CannibalisticApple's recent activity

  1. Comment on Suggestion for a new label: "Misinformation" in ~tildes

    CannibalisticApple
    Link Parent
    This is why I wondered about a more neutral term. Misinformation is not a euphemism for lying, it's the spread of incorrect information without the intent to lie or deceive others. Sometimes it's...

    This is why I wondered about a more neutral term. Misinformation is not a euphemism for lying, it's the spread of incorrect information without the intent to lie or deceive others. Sometimes it's people quoting an incorrect interpretation of some law or announcement, and sometimes it's reciting rumors and hearsay as facts, but there are also many cases where it involves reciting "common knowledge" that's actually untrue or facts which have since been debunked.

    For instance, a lot of people still believe there's a waiting period of 24-48 hours before you can report someone missing to the police. Or the still-common claim that Albert Einstein failed a math class. Or that Mister Rogers fought in a war. Or various survival tips like peeing on a jellyfish sting, or sucking venom out of a snake bite. Or heck, a bunch of the myths tackled by MythBusters.

    There are many pieces of inaccurate information being spread with absolutely no malice or intent to deceive people involved, but just people not doing proper fact checking or being unaware of new research or developments. I do see the potential value in letting people flag those, as inaccurate information can lead to crazy outcomes like the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Wikipedia article opens the Events section with a header titled "Misinformed Public Announcements" and details how a press conference about new travel regulations, held by a man who hadn't participated or been fully updated on the regulations, ultimately led to the fall.

    And now that I think about it, the verb "misinformed" feels a lot less charged and malicious than its noun counterpart. Being misinformed just means you were told wrong information, like being given the wrong starting time for a meeting. It's different from being told and repeating lies, as happens with disinformation. (Is "disinformed" even a verb??)

    5 votes

  2. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    CannibalisticApple
    Link
    Been playing Pokopia because the big underwater update and first part of the DLC dropped last week. Building underwater is fun. I've already spawned nearly all of the new Pokémon, and working on...

    Been playing Pokopia because the big underwater update and first part of the DLC dropped last week. Building underwater is fun. I've already spawned nearly all of the new Pokémon, and working on Bubbly Basin has me thinking of how to move around Pokémon in other areas to spread out the activity. Also, I love the new light items.

    But a related thought I had: the mainline games could be a lot better better if they use a similar block-based graphic style.

    I recently learned that Pokopia was conceived by Shigeru Ohmori, the director of the recent mainline games who started out designing maps for Ruby/Sapphire. He was apparently nostalgic for working on tilesets and making habitats for Pokémon to spawn, and he thought players would enjoy it too. (He was right, it's addicting.)

    And that got me to thinking how one of the bigger issues with the recent games is just the graphics and overall world design. The 2D games had incredible maps with all sorts of hidden areas that were fun to explore, but the 3D games... Not as much. Especially the most recent games. Sword/Shield is the most linear game, Scarlet/Violet has a fairly empty open world (made worse by the lack of buildings we can enter despite so many of them looking like we should be able to go inside), Legends Z-A is pretty gray due to being a city (and yet ALSO lacks buildings we can enter), and... Yeah, their 3D maps are just lacking a lot of the older games' charm.

    Also, the repetitive textures in SV just look bad. I'm not even that critical of graphics compared to some people, but cliffs shouldn't look so obviously textured from a distance in what SHOULD be a AAA game.

    GameFreak clearly still isn't used to working in a 3D environment after all this time. I feel like using a 3D "tileset" might work better for them, or at least for the initial design phase when mapping out the region. Doesn't need to be overly cartoony or voxel-based, but the final result would honestly probably look a lot better than the current bland and lifeless environments.

    2 votes

  3. Comment on Suggestion for a new label: "Misinformation" in ~tildes

    CannibalisticApple
    Link
    I do wonder if there's some more neutral-sounding term we could use. Given the current state of the world, the word "misinformation" feels a bit too charged. I know it's different from...

    I do wonder if there's some more neutral-sounding term we could use. Given the current state of the world, the word "misinformation" feels a bit too charged. I know it's different from disinformation, but there's a serious problem with both linked to current events (especially in the US) so seeing either term gets my hackles up.

