Boojum's recent activity
-
Comment on Our commitment to Windows quality in ~tech
-
Comment on When you were first getting your driver's license, what were you afraid of? in ~transport
Boojum LinkMostly nervousness about other drivers. And to this day, I'm still not fond of lane changes in dense traffic, like on freeways. And I still hate being tailgated by aggressive drivers who don't...Mostly nervousness about other drivers. And to this day, I'm still not fond of lane changes in dense traffic, like on freeways. And I still hate being tailgated by aggressive drivers who don't leave enough stopping room, or seeing people futzing with their phones, etc.
If it's just me on an empty or sparsely-trafficked road, I love driving, especially when it's the sort of road-trip interstate cruising where you're between cities and traffic has really thinned out.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Boojum Link ParentYou had me at Ys! Yeah, looking at the trailer for that, it does remind me a lot of the Ys Napishtim engine-era games (2003's Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, 2005's Ys: The Oath in Felghana, and the...A friend told me some of this reminds him of the Ys games, and I'm sure he knows what he's talking about.
You had me at Ys!
Yeah, looking at the trailer for that, it does remind me a lot of the Ys Napishtim engine-era games (2003's Ys VI: The Ark of Napishtim, 2005's Ys: The Oath in Felghana, and the 2006 Ys Origin)!
Here's the best video quality trailer for Oath that I can find. And here's (a potato quality, sorry) one for Origin, which was my introduction to the Ys series. I think you'll be able to see the resemblance that your friend was hinting at - it's got a 3/4 perspective (side perspective in some areas), frenetic monster gauntlets, jumping and light platforming, low poly vertex-shaded graphics, etc. Oh, and angelic looking beings driving much much of the plot (moreso in Origin). And similarly, there's no party (as mentioned in this version of the Oath trailer). Oh, and the two 2D games that started the series used a bump-to-attack mechanic.
I'll admit, those Ys games have kind of ruined me for the earlier 3D Zeldas of their time. They're kind of a Zelda on crack, with a super fast arcade-like game-loop. Killed monsters often drop short term buffs that last something like 10 seconds. But they're stackable, and stacking refreshes all of them. That plus fast music, a very quick basic sword strike, and an automatically recharging magic meter for special attacks mean that the game really pushes you towards an addictively fun and aggressive play style of mowing down monster after monster as quickly as you can. On top of that, they like big set-piece bosses in these games (with a boss gauntlet mode unlocked after beating the story).
Origin is $4.99 on Steam right now, Oath is $4.49, and Ark is $4.49 too. Definitely worth it at those prices in my opinion (and in that order of priority, from highest to lowest).
-
Comment on I before she — on the shift in narrative perspective in romance novels in ~books
Boojum Link ParentJonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy also comes to mind. The chapters rotate between three main point-of-view characters, with the eponymous Bartimaeus's chapters being written first-person while...Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus Trilogy also comes to mind. The chapters rotate between three main point-of-view characters, with the eponymous Bartimaeus's chapters being written first-person while the others are third-person.
It's done fairly cleverly since sometimes you'll have a Bartimaeus chapter with all his trademark snark and swagger and boasting ending in a cliffhanger. Then it switches points-of-view and the new chapter will pick up by retelling the end of the last chapter in a straight third-person omniscient way that slightly contradicts Bartimaeus's unreliable-narrator version in a hilarious way (usually by taking him down a peg or two).
-
Comment on Are you a morning person or a night owl? in ~talk
Boojum Link ParentFunny. My family members have heard me joking that I seem to be tuned towards 28 hour days. Glad I'm not the only one. (Though the practicalities of being a working adult do mean that at least...Funny. My family members have heard me joking that I seem to be tuned towards 28 hour days. Glad I'm not the only one.
(Though the practicalities of being a working adult do mean that at least most weekdays I hit an equilibrium that counterbalances the slide.)
-
Comment on Are you a morning person or a night owl? in ~talk
Boojum Link(Looks at clock - 2:40 am) Um, gonna go with night owl. Often, when chatting with my UK and European colleagues (+8/9 hrs), I find I'd often rather catch them at the start of their day than at the...(Looks at clock - 2:40 am)
Um, gonna go with night owl.
