Akir's recent activity
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Comment on New plastic dissolves in the ocean overnight, leaving no microplastics in ~enviro
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Comment on Windows 11 is closing a loophole that let you skip making a Microsoft account in ~tech
Akir Link ParentFrankly I am astonished that Adobe has not ported their stuff to Linux. It’s not like there isn’t any demand. But knowing how buggy their stuff is I would imagine that it would be a nightmare.Frankly I am astonished that Adobe has not ported their stuff to Linux. It’s not like there isn’t any demand. But knowing how buggy their stuff is I would imagine that it would be a nightmare.
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Comment on Don't trust Firefox to backup your session in ~tech
Akir Link ParentI see. So what you are saying is that we now have to fight to the death. 😜 The thing that bugs me is trying to do something and not getting the expected result. That is why superfluous tabs bother...I see. So what you are saying is that we now have to fight to the death. 😜
The thing that bugs me is trying to do something and not getting the expected result. That is why superfluous tabs bother me. The more tabs I have the more likely I have a close-but-not-quite match that will be useless to me and very likely could not be useful - it’s outdated or doesn’t have the instance specific state that I need. Organized tabs work better because I have a nearly tactile organization to things instead of needing to stop and think about words.
I also use Tree Style Tabs which keep things in a hierarchy for me. If I open something in a new tab, it’s going to be a child of the tab I opened it from. Moreover it collapses hierarchies I am not using by default but will switch to leaving it open when manually expanding them, so it intelligently adapts to my way of thinking. This is the main reason why I am weary at browsers trying to implement vertical tabs; they just don’t go far enough.
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Comment on Don't trust Firefox to backup your session in ~tech
Akir Link ParentI honestly don’t get people who don’t do this. Having 300 tabs is one of the most dysfunctional behaviors I can think of. I get trying to outsource your memory to your browser, but after you get...I honestly don’t get people who don’t do this. Having 300 tabs is one of the most dysfunctional behaviors I can think of. I get trying to outsource your memory to your browser, but after you get to 20+ tabs - especially if you are not using vertical hierarchical tabs - you will not remember what is on them. I see people trying to go back to something they had open a day or so ago only to find they are on a tab that contains an even earlier version of the page that they forgot about before opening the tab they are actually looking for.
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Comment on inZOI has been officially released in Early Access in ~games
Akir Link ParentI saw someone else doing that. It’s so realistic that it’s uncanny valley in a way I have not really experienced before. Very creepy to me.I saw someone else doing that. It’s so realistic that it’s uncanny valley in a way I have not really experienced before. Very creepy to me.
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Comment on We need to be more tech critical in ~tech
Akir LinkThis guy has videos that occasionally show up in my recommendations. Discovering this one there is why it’s being posted now instead of 5 months ago. He is perhaps the “most socialist” person I’ve...This guy has videos that occasionally show up in my recommendations. Discovering this one there is why it’s being posted now instead of 5 months ago.
He is perhaps the “most socialist” person I’ve ever seen, and I appreciate his works because they are well constructed in terms of philosophy and education; I appreciate how he brings up concepts and asks many questions to get the viewer to think about them. You don’t have to agree with him, but by the end you should be able to walk away with a better idea of why you think what you do.
P.S. I know this probably would have been better in ~society but I figured the discussion here might be more interesting.
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We need to be more tech critical
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Comment on Life altering PostgreSQL patterns in ~comp
Akir LinkMan, This conversation is making me miss the days when DBA was one of the hats I was wearing. I miss how much control you have over the data, and spending time to optimize how it’s stored,...Man, This conversation is making me miss the days when DBA was one of the hats I was wearing. I miss how much control you have over the data, and spending time to optimize how it’s stored, queried, and restricted. Sadly I stopped around the time when Postgres started putting really interesting data in there because as a one man operation in an increasingly complex business, in-house development for the things that needed any sort of data management was untenable.
