3d12's recent activity
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Comment on Fortnightly Programming Q&A Thread in ~comp
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Comment on When I press the right trigger on my game controller, my system's audio crashes. Probably the weirdest bug I've seen yet -- anyone feel like helping? in ~tech
3d12 LinkI know one "gaming-related" thing that's new (and annoying) in Windows 10 is the "Game Bar" -- that causes weird stuff to happen for me and my partner during games. Mostly visual though, never had...I know one "gaming-related" thing that's new (and annoying) in Windows 10 is the "Game Bar" -- that causes weird stuff to happen for me and my partner during games. Mostly visual though, never had an issue with audio. But I know it's related to some kind of "streaming overlay" they built into Windows 10, so maybe it's detecting your controller and trying to prompt for that?
Best of luck, I know some of this stuff can be very arcane to pick through. If the stack trace shows any kind of .dll files that are being called before the crash or errors about them being missing, that could be a huge hint too. (CTRL+F ".dll" ?)
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Comment on Call for volunteers: Techies against COVID-19 in ~comp
3d12 LinkI've been trying to get another of my projects off the ground in the free time I've found myself with, but I think I'd be OK with spending some of it doing generally more helpful (read: less...I've been trying to get another of my projects off the ground in the free time I've found myself with, but I think I'd be OK with spending some of it doing generally more helpful (read: less selfish) things.
My expertise is geared more towards linux sysadmin and scripting than full-stack anything, but I'm also an analyst professionally so I "speak SQL fluently," as it were. If you need any spreadsheets or PivotTables/Charts too, let me know.
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Comment on Dylan Tallchief - I made an entire DAW in Excel in ~music
3d12 LinkYeah someone posted this in a Slack channel at work, and I've been trying to get more people on board with the phat beats. It's too bad the machines they apportion at my work are so slow they...Yeah someone posted this in a Slack channel at work, and I've been trying to get more people on board with the phat beats.
It's too bad the machines they apportion at my work are so slow they can't handle more than 3 tracks playing at once. Still, I've enjoyed messing with it. I had no idea the Microsoft GS Wavetable Synth had this many pre-built sounds in it.
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Comment on Warcraft III: Reforged—the re-creation of Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne—is now available worldwide in ~games
3d12 LinkI went into Reforged hoping for one thing, and only one thing: The "steal control group" hotkeys from SC2. That didn't even get implemented. To be honest, I'd probably have been happier with an...I went into Reforged hoping for one thing, and only one thing: The "steal control group" hotkeys from SC2.
That didn't even get implemented. To be honest, I'd probably have been happier with an implementation of WC3 in the SC2 engine than what we got, especially since there's no roadmap in play of what we can expect, and when.
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Comment on Project-Specific Programming Suggestions for Newbie in ~comp
3d12 Link ParentThose unknown unknowns will get you every time. :) I'm glad you came and asked this question, it shows good initiative and drive in doing so. As far as Python goes, I used Zed Shaw's "learn python...Those unknown unknowns will get you every time. :) I'm glad you came and asked this question, it shows good initiative and drive in doing so.
As far as Python goes, I used Zed Shaw's "learn python the hard way" which (despite the drama and extreme opinions about the author you'll find online) I thought was a good resource. It has since been monetized though, and I don't know offhand of any free python courses out there, though I'm sure they exist.
You'll want to look into the "tkinter" module for Python, it's a package that handles GUI (the point-and-click part of the program, like creating windows, buttons, views, etc) and comes bundled with Python. There are, of course, other GUI libraries, but the ones that are bundled with the language as part of the "standard" library will usually be the best documented and supported.
Best of luck! And keep asking questions!
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Comment on Redbox Is Selling Off its Video Game Stock At Steep Discounts (COD:MW - $29.99, Death Stranding - $24.99) in ~games
3d12 Link ParentI guess it's just tomayto, tomahto. I would consider this piracy, just in reverse to what's usually seen. In the case of Redbox piracy, the illegal (and non-functional) copy is what's returned to...I guess it's just tomayto, tomahto. I would consider this piracy, just in reverse to what's usually seen. In the case of Redbox piracy, the illegal (and non-functional) copy is what's returned to Redbox. I would agree that it's also theft, but we can disagree on the specifics of the term piracy. It's a pretty loosely-defined term in the digital age anyway.
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Comment on Redbox Is Selling Off its Video Game Stock At Steep Discounts (COD:MW - $29.99, Death Stranding - $24.99) in ~games
3d12 LinkWanted to repost this here for two reasons: First, this works. I just went to a Redbox in my town and got Death Stranding for $25. Great option for holiday shopping if you have a gamer on your...Wanted to repost this here for two reasons: First, this works. I just went to a Redbox in my town and got Death Stranding for $25. Great option for holiday shopping if you have a gamer on your list who doesn't get new releases often.
