Boojum's recent activity
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Comment on The 100 best novels of all time published in English in ~books
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Comment on The 100 best novels of all time published in English in ~books
Boojum Link ParentNot the one you asked, but the version I read was the Burgin/O'Connor one. My copy of it was a gift from my Russian language-major spouse, FWIW, and I've seen it recommended elsewhere now that...Not the one you asked, but the version I read was the Burgin/O'Connor one. My copy of it was a gift from my Russian language-major spouse, FWIW, and I've seen it recommended elsewhere now that look it up.
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Comment on What stock do you put in gut feelings? in ~talk
Boojum Link ParentIf it helps, I've sometimes viewed gut decisions as something of an anti-"analysis paralysis" mental defense mechanism. It can be very easy to go too far the other way and plan and research to the...If it helps, I've sometimes viewed gut decisions as something of an anti-"analysis paralysis" mental defense mechanism. It can be very easy to go too far the other way and plan and research to the point that you can never actually come to a decision. I try to treat gut decisions as a way of forcing myself out of that loop after a while.
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Comment on What has changed as you've gotten older? in ~talk
Boojum Link ParentI've come to appreciate games that have a "Story" mode difficulty, though I typically don't use it. Or like in Celeste or Control, where there are some options under the accessibility settings...I've come to appreciate games that have a "Story" mode difficulty, though I typically don't use it. Or like in Celeste or Control, where there are some options under the accessibility settings menu to tune the difficulty in fine-grained ways (and using them isn't judgy and doesn't block achievements). Bonus points if I can adjust the difficulty on the fly, so that I can keep it challenging in general but adjust it down to get past That One Boss and then crank it right back up again after.
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Comment on What has changed as you've gotten older? in ~talk
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Comment on What stock do you put in gut feelings? in ~talk
Boojum LinkI've had a few times in my life where I've ignored my gut feeling on something and ended up regretting it. (And at least one of them was in a really spooky couldn't-have-known-ahead-of-time...I've had a few times in my life where I've ignored my gut feeling on something and ended up regretting it. (And at least one of them was in a really spooky couldn't-have-known-ahead-of-time premonition sort of way.) I generally trust my gut instinct these days, especially as a tie-breaker.
For some things I've found, I find myself studying things thoroughly, making to weigh pros and cons or one thing vs. another... and then just tossing all that and going with my gut.
(I see that last as kind of like taking notes in a class. If I've taken good notes, I usually don't need to look at them again. Often the simple act of taking the notes is more valuable for internalizing the material than the notes themselves or studying them later.)
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Comment on What has changed as you've gotten older? in ~talk
Boojum Link ParentI find a bit of extra speed really only adds up over hours of highway driving. The sort of trips where I'm driving 400 to 500 miles in a day. (Even then, I stick to no more than 10 over, and where...I find a bit of extra speed really only adds up over hours of highway driving. The sort of trips where I'm driving 400 to 500 miles in a day. (Even then, I stick to no more than 10 over, and where the land is empty, the road is straight, and the traffic is sparse.)
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Comment on The 100 best novels of all time published in English in ~books
Boojum Link ParentI was puzzled by the books in translation. I mean, The Master and Margarita (#66 on this list) is one of my personal favorites, but I wouldn't put it on a list of top novels in English. For Pete's...I was puzzled by the books in translation. I mean, The Master and Margarita (#66 on this list) is one of my personal favorites, but I wouldn't put it on a list of top novels in English. For Pete's sake, at least tell us which translation deserves the spot, since translation quality and style can vary so much!
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Comment on Tildes Survey #5: Pineapple on pizza? (Results) in ~talk
Boojum LinkAs with many things, I take the libertarian view: "Hell no!" on my own pizza, but if that's your thing, I won't judge. (I do enjoy pineapple, just not in this context.)As with many things, I take the libertarian view: "Hell no!" on my own pizza, but if that's your thing, I won't judge.
(I do enjoy pineapple, just not in this context.)
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Comment on Tildes Survey #4: What languages can you speak? (Results) in ~talk
Boojum Link ParentI've seen that effect several times before - always people who grew up in countries that had been dominated by Russia as part of the USSR and could speak Russian, but refused. Many years ago, when...I've seen that effect several times before - always people who grew up in countries that had been dominated by Russia as part of the USSR and could speak Russian, but refused. Many years ago, when I was just out of college, I'd had a coworker who was Polish and once mentioned that he knew Russian well but would never speak it.
And around 10 years ago, vacationing in the Baltics (lovely countries!) with my spouse who majored in Russian language, it seemed a delicate matter. Making it clear first that we were from the USA (and spoke English as our native language) - before my spouse would offer to switch to Russian if it would be easier - was usually enough to defrost the tension around it.
For what it's worth, the choice of Baltics was a compromise; my spouse really wanted to visit Russia again and show it to me, but refused to do so as long as Putin was in charge. But my spouse had also done a pleasant side trip to Estonia while an exchange student, so I suggested that. I'd definitely vacation there again!
