AugustusFerdinand's recent activity
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Comment on Honda and Nissan announce plans to merge, creating world's third-largest automaker in ~transport
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Comment on Honda and Nissan announce plans to merge, creating world's third-largest automaker in ~transport
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentDodge did the same thing, like Nissan they finance anyone with a pulse. Kia and Hyundai decided they wanted to move upmarket, a market void needed filling. That said, the downmarket cars...Dodge did the same thing, like Nissan they finance anyone with a pulse. Kia and Hyundai decided they wanted to move upmarket, a market void needed filling.
That said, the downmarket cars specifically (Sentra, Altima) I owned long ago before Nissan decided to shift to an underserved segment and I never buy a new car. Most of the vehicles in that list are pre-21st century with only the Maxima and Cube being from this side of 2001.Altimas with paper plates are practically a meme in car circles now, I avoid them like the plague if I see them on the road. About to get worse too since Nissan is slated to kill the Altima like they did the Maxima, so their buyers are probably going to be in something larger and more dangerous like a Kicks or Rogue. That is unless Honda pulls Nissan's high-risk financing policies.
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Comment on Honda and Nissan announce plans to merge, creating world's third-largest automaker in ~transport
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentWhat models and issues have you had? They aren't my favored brand by a long shot, but over the years I've had multiple Sentra, Altima, Maxima, Z, 240SX, Pickup, Stanza, Cube, and 510 models. The...What models and issues have you had? They aren't my favored brand by a long shot, but over the years I've had multiple Sentra, Altima, Maxima, Z, 240SX, Pickup, Stanza, Cube, and 510 models. The only thing I've been disappointed with as a whole was the Versa as it was a bottom of the barrel econobox that made me want to walk instead of drive. None were perfect, every car has its quirks, but nothing that would flat out turn me away from the brand entirely, except anything they make with the shit JATCO CVTs.
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Comment on US Congress' age debate reignites over member living in retirement home in ~society
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentUniversity professors, 'of counsel' lawyers, aged-out consultants, and a couple of retired judges don't make sweeping policy decisions that affect 330Million+ people. A few still sharp aged...University professors, 'of counsel' lawyers, aged-out consultants, and a couple of retired judges don't make sweeping policy decisions that affect 330Million+ people. A few still sharp aged individual exceptions to the rule doesn't make for a good case to not have age limits. 47% of senators are well past their prime and aren't accomplishing the great things that Sanders and Warren have. Setting the rules to keep around the 2% that don't suck, but as a result also protects the 45% that do seems a terrible trade.
We don't allow minors to make the decisions of adults because it's well understood they don't have the full mental faculties to do so, cognitive decline is well established with age. It's not ageism to want to put a stop to the vast majority of well past their prime politicians that cling to power because they have nothing better to do than to force legislation about things they don't understand and write laws to ensure they aren't prosecuted for the many things that are illegal for the rest of us like insider trading.
Only relying on voting to remove from office requires a system that is fair and balanced, something our very flawed democracy does not feature.
@boxer_dogs_dance as well so I don't have to type more than one reply
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Comment on US Congress' age debate reignites over member living in retirement home in ~society
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentAnd every single one that votes to do so is out of office the next term, assuming they don't get Luigi'd for having the gall to even attempt such, and it's reversed with all those that replaced them.That last requirement is a nasty monkeypaw where Congress just pumps the eligibility up 20 years.
And every single one that votes to do so is out of office the next term, assuming they don't get Luigi'd for having the gall to even attempt such, and it's reversed with all those that replaced them.
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Comment on US Congress' age debate reignites over member living in retirement home in ~society
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentThe issue with tests is they're just going to have a cache of doctors that give them a favorable result to remain in power. Age limit gives it a simple and easy to understand line upon which they...The issue with tests is they're just going to have a cache of doctors that give them a favorable result to remain in power.
Age limit gives it a simple and easy to understand line upon which they cannot cross. While not applicable, and we can debate that as well, to federal judges, many states have mandatory retirement ages for many judicial seats. There's no reason there shouldn't be the same for every political position.
We've got this dementia-raddled rep bogarting a seat she never even uses from a nursing home. We've got crypt-keeper Pelosi pulling strings behind the curtain, from a hospital bed, to get a cancer-laden one-foot-in-the-grave rep pushed into place because she can't stand the idea of a young woman overshadowing her.Once you're eligible for Social Security and/or Medicare, you no longer are eligible to run for office. Finish your current term and enjoy retirement, the country needs to move on from you.
