Durinthal's recent activity
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Comment on LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices in ~tech
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Comment on LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices in ~tech
Durinthal Link ParentThat was just a cursory scan so good point about captive portals, been a while since I've used any of those and I haven't touched Comcast's myself so wasn't sure how locked down it was. Given the...That was just a cursory scan so good point about captive portals, been a while since I've used any of those and I haven't touched Comcast's myself so wasn't sure how locked down it was. Given the initial topic I wouldn't be surprised if LG was considering a deal with Comcast just for that kind of thing at this point.
After searching a bit I think the other one is some other kind of device going by name, maybe I could control someone else's air conditioner if I connected to it.
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Comment on LG smart TVs caught logging audio with screen off and snooping on local devices in ~tech
Durinthal Link ParentI just opened up the network list on my laptop and saw two pop up, living in a fairly dense urban area (more than 20 total in range). One is "xfinitywifi" so the public hotspot, the other looked...I just opened up the network list on my laptop and saw two pop up, living in a fairly dense urban area (more than 20 total in range). One is "xfinitywifi" so the public hotspot, the other looked like maybe a default name for a router at a glance.
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Comment on How do you find new anime to watch? in ~anime
Durinthal Link ParentI don't really check out Geoff's videos these days but I do enjoy his podcast Quest for the Best with Tristan (Glass Reflection that others have mentioned) and Miles (former Crunchyroll staff and...I don't really check out Geoff's videos these days but I do enjoy his podcast Quest for the Best with Tristan (Glass Reflection that others have mentioned) and Miles (former Crunchyroll staff and now marketing/analytics consulting in the industry). Aside from regularly talking about what they're enjoying from airing shows, I like the discussions they have about the state of the industry and specific anime even if my own preferences relative to the three of them are something like this meme, and I do occasionally pick out new things to watch from what they talk about.
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Comment on How do you find new anime to watch? in ~anime
Durinthal (edited )Link ParentI have lists upon lists, the tags column on MAL is useful for me in that regard. The board idea is just something I've seen other people do for a while, basically another way of making a shortlist...I have lists upon lists, the tags column on MAL is useful for me in that regard. The board idea is just something I've seen other people do for a while, basically another way of making a shortlist for a year; my friends aren't that obsessive.
Though that also just reminded me of several other ways of getting into new anime for me that I haven't done much of in recent years: community events.
One is joining a swap/secret Santa event where you get to anonymously recommend anime to someone and another person gets to do the same for you. I've had mixed results there but it's a good way to make me watch something I wouldn't necessarily get to soon on my own.
Similarly I used to regularly do contracts which is more of a direct swap with one other person, usually because I want to shill one specific series to other people and get something of equal length in return from anyone willing to take me up on it.
And the third is group discussions of non-airing series along the lines of an episodic book club (called rewatches on /r/anime), which I've used to see dozens of series over the years. That includes long ones for bigger franchises with hundreds of episodes that I wouldn't normally bother with like Gundam and Naruto, which ended up being a great bonding experience spanning a year or more for the smaller number of people that stuck through the whole thing.
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Comment on How do you find new anime to watch? in ~anime
Durinthal (edited )LinkWhen I got back into watching, I just hung around /r/anime and whenever someone mentioned a title I hadn't heard of before I looked it up and added it to my backlog if it looked interesting. After...When I got back into watching, I just hung around /r/anime and whenever someone mentioned a title I hadn't heard of before I looked it up and added it to my backlog if it looked interesting. After doing that for a decade it's rare to see someone else mention an anime that's new to me outside of airing/upcoming releases, though even if I was just relying on that I'd have plenty to watch even now given just how big my backlog was. Still, at some point I became a database gremlin and began regularly combing through MyAnimeList, Anilist, and aniDB for things that no one talked about and started watching some of those. Usually they're forgotten over time for good reason, but there are some things here and there that I truly enjoy. I also watch anime films and OVAs with a friend on a regular basis and we often go for some of the most obscure (usually old) things we can find that have an interesting description. They also watch airing shows so we sometimes recommend each other new things that we didn't pick up on our own.
