Akir's recent activity
-
Comment on Prime Video’s ad free subscription becomes Prime Video Ultra for $4.99 a month in ~tv
-
Comment on What radicalized you? in ~talk
Akir Link ParentThat’s the thing that frustrates me about the rise of Christian fundamentalism. The entire concept is a lie. They say stupid things like “only the King James Bible is the word of god” and then...That’s the thing that frustrates me about the rise of Christian fundamentalism. The entire concept is a lie. They say stupid things like “only the King James Bible is the word of god” and then they go on to cherry-pick the worst parts of it to follow as their gospel, and if they pay any attention to Jesus’s teachings of love they twist it into very dark things (“I’m shunning you because I love you and want you to come back to Jesus!”).
-
Comment on gb-recompiled - Translates Z80 assembly directly into modern C code in ~games
Akir Link ParentYes, the Z80 is a well known archetechture, down to the differences between implementations on different manufacturing processes even. But as far as I'm aware, there is no direct drop-in...Yes, the Z80 is a well known archetechture, down to the differences between implementations on different manufacturing processes even. But as far as I'm aware, there is no direct drop-in replacement for it.
In any case it's not like those calculators are using the original Z-80. According to Claude, they swapped it with a different software-compatible processor in the late 90s and the later ones have them built into an ASIC.
-
Comment on gb-recompiled - Translates Z80 assembly directly into modern C code in ~games
Akir Link ParentRecomps still require you to provide a ROM because all of the assets in the games are still subject to copyright. If anything they are less convenient than emulators. That is assuming you are not...Recomps still require you to provide a ROM because all of the assets in the games are still subject to copyright. If anything they are less convenient than emulators.
That is assuming you are not talking about companies producing these and selling them as new games.
-
Comment on gb-recompiled - Translates Z80 assembly directly into modern C code in ~games
Akir Link ParentZilog actually recently discontinued the Z80. They recommend the Z800 for new designs. Even if they hadn’t it would be doubtful that any single product line could keep an IC in perpetual production.Zilog actually recently discontinued the Z80. They recommend the Z800 for new designs.
Even if they hadn’t it would be doubtful that any single product line could keep an IC in perpetual production.
-
Comment on Malcolm in the Middle: Life’s Still Unfair | Official trailer in ~tv
Akir Link ParentHonestly I’m struggling to find a time in my life when Disney wasn’t pushing nostalgia. I grew up with the “Disney vault”.Honestly I’m struggling to find a time in my life when Disney wasn’t pushing nostalgia. I grew up with the “Disney vault”.
-
Comment on What radicalized you? in ~talk
Akir LinkI’m well aware of being considered a social radical, especially in the United States where we just kind of apathy-ed our way into fascism. But frankly I don’t think I was radicalized. There is no...I’m well aware of being considered a social radical, especially in the United States where we just kind of apathy-ed our way into fascism. But frankly I don’t think I was radicalized. There is no single event that explains why I think the way that I do. Instead, I just think the rest of the people are just basically asleep or are simply in positions where they don’t have to care about other people, so they don’t.
FD Signifier uses the term “pick-me” to refer to a certain class of black conservative person. They are people who adopt conservative politics in the hope that they can fit in and be “not like those other blacks”. I think that idea can be applied more broadly. There are many conservatives who still completely support Donald Trump as president even though they can see that his policies are causing people to be murdered on the street. The reason fascism spreads is that they think that if they can just ingratiate themselves with the fascists, they won’t be in the scores of people being put under foot.
And the thing is that these thought processes are the same for everyone out there. If you were to ask people “do you agree with every single government policy wholesale”, the answer will be almost universally “no”. So why aren’t they trying to change them? There will be many answers to that question, but they all boil down to the loss of social standing. Just being described as being a political activist is considered to be degrading to many people.
-
Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Akir Link ParentWow, you are not kidding about the sex. I turned the page of the first chapter maybe three times before suddenly BJ.Wow, you are not kidding about the sex. I turned the page of the first chapter maybe three times before suddenly BJ.