Second, because this can potentially be co-opted into discussion about the reasoning for Redbox's decision. I presume everyone is familiar with the "paper disc" method of pirating copies of a game from Redbox, so is the move to stop renting video games solely because they have been unable to thwart this method of piracy? Or do they potentially see a decline in the video game rental industry as a whole and want to exit that business as a result?
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Redbox Is Selling Off its Video Game Stock At Steep Discounts (COD:MW - $29.99, Death Stranding - $24.99)
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Comment on Project-Specific Programming Suggestions for Newbie in ~comp
3d12 Link ParentIt sounds like you don't have any prior programming experience. If that's the case, I apologize if any of this advice comes off as assumptive or dismissive. As far as a first project, this is a...It sounds like you don't have any prior programming experience. If that's the case, I apologize if any of this advice comes off as assumptive or dismissive.
As far as a first project, this is a waaaaaaaay bigger scope than you think. Especially for a standalone application (like you said, where the software lives on the computer, not running in a browser on the cloud) you're talking about learning quite a few intricacies of OS-level interface.
Just as a small example, let's talk about storing your clients' data. I'm not even talking about appointments, billing, previous scheduled sessions, etc -- let's just look at each client like an entry in a cell phone "contacts" list; name, address, phone, A/R account. You can't just persist all of these in memory, you need a stateful way to store them, otherwise all your data will be lost when you exit the program, and this is typically an undesirable behavior. So, where do we store this data when the program exits? Write it out to a file? Send it over the network to a cloud storage medium? How about calling up a local database and syncing to that? Note how just in one small abstraction, we're already potentially reaching into other software/technologies, and that's without getting into regulations about privacy safeguarding and encryption that will be required for storing such sensitive data.
Of course, there are "gotchas" to each of these courses of action. This is probably what you think of when you think of "programming theory" as a concept -- knowing things like flushing caches to disk on program exit, and how to serialize/deserialize the data into efficiently-stored files or network data streams. These are the things that can be learned best by getting burned by them. And -- listen carefully, because this next bit is important -- you generally do not want to get burned by these things in production-level software.
That said, if you are prepared to put in the legwork and learn the technology of your choice, grind out the codebase over years (yes, years) of work, and make sure your program is brutally and ruggedly tested, then you may come out with some reward for your effort. If that's the path you choose, I wish you luck and would recommend Python or Java for building such a standalone desktop app. (Python if you're a total newbie, Java if you want better compatibility for potentially monetizing your program to others when you're done)
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Comment on Are there recommended alternatives to Ebay? in ~tech
3d12 LinkSurprised it hasn't been mentioned yet, to be honest: Craigslist is still around, in the US at least -- just make sure you agree to very specific terms to avoid being scammed, namely: Meet in a...Surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet, to be honest: Craigslist is still around, in the US at least -- just make sure you agree to very specific terms to avoid being scammed, namely:
- Meet in a public place. Most police stations in larger cities have a designated "swap station" in their parking lot, and anyone who won't meet at one of these is probably sketchy
- Only accept payment in cash on hand, and no bargaining at the point of sale. Anyone who tries that "oh I only brought $30 with me, can I have it for that?" with me can take a hike, and you have to be prepared to walk if they try it (if the money is that important to you, sometimes it's just about getting rid of junk)
- Shipping is a tricky proposition with irreversible methods of payment, so general CL advice is don't ship, meet in person to exchange
Edit to also mention: For music-related gear specifically, there's also Reverb.com and Sweetwater has an online used gear marketplace -- but those don't apply to general sales, that's still more of Craigslist territory.
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Comment on Music Makers: Guitarists, Bassists and other Stringslingers in ~creative
3d12 Link ParentTo echo audioj, I would also recommend the TC Ditto pedal. You can get them for about $90 new or about $60 used -- be warned, I've read some bad reviews about the Ditto X4, haven't used one...To echo audioj, I would also recommend the TC Ditto pedal. You can get them for about $90 new or about $60 used -- be warned, I've read some bad reviews about the Ditto X4, haven't used one myself, but it seems like the standard Ditto is the one to get. It's not super-fancy, but you can overdub as much as you want; the limitation is 5 minutes in loop length, not amount of tracks to loop.