As for specifically what to watch next, picking up nearly every new romance anime that comes out plus a few others that look interesting each season gives me more than enough since that's currently more than a dozen new series every three months, but even beyond that I've taken to making bingo boards at the start of the year for 2025 (romance anime that aired in 1995, 2005, and 2015) and now 2026 (romance anime that I previously started and dropped for whatever reason). Previously I had more general themes and picked something that generally fit them as I went through the year without having a predefined target list, like a film a week on average or anime from 2000 or earlier.
Is that a healthy way to go about picking new anime? Absolutely not. Am I having fun with it anyway? Most of the time, yes.
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
Durinthal LinkI'm currently getting up to speed on modern web security from the server side and all the proper headers to set as it's been a while since I've had to explicitly think about such things. If anyone...I'm currently getting up to speed on modern web security from the server side and all the proper headers to set as it's been a while since I've had to explicitly think about such things. If anyone has a convenient overview or other resources for what current best practices are I'd welcome it, sometimes it's hard to tell when something's outdated.
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Comment on CGA-2026-08 🗡️🛡️❤️🔺 REMOVE CARTRIDGE ⏏️ The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games
Durinthal (edited )LinkA Link to the Past has been a regular part of my life for more than 30 years so it's impossible for me to be impartial about it, any flaws or janky aspects are just part of the fabric of reality....A Link to the Past has been a regular part of my life for more than 30 years so it's impossible for me to be impartial about it, any flaws or janky aspects are just part of the fabric of reality. That said, to this day the combat's rather awkward with the sword. I've gotten used to it, but I still regularly run into situations where I'm a couple pixels off from getting a hit and instead the enemy runs into me and I die.
There are so many random nooks and crannies in the game that I loved exploring as a kid, including many that are ignored even in a standard randomizer. The hut at the bottom left corner of Kakariko can be opened with a bomb and it has bombs and arrows under the pots inside that I regularly used to restock.
How do you like this style vs. the newer franchise entries?
It's hard to compare 2D vs. 3D entries and I haven't actually finished a number of the other 2D ones, but those that came on later systems (e.g. Phantom Hourglass/Spirit Tracks and A Link Between Worlds) are just different to me not being limited by the SNES hardware.
Did you 100% it and find every last heart piece for a full health bar?
On my regular vanilla replays that's what I do. I have a distinct memory of trying to (casually) speedrun it while waiting for A Link Between Worlds on the day of its release in 2013, don't remember if I managed to beat the delivery.
Any particularly tough puzzles or fights that stood out to you?
I like the changing water levels in Swamp Palace, a precursor to the infamous Water Temple in Ocarina of Time. Ice Palace is rather devious the intended way, needing to go up and down floors to get to the block to cover the last door switch. Misery Mire I still don't have fully mapped out in my head, unlike pretty much every other dungeon at this point.
Quick thoughts/random trivia on bosses:
- Armos Knights: easy, trains you to use dungeon weapon for best effect; you did use the bow on them, right? Also can be damaged by the boomerang and I think the only boss that can be, weirdly enough.
- Lanmolas: time to dodge projectiles and not just the body of the boss, also get better at timing/aiming.
- Moldorm: or Trolldorm as it's often called. Keeping your sword charged up helps by pushing you back instead of letting the boss hit you and you can stay on the platform more easily.
- Agahnim: did you know you can use the bug-catching net instead of your sword to deflect the balls back at him?
- Helmasaur King: as the dungeon item the hammer works on the mask, but you can also use bombs and I regularly did that as a kid.
- Arrghus: hookshot's fun, also gives you invincibility while using it.
- Mothula: pure evil, but it's the spikes and moving floor more than the boss itself. While knocking other enemies into spike damages them, spike damage on the moth is 0 (gold sword slashes/spins do the same damage as a spike so it's actually immune to that too). Boss randomizers make it trivial if it's in a different dungeon.
- Blind: the first time you fight him the boss can be "scripted" with the same movement patterns if you hit the boss on the first possible frame each time. All swords do the same amount of damage so it's really not that bad of a fight with the randomizer.
