Barney's recent activity
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Comment on China calls for ‘concerted’ efforts to tackle excess solar production in ~enviro
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Comment on Almost half of EU’s busiest flight routes are ‘hard or impossible’ to book on trains in ~transport
Barney Link ParentThis is the wrong way to look at it. The entire notion that we should make something significantly more expensive to promote something else is very misguided. We should not aim to make the average...This is the wrong way to look at it. The entire notion that we should make something significantly more expensive to promote something else is very misguided. We should not aim to make the average person's life even more miserable.
Economically, there are 0 reasons why trains should be as expensive as they are, other than privatised railroads having monopoly. That is where the issue lies. I can take a car, and drive to London for significantly less money than taking a train. If I take my family of 4, it's an order of magnitude cheaper. That is laughable. The solution is not making quite literally everything else more expensive, but working on making trains cheaper, since in theory, they are the cheapest.
Railroads should be nationalised, like every other form of public transport. It's a service for the people, like the post, so it need not turn a profit. Additionally, not having competition drives prices up. That's capitalism for you.
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Comment on Almost half of EU’s busiest flight routes are ‘hard or impossible’ to book on trains in ~transport
Barney Link ParentDepends on how you define convenience, I suppose. Going from Switzerland to London takes 9-10 hours. Sitting that much is not particularly comfortable, and usually you arrive / depart at abysmal...Depends on how you define convenience, I suppose. Going from Switzerland to London takes 9-10 hours. Sitting that much is not particularly comfortable, and usually you arrive / depart at abysmal times. Not sure how convenient arriving at St. Pancras at 2 am is.
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Comment on Almost half of EU’s busiest flight routes are ‘hard or impossible’ to book on trains in ~transport
Barney LinkWhile I agree that booking train tickets can be a bit cumbersome, depending on the services your local railroad provides, in my opinion it's prohibitively expensive, first and foremost. (I can...While I agree that booking train tickets can be a bit cumbersome, depending on the services your local railroad provides, in my opinion it's prohibitively expensive, first and foremost. (I can book trains from my local railroad's website easily, so it's a non issue in Switzerland.)
For reference, to go from where I am in Switzerland to London and back, it would cost me between 500 and 800 swiss francs (roughly 640 - 1020 USD) depending on when I go in the next 2 months. For reference, last year around this time, I flew to London from Zurich with Swiss Airlines for 180 CHF, including return.
Flights are already taxed quite heavily, and no amount of taxation will close this gap in price. Nor should it. Making people pay hundreds of percent more to encourage trains is nonsensical. Railways take longer, are less convenient and cost significantly more. Why don't people use them more, I wonder? Truly a mystery!
Cynicism aside, railroads need to do something about the price if they want people to see trains as an alternative to flights. I don't see that happening, since train tickets seem to be getting more expensive with each passing year. Which is a massive shame, since I love trains.
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Comment on What is watts, volts and amps? in ~science
Barney (edited )LinkI'm going to try a different analogy, maybe that helps you a bit! You asked about 3 things, watts (power), amps (electric current) and volts (electric potential). Current (amps) I'll start with...I'm going to try a different analogy, maybe that helps you a bit!
You asked about 3 things, watts (power), amps (electric current) and volts (electric potential).
Current (amps)
I'll start with current, since that's the easiest. I'm going to operate under the assumption that you know what electrons are. Current is how many electrons flow / go in a particular direction. Amps is the international unit we use today, but it could be anything, really. It's some factor of "number of electrons / second" going in this direction.
Voltage (volts)
Imagine having a ball on a flat surface. If you just leave the ball there, nothing happens. That's 0 volts, or 0 electric potential. Now if you imagine a hill, if you put a ball anywhere on the slope, that ball will want to roll downhill. By doing some work yourself, you can roll the ball uphill, but it will want to roll downhill normally, and you need to work against that. The steeper the hill, the higher the voltage. You can imagine electric potential like that too, just for electrons and wires instead of a ball and a hill. The wall outlet is generally
230V (or 110V if you're in the US)200-240V in most places, and 100-130 in a select few. This is just a metric for "how strong the electrons want to come out of there". This isn't perfectly accurate, but I hope it gets the idea across.Aparte: here's a handy map for supply voltage if you're interested. Thanks for letting me know @kari and @sparksbet, I actually did not know this!
Power (watts)
This is pretty simple too. It's how much work the given thing is doing per second. A watt is defined as "Joule / second", but it's essentially just "energy / time". A fun little addendum, power is voltage * current, so: watt = volts * amps. :)
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Comment on Tildes Survey #1: How old are you? (CLOSED) in ~talk
Barney Link ParentOh yes, absolutely. Should have clarified that I was supporting your statement, since pallas confidently stated: yet it clearly does.Oh yes, absolutely. Should have clarified that I was supporting your statement, since pallas confidently stated:
That does not give an exemption from the GDPR
yet it clearly does.
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Comment on Tildes Survey #1: How old are you? (CLOSED) in ~talk
Barney (edited )Link ParentThe reddit-esque armchair law debate regarding GDPR in this thread is quite sad to see, particularly when it is glaringly wrong:The reddit-esque armchair law debate regarding GDPR in this thread is quite sad to see, particularly when it is glaringly wrong:
When does the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) not apply?
The GDPR does not apply if:
- the data subject is dead
- the data subject is a legal person
- the processing is done by a person acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, or profession
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Comment on How are we all feeling about piracy these days? in ~movies
Barney (edited )Link ParentThat's exactly my biggest issue. If I stopping pirating things, I would be paying for a less convenient experience. Isn't that mental?? For anime (but this goes for western series as well), one...once you've entered the piracy rabbithole, that convienience is as hard to give up as switching from watching live TV to streaming was.