    But I can see the value in such a label for information that's factually wrong or mistaken. Though as others have noted, Tildes' development is effectively on pause right now so it's a bit of a moot point.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on Offbeat Fridays – The thread where offbeat headlines become front page news in ~news

  5. Comment on CGA-2026-08 🗡️🛡️❤️🔺 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games

    CannibalisticApple
    Link
    I'm playing it on my Switch 2 via the SNES Virtual Console! Started today, but not sure I'll actually finish because the Pokopia DLC drops tonight (actually might be live now?) and I'm about to...

    I'm playing it on my Switch 2 via the SNES Virtual Console! Started today, but not sure I'll actually finish because the Pokopia DLC drops tonight (actually might be live now?) and I'm about to live in that world again.

    That said, I've made good progress today! I think I'm about to finish the first part of the game. Did briefly consult a guide once to figure out how to progress on one part, but other than that (and the hints you mentioned) I've been trying to figure it out myself. Compared to some games, the puzzles and dungeons aren't too hard or frustrating so far.

    One thing I love about the Switch's VC system: rewind. Not save states (though it does have them as "suspend points"), we can rewind at any point. It's so good for not having to spend time manually backtracking if I realize I went the wrong way or accidentally jumped off a cliff. And to prevent losing too many hearts or arrows to stupid things. (My aim with arrows needs work...)

    That feature is definitely why I've made so much progress in such a short time. Very useful feature, and I can highly recommend it if anyone else has a Switch and NSO. :D

    6 votes

  6. Comment on Women should be able to open things in ~life.women

    CannibalisticApple
    Link Parent
    Definitely have struggled, and I wish more lids at LEAST had ridged grooves or something to have a better grip. I never struggle with peanut butter or water bottles. At worst I'd end up using a...

    Definitely have struggled, and I wish more lids at LEAST had ridged grooves or something to have a better grip. I never struggle with peanut butter or water bottles. At worst I'd end up using a towel or my shirt to twist stubborn caps because the ridges begin digging into my palms a bit painfully (or my hand gets sweaty), but those ridges also let the fabric grip more easily. But any glass jar with a smooth metal lid is awful.

    On that note, the difficulty varies by individual jar—not brand or product, but jars. My last major struggle was trying to open a jar of pasta sauce for probably five minutes, until I decided to try another unopened jar of the exact same sauce. It popped off almost instantly, no tricks needed. Just... GAH.

    8 votes

  7. Comment on Is there a way to filter out everything posted by a user? in ~tildes

  8. Comment on Sapphire - 'Shiki No Uta' (Samurai Champloo) English cover (2016) in ~music

    CannibalisticApple
    Link Parent
    According to a comment by her, it's accurate enough that the original singer used her English lyrics for a music video six years ago. Unfortunately uncredited, but she said she's more flattered...

    According to a comment by her, it's accurate enough that the original singer used her English lyrics for a music video six years ago. Unfortunately uncredited, but she said she's more flattered than anything. And I get it, her translation is now the official one. That's pretty awesome.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on ‘The Walking Dead’ renewed by Netflix in five-year, $500m co-exclusive deal with AMC Global in ~tv

    CannibalisticApple
    Link Parent
    For a while now I've wanted a sitcom in a zombie setting for similar reasons. The way most post-apocalyptic fiction involves the cast constantly moving as settlements get destroyed either due to...

    For a while now I've wanted a sitcom in a zombie setting for similar reasons. The way most post-apocalyptic fiction involves the cast constantly moving as settlements get destroyed either due to zombies or the leaders being evil/corrupt (usually both) gets tedious. I figure that surely SOME humans would set up a decent settlement where the leaders weren't secretly evil, and everyone just cares about surviving and has a fairly competent setup.

    I figured a MASH-style sitcom would be the best way to explore it since sitcoms are generally set in one location. Survivors have made a settlement and set up a new society, and it follows the daily life as they settle into a new normal while waiting for things to die down. Still have drama as they have to maintain defenses and occasionally fend off zombies that get inside, and people do still get bit and die. Can have other survivors arrive, and possibly visit other settlements. Maybe they get radio reports of ongoing fighting and efforts to combat the apocalypse.

    5 votes

  10. Comment on Game Pass was supposed to save Xbox – instead, it’s killing the company in ~games

    CannibalisticApple
    Link Parent
    Honestly, even that sort of delay does harm. A lot of people wait to buy games because of varying reasons ranging from being too busy to waiting for launch bugs to be ironed out (which feels...

    Honestly, even that sort of delay does harm. A lot of people wait to buy games because of varying reasons ranging from being too busy to waiting for launch bugs to be ironed out (which feels increasingly common) to just waiting for sales. There's a whole subreddit r/patientgamers for people who wait for at least twelve months:

    Whether it's price, waiting for bugs/issues to be patched, DLC to be released, don't meet the system requirements, or just haven't had the time to keep up with the latest releases.