- Kholdstare: Bombos works to melt the ice block at the start if you picked it up earlier but isn't required to beat the game. Fire rod is also effective on the eyeballs, unsurprisingly, if you can keep them grouped up it's not hard but they can kill you quickly if given free run of the room.
- Vitreus: wild card that can be very easy or very difficult in a randomizer depending on what you have for weapons. Dashing through or spin attacking the group of smaller eyeballs at the top with the tempered/gold sword is one of the fastest ways to kill them; advanced players can do that while taking damage but I prefer the safer approach with invincibility items (Cane of Byrna/Magic Cape).
- Trinexx: the only thing in the game requiring the Ice Rod which can be anywhere else in the game not blocked by beating that boss specifically in randomizers, they often turn into an Ice Rod hunt.
- Agahnim 2: hey, there's three of them! It's fun to reflect multiple balls at him in one round.
- Ganon: the big pig, do not hug. Strictly speaking you don't need silver arrows to kill him, as in the final phase there's a two-frame window just before he teleports where he can be hit by a sword (24 charged sword spins with the Master Sword, fewer for tempered/gold) that damages him rather than making him freeze.
If you did a randomizer, what was the craziest thing you encountered?
One I did a while ago had the Moon Pearl in the checkerboard cave, requiring walking through the mire as a bunny to get to it (flute + mitts + mirror).
Who was your favorite NPC?
I like the person in Kakariko Village that runs away from you when you get close.
Thanks for hosting this one and providing a fun randomizer seed, and thanks to the other folks that joined in the Archipelago run too.
Edit for bonus trivia I forgot to include earlier: the GBA port of the game (with the first Four Swords) made a few changes including a new flute spot on top of Turtle Rock and having the lamp do damage to enemies. The latter made for my first swordless (as much as possible) run as a kid, since it made the early game a lot easier before getting the hammer which is powerful enough for the rest of the game.
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Comment on Sleep struggles: how do I get better sleep quality? in ~life
Durinthal Link ParentI put on Panga's Mario Maker videos during lunch breaks, so I can see them being useful for falling asleep to as well. Generally pretty chill, have a rhythm to them with the different kinds of...I put on Panga's Mario Maker videos during lunch breaks, so I can see them being useful for falling asleep to as well. Generally pretty chill, have a rhythm to them with the different kinds of levels that are novel enough if I want to pay attention but not demanding of me, and I can follow along or not as I feel like without missing too much.
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Comment on CGA-2026-08 🗡️🛡️❤️🔺 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentI'm glad you ran through it too! I didn't expect anyone to do so, I just wanted to share in case others were curious and you can take a look at the spoiler log for locations without downloading...I'm glad you ran through it too! I didn't expect anyone to do so, I just wanted to share in case others were curious and you can take a look at the spoiler log for locations without downloading anything.
One of the interesting aspects to randomizers for me is how little of a safety net you might end up with by the end if you only find the required items and keep heading for only what's necessary, so it can up the challenge in execution as well.
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Comment on CGA-2026-08 🗡️🛡️❤️🔺 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentRandomizer Round 4! If you're experienced with the game but want to go another step up from moving items around, try Entrance Shuffle like this. A house that normally has nothing of interest might...Randomizer Round 4! If you're experienced with the game but want to go another step up from moving items around, try Entrance Shuffle like this. A house that normally has nothing of interest might now contain the final dungeon! I had to take notes beyond item tracking this time to keep straight where certain places were located.
My run of that randomizer seed, item/entrance location spoilers
I started in Link's house, which was... unchanged? I'm not sure if that's normal or a very unusual coincidence. Sanctuary was in Kakariko so easy access to the rest of those, and it was a few doors over from Ganon's Tower. I eventually realized all the early checks the overworld was giving me were pointing me back toward GT, as I got to the point where I could complete the entire basement and not much else: fire rod, hammer, Cane of Somaria, hookshot, bow with silver arrows. Turns out the gloves were in the tile room and boots were down there as well, glad I didn't delay on that much further though I was running out of other options anyway. I nearly started climbing up after clearing the basement except I didn't have a sword or net yet to beat Agahnim,.