That's exactly my biggest issue. If I stopping pirating things, I would be paying for a less convenient experience. Isn't that mental??
For anime (but this goes for western series as well), one would often need subscriptions to 3-4 or more streaming sites to watch the shows. Even completely disregarding the financial aspect, I simply cannot be bothered to keep a list of "where does show X air? Is it Netflix? Oh no, it doesn't seem to be here. Was it maybe Crunchyroll? Or Amazon Video?". And then you're sat there spending 5+ minutes navigating the awkward UI of multiple different platforms to find the show you wanted, to watch it for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile the alternartive is to set up a torrent client with an RSS feed reader and all my shows appear in the exact directory I want them on my computer. The difference in convenience is truly jarring.
And this is precisely why piracy must exist. It's the only thing that's keeping service quality from falling off a cliff. There was a time, when Netflix first started, when you could find almost everything on it. 1 service, 1 subscription, 1 app, most things you wanted to watch. That was excellent, and people, including me, pirated way less. That is no longer the case, unfortunately.
Another tangentially related issue is the price. A Disney+ subscription that lets you watch more than 1080p costs CHF 23.40 / month. That's almost exactly 30 USD currently. I'm sorry, but that is ridiculous.
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Comment on Which Linux distro do you use, and why? in ~tech
Barney Link ParentI'm running Bluefin, an atomic distro based on fedora silverblue. The overwhelming majority of my apps are flatpaks, and those that aren't or the ones that I compile myself are running in a Debian...I'm running Bluefin, an atomic distro based on fedora silverblue. The overwhelming majority of my apps are flatpaks, and those that aren't or the ones that I compile myself are running in a Debian container, so I'm kind of running Debian too? :D
I completely agree with you. Debian is awesome.
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Comment on How are we all feeling about piracy these days? in ~movies
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Comment on Humble Choice - April 2026 in ~games
Barney LinkI was considering getting Return to Moria to play with some friends and Planet of Lana looks very pretty too. Not sure if I will ever actually play it though haha. The rest of the lineup does not...I was considering getting Return to Moria to play with some friends and Planet of Lana looks very pretty too. Not sure if I will ever actually play it though haha.
The rest of the lineup does not look particularly interesting to me, but on a tangentially related note, those ProtonDB ratings are very great to see!
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Comment on Government-appointed Norwegian Nuclear Committee says no to nuclear power – should build up expertise that will make it easier to make such a decision in the future in ~enviro
Barney Link ParentThe the only source that's levelised cost of electricity is lower than nuclear when accounting for at least some storage is solar. I don't currently have a source for this, but I distinctly recall...The the only source that's levelised cost of electricity is lower than nuclear when accounting for at least some storage is solar. I don't currently have a source for this, but I distinctly recall this being the case.
The estimated long-term electricity price in Norway is NOK 0.50-0.80
This is incredibly low, most european countries' prices are multiple times this, meaning nuclear would be even more competitive there. As I mentioned in my original comment, Norway is a bit of an outlier in this regard.
Another point that people often mistakenly make the jump to, like you did, I'm sure not deliberately, is that nuclear is not, and should not be considered an alternative to other renewables like solar or hydro. (Wind is a bit more debatable) It should be a baseline generation that can be relied on for the next century that works even if we for some miraculous reason get 5 months without any sun. It takes little space, the cost is very stable and the production predictable.
Countries deliberately shutting down their already built, working reactors due to fearmongering is plain stupid. It is very important to make decisions and come to conclusions backed up by facts and scientific findings rather than vibe. The sensationalised title of the article doesn't particularly help either. "Norwegian Nuclear Committee says no to nuclear power". I can picture anti-nuclear activists using this exact phrase on posters and whatnot.
I agree with the conclusion, Norway, and other countries that have a similar geological advantage, need not invest in nuclear, certainly not at this point, with solar being as good as it is. But when a formidable number of countries still generate the majority of their electricity from burning gas, another centralised power plant in the form of nuclear energy that's easier to integrate into the existing grid is an option to consider.
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Comment on Government-appointed Norwegian Nuclear Committee says no to nuclear power – should build up expertise that will make it easier to make such a decision in the future in ~enviro
Barney LinkI won't write too much on this topic, even though I could go on for hours, this is kind of expected and makes sense, for Norway. Generally, in Europe, a bunch of countries' leaderships are...I won't write too much on this topic, even though I could go on for hours, this is kind of expected and makes sense, for Norway.
Generally, in Europe, a bunch of countries' leaderships are completely misguided when it comes to nuclear and they stay away from it for the wrong reasons.
In Norway's case, the country has generated virtually all of its electricity from Hydro in the past 40 years, with wind taking up an increasing share in the past decade. Hydro, while not quite as reliable as nuclear, is a fantastic renewable option.
Most other countries, particularly in continental Europe, do not have this privilege.
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Comment on Announcing Riftbound's first bans in ~games.tabletop
Barney Link ParentThese 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...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.
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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.
That's exactly what's happening, and it's a spiraling out of control. Solar production was very heavily subsidised, was exempt from VAT for a while, and they spent a significant amount of money raising production capacities. They expected an explosion in demand, so many factories were already running at a deficit, hoping to turn a profit when the market equalises. The projected demand didn't materialise and now they have a bunch of factories that are willing to sell at a loss just to sell anything, which keeps prices very low due to competition, meaning pretty much everybody loses.
You're right that it is naturally self limiting, but China is huge, and simply letting the market self limit is a massive economic disaster affecting millions of people.