    And on that note: games are generally more expensive than movie tickets, and movie theaters are also a generally more "social" activity. There are multiple movies I've only seen because friends invited me, and wouldn't have watched on streaming. Even watching the social aspect, it's a lot easier to impulsively spend $15-$25 on a movie ticket than to drop $30-$60+ on a single-player game you won't have time to play right away.

    On top of all that, there's a big difference in the experience of a movie theater versus streaming at home, but no such difference with Game Pass. So there's even LESS incentive to buy a game at full price on day one when you know you can play it in a few months.

    I've honestly never understood how Game Pass was profitable and worked from an economic standpoint... And I guess that's because it really wasn't.

    11 votes

  11. Comment on Pepsiman Recompiled Webport in ~games

    CannibalisticApple
    Link
    Possibly tangential: I'm realizing how advergames may actually be one of the best options for developers to focus purely on mechanics. The aesthetic is already decided, expectations are low so...

    Possibly tangential: I'm realizing how advergames may actually be one of the best options for developers to focus purely on mechanics. The aesthetic is already decided, expectations are low so they don't need to think too hard on the setting (unless they REALLY want to), and they don't need to be innovative to stand out because the branding already makes it stand out. So the devs can focus on just making solid gameplay using existing mechanics. (Seriously, even without some major gimmick or exclusive mechanic, basic platforming can still vary wildly due to things like how "slippery" movement is, how precise jumps have to be, how punishing missed jumps are, etc.)

    From what I hear, Dorito's Crash Course is also fondly remembered by players for being fairly solid and fun despite the short duration (may also be because it was apparently free on Xbox 360?). I also remember someone on reddit years ago saying how their friend group played some Shrek party game as a joke, but then realized it actually had good balance compared to their other party games and so it became a regular feature.

    Of course, this is reliant on the developers. I expect most devs just see them as low-effort cashgrabs (which they definitely are) and aren't interested in spending too long on them. But for some, it may be a good excuse to be paid while refining their understanding of some basic mechanics or experiment a bit since... Well, advergames are mostly shovelware anyway. The main expectation for them is "doesn't break at the main menu screen and players can complete it".

    1 vote

  12. Comment on Pepsiman Recompiled Webport in ~games

    CannibalisticApple
    Link Parent
    According to Wikipedia, the game's a bit of a cult classic due to a mix of how cheesy it is, having actually surprisingly decent gameplay for an advertisement (lots of comparisons to Crash...

    According to Wikipedia, the game's a bit of a cult classic due to a mix of how cheesy it is, having actually surprisingly decent gameplay for an advertisement (lots of comparisons to Crash Bandicoot), and it's also been played at Summer Games Done Quick a few times.

    Also, it has 2D cut scenes by Kotaro Uchikoshi who later became famous for the Zero Escape trilogy along with some other prolific titles (AI: The Somnium Files my beloved). He's not influential enough to contribute to its cult classic status, but still sticks out to me as pretty wild given how different it is from the rest of his works.

    5 votes

  13. Comment on Shower thought: good RNG stoplights in ~talk

    CannibalisticApple
    Link Parent
    I feel like being the school bus would extend your time so much. So many extra stops to drop off or pick up kids... (I know you meant "beat" but I couldn't resist.)

    I feel like being the school bus would extend your time so much. So many extra stops to drop off or pick up kids...

    (I know you meant "beat" but I couldn't resist.)

    3 votes

  14. Comment on Avatar: Seven Havens | Official teaser in ~tv

    CannibalisticApple
    Link
    It looks pretty interesting to me! The semi-post-apocalyptic setting seems to serve a few purposes: add a mystery for viewers about how Korra's actions supposedly led to this, create tension and...

    It looks pretty interesting to me! The semi-post-apocalyptic setting seems to serve a few purposes: add a mystery for viewers about how Korra's actions supposedly led to this, create tension and prejudice for the new Avatar (kinda similar to how Aang was treated as a public enemy by the Fire Nation), and also stop/slow the advancement of technology so the setting doesn't feel like "the modern world, but with bending". Because unless Korra died in her 40's, I think the tech advancement rate would be close to the modern world. (Maybe the 70's or 80's?)

