Crestwave's recent activity
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Comment on Valve announces new hardware: Steam Frame, Steam Controller, and Steam Machine in ~games
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Comment on Overwatch 2 now: how does it look to you? in ~games
Crestwave Link ParentThe GP was referring to the Overwatch Classic mode where all gameplay is reverted to a specific OW1 patch, leading to DPS Doomfist dominating lobbies.The GP was referring to the Overwatch Classic mode where all gameplay is reverted to a specific OW1 patch, leading to DPS Doomfist dominating lobbies.
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Comment on Overwatch 2 now: how does it look to you? in ~games
Crestwave (edited )LinkI actually quite like OW2—the gameplay is tight and fast-paced, patches are quick, and they've been experimenting a ton with features like perks and the Stadium mode. 6v6 is even still...I actually quite like OW2—the gameplay is tight and fast-paced, patches are quick, and they've been experimenting a ton with features like perks and the Stadium mode.
6v6 is even still continuously supported as a mode and OW1 classic reappears as an event from time to time. I quite like 6v6, but classic is kind of a mess—everyone is much better at the game now, so it plays out quite differently despite being a fairly faithful recreation (minus some engine-specific techs like Mercy's OG superjump).
I'm pretty indifferent to the monetization—all heroes are free now so they only sell cosmetics, and I have several good skins for basically all characters so I have no reason to care about the existence of a skin, no matter how expensively priced it is. They could sell them for $2k and I would still be fine because it's keeping the game free. Lootboxes can't be bought anymore so it's arguably a significantly more ethical profit model without relying on gambling addiction.
It's also been revealed in recent years that the game's former director, Jeff Kaplan, was actually responsible for a lot of what went wrong with OW2. Rather than capitalize on their hit GOTY shooter, he wanted to gut it to transition it back to its MMO roots by first forcing it into a coop shooter (which would then be gutted to shift into an MMO). Unsurprisingly, the same things that went wrong during the development of the original MMO happened again and the team was left with a mess. It's only in the previous years with Kotick out of the picture that they've finally recovered and started delivering content at lightning speed.
Random side note: the free battle pass gives you premium currency and it's also extremely easy to complete compared to other live service games. Good stuff, although it would be better if you could progress bought passes at any time.
One thing I will say is worse is the sense of a community. It's in a similar vein to WoW where social interactions still happen all the time, but it's fairly surface-level as you're immediately shuttled off into the next match for maximum engagement and minimal confrontation. Bring back the post game screen!
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Comment on Amazon Web Services outage impacts in ~tech
Crestwave Link ParentIt's quite illuminating seeing how much infrastructure all over the world was affected from the outage of a single us-east-1 service. Hopefully some companies will consider lessening their...It's quite illuminating seeing how much infrastructure all over the world was affected from the outage of a single us-east-1 service. Hopefully some companies will consider lessening their dependency on a single region.
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Comment on What are some of your personal misheard lyrics? in ~music
Crestwave Link ParentStar-crossed is also a misheard lyric! The actual line is "got a long list of ex-lovers"Star-crossed is also a misheard lyric! The actual line is "got a long list of ex-lovers"
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Comment on I'm Not a Robot in ~games
Crestwave (edited )LinkThis was a fun one! I totally didn't need 6 queens to beat the bot! Spoilers Got the circle first try. This ain't my first rodeo :P For the Empire State Building, I zoomed out to have it all in...This was a fun one! I totally didn't need 6 queens to beat the bot!
Spoilers
- Got the circle first try. This ain't my first rodeo :P
- For the Empire State Building, I zoomed out to have it all in frame and selected where I thought 64% of my screen would be. Got it on my second try!
- For the chatbot, I just typed out Taylor Swift lyrics and it worked weirdly well. I guess bots aren't swifties?
- Reverse image search helps for the AI-generated men, although I still did a bit of trial and error.
