Arbybear's recent activity

  1. Comment on Statement from NYC Comptroller Brad Lander on the Donald Trump administration’s illegal reversal of FEMA funding in ~society

    Arbybear
    Link Parent
    I'm confused, what is the connection here? Besides both being NYC officials.

    I'm confused, what is the connection here? Besides both being NYC officials.

    1 vote
  2. Comment on You can change ONE thing about a game. What do you change? in ~games

    Arbybear
    Link Parent
    I read a justification for weapon degradation in BotW on reddit somewhere that made a lot of sense. Paraphrasing:

    I read a justification for weapon degradation in BotW on reddit somewhere that made a lot of sense. Paraphrasing:

    The developers needed some way to reward players for exploring the world. One method they decided on was to place weapons in chests throughout the map. However they only have so many unique weapons, and the player can only use one at once. And the player might be hesitant to switch weapons once they have gotten used to one they like.

    So to force players to use more weapons they added weapon degradation. This solution has its problems:

    • people hate the mechanic in general
    • there are only so many unique weapons, so eventually the rewards aren't as exciting
    • many weapons are guarded by enemies that you have to kill, meaning you have to expend your current weapons to get new ones. You may eventually decide that there is no reason to go for overworld chests anymore since at best you'll break even on armaments.

    Elden Ring had a much better solution. They created enough Ashes of War, weapons, spells, and summons that every dungeon rewarded you with a unique item.

    3 votes
  3. Comment on How do you organize images you've collected? (e.g. memes, art, inspiration, etc) in ~tech

    Arbybear
    Link Parent
    You may want to find an alternative to Simple Gallery: Simple Mobile Tools was bought by ZipoApps about a year ago. There haven't been any updates to the app since October 2023 (before the sale),...

    You may want to find an alternative to Simple Gallery: Simple Mobile Tools was bought by ZipoApps about a year ago. There haven't been any updates to the app since October 2023 (before the sale), but people believe they will do something to ruin it eventually (like add ads and trackers).

    People have already forked it into https://github.com/fossifyorg, though I haven't tried it myself. I switched to https://github.com/deckerst/aves and have been satisfied.

    4 votes
  4. Comment on What do you think about the Apex Pro Keyboard? in ~tech

    Arbybear
    Link
    I use a Wooting two HE as my main keyboard. It's great for gaming but not much else. Gaming For gaming, the hall effect switches alone (without rapid trigger) don't help much. Ostensibly setting a...

    I use a Wooting two HE as my main keyboard. It's great for gaming but not much else.

    Gaming

    For gaming, the hall effect switches alone (without rapid trigger) don't help much. Ostensibly setting a higher key press threshold (so the key registers at the top of the key stroke) can help you react faster, since there is less physical motion before your key press registers. However (again without a rapid trigger feature) you set the distance threshold for both hitting and releasing a key to the same value, so you have a tradeoff between key press latency and key release latency. Both latencies are equally important in most games, since you likely care about how soon you stop moving as well as how soon you start moving.

    The REAL killer gaming feature is rapid trigger (and Wooting has the best implementation). This registers a key press or release as soon as the key reverses direction (i.e. always at the start of your key press or release). Therefore you get the best of both worlds in registering key presses and releases as fast as possible.

    So how much does this actually help? Here I recorded a 60 fps video of me hitting a key at what I guessed was a typical speed for gaming. My estimate was you could shave off up to 16.667 milliseconds of reaction time. However now it's the future and I have a phone with 240 fps recording. I re-did the test and found each key stroke was on average 5 frames long, or 20.833 milliseconds. So if you typically set your actuation point to halfway through the key stroke, the real latency reduction is ~10 milliseconds. You would likely only benefit in competitive shooters or other movement-focused games (e.g. Doom Eternal, TagPro, Quake, Rocket League maybe?

    Typing

    I don't notice a scratchy feel or chatter like canekicker mentioned, but I'm not a mechanical keyboard enthusiast so maybe it's there and I don't know what to look for. Otherwise typing on this will be as good as any other keyboard with linear switches. I personally don't like linear switches for typing, I make way more typos by accidentally hitting extra keys. I much prefer Cherry MX browns.

    My advice to the OP is that it's not worth it for your use case. Try some tactile keyboards and find something there you like.

    2 votes
  5. Comment on How to stink less at piano in ~music

    Arbybear
    Link
    I recommend reading through some posts from Yeargdribble on reddit. He's a professional piano player who constantly posts about his experiences and how he practices. Here's an example post about...

    I recommend reading through some posts from Yeargdribble on reddit.

    He's a professional piano player who constantly posts about his experiences and how he practices. Here's an example post about how to learn to spell chords faster.

    5 votes
  6. Comment on Anyone interested in trying out Kagi? in ~tech

  7. Comment on Anyone interested in trying out Kagi? in ~tech

  8. Comment on Anyone interested in trying out Kagi? in ~tech

    Arbybear
    Link Parent
    It's 3 months of Kagi (likely the lowest-tier plan with 300 searches per month).

    It's 3 months of Kagi (likely the lowest-tier plan with 300 searches per month).

