CptBluebear's recent activity

  1. Comment on Steam Machine prices revealed, starting at US$1049.00 in ~games

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    They're doing a randomised controlled lottery. Sign up before the 25th and roll the dice. In their own words:

    Anyway, good luck to anyone actually trying to buy this, in case the store crashes or the stock is too low.

    They're doing a randomised controlled lottery. Sign up before the 25th and roll the dice.

    In their own words:

    We underestimated customer interest when we recently released the new Steam Controller, and we wanted to create a system that would be less frustrating and more fair for everyone. A launch that starts at a specific day and time tends to reward bots, people with fast internet connections, talented gaming fingers for quick F5/refresh reactions, and those who can schedule their life around that moment. By accepting reservation signups over the course of a few days, without any incentive to be first, we're hoping to take away some of that friction. The longer timeframe also allows us to do some extra validation on the signups to make sure they're real accounts, with only one per household.

    3 votes

  2. Comment on Steam Machine prices revealed, starting at US$1049.00 in ~games

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    Provided you look at the small print on the SD card itself and get a decently rated one they're fairly decent for game storage. Same on my Deck, I don't care if it's installed on the internal or...

    Provided you look at the small print on the SD card itself and get a decently rated one they're fairly decent for game storage. Same on my Deck, I don't care if it's installed on the internal or the SD.

    4 votes

  3. Comment on How much of an echo chamber is Reddit/the internet, really? in ~tech

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    No there wasn't a different reason and oil prices did skyrocket to 160 a barrel. It was the emptying of oil reserves everywhere that stemmed the tide, as well as a slew of sanctions relief on...

    No there wasn't a different reason and oil prices did skyrocket to 160 a barrel.
    It was the emptying of oil reserves everywhere that stemmed the tide, as well as a slew of sanctions relief on Russian oil. It also helps that most Hormuzi oil goes to SEA so while global oil decline still caused upward price pressure, much less if the oil was intended to go to other countries not China.

    Don't be mistaken by Western price stability. A lot of countries in SEA were rationing oil by implementing rules that limited petrol use, like fuel rations, workdays based on last name, etcetera.

    3 votes

  4. Comment on How much of an echo chamber is Reddit/the internet, really? in ~tech

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    Down to 2% from 27%. I feel that's an important addition. Going cold turkey on oil is difficult in this day and age. Going down to near 0 levels over time is significant.

    Europe is still buying Russian oil, just less of it.

    Down to 2% from 27%. I feel that's an important addition. Going cold turkey on oil is difficult in this day and age. Going down to near 0 levels over time is significant.

    11 votes

  5. Comment on Are there any video games that are/were popular in your country, that the rest of the world hardly knows about? in ~games

    CptBluebear
    Link
    We had plenty! Most of them were edutainment and a couple of developers in the Netherlands really jumped in on the prospect of creating games that helped you learn something. The entire RedCat...

    We had plenty!

    Most of them were edutainment and a couple of developers in the Netherlands really jumped in on the prospect of creating games that helped you learn something.

    The entire RedCat series were a form of edutainment almost any 90s kid will know.

    Meesters van Macht is another in the same edutainment sphere. This one was translated to English as Master of the Elements but was a Dutch creation.

    A2 Racer is another Dutch banger. This one is just a racing game, no edutainment, but it takes place on the Dutch highway system (of the 90s). Decent racer game for its time!

    Both A2 Racer and RedCat were from Davilex Games, a Dutch game studio probably most known internationally for AmsterDoom. They were rather prolific for the time and made some really good games that most late 80s and 90s kids have played.

    5 votes

  6. Comment on Not so empty nesters: record-high number of US adults under 35 live at home, new data says in ~life

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    Unemployment is weird. It's no longer being reported on properly because Trump stopped that, but that shouldn't impact 2025 numbers too much. What also happens is that unemployment only counts if...

    Unemployment is weird. It's no longer being reported on properly because Trump stopped that, but that shouldn't impact 2025 numbers too much.

    What also happens is that unemployment only counts if you're actively searching. I'm confident the US under counts unemployment because of this alone.

    You also see a lot of quality lost. Layoffs in the tech sector move to gig work. Technically not unemployed, not far off though.

