Akir's recent activity
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Comment on What's a setting that you'd recommend? in ~tech
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Comment on What's a setting that you'd recommend? in ~tech
Akir Link ParentI absolutely abhor dark mode. I prefer to actually see what's on my screen. I especially hate it when my students are using their computers in dark mode and I need to see the code they're writing...I absolutely abhor dark mode. I prefer to actually see what's on my screen. I especially hate it when my students are using their computers in dark mode and I need to see the code they're writing but they're all using dark mode with their especially low contrast syntax highlighting color schemes. And if you're not running on an OLED display, the backlight has to be run extra hard since the vast majority of the pixels are obscuring said light.
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Comment on What's a setting that you'd recommend? in ~tech
Akir Link ParentI don't think that this is an option on my car, but it's OK because that setting you like is just how it is. But I actually kind of wish it weren't. I kind of liked how my old Nissan leaf was;...I don't think that this is an option on my car, but it's OK because that setting you like is just how it is. But I actually kind of wish it weren't. I kind of liked how my old Nissan leaf was; press the button on the handle once and it unlocked the driver's door, press it twice to unlock all of them.
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Comment on What's a setting that you'd recommend? in ~tech
Akir Link ParentThis is the way. I honestly don't know why anyone allows notifications from anything that isn't a messaging app, or maybe scheduling / reminder type deals. There once was a time when I decided to...This is the way. I honestly don't know why anyone allows notifications from anything that isn't a messaging app, or maybe scheduling / reminder type deals.
There once was a time when I decided to allow notifications from other apps, opting to shut them off only after getting advertisements / engagement farming / other bullshit. But after a while I realized that they almost universally abuse the privilege, and now they only get turned on if I am absolutely sure that I actually need them. And let me tell you, the odds are stacked against them.
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Comment on Request: resources for learning digital electronics in ~comp
Akir Link ParentYeah, and this is an online-only class with very little external support. To be fair, while it doesn’t have any prerequisites, classes do have a certain order they need to be taken in. Boolean...Yeah, and this is an online-only class with very little external support.
To be fair, while it doesn’t have any prerequisites, classes do have a certain order they need to be taken in. Boolean algebra was brushed upon in another class but I was pretty terrible at it and my understanding is that it’s going to be pretty crucial for this class.
I actually messaged the professor because I was wildly stressed about this and while he answered my questions and was incredibly understanding he also didn’t give me any additional resources and said that it was meant to be challenging.
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Comment on Request: resources for learning digital electronics in ~comp
Akir Link ParentOh, I was actually told that we had to use the nand2tetris software in that class. I was under the impression that it was using VHDL because of some of the documentation I very briefly skimmed...Oh, I was actually told that we had to use the nand2tetris software in that class. I was under the impression that it was using VHDL because of some of the documentation I very briefly skimmed through. This might be where I should start, though!
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Comment on Request: resources for learning digital electronics in ~comp
Akir Link ParentIt does, actually, but I think it's fairly vague. https://www.uopeople.edu/programs/course/digital-electronics-and-computer-architecture/It does, actually, but I think it's fairly vague. https://www.uopeople.edu/programs/course/digital-electronics-and-computer-architecture/
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Request: resources for learning digital electronics
This college term I was signed up to a class on Digital Electronics, and it kicked my butt on the very first week because the learning materials were extremely obtuse; I actually dropped the...
This college term I was signed up to a class on Digital Electronics, and it kicked my butt on the very first week because the learning materials were extremely obtuse; I actually dropped the course because I could not see myself being able to keep up no matter what I did, especially because my university does not allow late work. I'm going to have to go back to it next term in order to get my degree, so I'm looking for any learning resources anyone can recommend me to give me a head start.
Just to be clear, I'm primarily looking for good resources that covers basics like boolean algebra (which I already understand but am terrible at) and logic gates. I know we'll be using VHDL later, so those will also be appreciated.
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Comment on Dear Nintendo, please bring back the Wii Remote in ~games
Akir Link ParentNope! If I'm playing the thing with it docked, it's going to be with a different controller. Even with the joycon dock thing I find the experience really uncomfortable, with the placement of the...Nope! If I'm playing the thing with it docked, it's going to be with a different controller. Even with the joycon dock thing I find the experience really uncomfortable, with the placement of the d-pad particularly egregious.
I dislike party games myself, so I can't speak out of experience, but I can't see anyone wanting to play one of them portably since it's hard to get the screen where everyone can actually see it well enough. And if you're going to play it with a TV is the issue of how portable the controller is really that big of a deal?
