Halfdan's recent activity

  1. Is there an intuitive (but powerful) music thingie?

    ~music Ask (recommendations)
    Sorry about the headline. (not really) I know it doesn't make all that much sense. The thing is, I bought a Dubreq Stylophone Beatbox (review here) and it's really quite fun to play around with....

    Sorry about the headline. (not really) I know it doesn't make all that much sense. The thing is, I bought a Dubreq Stylophone Beatbox (review here) and it's really quite fun to play around with. At its core, it lets you record and play your own rhythms in a loop. It sort of feels like an unholy mix between a musical instrument and an editor.

    The problem is that I can't save as an editable format (midi or ... whatever) or import new instruments, so while its great fun and quite powerful (I composed this) I still feel the need for something more flexible. Also, I accidently borrowed it away, so while I still "own" it, I don't actually have it as such.

    So, are there any other thingie which (gonna repeat the headline here) are fun and intuitive, yet still grants me some more power compared to what is offered by the Stylophone Beatbox? I don't mind if it is a program of a physical thing.

    6 votes

  2. Comment on The tech baron seeking to “ethnically cleanse” San Francisco in ~life

    Halfdan
    Link Parent
    To be fair, centrists have the same approach where they believes their reactionary drivel is somehow above the realm of left/right politics.

    Reds, blues, and grays? Gray pride parade? This boy is absolutely unhinged.

    To be fair, centrists have the same approach where they believes their reactionary drivel is somehow above the realm of left/right politics.

    8 votes

  3. Comment on Palestinian Relief Bundle — 373 games for $8 (save 99%) in ~games

    Halfdan
    Link Parent
    Sorry, stupid autocorrect ...

    Sorry, stupid autocorrect ...

    3 votes

  4. Comment on Palestinian Relief Bundle — 373 games for $8 (save 99%) in ~games

    Halfdan
    Link
    All proceeds will be donated to PCRF (Palestine Children's Relief Fund) I'd like to recommend They Bleed Pixels, a solid precision platformer with a cutesy Lovecraftian feel. It offers the most...

    All proceeds will be donated to PCRF (Palestine Children's Relief Fund)

    I'd like to recommend They Bleed Pixels, a solid precision platformer with a cutesy Lovecraftian feel. It offers the most satisfy meele combat I've seen in any game. Solid reflexes are required, but it also rewards intuitive mastery of the various moves—button mashing won't cut it this time.

    Some other games I rubbed my slimy eyeballs on:

    Underhero
    Hyper Gun Sport
    Kandria
    The Case of Maneki
    Hill Agency pure/decay
    Malice
    Endure the Swarm
    Test Tube Titans
    Drop It: Block Paradise!
    Teocida
    The Case of the Serialized Killer

    10 votes

  6. Comment on Man sets himself on fire near courthouse where Donald Trump is on trial (gifted link) in ~news

    Halfdan
    Link Parent
    Not that I want to defend self immolation, but I think genocide is something which it is natural to be "getting so worked up" about.

    People on all sides are getting so worked up over politics

    Not that I want to defend self immolation, but I think genocide is something which it is natural to be "getting so worked up" about.

    12 votes

  7. Comment on Copenhagen and Paris mayors exchange lessons learned after huge fires destroy landmarks in ~design

    Halfdan
    Link
    I think maybe we should have learned a lesson and taken some precautions before the shit burned down.

    I think maybe we should have learned a lesson and taken some precautions before the shit burned down.

    2 votes

  8. Comment on Swedish parliament passed a law Wednesday lowering the age required for people to legally change their gender from 18 to 16 in ~lgbt

    Halfdan
    Link
    Your body is your own, by definition. Changing your gender from 18 to 16 is a human right!

    Your body is your own, by definition. Changing your gender from 18 to 16 is a human right!

    11 votes

  9. Comment on webtoon-dl: a cli for downloading webtoons as pdfs in ~comics

    Halfdan
    Link Parent
    Thanks, works perfectly!

    Thanks, works perfectly!

    3 votes

  10. Comment on An honest assessment of American rural white resentment is long overdue in ~misc

    Halfdan
    Link
    Being some intellectuals reactions to other intellectuals reactions to the first intellectuals book, this piece can't avoid having the tint of cringe. But forget that, because this bit is...

    Being some intellectuals reactions to other intellectuals reactions to the first intellectuals book, this piece can't avoid having the tint of cringe. But forget that, because this bit is hilarious:

    Soon after, Jacobs and his co-author write, “On a range of race-related questions, responses from rural residents veer from those of other Americans—and even from other Republicans—in significant ways.” As you might have guessed, “veer from” is the euphemism they deploy to say that rural whites express more racist attitudes. “And yet,” they go on, “for many rural residents, attitudes about races are intimately linked to perceptions of hard work, self-reliance, a disdain for government handouts, and the dangers of elites.” What they’re arguing, then, is that it’s not that many rural whites (to reiterate, not all, but many) are racist per se, it’s just that they think nonwhites don’t work hard, aren’t self-reliant, and are the clients of nefarious “elites.”