In my opinion, the only way to know for sure what's a good guitar and a bad guitar is to go to a guitar shop and actually demo some guitars. Then you will know what feels and sounds right to you. Depending on how friendly your local guitar shop employees are, you can potentially even ask to demo a setup close to what you have at home, if they have a similar amp and guitar combo. That way you aren't comparing e.g. single-coil to double-coil sound or a meaty 2x12 cab sound to a dinky 1x10 combo amp. Even if they can't match your setup, I bet you can still get good results by asking one of the employees plainly to show you the difference between a good guitar and a bad guitar -- most guitar nerds love to geek out on this kind of stuff, and if you look like you're eager to learn (and it's not very busy in the store) they will probably show you. :)
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Comment on Music Makers: Guitarists, Bassists and other Stringslingers in ~creative
3d12 Link ParentGotcha! In that case, my G.A.S. is more focused on things I'll never be able to afford, like modular synthesizers. :D But I can definitely see where pedals become a G.A.S. rabbit hole very easily....Gotcha! In that case, my G.A.S. is more focused on things I'll never be able to afford, like modular synthesizers. :D But I can definitely see where pedals become a G.A.S. rabbit hole very easily. They are quite fun!
I don't think the Fernandes has any sort of built-in sustain. Or at least, I can't tell if it does. Either way, the guy who loaned it to me said it has seen some gigging, and it was missing a 1/4" plug when I got it and the logo had been filed off the head. After I got a 1/4" plug installed, I brought it in to diagnose the crackling, and the guy pointed out that the pickups were wired "wrong" on the 5-way switch, so they don't switch the same way most strats do. And one of the pickups seems half dead. But it still works fine, as long as both tone knobs are at 0 lmao.
Because I don't really know the differences in pedals, I'll just list the effects I have:
Guitar -> Chorus -> Compression -> Distortion -> Boost -> Noise Gate -> Delay -> Looper -> AmpThat way, rather than focusing so much on this brand vs that brand (since I don't really care to buy other pedals now that I'm still getting familiar with these, and most of these came as a bundle from Craigslist) I can ask opinions on what to use in which order and why.
From my limited experimenting, it seems like compression before distortion seems to be the way to go, since otherwise the compressor just hangs onto those high harmonics forever if I turn the distortion way up. The compression/distortion/gate holy trinity seems to be working very well in creating a good crunchy sound though, and I've been really impressed at how even at low levels, having a chorus in-line before the distortion really widens the sound you get from the distortion pedal.
Aside from that, I'm not really sure where to put the Boost pedal. It's got a 2-band EQ (LO and HI, not sure where the cuts are) and from what I've read/watched online most people use boost pedals to get "character" out of their amps. Well, I'm plugging this crapfest into a crappy $300 used PA at like 25% volume, (#apartmentlife) so not really using it for that, so I figure the next best thing is just using it as a roughly flat +4-6db boost for soloing over existing loops/backing.
The looper I got in the CL bundle is a TC Ditto, so nothing fancy, but playing with a looper has made me realize how sloppy my timing got from not practicing with a metronome all this time. :D WAY fun though! I wish I'd started looping years ago.
Thanks for the suggestions on the humbuckers! I figured people were listing their gear at huge markup on CL, so $70-90 sounds better to me, and I'd rather get new than used anyway.
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Comment on Music Makers: Guitarists, Bassists and other Stringslingers in ~creative
3d12 LinkTo be honest, I just got a bunch of effects pedals last month so I'm not really G.A.S.ing over anything at the moment. (what does that even mean?) As far as guitars, I have a Fernandes strat with...To be honest, I just got a bunch of effects pedals last month so I'm not really G.A.S.ing over anything at the moment. (what does that even mean?)
As far as guitars, I have a Fernandes strat with single-coil pickups that I got from a friend and fixed up a bit, and a crappy red Austin intro-model strat with single-coil pickups that has less crackle in the tone knobs.
I haven't done any professional recording yet, having just started building my first pedalboard, but I have been kicking around the idea of doing a full re-work on the Fernandes, getting new tone knobs to fix the crackle and a new faceplate to fit some humbuckers. I haven't ever played a double-coil pickup outside a guitar shop, so I'd like to be able to play with one in my home and get more familiar with the differences.
To that end, does anyone have any recommendations for reasonable-cost humbuckers? I haven't looked too hard yet, but the ones I see listed on my local Craigslist are listed at $100+ each, but all of them are "vintage" so I'm not sure how valid that is compared to new gear.
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Comment on Black Mirror S04E02 “Arkangel” Discussion Thread in ~tv
3d12 Link ParentI've heard this perspective before and, to me, it's amusing that people have a hard time believing this technology could be allowed... But then have no problem immersing in the literal "blocking"...I've heard this perspective before and, to me, it's amusing that people have a hard time believing this technology could be allowed... But then have no problem immersing in the literal "blocking" of people presented in White Christmas. In my head-canon, Arkangel is a prototype of the tech later used in White Christmas, possibly after being deemed unsafe for children?