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Comment on WB looking to sell Looney Tunes in ~tv
Akir Link ParentI think Disney is actually doing pretty good with the muppets, honestly. The problem with them is that they really worked best in the vaudeville / variety show format, which is basically dead...I think Disney is actually doing pretty good with the muppets, honestly. The problem with them is that they really worked best in the vaudeville / variety show format, which is basically dead today. The muppets were best when they were always making new characters and concepts, having the feeling that literally anything could happen. It was TV magic. Without that it doesn’t really work, and the ensemble of puppets that people call “the muppets” are more or less sad tired tropes from the 70s and attempts to modernize them just don’t stick because they are put against highly developed larger than life characters in a way that is hard to duplicate.
In the meanwhile, Jim Henson Workshop is still up and running and are still producing a lot of projects, so muppets are still carrying Henson’s legacy. It just doesn’t look the same as it used to.
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Comment on Why I recommend against Brave in ~tech
Akir (edited )Link ParentI’ll check it out, but unless it has the main functionality of tree style tabs I’m unlikely to change. I tried it. It's still not as good as tree style tabs because it takes too much vertical...I’ll check it out, but unless it has the main functionality of tree style tabs I’m unlikely to change.
I tried it. It's still not as good as tree style tabs because it takes too much vertical space and it doesn't have the hierarchical organization to it. Worse, after enabling it, it put a permanant additional sidebar in the sidebar that took up more space which I could not remove.
I say that, but somehow I have managed to do it after fiddling with the settings in several different ways it somehow worked, and now I have neither the additional sidebar nor the horizontal tab bar, so it's kind of perfect now, in a way?
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Comment on Butter vs. margarine: One of America’s most bizarre food battles in ~food
Akir Link ParentIt seems like you might be laying hard on technicalities on this definition, so I did a little bit more research. It appears that the organization for the Checkoff program is the Dairy Program,...It seems like you might be laying hard on technicalities on this definition, so I did a little bit more research. It appears that the organization for the Checkoff program is the Dairy Program, which is part of the USDA. So yes, it is the government collecting the money. And since the money is used primarily for outreach to the public, I would say that meets the requirement of "for public purposes". And since the program is explicitly made for this purpose, that means that it is being used "for the use and service of the state". From the USDA page on the Dairy Program: "The mission of the Dairy Program is to facilitate the efficient marketing of milk and dairy products."
(Side note: the Dairy Program is a part of the greater Agricultural Marketing Service, which covers other agricultural products as well.)
While I was looking into this, I found that I was actually not completely correct in regards to my initial story. The Got Milk campaign started at a time when contributing to checkoff funds was optional. It has been mandatory since 2011. But apparently there was a big scandal in 2017 because the AMS was not publicly disclosing where their funds were going to.
Boy, if the government was mandating money goes directly to a private marketing fund, that would be even worse, ethically. Though as things are, it appears that the money largely going to a trade organization called Dairy Management Inc. I could look into this more, but it's a bit too tangential for my tastes.
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Comment on Virtual Game Card – Nintendo Direct 3.27.2025 in ~games
Akir LinkWait a moment. You couldn't download games to any system with your account before? I almost never bought Nintendo's digital offerings, so this is a surprise to me.Wait a moment. You couldn't download games to any system with your account before? I almost never bought Nintendo's digital offerings, so this is a surprise to me.
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Comment on Butter vs. margarine: One of America’s most bizarre food battles in ~food
Akir Link ParentYou're really splitting hairs here. It's not "effectively a tax", it is a tax. It is legally required for them to pay, so it is "legally" a tax. if you want a definition from a legal dictionary,...You're really splitting hairs here. It's not "effectively a tax", it is a tax. It is legally required for them to pay, so it is "legally" a tax.
if you want a definition from a legal dictionary, try this one.
As it so happens, Mirriam-Webster is also a legal dictionary. Here is their definition. You'll note that it has that exact same definition.
Editing to add: If you think I'm wrong or sending the wrong message, by all means, correct the record as you see fit. But you're not going to change my mind if we cannot even agree on what a tax is.
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Comment on Butter vs. margarine: One of America’s most bizarre food battles in ~food
Akir Link ParentWhat's happening is the dictionary definition of what a tax is. The first definition of the word tax in Mirriam-Webster is thus:What's happening is the dictionary definition of what a tax is.