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Comment on Two US Navy pilots shot down over Red Sea in apparent ‘friendly fire’ incident, US military says in ~news
AugustusFerdinand LinkSomebody is going to get a very serious talking to.It wasn’t immediately clear how the Gettysburg could mistake an F/A-18 for an enemy aircraft or missile, particularly as ships in a battle group remain linked by both radar and radio communication.
Somebody is going to get a very serious talking to.
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Comment on Tenant unions are coming. US landlords aren't ready. in ~life
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentThere's a lot of comments here that seem to assume evictions have stopped entirely. The renters' incentive is to remain where they are instead of moving, possibly to a place without a tenant's...If you're rent striking, you're just not paying rent. It's not like you're moving out. The landlord obviously has an incentive to stop the strike, but what's the renters incentive?
There's a lot of comments here that seem to assume evictions have stopped entirely. The renters' incentive is to remain where they are instead of moving, possibly to a place without a tenant's union, and all of the costs associated with it plus the black mark of an eviction on their record which greatly limits where they can live next.
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Tenant unions are coming. US landlords aren't ready.
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Comment on Are there queer animals? Clownfish that change sex, and other species that demonstrate queer behavior. in ~science
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentAlready covered in other comment strings.Already covered in other comment strings.
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Household objects (but extremely close)
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Comment on Are there queer animals? Clownfish that change sex, and other species that demonstrate queer behavior. in ~science
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentThat's just bigots, unsurprisingly, not understanding science or nature. Female bonobos exhibit noncopulatory sexual behavior, genito-genital rubbing as both reconciliation after infighting and...That's just bigots, unsurprisingly, not understanding science or nature. Female bonobos exhibit noncopulatory sexual behavior, genito-genital rubbing as both reconciliation after infighting and good old fashioned sexual relief/release, that doesn't mean that female bonobos are bisexual/lesbian.
Little to nothing is "unnatural" but that doesn't mean there are "queer animals" because the higher functioning species on the planet (humans) have a need to label everything. -
Comment on Are there queer animals? Clownfish that change sex, and other species that demonstrate queer behavior. in ~science
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentNo. Because gender and sexual orientation are human societal constructs.No.
Because gender and sexual orientation are human societal constructs. -
Comment on Inline image support in ~tildes
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentTildes, thankfully, has not changed in that same direction. Inline images are not a good fit here and extremely unwelcome.The world has changed a lot in 5 years since Deimos closed that post.
Tildes, thankfully, has not changed in that same direction. Inline images are not a good fit here and extremely unwelcome.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
AugustusFerdinand LinkI hadn't planned on it, but I've been playing Path of Exile 2... background I've played (and put hundreds of hours into) every Diablo game and enjoy the ARPG genre as probably a Top 3 genres for...I hadn't planned on it, but I've been playing Path of Exile 2...
background
I've played (and put hundreds of hours into) every Diablo game and enjoy the ARPG genre as probably a Top 3 genres for me.
I played POE long enough to buy stash tabs, but not long enough to say I was a fan of the game. By the time I'd played, the game was well established and I was not interested in learning the myriad of currencies as they're no different than forced crafting games (which I dislike), I also prefer to play a game, not be told how I should be playing a game. POE1 generally lacked any way for a new player to get into the game without spending dozens of hours reading guides on how to do so because the mechanics at this point (and when I played) were already so numerous and convoluted you'd just die a few hours in as everything one shots you once you're passed the initial few levels. There are many fan made sites that support many games out there, most are extraneous and largely unnecessary. For POE they're a requirement and I find that if a game requires a myriad of sites in order to be able to play even the mid-game then the game/developers are at fault for failing to do the basic task of making their game playable.
Not to say I don't enjoy min-maxing and making a build that can farm/grind endgame, but it should be something that's maybe required for endgame and endgame alone, not barely-out-of-the-first-area-game. I don't read guides until endgame, while playing normally I don't follow builds, I don't try to optimize every single thing, I like to build around a theme or an effect that I like.
You can do this in every Diablo game and nearly every other ARPG worth playing
You cannot in POE....hadn't planned on it as I don't buy pre-releases and I sure as hell don't pay for early access as I don't see the point in paying someone to test their game for them, especially paying to test a free-to-play game.