-
Comment on ‘I took two bites and had to spit it out’: US candy makers are phasing out real cocoa in chocolate in some products in ~food
Akir Link ParentI’d be very glad if all the stuff I personally classify as “fake chocolate” - white chocolate, milk chocolate, and even dark chocolate that is less than 50% cacao - were to actually become fake...I’d be very glad if all the stuff I personally classify as “fake chocolate” - white chocolate, milk chocolate, and even dark chocolate that is less than 50% cacao - were to actually become fake chocolate. In my personal opinion, chocolate should be at least partially bitter and ideally a bit fruity, and the whole point of most of those other chocolate products is to get rid of those beautiful flavors. If the producers of these watered down products end up using an alternative it means more “real” chocolate for us snobs.
Personally I found Reece’s to be bad far before the current iteration. It was a childhood favorite but it’s amazing how they can stuff so much fat and sugar into them and still have so little flavor. Simple two ingredient peanut butter cups are divine and it’s a perfect example where the using dark chocolate is usually preferable to milk, at least among the small sample of people I have asked.
-
Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Akir LinkI just started watching Sentenced to be a Hero. It’s really not that special from what I’ve seen so far in terms of story but the animation and art direction is glorious. My husband asked me why I...I just started watching Sentenced to be a Hero. It’s really not that special from what I’ve seen so far in terms of story but the animation and art direction is glorious.
My husband asked me why I would watch it and not Jujutsu Kaisen. Frankly, something like 90% of it boils down to the simple fact that the main character is an adult.
-
Comment on Why do I almost never catch colds anymore? in ~health
Akir Link ParentHow long did that take you? My first year of teaching has seen me getting sick often. I even got an infection not too long ago.How long did that take you? My first year of teaching has seen me getting sick often. I even got an infection not too long ago.
-
Comment on Chainsaw Man Part 2 will be ending with Chapter 232 on March 25th in ~anime
Akir Link ParentI haven’t been paying much attention to the manga or show, but isn’t the big bad for the series supposed to be the gun demon? It would be ironic and maybe even a bit funny if protagonist-kun’s...I haven’t been paying much attention to the manga or show, but isn’t the big bad for the series supposed to be the gun demon? It would be ironic and maybe even a bit funny if protagonist-kun’s story ends when he is minding his own business and is shot by a police officer.
-
Comment on Apple announces Macbook Neo, a new budget Mac in ~tech
Akir Link ParentI don’t blame people for hating on the RAM. For one thing, it’s likely the last time they had a computer with so little RAM they were running either SATA constrained SSDs or even mechanical hard...I don’t blame people for hating on the RAM. For one thing, it’s likely the last time they had a computer with so little RAM they were running either SATA constrained SSDs or even mechanical hard drives, so swap was very very slow. They’re also used to windows which doesn’t tend to be very memory efficient to begin with, and comes with pre installed bloatware to boot.
Personally speaking I prefer relatively minimal desktop environments. I have memories of Gnome being really bloated and irritating to use, but when I recently messed around with Rocky Linux I was surprised at how minimal and snappy it was in comparison to Microsoft Behemoth 11. Though to be fair, that’s also because Rocky doesn’t have a bunch of packages in the default install like most user-focused distributions.
And who knows, maybe this will be the sign people need to realize that a browser that eats up so much ram is probably a bad thing and switch to Safari or Firefox. Probably not though.
-
Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health
Akir LinkThe other day I tried the stair climber for the first time. It wasn’t really that bad, I thought. Yeah, just 15 minutes was hard, and even then I had to take a break in the middle of it. I’d been...The other day I tried the stair climber for the first time. It wasn’t really that bad, I thought. Yeah, just 15 minutes was hard, and even then I had to take a break in the middle of it. I’d been sick for a while so I was out of my prime. But I felt like it was a good cardio workout that was also pretty strength-forward. I’m not really sure why people make fun of the people who do it. I imagine they must be insecure.
-
Comment on Survey reveals almost 50% of California teachers may quit teaching soon in ~life
Akir Link ParentThe more I grow the more I understand how useless any single grading system is in an educational context. Mastery is something that's difficult to truely grasp, but traditional grades don't do it...The more I grow the more I understand how useless any single grading system is in an educational context. Mastery is something that's difficult to truely grasp, but traditional grades don't do it particularly well. A student with excellent mastery might skip out on homework because they feel it's a waste of their time, but they'll get a lower grade because of it.