The first definition of the word tax in Mirriam-Webster is thus:
a charge usually of money imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes
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Comment on Butter vs. margarine: One of America’s most bizarre food battles in ~food
Akir Link ParentBut it is government funds. Checkoff funds are a form of tax. Producers who do not want to contribute do not have the choice to opt-out. It's similar to how when you guy gasolene the taxes from it...But it is government funds. Checkoff funds are a form of tax. Producers who do not want to contribute do not have the choice to opt-out.
It's similar to how when you guy gasolene the taxes from it are used to maintain roads. You wouldn't say that those projects aren't funded by the government, would you?
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Comment on Butter vs. margarine: One of America’s most bizarre food battles in ~food
Akir Link ParentIt is technically paid by the milk industry in that it is a fund that is paid by them, but the existence of it is mandated by the government. Lookup checkoff funds.It is technically paid by the milk industry in that it is a fund that is paid by them, but the existence of it is mandated by the government. Lookup checkoff funds.
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Comment on Why I recommend against Brave in ~tech
Akir Link ParentYeah, I thought that was a shame. Having extensions no longer able to make a lot of changes to the browser UI was a let down. It bothers me that I can use an awesome extension like tree style tabs...Yeah, I thought that was a shame. Having extensions no longer able to make a lot of changes to the browser UI was a let down. It bothers me that I can use an awesome extension like tree style tabs to give me vertical tabs but I can’t get rid of the built in horizontal tabs without manually modifying the browser. And even then, because TST is now a sidebar instead of its own distinct feature, I can’t have it open at the same time as the bookmarks or history sidebar.
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Comment on Butter vs. margarine: One of America’s most bizarre food battles in ~food
Akir Link ParentWe know what to do with it. We are not for the most part just throwing out milk. But in any case the governments involvement with food industries goes far beyond reducing scarcity and goes into...We know what to do with it. We are not for the most part just throwing out milk. But in any case the governments involvement with food industries goes far beyond reducing scarcity and goes into controlling and manipulating the market to the benefit of the producers. Why do you think that the FDA tells you to have a glass of milk with every meal? The famous “Got Milk” campaign was paid through a government program.
We don't actually need dairy, at least from a nutritional perspective. If the US would run out of dairy suddenly, it would cause issues with the market, but everyone would adapt to it. So calling availability of dairy a national security issue is a very untrue statement.
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Comment on Any other 3D Printers here? in ~hobbies
Akir Link ParentTildes doesn't show the new comments in a thread after a while, so a new thread might have actually been more appropriate. I really do not see any earth-shattering improvements in FDM printing...Tildes doesn't show the new comments in a thread after a while, so a new thread might have actually been more appropriate.
I really do not see any earth-shattering improvements in FDM printing anytime soon. At least not on the consumer level. Right now it seems that all of the attention-grabbing stuff is stuff that has been available in expensive specialty models for a number of years. Bambulabs just launched a new printer that is pretty good, but with the exception to some of the novel ways they have put it together (particularly with their implementation of dual-extruder toolhead), it's all stuff that's been around for a while on high-end and commercial FDM printers. Though I will give you that having those kinds of improvements available on consumer goods is definitely great.
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Comment on Butter vs. margarine: One of America’s most bizarre food battles in ~food
Akir LinkThis is just one of many stories about how crazy the US dairy industry is. Did you know that we produce so much milk that we practically don't know what to do with it all? If you've ever heard the...This is just one of many stories about how crazy the US dairy industry is. Did you know that we produce so much milk that we practically don't know what to do with it all? If you've ever heard the term "government cheese", it's a reference to how we used to take all the excess milk, turn it into cheese, and give it to poor people because we have always produced far more milk than there is actual demand for it. The reason why butter, cheese and yogurt is so relatively cheap is that it's basically made from waste product that would not be able to be sold otherwise, and likewise you will find milk components like whey in products you wouldn't even think to look for them in.
this is the comedy video they mentioned, if anyone's interested. Don't take any of it's health claims seriously. I've kind of lost track of how long ago the paleo trend started.
Just a little more context to this story: there isn't just one thing called plastic; we make many different plastics because they have different properties. So regardless of how good or bad this product will end up being, it will not ever replace all forms of plastic.