However, the friend of mine that I got into ARPGs way back in the day, insisted I play by way of buying me early access, it would be unkind to refuse.At the moment the game is good/above average and I hope that GGG addresses some, in my mind, major shortcomings to gameplay, time will tell as they are pretty quickly releasing patches, but most of that seems to be bugfixes and balance adjustments. The former is obviously needed, the latter I think should take less precedence. I do like that they're being conservative with changes and not trying to turn it into another zoom-zoom POE1-with-better-graphics game like many diehards are complaining about (it's much slower, thankfully), but they have made a few pretty terrible design decisions that need addressing.
For example: Attacking. There's a "skill" to attack. Fine, the game needs to know that you are pushing a button/clicking to attack something I guess even though the generic attack isn't used by any class by the time they're a few levels in. Issue is there's a "skill" for every. single. weapon. type. to. attack. Got two handed mace in Slot 1 and a one handed mace in Slot 2? Two different skills that need to be mapped and on your skill bar (not to mention a third skill if you're using a shield).
There's a weapon swap key, you can assign your individual skills/attacks to individual weapons. Why is there not a generic "Attack with held weapon" skill?
Now those of you that have played may say something along the lines of "Well when you assign the skill to a specific weapon and use that skill it switches to the weapon assigned and no one uses the basic attack after a few levels."
And sure, that's true, unless you're a Mercenary. A mercenary has to "load" arrows into their crossbow as their skills aren't skills but instead are "ammo", then use the "Crossbow Attack" button to fire them. The only class I'm aware of that requires two commands to perform a single attack. Assigning a specific ammo to a specific crossbow will load it into that crossbow, but you have to then use the specific attack command for that specific crossbow. So you load an ammo into a crossbow, which takes time, you have to swap to the assigned crossbow for that skill, which takes time, then you have to fire it, which takes time. Is there any other class that has three time calculations into using a single skill?
You can bind 13 skills in POE2, drops to 11 because of the apparent need for two different "Crossbow Shot" skills for the Merc.
Can you honestly say you could assign 5-6 different ammo skills to one crossbow, the remaining 5-6 ammo skills to the other crossbow, and remember in the heat of a boss battle which ammo you've got loaded into which crossbow and which "Crossbow Shot" attack you should be using at that particular second? I highly doubt it.Another example: Melee classes. Seemingly every mob in this game has an on-death effect or an AoE that surrounds them making up close attacks always draining life with little to no way to recover it outside of waiting for life-per-second to refill you or using a flask. I've spent more time waiting for a damaging AoE after a mob has died to clear so I can go through a narrow passage without needing to use my life flask than I care to recall. Wouldn't be so bad if the melee classes weren't so squishy and maybe hit harder to balance the need to constantly be in the danger zone, but nope. They're just as fragile as any other class, but have to constantly be replenishing life without any benefit for the risk.
Doesn't help that when you die you lose experience, all the mobs respawn/refresh, and any gear that might have dropped from the mob you killed that then killed you with its on-death effect is also lost.I'm going to keep playing and try other classes, there are some greatly appreciated improvements in the game (tooltips mostly), and, based on GGG's history, early access should last several months, but unless some basic gameplay issues are addressed I don't know if I'll be playing for too much longer. POE does a lot of things their own way and I applaud them for not making another clone, but it's also not a bad thing to use the good gameplay aspects that others have already ironed out over the decades.
Won't expect anything for the next couple of weeks as their patch notes mentioned they're taking some much needed time off for the holidays and I do not blame them one bit for doing so. -
Comment on Tildes Demographics Survey, year… uh, it’s 2024? in ~tildes
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentDoes that make it vegan?Nowadays we have to get by on lab grown orphan organs. :(
Does that make it vegan?
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Comment on What’s something that you weren’t supposed to see/hear, but did? in ~talk
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentFae, there's a long list of reasons that if we ever meet I'm giving you a big hug and that line is one of them.Fae, there's a long list of reasons that if we ever meet I'm giving you a big hug and that line is one of them.
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Comment on What’s something that you weren’t supposed to see/hear, but did? in ~talk
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentAbsolutely none. I have taught and met blacksmiths of your size and stature. Blacksmiths may generally be seen as large burly men, but that is not a requirement at all. The tools you will use, you...how much of the physical aspect, do you think, should play into whether I look into learning this down the road?
Absolutely none. I have taught and met blacksmiths of your size and stature.
Blacksmiths may generally be seen as large burly men, but that is not a requirement at all. The tools you will use, you will make/modify to fit your hands. 98% of the time you are going to swing a hammer that's only 1.5-2lbs. 98% of the time the metal you will be hitting will weigh around the same or less. Strength is also not really a factor as it's not really about how hard you hit something, it's about how fast you hit something thanks to the magic of physics!