While I ended up not needing to beat Thieves Town, it was very fun finding it: Mire shed (entrance to the left of Misery Mire) was the entrance of Desert Palace. Taking the west exit of that dungeon lead to the dark world ledge where the bumper cave exits (normally containing a heart piece on the ledge); then I needed to mirror there because the overworld equivalent cave there is where you return from Death Mountain and has no other way of getting to it, that's where Thieves Town was.
The lamp was one of the last items I found, but I ended up doing a lot of dark rooms before then. Making my way through the back of Palace of Darkness and beating the turtles in the rooms before the boss without being able to see anything but my sword sparks and hammer was the most tense moment I've had playing the game in decades.
3 deaths, 189/216 collection, 4:17:09 time.
Flavor of that seed
A challenging blend of smoke that took a while to sort out, resulting in sweeter aspects popping up in unexpected places.
There's one more mode that takes it a step further and challenges how well you know the layout of the dungeons and how they're put together in the game's code: door randomizer. I don't know if I'll get to trying it, but it's intrigued me and was a mode I thought about trying to make myself before other people added it.
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Comment on Any significant changes to Tildes are extremely unlikely in ~tildes.official
Durinthal Link ParentI've been thinking about making my own niche site like that for a while and have been collecting ideas and opinions on what it could look like. Could make for a fun discussion topic as its own...I've been thinking about making my own niche site like that for a while and have been collecting ideas and opinions on what it could look like. Could make for a fun discussion topic as its own post, seeing what people value or take issue with for that kind of platform.
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Comment on CGA-2026-08 🗡️🛡️❤️🔺 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentAlso done, had a fun time. 5:30:22, looks like just one heart piece shy of 100% (and 243/249 collecting).Also done, had a fun time. 5:30:22, looks like just one heart piece shy of 100% (and 243/249 collecting).
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Comment on CGA-2026-08 🗡️🛡️❤️🔺 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentGo time! Yeah that's everything for me, sent silvers to you and @MimicSquid and clearing the rest of my dungeons now.Go time!
Yeah that's everything for me, sent silvers to you and @MimicSquid and clearing the rest of my dungeons now.
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Comment on CGA-2026-08 🗡️🛡️❤️🔺 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentAbout that spot... I forgot that pot wasn't guaranteed to be a key with these rules, normally leave that until I go to the back of Skull Woods. Turned out to just be the compass anyway so wasn't...About that spot...
I forgot that pot wasn't guaranteed to be a key with these rules, normally leave that until I go to the back of Skull Woods. Turned out to just be the compass anyway so wasn't accidentally holding anyone up there.
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Comment on CGA-2026-08 🗡️🛡️❤️🔺 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentRandomizer Round 3! This time running a mode I've never played before, Keysanity. Keysanity isn't *substantially* different from the standard randomizer It tosses dungeon keys, maps, and compasses...Randomizer Round 3! This time running a mode I've never played before, Keysanity.
Keysanity isn't *substantially* different from the standard randomizer
It tosses dungeon keys, maps, and compasses from chests into the general item pool, so there can be the big key for Ganon's Tower in Link's house or the one Swamp Palace key you normally get at the very start of the dungeon instead located in Turtle Tock.
As a result it's more likely to require entering dungeons multiple times because they might have a required item for a different dungeon early on that in turn has another key to need to get to the boss of the first one. You aren't going out of your way to new locations you weren't already visiting in a standard randomizer, though.
Your inventory now shows how many keys you have for different dungeons too, and the compass shows number of checked locations/total checks for that dungeon. The world map doesn't show whether a dungeon is a pendant or crystal without having that dungeon's map, though I think you can also tell by the music once you enter since they have different music for pendant (light world) and crystal (dark world) dungeons.
My run of that randomizer seed, item location spoilers
Very front-loaded with giving me the master sword before I got out of Kakariko, gloves and hammer in other sphere 0 checks immediately available, and pearl in the first check inside Eastern so I had dark world access pretty quickly. Mitts at the digging game and mirror in early PoD (leading to Eastern big key at cave 45 -> flute in Eastern big chest) really opened everything else up for non-dungeon checks outside of the hookshot cave.