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Comment on I think that we won’t see any new and radical new gaming input devices or form factors anymore in ~games
Boojum Link ParentAgreed. Some other uses I've found for my Steam Deck: On long plane flights when traveling for work At a hotel during work travel - I'm not really a TV fan, so sometimes I'll bring the dock and a...Agreed. Some other uses I've found for my Steam Deck:
- On long plane flights when traveling for work
- At a hotel during work travel - I'm not really a TV fan, so sometimes I'll bring the dock and a controller and game to unwind after a long day of meetings
- Vacations, after a long, physically demanding day of hiking, etc.
- As a parent, for various things I drive my kids to, where it's too far to drive home and back but I'm not wanted/needed either: ballet lessons, swimming lessons, tutoring, therapist sessions, ... (I can sit in a cafe or waiting room close by for if they need me or things end early, but - especially for the first - I'm not making my teen feel self conscious by watching.)
And FWIW, I do tend to think of my handheld electronics in terms of things I could potentially write-off if lost, dropped, or stolen. I go for budget phones, for example. And in the case of the Deck, Steam Cloud keeps my saved games backed up, my games are tied to my account and not the device.
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Comment on Ars Asks: Share your shell and show us your tricked-out terminals in ~comp
Boojum Link ParentI'm not familiar with zoxide, but it looks like it takes a -l to output a list of matches. So then backticks or $(command) substitution? I.e., something like: code `z -l <keyword for file>` code...I'm not familiar with zoxide, but it looks like it takes a
-lto output a list of matches. So then backticks or $(command) substitution? I.e., something like:code `z -l <keyword for file>` code $(z -l <keyword for file>)But in general, backticks or the $() syntax are your friend here.
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Comment on Buying a high-end PC for the first time - help me to doublecheck what I'm buying? Is 4k a bad idea with the specs? in ~tech
Boojum LinkAfter going to a 4k 27", I can't imagine ever going back down to a lower DPI. Part of that is that this monitor is dual-use and I also use it for work, where I'm mostly reading text and code all...After going to a 4k 27", I can't imagine ever going back down to a lower DPI. Part of that is that this monitor is dual-use and I also use it for work, where I'm mostly reading text and code all day. (Well, okay, my personal use includes text and code as well, not just games.) Every time I go to a store where they have monitors on display, the majority of them look so pixelated to my eyes now.
For gaming use, I love using at the full 4k for games that aren't too graphically demanding, and for the more demanding games I can always just bump it down to 2k and use integer scaling. I'm not really a fan of FSR or DLSS, and prefer native rendering or integer scaling, though I'll admit those two have gotten pretty good these days. But with 4k, there's just something nice about the resolution letting you see all the little details that the game artist put into the textures and models (or at least having the option to do so, even if you don't use it all the time and run at 2k on other games). I remember the first time I fired up my 4k monitor with a game I'd been playing, it felt like I'd just put on a pair of brand new glasses after years with an outdated prescription.
The other parts mostly look good to me. The 9070 XT is a very solid GPU (obligatory bias disclosure - sales of them help pay my bills), likewise the 9800X3D. And the 850 W PSU should be sufficient to power both.
Probably the only other thing I'd suggest is upping the storage. 1 TB isn't a huge amount these days when you regularly have games in the 100 GB+ territory. It's a lot easier to start big and grow into the extra room then have to copy everything over to a larger disk later. I wouldn't look at anything less than 2 TB these days.
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Comment on Ars Asks: Share your shell and show us your tricked-out terminals in ~comp
Boojum LinkI use Zshell, but keep it pretty simple with a .zshrc that's about 100 lines and doesn't use any frameworks. About half of my .zshrc lines are just aliases or little functions. Perhaps the most...I use Zshell, but keep it pretty simple with a .zshrc that's about 100 lines and doesn't use any frameworks. About half of my .zshrc lines are just aliases or little functions.
Perhaps the most interesting things:
REPORTTIME=3I love this one so much. If a process takes longer than 3 seconds of CPU time, Zsh automatically reports the total times, much as though I'd prepended the command with
time. But I don't have to pre-emptively prepend it, and it's omitted for short tasks.PROMPT="%B%F{8}[%D{%-l:%M}]%f%n@%m:%~%(?.%F{green}.%F{red})%#%f%b "Basically just
[h:mm]user@host:dir%with some coloration. The user, host, and dir are listedscp-style to make it easy to copy and paste forscpcommands. Time of day (de-emphasized with dimmer grey) so that I know when the command was run or the shell was last used when I have many of them. And the % at the end flips between green and red based on the exit status of the previous command. No fancy multi-line monstrosities, no Git status checks, no shelling out to some program that generates the prompt elements dynamically.setopt auto_cd setopt auto_pushd setopt pushd_ignore_dups setopt complete_in_word setopt glob_complete setopt no_case_glob setopt list_packed setopt list_rows_first setopt extended_glob setopt no_no_match setopt hist_fcntl_lock setopt hist_ignore_all_dups setopt hist_ignore_space setopt hist_reduce_blanks setopt hist_save_no_dups setopt share_history setopt correct setopt emacsMy favorite here has got to be
auto_pushd. It effectively turns everycdinto apushd, so I can justpopdback up the stack as I navigate around.source /usr/share/zsh-syntax-highlighting/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zshMy most recent addition. I wasn't sure how I was going to like this at first. I had concerns that it might be too tacky or that it might hurt performance. But I haven't noticed any performance hit, and I've come to really like it. Commands are green if they are valid and bold red if not, valid paths are underlined, quoted strings are yellow, globs are blue.