Often, when chatting with my UK and European colleagues (+8/9 hrs), I find I'd often rather catch them at the start of their day than at the beginning of mine. I usually feel more alert and focused in the quiet of the late evening, whereas most mornings I'm still kind of in a brain fog until late morning or lunch time. Then I kind of build up a mental inertia as the day goes on. (Not sure if all that's an ADHD thing or not, but I do seem to tick an awful lot of the boxes.)
-
Comment on I before she — on the shift in narrative perspective in romance novels in ~books
Boojum LinkUggh. Romance isn't a genre that typically appeals to me, but for Christmas a year ago my spouse got me a little cross stitch off Etsy, which now hangs from my bed-side light: It caught my...Uggh. Romance isn't a genre that typically appeals to me, but for Christmas a year ago my spouse got me a little cross stitch off Etsy, which now hangs from my bed-side light:
"My dear Emma, suppose we all have a little gruel."
Emma could not suppose any such thing.It caught my attention when I passed it after reading this article and I could only stand there dumbfounded for a moment trying to suppose how a first-person Jane Austin novel would work.
I could not suppose any such thing.
-
Comment on Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster released on Steam in ~games
Boojum LinkHm. Denuvo, sadly. I've wanted to play this, but I can wait. (Got enough in my backlog anyway.)Hm. Denuvo, sadly. I've wanted to play this, but I can wait. (Got enough in my backlog anyway.)
-
Comment on Hisense TVs show ads during normal operation in ~tech
Boojum LinkThis is why I got myself a Sceptre dumb TV. It warms my heart seeing its on-screen display sometimes flash 12:00 Jan 1, 1980 in the corner. It's dumb enough that it still relies on me to set the...This is why I got myself a Sceptre dumb TV. It warms my heart seeing its on-screen display sometimes flash 12:00 Jan 1, 1980 in the corner. It's dumb enough that it still relies on me to set the time since it has no wifi hardware. It's just a pure HDMI display device. (Is the display quality as great as some? No, but it gets the job done.)
-
Comment on What are people using instead of VS Code? in ~comp
Boojum Link ParentI mostly just use it with the toolbar and menu turned off, plus some custom color and font theming. So I'm not really one to talk. But a couple of interesting looks that have crossed my radar: "I...I mostly just use it with the toolbar and menu turned off, plus some custom color and font theming. So I'm not really one to talk.
But a couple of interesting looks that have crossed my radar:
- "I made my Emacs look like Vscode and now I feel like a sinner" - Someone on Reddit's /r/emacs shared a picture of an attempt to make Emacs look as VS Code-like as possible. Down-thread they share the config.
- N Λ N O - A rather different look with minimal borders and lots of whitespace. The author has a paper on their philosophy of typography. They've also published a mini version that gets most of the look in about 256 lines.
-
Comment on What are people using instead of VS Code? in ~comp
Boojum Link ParentNo need to abandon either one! Going kind of the opposite way as you, I've been using Emacs since mumble mumble cough, and in the last few months I've been experimenting with VS Code as an...You don't have to abandon VSCode immediately for Emacs. You could ease yourself into Emacs/wane yourself off VSCode, that's what I did, but the process of switching to Emacs is still... well, a process.
No need to abandon either one! Going kind of the opposite way as you, I've been using Emacs since mumble mumble cough, and in the last few months I've been experimenting with VS Code as an environment for driving agentic coding at work. It's all ultimately just text files, so there's nothing to be lost from switching back and forth and using whatever works best for a given task. In my case, I kind of see myself as starting to develop a workflow of VS Code specifically for agentic coding, and Emacs for artisanal coding and everything else (Magit, Calc, Org notes, ...).
-
Comment on Dox with Grok in ~tech
Boojum LinkOh good. The hunting of this Snark won't be quite as easy as that, then. Verse... “‘You may seek it with thimbles—and seek it with care; You may hunt it with forks and hope; You may threaten its...The user Boojum appears to maintain anonymity under this pseudonym, which is inspired by Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark" (a fictional creature). No direct links to a real name, location, occupation, or other personal details were found in their Reddit profile or cross-referenced accounts. They have no bio on Reddit, and their activity dates back to 2005, with consistent focus on programming communities.
Oh good. The hunting of this Snark won't be quite as easy as that, then.
Verse...
