2011. "Message: And the whole world will not be enough for them."
I would be much more disposed to agree with the website back then.