Barney's recent activity
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Comment on Announcing Riftbound's first bans in ~games.tabletop
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Comment on Announcing Riftbound's first bans in ~games.tabletop
Barney Link ParentSort of. Origins (the first set) is pretty much non-existent at this point. It's impossible to get, but they're reprinting them allegedly. We shall see. Spiritforged (the second set) looks much,...Sort of. Origins (the first set) is pretty much non-existent at this point. It's impossible to get, but they're reprinting them allegedly. We shall see.
Spiritforged (the second set) looks much, much better, but it's still not particularly great. At this point, towards the end of the current set, its availability is pretty low, or you pay super high prices for it due to scalping. But overall, Spiritforged was fine if you were there in the first month or so.
With set 3 coming in just over a month, I expect it to be even better supply-wise.
As for singles, Origins singles are way too expensive due to the lack of supply, but Spiritforged is completely fine. So if you're looking to get into the game, I recommend picking up a starter deck and maybe a few commons / uncommons as singles and build your collection from there.
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Comment on Announcing Riftbound's first bans in ~games.tabletop
Barney LinkI did not expect to see Riftbound on Tildes! But let's go! Been playing Riftbound for a month-or-so and I'm hooked. I love these changes and Riot's reasoning behind them. From my anecdotal...I did not expect to see Riftbound on Tildes! But let's go!
Been playing Riftbound for a month-or-so and I'm hooked. I love these changes and Riot's reasoning behind them.
From my anecdotal experience only going to Nexus Nights, it was already an issue. We're usually 6-8 people, and every night there's at least 2 Dravens and 2 Irelias. And that's in a non-competitive environment. In the last Shenzhen regional, the top8 were 2 Irelias and 6 Dravens.
With my current upgraded Fiora starter deck, I have won 0 out of ~12 games vs Draven and maybe 1 out of 8 vs Irelia. The issue (in my opinion) was mainly how consistent these decks were.
Irelia always had access to her from the champion zone, and she only really needed boots of swiftness and one of guardian angel / zhonya's to get going. Fight or Flight and Reaver's Row made traditional battle attempts impossible and most games devolved into "do you have enough direct kill spells to get rid of Irelia? If not, you lose." With the removal of her battlefields and Fight or Flight, the matches get a lot more interesting because she can't just not interact with the opponent anymore.
As for Draven, I think everyone saw that one coming. Drawing through most of your deck to then cheat out cheap, big units for free has been a ban waiting to happen. No bad feelings there.
Overall, I'm very happy with this and hope that people can return to at least trying to brew some decks. I am a timmy-johnny through and through and if I win 1 out of 5 games that I actually get to play I'm happy with that. Obviously losing the game on turn 2 was not particularly great.
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Comment on Chuck Norris dies aged 86 in ~movies
Barney Link ParentAs @snake_case pointed out, that's a very geneous "recent" :) He has been an openly raging homophobe etc. for the better part of the last 2 decades at least, likely more. Quite like how one can...As @snake_case pointed out, that's a very geneous "recent" :) He has been an openly raging homophobe etc. for the better part of the last 2 decades at least, likely more.
Quite like how one can believe in a story without believing it happened, one can also think fondly of a character (like Walker) or associated jokes (like Chuck Norris did XYZ) without connecting them to the actual person too much. In this case, for the better.
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Comment on Eighty million galaxies: gigantic astronomical catalog viewable online in ~space
Barney Link ParentThis is super cool! I love every space sim, explorer and showcase. Amazing work! One thing that makes it a bit difficult to use is that all the buttons and UI elements have their code names, such...This is super cool!
I love every space sim, explorer and showcase. Amazing work!
One thing that makes it a bit difficult to use is that all the buttons and UI elements have their code names, such as:
- toolbar.spawnFull
- skyView.map
- bodyList.addAsteroids
- tabs.presets
- info.zone = habitability.tooCold
Otherwise it seems gorgeous!