    15 votes

  7. Comment on Test your medical knowledge with daily clinical scenarios in ~health

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    I mean, this is a couple of days late but your guess of "diabetes complications" seems to coincide with the "hypoglycemic" guess from @Kale and they seem to know what they're talking about. You...

    I mean, this is a couple of days late but your guess of "diabetes complications" seems to coincide with the "hypoglycemic" guess from @Kale and they seem to know what they're talking about. You weren't too far off the mark then!

    1 vote

  8. Comment on What are your favorite custom games? in ~games

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    AoE2 is having its resurgence right now. One of the best players is also a decent content creator and he's hosting a tournament featuring some of the biggest RTS streamers. Regardless, it's...

    AoE2 is having its resurgence right now. One of the best players is also a decent content creator and he's hosting a tournament featuring some of the biggest RTS streamers. Regardless, it's pulling thousands of viewers a day.

    https://aoe2.criticalbit.gg/kings-gauntlet/

    For a game this old it's amazing. Player count is massive too.

    3 votes

  9. Comment on Sweden may oppose Tesla's supervised self-driving tech in Europe over speeding concerns in ~transport

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    107 on my dash is 100 gps actual. This difference is partially to blame for the variance in road speed, since every manufacturer has some other arbitrary offset. If this Tesla has "go 10 over on...

    107 on my dash is 100 gps actual.

    This difference is partially to blame for the variance in road speed, since every manufacturer has some other arbitrary offset.

    If this Tesla has "go 10 over on the speedometer but actually the actual speed limit" that's fine with me.

    3 votes

  10. Comment on Finland tears up nuclear weapons ban in NATO shift – decision clears way for Helsinki to receive, transport and facilitate movement of nuclear weapons on its territory in ~society

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    So you did. Sorry, sometimes just having the kid around making noise is enough of a distraction to not fully parse a post.

    So you did. Sorry, sometimes just having the kid around making noise is enough of a distraction to not fully parse a post.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on Finland tears up nuclear weapons ban in NATO shift – decision clears way for Helsinki to receive, transport and facilitate movement of nuclear weapons on its territory in ~society

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    The US stores plenty of B61 thermonuclear grab bombs on European airbases and have done so for decades. Unless you specifically mean silo or TEL-launched missiles and I missed that distinction,...

    The US stores plenty of B61 thermonuclear grab bombs on European airbases and have done so for decades. Unless you specifically mean silo or TEL-launched missiles and I missed that distinction, this has been SOP for a good while.

    1 vote

  12. Comment on Moscow hit by largest Ukrainian attack since start of Russia's full-scale war in ~society

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    Every now and then the regime says something so outlandishly stupid it just makes me laugh in disbelief. No, the black rain you can see fall from the sky that coincides with the rapid kinetic...

    Moscow authorities denied that any "oil rain" had been falling.

    Every now and then the regime says something so outlandishly stupid it just makes me laugh in disbelief.

    No, the black rain you can see fall from the sky that coincides with the rapid kinetic remodeling of our oil refineries of course isn't oil, move along citizen.

    31 votes

  13. Comment on ‘Backrooms’ sends Hollywood running to Reddit for new ideas in ~movies

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    Stories on HFY felt good to read because, like you said, they tended to focus on innate positives in our humanity. The capacity to learn from mistakes, continuously improve our species and plant...

    Stories on HFY felt good to read because, like you said, they tended to focus on innate positives in our humanity.

    The capacity to learn from mistakes, continuously improve our species and plant that tree now for the children of tomorrow, reasoning and diplomacy, kinship, and more.

    Eventually the stories started presenting humans as inherently evil or the apex predator compared to other species. Learning from mistakes became relentless, improving our species became growing the empire, reasoning and diplomacy became strategy and warfare, kinship turned into patriotism.

    Some of the darker themed stories were great too, but eventually it turned a bit too rahrah for my tastes.
    You pointed this out, but best of the best hinted at the dangerous undertones of the positive traits without being too overt.

    I still like the theme even if I haven't read any of those stories in years. Humanity can sometimes use a reminder we can be pretty cool if we try.

    5 votes

  14. Comment on What are your favorite custom games? in ~games

    CptBluebear
    Link
    I think it was last week that it would be cool to recreate the WC3 classic Footman Frenzy into a modern version. If I could code, which I can't, I think it'd be something I'd like to create. There...