- I used stock photos for the emotion detector. You can skip it if you don't have a camera (or don't give it permission to access it), though! Just click Verify.
- You can use your touchpad to zoom in on Where's Waldo, since using the actual browser zoom just makes it scale proportionally. Or you can save the image, since the lines are kind of distracting.
- I used picture-in-picture mode to skip the final video. I can't tell if it was AI-generated or just overly processed satire, but it was weirding me out.
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Comment on Blizzard shuts down Project Epoch, another WoW private server in ~games
Crestwave Link ParentThat was how they generally worked—you would install retail WoW for a certain expansion, patch it up to a specific version, then edit reamlist.wtf to point to the private server. I remember using...That was how they generally worked—you would install retail WoW for a certain expansion, patch it up to a specific version, then edit
reamlist.wtfto point to the private server. I remember using the regular launcher and having to immediately press Play or it would automatically update to the latest retail patch (apparently I could have just launchedWow.exedirectly to bypass this, whoops).Nowadays all the popular private servers just distribute the entire modified client so that it's entirely click and run, because convenience attracts more players, of course. I do think there are still some old school servers doing it the traditional way, though, they just have a much more limited audience.
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Comment on The sunscreen scandal shocking Australia in ~health
Crestwave LinkNot surprised to see this, unfortunately. Banana Boat in particular has been failing independent tests (from Choice as well as from other groups like Consumer Reports) for well over a decade now,...Not surprised to see this, unfortunately. Banana Boat in particular has been failing independent tests (from Choice as well as from other groups like Consumer Reports) for well over a decade now, with copious customer complaints to back it up and yet they're still up and running.
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Comment on xAI has open sourced Grok 2.5 in ~tech
Crestwave Link ParentAgreed. This feels like a SaaS provider releasing their server as an executable and calling it open source. An executable would arguably be much more useful for reverse engineering, even. Not to...Agreed. This feels like a SaaS provider releasing their server as an executable and calling it open source. An executable would arguably be much more useful for reverse engineering, even.
Not to mention that the license seems pretty restrictive as well, including stipulations like:
You may not use the Materials, derivatives, or outputs (including generated data) to train, create, or improve any foundational, large language, or general-purpose AI models, except for modifications or fine-tuning of Grok 2 permitted under and in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.
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Comment on Chappell Roan says her second album ‘doesn’t exist yet’: ‘It’s probably going to take at least five’ years in ~music
Crestwave Link ParentThey're sort of right in terms of mainstream appeal and the charts, but plenty of artists have survived with long gaps between releases. Lorde has consistently released an album every 4 years, for...They're sort of right in terms of mainstream appeal and the charts, but plenty of artists have survived with long gaps between releases. Lorde has consistently released an album every 4 years, for example.
I personally cannot fathom why everyone is so negative about this and acting like they're her manager. She has constantly stated that she dislikes fame and fame clearly dislikes her as well from the amount of negativity she's been getting. She's clearly had enough of a successful run that she's comfortable with winding down for a while; not everything has to be optimized and calculated to squeeze as much money and fame as possible.
Also, she just released some great singles (I had Good Luck Babe and The Subway on repeat while reading this) and she'll likely release some more in the years before her next album so I'm not too worried. :-)
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Comment on uBlock Origin Lite for Safari in ~tech
Crestwave Link ParentuBO didn't really work on iOS Orion in my experience; their website's FAQ used to say "Wait, are you saying I can run uBlock Origin and other Chrome/Firefox extensions in Orion?!" but then they...uBO didn't really work on iOS Orion in my experience; their website's FAQ used to say "Wait, are you saying I can run uBlock Origin and other Chrome/Firefox extensions in Orion?!" but then they updated it to add "for Mac" at the end. Multiple developer comments have confirmed that they meant it for Mac and iOS support for extensions is extremely limited.
As for the built-in adblocker, I simply had ads slip through and Orion in general has been very buggy for me. Often websites would fail to load, have nonfunctional components, or just straight-up crash. I just tried it right now to see if it's improved and got two crashes within minutes.