Force = Mass x Acceleration
So it's not the size of the hammer, it's how (fast) you swing it.Anvils will be the hardest part for you as they will weigh as much as you do (or much much more), but once you have it placed you generally won't move it again.
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Comment on What’s something that you weren’t supposed to see/hear, but did? in ~talk
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentEngine parts would probably be a hard thing to pull off blacksmithing, but there's a simultaneous rat/hot rod group project discussion amongst the guys and I that might be in the cards for...imagine it won't be long until you're blacksmithing your own engine parts!
Engine parts would probably be a hard thing to pull off blacksmithing, but there's a simultaneous rat/hot rod group project discussion amongst the guys and I that might be in the cards for suspension/frame/body parts.
Plus, you're in Canada. Forges are hot. If anything you have more of a reason to live up to your last name than I did in Texas summers if only to keep yourself warm.
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Comment on What’s something that you weren’t supposed to see/hear, but did? in ~talk
AugustusFerdinand Link ParentYeah, a lot of people have joined the hobby through the show. I wasn't even aware it was a thing when I started blacksmithing, nor any youtube channels about it. My wife was looking for classes...Yeah, a lot of people have joined the hobby through the show. I wasn't even aware it was a thing when I started blacksmithing, nor any youtube channels about it.
My wife was looking for classes for a new hobby of hers, found a blacksmith class knowing that I'd mentioned years before of being interested in doing so to continue my metalworking knowledge, and sent it to me. Signed up and during the first class several of the other students were talking about it and asked me a question and I just said "What's Forged in Fire?" and got the weirdest look like I'd asked who The Beatles were. My teacher has a few former students that have been on the show though, so good for them.
I just like to make stuff, typically functional stuff (zero interest in knives/blades at all, although I need to make a hand axe to do some pruning at the new house), and friends along the way. Thankfully have been able to do that along with some teaching (hopefully more of that soon) and helping to diversify* the hobby locally.*
For those unaware, but as can be imagined if putting some thought into it. Blacksmithing has a bit of what I call a straight-white-man problem. Often it is a right-wing-straight-white-man problem.
I've been around blacksmithing events where no-one batted an eye at the people doingconfederate reenactmentscosplaying as civil war era racists at the same time, overheard someone describe their political ideology as "somewhat to the right of Hitler", watched instructors that seem enthusiastic about anyone taking their class while also deadnaming students and purposefully using the wrong pronouns despite (in one particular case) the palm sized button on her apron that said she/her, saw a great deal on an anvil get turned down by another student because they "weren't going to go to the capital-N-hard-R side of town", etc. etc.That said, it is changing and trending younger as a lot of the problems above are old fuckers that die off or get pushed out of groups that just want to have a hobby without hate. I've made great friends that respect their fellow humans, are of ages across the gamut, and of all walks of life from folk that just want to hit hot steel and let everyone live their life to diehard punk rockers that are deeply engrained in harm-reduction and suicide prevention communities because sometimes a mosh pit is a way to vent the frustration that can't be expressed at home and the only thing keeping a fellow punk from a fentanyl overdose to make the pain go away is a friend that listens, a hug, and a promise made to see them at the next show.
Over the past few years I've had more women, POC, and openly trans students than my instructor has had over the past couple of decades. Found out just before I moved out of Texas that apparently that diversification is somewhat my fault. Which was weird...
:waves:
Hi, I'm the Tildes resident car enthusiast/mechanic (which is really all the explanation needed).
Simply put, I like pretty much anything with an engine and cars are cheap if you know how to fix them. Some in that list (Sentra, Altima, Cube) were merely commuters/appliances, others were fun. Cars I really like I keep (like the Z), others I typically buy, fix, tune, experience, then sell when something else that I want comes along. That list is just the Nissans.
Maxima was a 3.5L V6, 6 speed manual, sleeper that with a little work (headers, exhaust, supercharger, nitrous) put about 400hp to the ground and embarrassed cars at the drag strip that had a monthly payment more than I bought the car for.
240SX is a light RWD sporty car for tall people that don't fit in a Miata.
D21 Pickup is a good small pickup that gets the job done in an age of monstrous trucks used by salespeople to commute from their apartment to their cubicle job and back.
Stanza is just funky.
510 is a classic that I intended to keep, but once it was running someone else made me an offer that I couldn't refuse.
Why Wranglers?