    I think it was last week that it would be cool to recreate the WC3 classic Footman Frenzy into a modern version. If I could code, which I can't, I think it'd be something I'd like to create.

    There were so many memorable WC3 custom maps that I'd like to play again:

    Water Wars.
    Tides of Blood (both WW and ToB predated DotA).
    Escape from Gay Heaven.
    Orc Gladiators.
    Wintermaul Wars.
    Hero Line Wars.

    And too many others to count, some with sped up Linkin Park background music, others without.

    I see others have mentioned the same maps and it just goes to show that they were really good games in their own right.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on Commodore Callback flip phone in ~tech

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    It has been steadily improving but for the longest time most banking apps didn't work. Even now, if your bank is not on this list, it doesn't work.

    It has been steadily improving but for the longest time most banking apps didn't work. Even now, if your bank is not on this list, it doesn't work.

    1 vote

  16. Comment on Commodore Callback flip phone in ~tech

    CptBluebear
    Link
    Nothing about specs as far as I can tell. It'd be fine if it didn't take minutes to boot any app. If this thing doesn't have snappy handling it'll be a chore to use.

    Nothing about specs as far as I can tell. It'd be fine if it didn't take minutes to boot any app. If this thing doesn't have snappy handling it'll be a chore to use.

  17. Comment on Commodore Callback flip phone in ~tech

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    You are not the target audience. If people buy a phone that forces them to disconnect, they will not compile things to get around that. If they even could. Your example is beyond most people.

    what's stopping me from installing the right toolchains required to compile and install something like surf or dillo?

    You are not the target audience.

    If people buy a phone that forces them to disconnect, they will not compile things to get around that. If they even could. Your example is beyond most people.

    1 vote

  18. Comment on Commodore Callback flip phone in ~tech

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    It looks like it specifically does do those things no? The point seems to be to enable people to use the modern app landscape while limiting the scope to non-social media type applications. Their...

    phone pretty much has to support banking apps, government services, travel applications and other similar systems, or it becomes difficult to function in society. Since this likely doesn't support any of those

    It looks like it specifically does do those things no? The point seems to be to enable people to use the modern app landscape while limiting the scope to non-social media type applications. Their example is Rideshare apps.

    I couldn't tell you whether that means banking apps, those are already notorious for only functioning within specific frameworks as they don't work on GrapheneOS for example.

  19. Comment on What is your eleventh favorite video game? in ~games

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    Steam hours in general are a rather poor gauge, your Monkey Island example is apropos. Ron Gilbert has always maintained that a game shouldn't be longer than 8 to 10 hours. That would...

    Steam hours in general are a rather poor gauge, your Monkey Island example is apropos. Ron Gilbert has always maintained that a game shouldn't be longer than 8 to 10 hours. That would automatically disqualify any of the Monkey Island games from being anyone's 11th favourite here.

    One game I've certainly considered memorable enough would be Journey, which is three, maybe four hours if you stretch it.

    I also run into the question of games prior to games being tracked in Steam. Warcraft 3 or Diablo 2 certainly weren't tracked at the time. Perhaps a save game from Final Fantasy X lingering on some memory card could tell me generally how long I've played the game on the console.. wouldn't tell me how much emulator hours I might have.

    I've certainly played too many games to definitively state an 11th place, so like @ToteRose says it's probably best to consider the spirit of the question instead.

    1 vote

  20. Comment on US battery industry cuts losses, shifts to new ventures amid electric vehicle bust in ~transport

    CptBluebear
    Link Parent
    Yeah I know! It's why I said the "function over form" part. I totally get it. But it doesn't have to be the same sleek, minimalist, soft design on everything. It lacks any lines, even on the...

    They look like bars of soap because designers wish they were as slippery as bars of soap!

    Yeah I know! It's why I said the "function over form" part. I totally get it. But it doesn't have to be the same sleek, minimalist, soft design on everything. It lacks any lines, even on the inside it's soft, rounded corners making it all blend and melt and suffuse into each other into a non-expressive mess.
    Like, the headlights and rear lights don't have to come in a straight line on every second car.

    AHhh maybe it's just me not liking this specific look. It'll buff out eventually I suppose.

    5 votes