Grades based soley on mastery are a somewhat good idea, but to embrace them is to abandon an important function of schooling - teaching children how to become good adults. Making sure that they have good social skills as well as the most basic soft skills, like being able to pay attention to someone and follow their directions, or how to have a respectful debate. Those are all things that are lumped into "behavior".
In an ideal world, grades would be an in-depth multivariate evaluation of a student but with classes having a minimum of 30 students and teachers teaching 5+ classes per semester and being stretched out by varioius other factors, It's not exactliy the easiest thing to implement.
-
Comment on Pace of global warming has doubled since 2015 in ~enviro
Akir Link ParentLA has been crazy. I've been joking with my husband that he's finally entered his slutty phase because he's constantly taking his shirt off in winter, where there have been more than a few days of...LA has been crazy. I've been joking with my husband that he's finally entered his slutty phase because he's constantly taking his shirt off in winter, where there have been more than a few days of 80+ ºF weather, including weeks where it's gone from the 60s to the 80s.
We had a mild summer this last year, but I'm pretty sure that our house without air conditioning is going to be hell this year.
-
Comment on Pace of global warming has doubled since 2015 in ~enviro
Akir Link ParentBecause pretty. For some people money isn't that hard to come by and they are so entranced by the view that is beautiful and (reasonably) safe 99% of the time that it's worth the buy. Especially...Because pretty. For some people money isn't that hard to come by and they are so entranced by the view that is beautiful and (reasonably) safe 99% of the time that it's worth the buy. Especially with insurance.
-
Comment on Charli XCX reveals she wants to ‘quit music’ for new career path in ~music
Akir Link ParentI feel that a lot of performers kind of coast by after they get at least one hit. Some acts seem to get together just to be a money making act. I think the Beach Boys are still performing in spite...I feel that a lot of performers kind of coast by after they get at least one hit. Some acts seem to get together just to be a money making act. I think the Beach Boys are still performing in spite of being unrecognizable from their heyday and the brain behind them no longer living. So power to her if she wants to move on and try something else.
Still, I have a lot of respect for artists who keep making and releasing music even if they aren’t super popular anymore. I just looked up Neil Diamond: he has so many albums released that Wikipedia has a dedicated page for his discography! There are many more artists who disappear from the spotlight, choosing instead to write and produce music for other artists instead.
-
Comment on Yoshi and the Mysterious Book | Coming May 21st in ~games
Akir Link ParentI kind of feel like more modern Mario is so focused on being accessible that they are no longer fun. Yoshi’s Crafted World, for instance, just feels like being given busywork. The focus on...I kind of feel like more modern Mario is so focused on being accessible that they are no longer fun. Yoshi’s Crafted World, for instance, just feels like being given busywork. The focus on searching and finding everything is especially bad. It’s nice to find a secret along the way but when secrets are the point then they stop being fun bonuses and start becoming a chore to find.
-
Comment on What are people using instead of VS Code? in ~comp
Akir LinkIntelliJ really cannot be beaten for Java development. Sure, it’s a big hulking beast that takes up too many resources but it has a lot of features that are easy to discover if you’re interested,...IntelliJ really cannot be beaten for Java development. Sure, it’s a big hulking beast that takes up too many resources but it has a lot of features that are easy to discover if you’re interested, such as database connectivity and even UML diagramming.
I really like Panic’s Nova on MacOS. It’s ultra snappy and very Mac-like, but last I checked it doesn’t really play well with a lot of things I tend to need or want. I bought it a while back because I was dicking around with the Playdate SDK and it was great for that, but when I did another lua project using LÖVE, it didn’t have the means to debug it - kind of important for gamedev! But to be fair I haven’t payed for an upgrade in years at this point so I wouldn’t be surprised to see it vastly improved.
If you’re just looking for a fast “code-like” experience, then Zed is pretty good. I’m not personally, but in its credit I still have it installed and it’s pretty good for what it is. I probably would have switched over if not for needing some VS Code exclusive extensions.
So… a rebrand? Is anything actually changing?
It would be nice if they had an option that didn’t include a prime membership to begin with. As it is, the insertion of ads is the straw that broke this camel’s back and made it cancel its prime subscription. Now I avoid giving money to Bezos whenever possible.