    Also, kinda funny to me how I can already see some parallels to the Kiyoshi novel:

    MAJOR Spoiler for Kiyoshi Novels

    Kiyoshi, an Earthbender, followed Kuruk the Waterbender whose personal reputation was rather poor due to seeming caught up in his vices and failing his duties. It's later revealed that Kuruk had been secretly hunting and destroying Dark Spirits, spirits that were corrupted and gained murderous intent towards humans, and who were entering the human world at record numbers. Hunting them damaged his own soul though, hence why he seemed to neglect his Avatar duties in favor of drinking and other vices.

    I suspect Korra's reputation and role in whatever happened will also be revealed to be misunderstood by the public due to a lack of knowledge of some behind-the-scenes event.

    One interesting note from the Youtube trailer comments is that the release date, October 9, is the same as the original date for the leaked movie. (Which, after looking it up, now releases tomorrow... On Paramount+. Still no theatrical release.) Also saw some comments suggesting leakers may have gotten their hands on some episodes...?

    7 votes

  15. Comment on Atari makes Universal movie deal for ten iconic game properties in ~movies

    CannibalisticApple
    Link
    ...you know, I'm still skeptical, but they have a point. Most of these games are so barebones that there's infinite possibility for crafting a story. They're (mostly) not constrained by an...

    "Matt Reilly and I grew up playing Atari 2600 games and have remained fans ever since," said Casady. "The best Atari games dropped you into a world and let your imagination do the rest. Carl and Matt saw an opportunity to take that same spirit and build an original, large-scale adventure around it. From the moment we read the screenplay, we believed there was a great movie here."

    ...you know, I'm still skeptical, but they have a point. Most of these games are so barebones that there's infinite possibility for crafting a story. They're (mostly) not constrained by an existing plot, and the simple graphics there's no pressure to make visuals that match some specific image.

    The challenge is making them still recognizable and relevant to the gamez. Some are really obvious and easy (Crystal Castles just needs... Well, a crystal castle, Centipede and Millipede just need monsters to fight that match the title, and from what a quick skim of Wikipedia Yars' Revenge actually has a plot), but others... Genuinely curious how the heck they plan to make a movie about Pong and Breakout.

    I do wonder if they plan to combine some IPs rather than make 10 movies. Or maybe they had to license them as a bundle for some reason.

    5 votes

  16. Comment on Reddit will require you to be logged in to use old.reddit.com in ~tech

    CannibalisticApple
    Link Parent
    For me personally: I loathe the infinite scroll of the new design on the home page and subreddit pages... Yet more annoying is that when looking at comments, only a very small handful of comments...

    For me personally: I loathe the infinite scroll of the new design on the home page and subreddit pages... Yet more annoying is that when looking at comments, only a very small handful of comments and replies are visible. I often change the url to old reddit when I'm looking for useful information because it's tedious to have to click "load more comments/replies" constantly. Especially if it's text that shows up in the blurb on search engines that seems actually relevant to my query. That text is almost NEVER among the initially visible comments.

    Also, I have no clue if it's possible to sort comments. If the "sort by X" button exists, I can't find it. I can't find how to permalink specific comments either. Maybe it's because I'm viewing reddit as a guest, but that's annoying.

    One last thing, though this memory is hazy: originally old Reddit had its own mobile version for mobile browsers, but years ago it ditched it and forced new reddit or something similar onto the mobile site. I noticed that version drained my phone's battery, and promptly found some way to swap back to old reddit even with the desktop formatting looking missized on mobile.

    9 votes

  17. Comment on We reviewed designs for the buckled Midtown high-rise. What we found raises questions. in ~engineering

    CannibalisticApple
    Link
    David Brand wrote two other articles I find worth sharing. First is this article about how the plans weren't peer reviewed. The article is mostly about how important and vital peer reviewing can...

    David Brand wrote two other articles I find worth sharing.

    First is this article about how the plans weren't peer reviewed. The article is mostly about how important and vital peer reviewing can be to engineering projects, especially with older buildings due to how building codes change over decades. It does make the point though that peer reviewing may not have prevented this collapse:

    The problem may have been a contractor failing to follow plans, construction workers accidentally removing a key piece of reinforcement or safety inspectors overlooking a hazard – not a miscalculation or mistake by the engineer, said Brian Falconer, managing principal and structural engineer at Severud Associates Consulting Engineers.