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Comment on Dear Nintendo, please bring back the Wii Remote in ~games
Akir Link ParentThe joycons are honestly the worst part of the switch IMHO. The only controller that I can think of that is more fiddly is the 8bitdo Zero, a controller that was designed to be as small as...The joycons are honestly the worst part of the switch IMHO. The only controller that I can think of that is more fiddly is the 8bitdo Zero, a controller that was designed to be as small as realistically possible. The switch doesn't really gain anything from removing the joycons from it's docks, so the only real occasion it really makes any sense to detatch it is if you're going to be playing a two-player game on the go and hunch over the relatively tiny screen - something I have literally never witnessed in the wild.
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Comment on How Honeycrisp apples went from marvel to mediocre in ~food
Akir Link ParentSsssh! If everyone knows how good pink ladies are they're going to get made worse just like all the others....Ssssh! If everyone knows how good pink ladies are they're going to get made worse just like all the others....
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Comment on Am I the only who finds raw photography souless? in ~arts
Akir LinkI'm actually not sure what you mean by "raw photography" in this context. Are you talking about shooting with raw formats? If that's the case, the problem probably isn't with the raws insomuch as...I'm actually not sure what you mean by "raw photography" in this context. Are you talking about shooting with raw formats? If that's the case, the problem probably isn't with the raws insomuch as you simply dislike a common style. I don't use Lightroom anymore, but I noticed that it's attempts to automatically balance everything made all of my photos turn out very boring, and so I avoided it like the plague. A lot of portrait photography is taken as a commodity rather than a creative pursuit, so it wouldn't surprise me if the photo studio you hired was just clicking that "Auto" button and calling it a day, especially if they're just using bare light bulbs to light the scene.
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Comment on Half of people on weight loss drugs quit within one year, Danish study finds – more likely to stop taking the drugs if they were younger, lived in poorer areas, or were men in ~health
Akir Link ParentThis is why I’m ultimately disappointed at GLP agonists. It’s the same kind of disappointment I get when I hear people talking about “CICO”. People get metabolic syndrome (which includes obesity...This is why I’m ultimately disappointed at GLP agonists. It’s the same kind of disappointment I get when I hear people talking about “CICO”.
People get metabolic syndrome (which includes obesity but also diabetes and other issues) because of their habits. People get those habits from society. Society adopts their habits from influences. When we zoom into communities, we see that food availability is an issue, especially access to healthy foodstuff. And there are even more issues to be addressed on the individual - too many to count, frankly. So if we wanted to end metabolic syndrome to improve public health we would have to address all of the causes. Instead we let the wolves run wild and say if you are rich enough we now have a way to force your body to be healthy. You just have to pay forever.
The crazy thing is that metabolic syndrome has tremendous monetary cost to society because people with those issues need expensive lifelong healthcare. It’s reasonable to believe that social programs put into place would actually be cheaper than what we pay for their medical issues. But we don’t actually fucking care about these people, so everyone’s getting fucked over.
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Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health
Akir LinkI injured my ankle last weekend after walking too much at Universal Studios Hollywood. So I've been avoiding the gym out of fear of making it worse. I know, I can do exercises that don't put...I injured my ankle last weekend after walking too much at Universal Studios Hollywood. So I've been avoiding the gym out of fear of making it worse.
I know, I can do exercises that don't put weight on my ankle, but I really don't like pain and don't want to do anything to tempt fate.
I made it worse by eating terribly last Thursday. It was worth it for the fun times, but it made me feel terrible by the end of the day. On the plus side, now I finally empathize with the people I used to hate; those who say they feel bad if they eat bad. It might be dumb, but it's still proof of progress!
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Comment on Nintendo adding Virtual Boy to Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, with Virtual Boy replica accessory to play games in 3D in ~games
Akir Link ParentI'm getting increasingly annoyed that Nintendo has replaced the a la carte approach to their old games with subscribing to Nintendo Switch Online. I have zero interest in paying for online...I'm getting increasingly annoyed that Nintendo has replaced the a la carte approach to their old games with subscribing to Nintendo Switch Online. I have zero interest in paying for online multiplayer, so if I were to subscribe to NSO it would be entirely for the Virtual Console. But why would I pay a subscription for games - single-player games, especially? And on top of that they have the gall to charge more than double for more than half of the systems, which tend to be the most desirable ones for me. And this is yet another system they are putting behind that extra-high paywall. But you have to pay even more to play them the way they're actually meant to be played!
I haven't played through the VB library personally, but from what I understand from people who have, the games are pretty bad overall. So.... what?
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Comment on Question about breathing while exercising in ~health
Akir LinkCardio health and strength are two very different things. It's completely possible that you just need to train your cardiovascular system to better manage air. You might have seen "running masks"...Cardio health and strength are two very different things. It's completely possible that you just need to train your cardiovascular system to better manage air. You might have seen "running masks" out there which exist to restrict oxygen intake, with the idea being that a person will learn how to train themselves how to use less oxygen more efficiently. Maybe for now focus on running on flat terrain, a treadmill, elliptical, or rowing machine to improve your cardio health. It's going to be a long road, though.