One thing that took a while was the lamp (first room to the left in Turtle Rock) and I don't know dark rooms well enough to get around without it. That was the last major piece opening up most of the rest of the dungeons (rest of PoD was an early target with hookshot in the dark maze), though I still didn't have Ganon's Tower big key for full go mode just yet.
I saw early on that there was a big key on the lumberjack ledge, so that was looming in the back of my mind. And later found from a hint tile that the boots were in Ganon's Tower. Fortunately that wasn't a required key, but the Ganon's Tower big key was in a different boots-locked location that I checked first so this seed has a required double-dip of GT.
2 deaths, 193/216 collection, 3:55:49 time. Also 2 Ganon falls, one of which was self-inflicted by walking off the edge trying to line up a fire rod shot on the torch.
Flavor of that seed
Rich and savory from the start and had me coming back for seconds and thirds.
A bit of randomizer lore:
There are a few dungeons where you don't need every key to complete it and get all the items, even without using any glitches. For example once you have a bow and hammer you can bypass the first locked door at the start of Palace of Darkness by going to the right and following that path to eventually end up in the middle of the dungeon and can work backwards. Same for Misery Mire and Skull Woods if you're smart about routing your way through them.
Next time I'm going to really test my knowledge of the world map with entrance shuffle.
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Comment on CGA-2026-08 🗡️🛡️❤️🔺 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentWell done! Sometimes the randomizer can be frustrating like that and if you aren't used to the specifics of items not being in their usual places it can be confusing. "Oh, I didn't realize I...Well done! Sometimes the randomizer can be frustrating like that and if you aren't used to the specifics of items not being in their usual places it can be confusing. "Oh, I didn't realize I needed this item to continue past X point, where else can I go instead?"
About one of your usual strategies:
If you have the Cane of Somaria going into Ice Palace you can break it even more and bypass most of the dungeon early on and get to the vanilla big key chest from the wrong side. I've managed to pull it off with little practice myself, so I'd encourage giving it a try if you want next time.
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Comment on CGA-2026-08 🗡️🛡️❤️🔺 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentThe GBA release is interesting for some changes it had, I did as much of a swordless run as I could on that version. Ask for your question, I unfortunately didn't do anything creative back in the...The GBA release is interesting for some changes it had, I did as much of a swordless run as I could on that version.
Ask for your question, I unfortunately didn't do anything creative back in the day. Right now with the randomizer runs I'm using a Zagreus sprite from Hades so some variation of that (ザグ or "Zagu" and more recently ZAG).
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Comment on CGA-2026-08 🗡️🛡️❤️🔺 INSERT CARTRIDGE 🟢 The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentI've been doing checks as they've become available in the past few days but nothing important coming from them. What's left for me At this point I need mitts and fire rod to do a full clear, the...I've been doing checks as they've become available in the past few days but nothing important coming from them.
What's left for me
At this point I need mitts and fire rod to do a full clear, the one thing on my bumper ledge (requiring cape) is just a heart piece.
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Comment on What are your favourite anime and/or manga? in ~anime
Durinthal Link ParentSerial Experiments Lain and Crest of the Stars were formative for me back in the day, showing me that animation could tell good stories succinctly without being mostly monster of the week or have...Serial Experiments Lain and Crest of the Stars were formative for me back in the day, showing me that animation could tell good stories succinctly without being mostly monster of the week or have drawn-out battles like Sailor Moon and DBZ.
My Nvidia Shield TV (Android TV) has lasted for nearly a decade now with few complaints, only recently got around to running the Projectivy Launcher for a cleaner home screen.
I've been considering switching to Apple TV whenever the new one comes out since I'm firmly in that ecosystem, looks like that might finally be announced tomorrow. I've also wondered how viable using a docked Steam Deck is since I already have that available but haven't looked into that yet to see if there's any good HTPC-style setup I could easily use.