    And that ties into this article, where the principal engineer for the engineering firm is now on record that the reinforcement was not properly installed as the plans dictated. Obviously, this is not the official finding. The investigation is still ongoing and the firm has obvious motivation to deflect blame. Multiple engineers who've examined the photos have noted they don't seem to match the drawings or look reinforced though. And even then, there will still be multiple levels and groups involved in why they ultimately weren't reinforced.

    The comments are where it gets really interesting though, since people from relevant fields chime in with thoughts about which groups hold most responsibility. There's one from a user named Bisbee discussing the Special Inspection Agency that I find particularly notable, so I'll just quote it here:

    IMO the DOB's special inspections process sidelines the design professionals who actually built the project during construction in favor of 'Special Inspection Agencies'. All building work in NYC must be inspected by SIAs who then provide inspection reports and certify the completed inspections with the DOB.

    In my experience as a structural engineer working in NYC, I find that: 1) SIAs often send inexperienced and less expensive inspectors to the site to save costs. 2) These special inspectors don't really understand the whole structure. They are just looking to check and cross off specific details. Some I've seen can barely read drawings. 3) SIAs will send different inspectors to the same project on subsequent days for scheduling optimization, meaning there is no knowledge overlap between inspectors. 4) Special Inspections are a lucrative and often poorly understood part of the project costs, which can attract people overly focused on money and not professional responsibility. 5) In order to save costs, the Owner will often try to minimize the time the actual design professionals spend on site during construction. Why is the owner paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to a SIA with inspectors on site for hours every day, AND a structural engineer / architect?

    Those points, if accurate, seem like a recipe for a disaster. Any one of the first three points could lead to overlooking critical flaws, either due to being too inexperienced to recognize more subtle signs or comprehend how different parts of the structure impact each other, being unable to recognize how something might not match the plans... Or just simply not being able to notice "hey, that thing looks a little different than yesterday and it's not supposed to change every day" because they've never been there before.

    All in all, these articles and comments are definitely providing some interesting insights into the construction and engineering industries to me as a layperson. Engineering failures can make for fascinating rabbitholes (and this one is guilt-free because no one died for once).

    3 votes

  18. Comment on We reviewed designs for the buckled Midtown high-rise. What we found raises questions. in ~engineering

    CannibalisticApple
    Link Parent
    I'm not so pessimistic about nothing coming of it. A skyscraper falling in such a dense city would be genuinely catastrophic, so even with the corruption and corporate deflection, there's a vested...

    I'm not so pessimistic about nothing coming of it. A skyscraper falling in such a dense city would be genuinely catastrophic, so even with the corruption and corporate deflection, there's a vested interest in ensuring there are no repeats. Not just from the government, most companies ALSO don't want to have the risk of their buildings collapsing and putting them on the line for millions in damages on top of losing money they'd put into the building (and a potential reputation hit). They'll try to weasel their way out of trouble when it happens, but most prefer to preemptively avoid that in the first place.

    Besides that, this sort of failure typically happens due to mistakes at multiple levels. General consensus so far seems to put primary blame on the contractors, but there are other decision makers involved who likely made the call to cut corners or ignore suggested procedures in the name of costs and time savings, or else just missed hazards they should have noticed.

    1 vote

  19. Comment on We reviewed designs for the buckled Midtown high-rise. What we found raises questions. in ~engineering

    CannibalisticApple
    Link
    The article doesn't reach a conclusive answer about whether the beams were in fact properly reinforced, it mostly just cites experts expressing skepticism. Mainly posting because this article has...

    City-approved plans for the Midtown building that partially collapsed last week show it was required to have steel reinforcements installed on the columns that buckled on the 21st floor, according to Gothamist's review of hundreds of structural drawings. But department of Buildings officials declined to say whether the reinforcing was properly completed.

    The plans show the two columns were supposed to be reinforced for 13 stories between the building’s 9th and 21st floors in an area directly beneath a 10-story addition that widened the original structure’s higher floors. The Department of Buildings completed emergency shoring of the building floors from the 9th story to the rooftop in the aftermath of near-collapse.

    The developer MetroLoft has been converting the former Pfizer headquarters on East 42nd Street into a 1,600-unit residential complex that includes adding tens of thousands of square feet to the original 33-story building, making it the largest such project in the city.

    The article doesn't reach a conclusive answer about whether the beams were in fact properly reinforced, it mostly just cites experts expressing skepticism. Mainly posting because this article has the actual structural plan drawings, and while I'm not an engineer by any means, I figured some Tildonians/Tildians/Tilderoos/etc. who are would be interested to see them.

    11 votes