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Comment on uBlock Origin Lite for Safari in ~tech
Crestwave Link ParentWhat iOS version are you on? I got this error as well but it worked after updating to 18.6.What iOS version are you on? I got this error as well but it worked after updating to 18.6.
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Comment on uBlock Origin Lite for Safari in ~tech
Crestwave Link ParentThe best thing about uBOL is that it works on iOS as well, where there are no alternative browser engines. I've tried a lot of "browsers" and content blockers, including Brave/Orion/Firefox Focus,...Realistically I should wean myself off Safari but handoff is so useful…
The best thing about uBOL is that it works on iOS as well, where there are no alternative browser engines. I've tried a lot of "browsers" and content blockers, including Brave/Orion/Firefox Focus, but they always had some ads slip through. Or sometimes they would block URLs from loading but not prevent your click from being hijacked, resulting in annoying "this URL was blocked by a content blocker" new tab popups that you have to constantly close.
This works extremely well in comparison; so far it's been just like regular uBO after some configuration. Very happy with this release.
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Comment on uBlock Origin Lite for Safari in ~tech
Crestwave LinkMake sure to go to the settings and configure the filters after installing. I found that it worked quite poorly by default, but after switching to Complete mode and enabling all the filters except...Make sure to go to the settings and configure the filters after installing. I found that it worked quite poorly by default, but after switching to Complete mode and enabling all the filters except Miscellaneous/Regions, it just works perfectly in classic uBlock Origin style.
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Comment on Tech keeps stealing my life, and I want tips on how to make it stop doing that in ~tech
Crestwave (edited )Link ParentI've had the exact opposite experience with Windows. Doing a full reinstall is recommended as standard diagnosis process as it's pretty much the only way to resolve a myriad of issues, while I've...Not going to say I haven't been stuck chasing ghosts on Windows or Mac using something like excel/sheets/numbers, but it happens a hell of a lot less, and certainly isn't the kind of problem you're having, which you KNOW is going to bug the shit out of you and have some archaic weird issue that will likely just be solved on a random update or full reinstall.
I've had the exact opposite experience with Windows. Doing a full reinstall is recommended as standard diagnosis process as it's pretty much the only way to resolve a myriad of issues, while I've never ever had to do an actual reinstall on Linux.
A year ago, every single game with EAC suddenly started triggering bluescreens when running them for over a minute on Windows. I know that this would almost certainly be fixed with a reinstall but I never bothered because they work perfectly fine under Linux.
MS Office has quite a bit of jank and I've had to fiddle with it to do things like show invisible characters then hunt down specific glyphs to fix my formatting. It especially breaks in spectacular ways the moment you interact with shared documents or the online 365 client. The amount of incompatibilities and syncing errors is truly impressive.
And don't even get me started on Windows itself, I receive advertisements on both the start menu and desktop notifications despite disabling all notifications everywhere. Things like Copilot just randomly appear in my task bar.
That said, LibreOffice has unfortunately not been too great either. I usually either reach for the stripped down formats like LaTeX/Markdown/CSV or go with other proprietary software; WPS Office and Google Docs are rock solid in comparison to the Libre/MS suites.
There's plenty of rock solid open source software—mpv on Linux has never failed to play a valid video file for me, while everything else (VLC, Windows Media Player, even mpv on macOS once) has—but LibreOffice is not one of them in my experience.
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: June/July 2025 in ~games
Crestwave Link ParentI'll take Tux the Penguin 🐧! I'm hoping you'll get the reference as a fellow Linux gamer. :-)I'll take Tux the Penguin 🐧! I'm hoping you'll get the reference as a fellow Linux gamer. :-)
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Comment on Cybernews research team has uncovered over sixteen billion leaked records since the start of 2025 in ~tech
Crestwave (edited )Link ParentIt's misleadingly worded. Essentially, the exact datasets as a whole have not been reported before, but the actual credentials inside it may have been covered before. They even mention that there...It's misleadingly worded. Essentially, the exact datasets as a whole have not been reported before, but the actual credentials inside it may have been covered before. They even mention that there are overlapping records within the 16b figure:
There was no way to effectively compare the data between different datasets, but it’s safe to say overlapping records are definitely present. In other words, it’s impossible to tell how many people or accounts were actually exposed.