“‘You may seek it with thimbles—and seek it with care;
You may hunt it with forks and hope;
You may threaten its life with a railway-share;
You may charm it with smiles and soap—’”(“That's exactly the method,” the Bellman bold
In a hasty parenthesis cried,
“That's exactly the way I have always been told
That the capture of Snarks should be tried!”)“‘But oh, beamish nephew, beware of the day,
If your Snark be a Boojum! For then
You will softly and suddenly vanish away,
And never be met with again!’” -
Comment on Colossal Game Adventure Schedule: April - September 2026 in ~games
Boojum Link ParentAs I recall, Breath of Fire was pretty solid too.As I recall, Breath of Fire was pretty solid too.
-
Comment on Colossal Game Adventure Schedule: April - September 2026 in ~games
Boojum Link ParentYep, many thanks to all the hosts for the last round. Also, let me know if I've been getting annoyingly nitpicky and I'll back off (what can I say, attention to detail, particularly in edge...Yep, many thanks to all the hosts for the last round.
Also, let me know if I've been getting annoyingly nitpicky and I'll back off (what can I say, attention to detail, particularly in edge conditions is a big part of my day job; and if you prefer a more flattering spin it means you're keeping me engaged), but shouldn't Maniac Mansion have advanced? It tied with Beneath a Steel Sky and Crystalis in votes.
Regarding the pastebin alternatives, I just let Tildes host some of the CSV files I was using to tally by PMing them to you :-).
But an interesting hybrid alternative might be the simple paste system that Eric Wastl, creator of Advent of Code concocted: https://topaz.github.io/paste/. It doesn't actually store or host any pastes itself. Instead, it compresses and then base64 encodes the content straight into the giant URL link it generates for you. Copy that link into a forum post, and now the forum host is storing the paste with the post. Simple. And no possibility of spam.
-
Comment on Colossal Game Adventure Schedule: April - September 2026 in ~games
Boojum Link ParentI agree about the eliminated games, since I'd happily play a number of them. But I'm liking the fact that with the stronger decay now, all of those eliminated games still have an excellent chance...I agree about the eliminated games, since I'd happily play a number of them. But I'm liking the fact that with the stronger decay now, all of those eliminated games still have an excellent chance if renominated next time. Any single ballot could now compensate for what they lose in rollover points, so it hurts much less. And the ones that advance feel more like mere suggestions or a primer to get us started for next time rather than dead certs.
The lobbying topic was fun! It definitely swung some of my votes to same games I wouldn't have otherwise considered. (And as a bit of enlightened self-interest, I was thinking the lobbying posts could also make for a good rough draft for hosting topics if they won.) I'd definitely lobby to keep the lobbying round. I suppose it could be folded into the nomination topic, but I think it's more fun separate.
-
Comment on The average US college student is illiterate in ~life
Boojum Link ParentOn the flipside, with regard to driving, pedestrians stepping off the curb into an intersection and meandering through a crosswalk with their eyes glued to a phone is one of my major pet peeves...On the flipside, with regard to driving, pedestrians stepping off the curb into an intersection and meandering through a crosswalk with their eyes glued to a phone is one of my major pet peeves when I'm trying to make a turn. Put the damn phone down and have a little situational awareness; the phone can wait until you're out of the street and back on the sidewalk!
-
Comment on Color game — how well can you remember colors? | Dialed in ~games
Boojum LinkFun! https://dialed.gg/?c=P8JN79. 46.73/50, 98%. https://imgur.com/oDqf3A5. This was after moving to my main desktop and monitor and setting the website to dark mode so that the swatch would have...Fun! https://dialed.gg/?c=P8JN79. 46.73/50, 98%. https://imgur.com/oDqf3A5.
This was after moving to my main desktop and monitor and setting the website to dark mode so that the swatch would have a neutral surround. On my first try on my phone last night, I think I got a 45ish and 94%.
Nerding out because digital color science is something of a sub-hobby of mine:
I do wonder how they're computing the color difference. Since they report the original and guessed colors as HSB, I really hope that it's not just Euclidean difference in HSB. At a minimum I'd expect them to use Euclidean distance in the L*a*b* colorspace (i.e., CIE 76). My current go-to color difference metric is CIE DE 2000, but that one is way, way more tricky to implement and complicated to calculate. That one can give inconsistent values if the reference and test colors are wildly far apart, but it's fairly well tuned for when they're pretty close. The nice thing about both CIE 76 and CIE DE 2000 is that they at least try to approximate the perceptual difference. CIE DE 2000 in particular aims to model or predict the MacAdam ellipses, where a color pair with a CIE DE 2000 score of 1.0 corresponds to the Just Noticeable Difference (JND) threshold, where the pair is just on the edge of what a typical person can tell apart.