    4 votes
  9. Comment on Anyone interested in trying out Kagi? in ~tech

  10. Comment on Anyone interested in trying out Kagi? in ~tech

    Arbybear
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    All out

    I have 3 available too. All out

    4 votes
  11. Comment on United States Department of Justice will push Google to sell Chrome to break search monopoly in ~tech

    Arbybear
    Link Parent
    This antitrust case started under the previous (2016) administration, so I imagine it will continue.

    This antitrust case started under the previous (2016) administration, so I imagine it will continue.

    13 votes
  12. Comment on Tips for increasing online privacy (without going insane)? in ~tech

    Arbybear
    Link Parent
    Sadly TrackerControl requires that you don't use a VPN or custom DNS.

    Sadly TrackerControl requires that you don't use a VPN or custom DNS.

    3 votes
  13. Comment on Use plain text email in ~tech

    Arbybear
    Link Parent
    My work uses Teams, and I've never used Slack. How is it better?

    My work uses Teams, and I've never used Slack. How is it better?

    2 votes
  14. Comment on Young Donald Trump appointed US judge declares centuries old qui tam case practice unconstitutional in ~society

    Arbybear
    Link Parent
    IANAL but I believe this is because Latin is a "dead" language that isn't in use anymore, so it doesn't evolve. This is great for the legal system where you don't want future generations to...

    I dislike the use of Latin in the judicial system

    IANAL but I believe this is because Latin is a "dead" language that isn't in use anymore, so it doesn't evolve. This is great for the legal system where you don't want future generations to misinterpret a passage because English changed over the decades.

    24 votes
  15. Comment on Dawn of a new era in Search: Balancing innovation, competition, and public good in ~tech

    Arbybear
    Link
    This is Kagi's take on their preferred outcome of the antitrust suit against Google. The main point: So instead of breaking up Google, they think Google should be required to open up access to...

    This is Kagi's take on their preferred outcome of the antitrust suit against Google. The main point:

    The Essential Facilities Doctrine is an antitrust principle that requires the owner of an “essential” or “bottleneck” facility to provide competitors with access on reasonable terms. This doctrine has been applied across various industries, from railroads to news services and electrical utilities.

    The Google Search Index is a unique and irreplaceable resource within the digital ecosystem. Mandating fair access to it or treating it as an essential facility could address the core issues identified in the US vs. Google case, aligning with the Sherman Act’s objective to promote innovation and genuine competition that benefits consumers.

    So instead of breaking up Google, they think Google should be required to open up access to their search index for competitors to use also.

    I'm curious what people here think of this idea. They didn't address any potential downsides or challenges to this approach.

    9 votes
  16. Comment on Windows 11 now shows a full-screen pop-up to use OneDrive and protect your PC in ~tech

    Arbybear
    Link Parent
    What's the point of blocking Edge Webview?

    What's the point of blocking Edge Webview?

    2 votes
  17. Comment on Suggestions for games with addicting skill mechanics that you can play while listening to an audiobook or podcast? in ~games

    Arbybear
    Link
    TagPro Browser-based capture the flag, multiplayer 4v4. You are a ball rolling around on the map. The inertia of your ball makes it a high skill ceiling game, where positioning matters a ton....

    TagPro

    Browser-based capture the flag, multiplayer 4v4. You are a ball rolling around on the map. The inertia of your ball makes it a high skill ceiling game, where positioning matters a ton. Teamwork is important, but in public (i.e. non-competitive) games communication isn't really necessary (and isn't practical with only text chat).

    I love this game. It came out in 2013, and I likely have thousands of hours in it.

    Sadly there isn't much of a public-game-playing population outside of North America anymore.

  18. Comment on DeGoogling 2024: Replacing Photos, Gmail, and Search in ~tech

    Arbybear
    Link Parent
    To my knowledge no other map provider alternative has live traffic data that factors in to travel time estimates, or notifies about upcoming accidents or speed traps (Waze doesn't count because...

    To my knowledge no other map provider alternative has live traffic data that factors in to travel time estimates, or notifies about upcoming accidents or speed traps (Waze doesn't count because it's also Google. Also I'm not in the Apple ecosystem). Please tell me if I'm wrong though, I'd love to switch!

    6 votes
  19. Comment on Best news sources and blogs to keep you informed about IT and Software Development in ~comp

    Arbybear
    Link
    https://danluu.com/ has some great, in-depth posts on a variety of software and tech topics.

    https://danluu.com/ has some great, in-depth posts on a variety of software and tech topics.

    2 votes
  20. Comment on What Is A Secure Note-Taking App? in ~comp

    Arbybear
    Link Parent
    URL hyperlinking is always useful. An android widget is great, it forces you to look at your notes every time you go back to your home screen. Google Keep has the best widget for my needs by far...

    URL hyperlinking is always useful.

    An android widget is great, it forces you to look at your notes every time you go back to your home screen. Google Keep has the best widget for my needs by far unfortunately.

    The lack of tagging starts getting painful in Keep as your number of notes grows. Sure I can search for text inside notes, but it would be nice to view all related notes at once.

    3 votes