If they weren't able to compare the data within the datasets they found, they probably weren't able to compare the data with previous breaches. They also hint at this possibly being a compilation of old breaches in the opener:
Unnecessarily compiling sensitive information can be as damaging as actively trying to steal it. For example, the Cybernews research team discovered a plethora of supermassive datasets, housing billions upon billions of login credentials. From social media and corporate platforms to VPNs and developer portals, no stone was left unturned.
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Comment on China’s superstition boom in ~life
Crestwave Link ParentFalun Gong is not a traditional superstition; it's an extremist religion that was founded in the 1990s. Crystal healing is not new, it's been used in ancient Chinese medicine for thousands of...See this short Chinese BBC article from 2001 about efforts to target traditional superstitions since 1970s, and especially Fa Lun Gung 1999
Falun Gong is not a traditional superstition; it's an extremist religion that was founded in the 1990s.
Crystal are new. AI analyses are new. Dreams of becoming a social media fortuneteller is new. Workshops to learn crystal nonsense to scam others is also new.
Crystal healing is not new, it's been used in ancient Chinese medicine for thousands of years with a particular focus on jade. AI horoscopes are new, but horoscopes aren't. Taking apprenticeships to learn either is also not new.
There's not a lot of let's sacrifice chickens to ancestors, not a lot of marrying your kids based on ancestral whims, not a lot of fasting, praying, incense lighting, bell striking, talismen burning, weird tea drinking, Taoist dancing, fire bowl leaping, graveside worshipping, pomelo leaves bathing kind of superstition.
Plenty of these are still around, especially the fasting, praying, incense lighting, and bell striking. Not to mention numerology (4 = death, 8 = wealth), zodiac horoscopes, feng shui, alternative medicine (acupuncture, herbal treatments, aura focusing exercises, electroshock therapy), color superstitions (red = good luck, black = death), good luck talismans (福), and religion in general (see this huge list of Buddhist temples).
And don't get me started on wedding superstitions, you could probably write a whole thesis dissertation on those.
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Comment on China’s superstition boom in ~life
Crestwave LinkI fail to see the irony here; Chinese culture has always been extremely spiritual and superstitious. They simply do not follow the principles of Abrahamic religion, which places large emphasis on...It is one of history’s more striking ironies: the People’s Republic of China, an officially atheist, Marxist-Leninist regime that has long sought to suppress all forms of organized religion, now finds itself caught in a tidal wave of superstition.
I fail to see the irony here; Chinese culture has always been extremely spiritual and superstitious. They simply do not follow the principles of Abrahamic religion, which places large emphasis on hard rules and monotheism, but rather mix various concepts with vibes and societal norms. And this seems to be exactly what the article is describing.
I guess the main takeaway is that there is an unexpected surge of it amongst the youth, but the article's presentation seems a bit exaggerated.
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Comment on x86 assembler in Bash in ~comp
Crestwave Link ParentFrom my understanding, this converts x86 asm into an executable file, similar to regular assemblers like yasm except it's written in Bash.From my understanding, this converts x86 asm into an executable file, similar to regular assemblers like yasm except it's written in Bash.
There's a lot of talk about FEX, which can apparently translate x86 calls to ARM with very little overhead. Seems like Valve is planning to adopt it into Proton like they did with WINE.
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/vr-hardware/steamos-launching-for-arm-fex-translation-layer/
Exciting to see development in the ARM Linux space, hopefully Valve will generalize whatever integration they have to other devices as well and not just the VR space.