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Comment on Eighty million galaxies: gigantic astronomical catalog viewable online in ~space
Barney LinkI recommend checking out the Aladin sky atlas too if you're interested :) https://aladin.cds.unistra.fr/I recommend checking out the Aladin sky atlas too if you're interested :)
https://aladin.cds.unistra.fr/ -
Comment on A rant about how devices handle users with language backgrounds other than English in ~tech
Barney Link ParentI live in Switzerland, which has 4 official languages, most notably French, German and Italian. When I was playing Rainbow Six Siege years ago, opening Ubisoft's website to read the game's patch...I live in Switzerland, which has 4 official languages, most notably French, German and Italian.
When I was playing Rainbow Six Siege years ago, opening Ubisoft's website to read the game's patch notes prompted me to choose one of the 3 languages I mentioned. There simply was no English option. Changing the URL, clicking on another link etc. all redirected to the site that made me choose one of the local languages.
This "forced accommodation" is incredibly annoying and I can't fathom why they keep doing it.
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Comment on new Date("wtf"); How well do you know JavaScript's Date class? in ~comp
Barney Link ParentSimilarly: null == 0; // false null >= 0; // true null > 0; // false null <= 0; // true null < 0; // false 1 / null; // InfinitySimilarly:
null == 0; // false null >= 0; // true null > 0; // false null <= 0; // true null < 0; // false 1 / null; // Infinity -
Comment on Elon Musk says SpaceX will prioritize a city on the moon instead of a colony on Mars in ~space
Barney Link ParentFor what it's worth, Musk is not a unique idealist in that regard. This is likely something inherent about humanity. For reference, Project Horizon was a project proposal by the US ABMA for a...For what it's worth, Musk is not a unique idealist in that regard. This is likely something inherent about humanity.
For reference, Project Horizon was a project proposal by the US ABMA for a military base on the moon in 1959.
The timeline was as follows:
- 1964: 40 Saturn (rocket) launches.
- January 1965: Cargo delivery to the Moon would begin.
- April 1965: The first crewed landing by two soldiers. The build-up and construction phase would continue without interruption until the outpost was ready.
- November 1966: Outpost staffed by a task force of 12 soldiers. This program would have required a total of 61 Saturn A-1 and 88 Saturn A-2 launches up to November 1966. During this period the rockets would transport some 220 tonnes of useful cargo to the Moon.
- December 1966 through 1967: First operational year of the lunar outpost, with a total of 64 launches scheduled. These would result in an additional 120 tons of useful cargo.
This was a decade prior to the first moon landing, and at least Musk gave it a generous decade! /s
As @plutonic pointed out, while this is completely laughable and quite literally impossible within the next decade, I don't really mind the optimism about space exploration. It's quite a scarcity these days.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Barney LinkIn a previous topic about Humble Choice February 2026 I picked up a few games, including StarVaders, which is a modern take on the classic retro game, Space Invaders, with a deck builder spin. So...In a previous topic about Humble Choice February 2026 I picked up a few games, including StarVaders, which is a modern take on the classic retro game, Space Invaders, with a deck builder spin.
So far I'm only 6 hours in, but this might just be one of my favourite "small" games. It's not grand, not revolutionary, but it's very well done.
The music and art style are fantastic, and there are plenty of fun deck combinations to go through. It's also very fun combo-based, a bit like Balatro. Except this is a bit easier on the brain. I have found myself enjoying this game a lot while in a voice call with friends.
The full price of 28 Swiss Francs (in my case) might be a tad too high for what it is, but if you can grab it on a sale, I really recommend it!
It's currently included in Humble Choice February for 13 euros, which is super worth it for this game in my opinion.
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Comment on Non-Logitech replacement for G502 mouse? in ~tech
Barney Link ParentWell I suppose that's true haha. As for the basilisk, I remember it feeling "off" in my hands, though that just might be me being super used to the G502 form.G502X
Well I suppose that's true haha. As for the basilisk, I remember it feeling "off" in my hands, though that just might be me being super used to the G502 form.
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Comment on Non-Logitech replacement for G502 mouse? in ~tech
Barney LinkI know you asked for an alternative, but I genuinely don't think there is one. The G502 is such an incredible mouse, especially at the price. If you had to buy a new mouse for 40$ every 6-7 years,...I know you asked for an alternative, but I genuinely don't think there is one.
The G502 is such an incredible mouse, especially at the price. If you had to buy a new mouse for 40$ every 6-7 years, I think that's a pretty solid deal.