-
Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: February 2026 Voting Topic in ~games
Boojum (edited )Link ParentPatch notes! Hah! I love it! (You could call it a hotpatch.) I checked the updated numbers, and they look correct to me except for the last two. Each of those are one lower than they ought to be:...Patch notes! Hah! I love it! (You could call it a hotpatch.)
I checked the updated numbers, and they look correct to me except for the last two. Each of those are one lower than they ought to be:
- Threads of Fate should be 6 (matching The Colonel's Bequest, where both had 21 votes in August.)
- Tony Hawk’s Pro-Skater 2 should be 5 (matching Freddy Pharkas, where both had 18 votes in August.)
Current tally with 14 ballots, as of this comment
Game Votes Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow 31 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 29 Sid Meier’s Pirates 26 Tony Hawk’s Pro-Skater 2 26 Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals 25 Space Rogue 23 The Grue That Binds 22 Another World 19 Back in a Flash 18 Tetris 18 Mother 3 17 The Genesis of Treasure 17 Descent 16 Resident Evil (REmake) 16 Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist 15 Beneath a Steel Sky 13 Crystalis 13 Maniac Mansion 13 Red Dead Redemption 12 Scroll Lock-on 10 The Colonel’s Bequest 10 Threads of Fate 10 Behind the Wheel 9 Metroid 9 StarTropics 9 Metroid Prime 8 JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future 7 Lode Runner 7 Meta: One thing that I've just realized about the heavier decay is that, while it does help with new nominations not being at such a disadvantage, it also means that any games that get cut now can be renominated next time and still have a fighting chance. Getting cut right now would cost at most 4 rollover votes, which a single ballot could undo.
-
Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: February 2026 Voting Topic in ~games
Boojum Link ParentFWIW, there's a typo in your Lufia II that was picked up by the tallying script. It should be Sinistrals.FWIW, there's a typo in your Lufia II that was picked up by the tallying script. It should be Sinistrals.
-
Comment on Colossal Game Adventure: February 2026 Voting Topic in ~games
Boojum Link ParentAs of the time I post this comment, here's the current tally under that plan: Standings Game Aug. Votes 70% Decayed Boosts Feb. Votes Total Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow 25 8 3 20 31 Sid Meier’s...- Exemplary
As of the time I post this comment, here's the current tally under that plan:
Standings
Game Aug. Votes 70% Decayed Boosts Feb. Votes Total Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow 25 8 3 20 31 Sid Meier’s Pirates 30 9 6 9 24 The Grue That Binds 17 5 3 14 22 Tony Hawk’s Pro-Skater 2 18 5 0 17 22 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 17 5 3 13 21 Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals 16 5 9 6 20 Another World 27 8 0 10 18 Space Rogue 0 0 0 18 18 The Genesis of Treasure 0 0 0 17 17 Mother 3 0 0 0 17 17 Tetris 19 6 0 10 16 Freddy Pharkas: Frontier Pharmacist 18 5 0 10 15 Back in a Flash 32 10 3 0 13 Crystalis 21 6 0 7 13 Beneath a Steel Sky 20 6 0 5 11 Descent 25 8 0 3 11 Resident Evil (REmake) 0 0 0 11 11 Threads of Fate 21 6 0 5 11 The Colonel’s Bequest 21 6 0 4 10 Maniac Mansion 0 0 0 10 10 Scroll Lock-on 20 6 0 4 10 StarTropics 22 7 0 3 10 Behind the Wheel 21 6 0 3 9 Metroid 20 6 0 3 9 Metroid Prime 27 8 0 0 8 JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future 17 5 0 2 7 Lode Runner 17 5 0 2 7 Red Dead Redemption 0 0 0 7 7
I have a simple litmus test for this:
I'll believe it when the stop trying to block local accounts. (Adding some friction to encourage non-power users to stick to online accounts is fine since they do have some advantages there. But stop trying to block me if I really do want to use a local account.)
If that happens, I'll give them some credit that maybe they're serious about this.