It could also be more specific; that your body just hasn't yet learned how to breathe right under heavy exertion. It sounds weird, but it's a real thing. There are some breathing exercises you can look up, like the one @Prodiggles mentioned, but it's also one of those things that in theory you can just work through it for a while until your body naturally figures out something that works for you.
Another possibility is that you might have a health issue impacting your breathing. It could be asthma, for instance. If you're worried about that, you might want to send a message to your doctor to see how to test for those potential issues.
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Comment on My guess and opinion on the common blockers to Linux adoption in ~tech
Akir LinkThere's one very simple reason why everyone uses Windows: everyone uses Windows. Windows has social cachet. If someone has problems with Windows, they feel as if they can just ask their friends...There's one very simple reason why everyone uses Windows: everyone uses Windows.
Windows has social cachet. If someone has problems with Windows, they feel as if they can just ask their friends and coworkers. Windows is also "free"; there's zero friction to choose to keep running Windows, and whatever downsides there may be are 99% of the time going to be less than the downsides that they'll have to deal with to switch to even the smoothest, easiest alternative. The social aspect is the issue that almost all of the other issues come from, most notably "my game / application doesn't work on that system".
People here have an innate love of computers; they know how to use their operating system because they care. Most people either do not care, or they actively hate that they have to use them. For the latter, it doesn't really matter if you tell them that they don't have to put up with $antifeature if they switch to $alt_os because the switch is just going to put the things they hate about computers right in the forefront. For the majority of people, Windows is just "The enemy they know".
The past year has had the channel Linus Tech Tips doing a lot of "swap challenges" where users were forced to switch to different computing platforms than they're used to across desktop, laptops, and phones. In some cases, people actually did switch. But I think it's important to realize that of those people who did switch, they came from a small pool of people who were even willing to try in the first place.
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Comment on Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 getting rerelease on Nintendo Switch, bundle for $70 or standalone for $40 each in ~games
Akir Link ParentI feel this is a somewhat disingenuous arguement to make. Those “hundreds of people” were paid for their time at the time of the game’s development. Some of their artists might have even got...I feel this is a somewhat disingenuous arguement to make. Those “hundreds of people” were paid for their time at the time of the game’s development. Some of their artists might have even got residual payments in the time since. This also wasn’t a small indie drop in the ocean, it was a major release by one of the largest companies in the world who made well over its development costs. Furthermore Nintendo famously refrains from lowering their prices until years have passed, and resale values stay high long after release.
Granted, this is a new version with many improvements applied, so many people will need to have been paid for their work on this port. Whether $40 is a fair price for that is debatable. Given that this is practically guaranteed to sell well, I’m leaning towards it being too expensive. But this is coming from someone who doesn’t have the expendable income to afford it and doesn’t have enough time to play it even if I could.
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Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
Akir LinkI've been watching a lot of anime but don't have much to say about it. But the more surprising thing is that I'm reading manga right now. Kodansha has just published their first English language...I've been watching a lot of anime but don't have much to say about it. But the more surprising thing is that I'm reading manga right now.
Kodansha has just published their first English language version of Young Magazine, their Seinen periodical, as a special "45th anniversary" edition. It was aparantly done in cooperation with Kinokuniya USA, and I got it for free by the chance of me visiting one with my husband yesterday.
The thing is huge. It's over 1000 pages and it's about as tall and wide as a US magazine usually is. It's so thick because it has twenty different manga represented. The inside back cover contains a QR code where you can vote for the manga that will continue publication. If you are lucky enough to have a Kinokuniya near you, you should go pick one up. If not, you can still read it for free through Kodansha's USA online store, though I don't know if you can get it outside of the US.
In one way this kind of feels like Kodansha throwing us a bone to froth up their sales, but on the other hand I'm actually really excited simply because it looks like we're finally getting periodical manga again! I haven't seen that be a thing since Viz stopped publishing Shonen Jump years ago. I hope I can get them to mail directly to me; there's a Kinokuniya not too far from me but if they don't get sent to me I feel I will miss out on getting them, much like I dropped off on comic books ages ago.
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Comment on What did you do this week (and weekend)? in ~talk
Akir LinkAs a side note, why does this topic get posted on Friday mornings? The things that people will want to talk about usually happen on weekends, days after this topic shows up.As a side note, why does this topic get posted on Friday mornings? The things that people will want to talk about usually happen on weekends, days after this topic shows up.
I had one of those 2009 RGB notification LEDs and I’m flabbergasted that it’s not anywhere anymore. It was literally the only phone I had with it either. It’s a feature that costs almost zero to manufacture, too! But I guess everyone else prefers always-on screens that give out way too much info to the public….