I personally use the "lightspeed" wireless one, and couldn't be happier with it. The form factor and general feel is very good too, I like how it feels in the hand.
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Comment on Building a C compiler with a team of parallel Claudes in ~tech
Barney Link ParentIt's actually quite a bit more than a few thousand dollars :P I'm surprised how much it amounted to though. 100k lines is way too high for a bad C compiler, but even disregarding that, 5 lines /...[...] $20,000 in API costs [...]
It's actually quite a bit more than a few thousand dollars :P
I'm surprised how much it amounted to though. 100k lines is way too high for a bad C compiler, but even disregarding that, 5 lines / dollar is very expensive.
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Comment on Building a C compiler with a team of parallel Claudes in ~tech
Barney Link ParentI'm not entirely sure, though I suppose for 16 Claudes hardcoding some paths isn't really a problem. Here is an open issue about it. Most comments are similarly cynical, quite a fun read.I'm not entirely sure, though I suppose for 16 Claudes hardcoding some paths isn't really a problem.
Here is an open issue about it. Most comments are similarly cynical, quite a fun read.
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Comment on Humble Choice - February 2026 in ~games
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Comment on Humble Choice - February 2026 in ~games
Barney Link ParentHumbleBundle didn't tell me anything about it being locked, like it did for some other keys. https://steamdb.info/app/1196590/subs/ Resident Evil: Village seems to have a ridiculous number of...HumbleBundle didn't tell me anything about it being locked, like it did for some other keys.
https://steamdb.info/app/1196590/subs/
Resident Evil: Village seems to have a ridiculous number of packages for some reason, most games do not. I'm sorry :(Would you like to try another game instead?
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Comment on Building a C compiler with a team of parallel Claudes in ~tech
Barney (edited )LinkSo I was curious and gave it a go. Tested it with a Munchausen number generator. Code #include <math.h> #include <stdbool.h> #include <stdio.h> #define MAX 440000000 int cache[10]; bool...- Exemplary
So I was curious and gave it a go.
Tested it with a Munchausen number generator.
Code
#include <math.h> #include <stdbool.h> #include <stdio.h> #define MAX 440000000 int cache[10]; bool is_munchausen(const int number) { int n = number; int total = 0; while (n > 0) { int digit = n % 10; total += cache[digit]; if (total > number) { return false; } n = n / 10; } return total == number; } void set_cache() { cache[0] = 0; for (int i = 1; i <= 9; ++i) { cache[i] = pow(i, i); } } int main() { set_cache(); for (int i = 0; i < MAX; ++i) { if (is_munchausen(i)) { printf("%d\n", i); } } return 0; }First of all, it didn't compile. It made me specify the absolute paths for every single header. It didn't find
stddefandstdargthat's included instdio, so I had to manually change those as well. Here is an open issue about this.Second of all, the performance is horrendous. It is pretty much equivalent to no optimisation with
gcc.gcc -O3takes 2.89 seconds to run on my machine, this took 9.52.To answer the inevitable AI shilling "but it wrote a C compiler!!!!". Yes, however, there are numerous C compilers out there which the AI was trained on. It didn't have to do anything novel, and didn't do a great job at that.
Writing a no-optimisation C compiler isn't as glorious a feat as they make it sound, and the 100k lines of code are ridiculously high.
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Comment on Steam Hardware: Launch timing and other FAQs in ~games
Barney Link ParentThey also claim that it can run most title at 4k 60fps, but I'm guessing that's with something ridiculous, like 3x frame gen and 30% rendering resolution. With neither the GPU nor the CPU being...They also claim that it can run most title at 4k 60fps, but I'm guessing that's with something ridiculous, like 3x frame gen and 30% rendering resolution.
With neither the GPU nor the CPU being upgradable, I fail to see just who the steam machine is for.
The price has to be super competitive otherwise it's dead on arrival.
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Comment on Humble Choice - February 2026 in ~games
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Comment on Humble Choice - February 2026 in ~games
These cards, particularly the battlefields and Fight or Flight were so ubiquitous that almost every deck was hit one way or another.
As a funny side note, the Jinx starter deck is now standard illegal due to Scrap Heap and Fight or Flight. Though I expect it to be allowed if someone is playing the starter deck card for card.