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Comment on New Steam Controller reportedly $99 in ~games
Boojum Link ParentCall me shallow, but one of the things I like about my Ultimate 2 Wireless compared to those is the aesthetics, especially after turning off the RGB. It's the same as with my Keychron HE keyboard...Call me shallow, but one of the things I like about my Ultimate 2 Wireless compared to those is the aesthetics, especially after turning off the RGB.
It's the same as with my Keychron HE keyboard and my classic-shell Logitech mouse peripherals - they're rounded, understated, and don't immediately scream gamer bro.
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Comment on New Steam Controller reportedly $99 in ~games
Boojum (edited )Link ParentI first got an 8BitDo Ultimate C Bluetooth for my eldest, and then - after my original Steam Controller died - I got an 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless for myself. The former uses the Nintendo layout,...I first got an 8BitDo Ultimate C Bluetooth for my eldest, and then - after my original Steam Controller died - I got an 8BitDo Ultimate 2 Wireless for myself. The former uses the Nintendo layout, while the later uses the XBox layout. Both work just fine with our PCs, my SteamDeck, and the Switches. (They don't really advertise that the Ultimate 2 Wireless also works with the Switch, but it does in fact! Though you might need a firmware update.)
In any case, the only difference in terms of orientation is in the physical labels on the buttons. The relative position of the buttons you press remains the same. In other words, muscle memory works perfectly, but it can be a bit confusing when the game tells you to press B and you need to hit the button labelled A instead, or vice versa. But if you're looking at the TV and not down at the labels, then they just do the right thing for each system.
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Comment on How are we all feeling about piracy these days? in ~movies
Boojum Link ParentI generally prefer to avoid piracy (having previously worked in both the software and movie industries), but scientific papers are the case where I feel the least qualms about it. None of the...I generally prefer to avoid piracy (having previously worked in both the software and movie industries), but scientific papers are the case where I feel the least qualms about it. None of the payment for papers access makes it back to the authors or the peer reviewers. And in the case of conference papers, none of it makes it directly back to the conference committee, nor to the general conference funds itself. (And I'm serving on a conference committee this year - believe me, it would help make our budgeting situation easier if so.) It's rent-seeking, pure and simple.
At least when I worked for a movie studio, they made the link between box office performance and pay bonuses reasonably clear. There was still some voodoo involved, but the correlation was positive. So I avoided film piracy then based on the golden rule.
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Comment on Am I German or autistic? in ~health.mental
Boojum Link ParentYes, that appears to be so. I tried it again today and changed one answer that I'd been havering on. That took my the score for Autistic from 38% to 40%, and changed the result from saying German...Yes, that appears to be so. I tried it again today and changed one answer that I'd been havering on. That took my the score for Autistic from 38% to 40%, and changed the result from saying German to Both.
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Comment on Am I German or autistic? in ~health.mental
Boojum (edited )Link49% German and 38% Autistic. Amusingly, the plurality of my ancestry is German. And I did once have a coworker in Germany joke about me acting like a German when I showed up a minute early to an...Your Result
German
Probably not autistic. Probably.49% German and 38% Autistic.
Amusingly, the plurality of my ancestry is German. And I did once have a coworker in Germany joke about me acting like a German when I showed up a minute early to an online meeting.
(Though normally I'd say I'm orderly and methodical to the point where that interferes with punctuality! E.g. "It's X minutes till I have to go. Surely I've got time for one more task before then, right?")
Edit: Took it again the next day, changed one answer I was havering on last night. New result: 47% German, 40% autistic. "Result: Both. The Wittgenstein Result."
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Comment on Our commitment to Windows quality in ~tech
Boojum LinkI 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...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.
Hey now! Pride and Prejudice is awesome. It's one that I've read multiple times and happily will again. (Especially since I just received The Annotated Pride and Prejudice as a birthday present this weekend.) The key for me is really the dry humor and social satire combined with a nice happy ending. It's a pure comfort read. And since I'm very much not in the traditional demographic of Austen readers, I don't really gain anything by signalling my enjoyment of it.