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Comment on Let's talk about musicals! in ~talk
3d12 LinkWell, I've never seen anything on Broadway to start. That may disqualify my opinion to some, but for others, read on. My parents love to brag that they took us kids to see Rent at age 12, but to...Well, I've never seen anything on Broadway to start. That may disqualify my opinion to some, but for others, read on.
My parents love to brag that they took us kids to see Rent at age 12, but to be honest, it just ensured that none of it would stick. I remember being really bored, and wondering why the dude from earlier scenes was standing on the stage in a white dress all of a sudden. None of the symbology was particularly interesting, but probably because I had no real-life experience to equate it to. It sure did add some color to my school days, though, being teased for singing songs from musicals instead of the radio.
I'd say having early exposure to musical format allowed me to be far more accepting of alternate takes on the genre. I saw Rocky Horror Picture Show and Little Shop of Horrors mentioned in another comment, but here are some of my favorite musicals that nobody else in the thread has explicitly mentioned: (in no particular order)
- Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
- Holy friggin' cow, this is amazing. Neil Patrick Harris plays a supervillan-wannabe who's trying to get into (being serious here) the Evil League of Evil, and has to confront his nemesis Captain Hammer, played by Nathan Fillion. If you haven't seen this, do yourself a favor. My only complaint is it's too short, but it came out in the middle of the 2008 writer's strike from Joss Whedon and his brother (and his brother's wife) as a direct-to-web series of 15-minute shorts.
- South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut
- Matt Stone and Trey Parker doing a 2.5-hr long episode of South Park. But the songs are insanely catchy, and I like South Park.
- Monty Python's The Meaning of Life
- I guess this one I'll concede is probably the least musical (by strict definition) in this list, but it has multiple songs in it which connect directly to the plot
- Frozen
- Could substitute your favorite Disney movie here, they all have plenty of songs with varying degrees of relevance
- The Protomen
- OK, I'll stop now. But seriously, both of their albums are basically musicals. Act II definitely, but I kinda like Act I better for lyrical content.
So yeah, my tastes diverge greatly from what's popular on and off Broadway. My parents still keep up with musicals; the last one I went with them to see was In The Heights, which I thought was OK, but as you can see, didn't make my list of favorites. So they don't really consider my opinion valid as far as musicals, but that's OK, I don't really consider their opinions on EDM very valid either, for example. :) Everything is subjective, anyway. Life's too short to hate on people for liking different things.
That said, please feel free to comment and tell me how everything I like is terrible! \o/
- Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
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Comment on Let's talk about musicals! in ~talk
3d12 Link ParentThis is a meaningful contribution to the discussion, presented tastefully. Thanks for sharing this! Out of curiosity, to see if this aligns with my own observations, does this self-awareness seem...This is a meaningful contribution to the discussion, presented tastefully. Thanks for sharing this!
Out of curiosity, to see if this aligns with my own observations, does this self-awareness seem to be easier to demonstrate in an "alternate" reality? What's your opinion on South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut?
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Comment on Let's talk about musicals! in ~talk
3d12 Link ParentThis is a really cool write-up, from someone who saw their first performance of Rent at age 12, and had a copy of the soundtrack since that time as well. I wasn't particularly thrilled with the...This is a really cool write-up, from someone who saw their first performance of Rent at age 12, and had a copy of the soundtrack since that time as well. I wasn't particularly thrilled with the film, but I wasn't "into it" enough to know why, Rent was always this kind of "thing that was popular in my parents' time" and had some themes I could relate to, but was on the whole a pretty obtuse piece of art with fun songs. I greatly appreciated this breakdown, and just wanted you to know I feel like I learned a lot. Thank you for sharing this.
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Comment on You can now play the original Diablo in a web browser in ~games
3d12 LinkJust want to point out, this article doesn't do much research, in that "rivsoft" isn't "the people at Rivsoft" as if it's a company, it's literally just some dude's website. Here's his Github...Just want to point out, this article doesn't do much research, in that "rivsoft" isn't "the people at Rivsoft" as if it's a company, it's literally just some dude's website. Here's his Github page: https://github.com/d07RiV
Dude goes by the same name on the HIVE workshop website which is a popular WC3 modding forum. He's got some really cool projects in his Github, and a wealth of knowledge. He definitely deserves your follows and stars if you're into old Blizzard-related code and projects.
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Comment on Friday haiku challenge in ~creative
At a guess, I would say it's probably build-essential that included the ARM compiler, since I think build-essential comes with a few extras for gcc. But you are at an advantage since you have the list of packages -- the best way to know would be to image the Pi and start again, but install one package at a time until it works.