    I noticed that abovementioned Nicholas Jacobs (co-writer of The Rural Voter) is the same guy whose criticism of the book was mentioned in this Tilde thread

    I hope you can keep track, but here I quote myself from above thread quoting him:

    I've also noticed this bit (emphasis mine)

    On specific issues, this politics would acknowledge that rural and nonrural Trump voters see issues through different lenses, even if, come Election Day, they are voting the same way; you have to talk to them differently. On immigration, it would mean accepting the fact that, in some communities, particularly those with financial challenges, concerns about the social burden of immigration is not always an expression of hate.

    But the author links to another article to support this claim. Guess I have to quote that, too.

    Schaller and Waldman note, for example, that rural whites are more likely than urban and suburban Americans to see immigrants as a “burden on our country”. Yet the authors never consider if these respondents might have facts in their favour. According to the latest Survey of Income and Program Participation by the US Census, more than half of immigrant-headed households use at least one public welfare programme, compared with 39 per cent for native-born households. It is true that immigrants fare somewhat better when scholars study individual, rather than household, welfare use. But the point is that fears over immigration’s social burdens are neither obviously wrong nor necessarily hateful.

    So the authors says that those not-college-educated people-of-the land folksy folks who vote Trump because the intellectuals are being mean to them, suddenly their concern about non-white people are based on statistics. It's just science, and not racist at all. And therefore (this is what the author is hinting) we should do something against the immigrants to win the folksy folks over.

    The majority of Danish political parties have gone this route, trying to cater to the voters concern about non-white people. And sure, it may win some voters over, but I think that the right are simply better at being racist.

    (Of course, the author doesn't actuallly say we should do something against the immigrants, he just say that the rural peoples concern about non-white people are not really racist and we should "accepting the fact" ... so he's not saying it, but he's also not not saying it. I know it is a very short paragraph I'm replying to, but the idea of trying to appeal to a target groups concern about non-white people, without mentioning how, exactly, we should do that, to me it sounds like he's being intentially vague.)

    This sounds a bit like a rhetorical trick I've noticed in Denmark, where urban people use the rural people (or just "people") as a shield for their own opinions, transfering their own view on the non-white as analytic or understanding of the concerns of the rural populace.

    26 votes

  11. Comment on Researcher calls out misuse of research in book on American white rural rage - suggests resentment over rage in ~misc

    Halfdan
    Link
    The general feel of the article reminds me of the You made me a Nazi! cartoon and this clip from Blazing Saddles. I've also noticed this bit (emphasis mine) But the author links to another article...

    The general feel of the article reminds me of the You made me a Nazi! cartoon and this clip from Blazing Saddles.

    I've also noticed this bit (emphasis mine)

    On specific issues, this politics would acknowledge that rural and nonrural Trump voters see issues through different lenses, even if, come Election Day, they are voting the same way; you have to talk to them differently. On immigration, it would mean accepting the fact that, in some communities, particularly those with financial challenges, concerns about the social burden of immigration is not always an expression of hate.

    But the author links to another article to support this claim. Guess I have to quote that, too.

    Schaller and Waldman note, for example, that rural whites are more likely than urban and suburban Americans to see immigrants as a “burden on our country”. Yet the authors never consider if these respondents might have facts in their favour. According to the latest Survey of Income and Program Participation by the US Census, more than half of immigrant-headed households use at least one public welfare programme, compared with 39 per cent for native-born households. It is true that immigrants fare somewhat better when scholars study individual, rather than household, welfare use. But the point is that fears over immigration’s social burdens are neither obviously wrong nor necessarily hateful.

    So the authors says that those not-college-educated people-of-the land folksy folks who vote Trump because the intellectuals are being mean to them, suddenly their concern about non-white people are based on statistics. It's just science, and not racist at all. And therefore (this is what the author is hinting) we should do something against the immigrants to win the folksy folks over.

    The majority of Danish political parties have gone this route, trying to cater to the voters concern about non-white people. And sure, it may win some voters over, but I think that the right are simply better at being racist.

    (Of course, the author doesn't actuallly say we should do something against the immigrants, he just say that the rural peoples concern about non-white people are not really racist and we should "accepting the fact" ... so he's not saying it, but he's also not not saying it. I know it is a very short paragraph I'm replying to, but the idea of trying to appeal to a target groups concern about non-white people, without mentioning how, exactly, we should do that, to me it sounds like he's being intentially vague.)

    3 votes

  12. Comment on From its start, Gmail conditioned us to trade privacy for free services in ~tech

    Halfdan
    Link Parent
    This argument always pops up, but email and other websites has been free long before the age of commercial mass surveillance.

    They're offering you a service for $0. You're paying for the service with your data being used to feed you relevant ads.

    This argument always pops up, but email and other websites has been free long before the age of commercial mass surveillance.

    18 votes

  13. It annoys me that so many PC games feel like they're intended for consoles

    ~games Text 360 words
    I often starts playing a game, then quit because it simply doesn't feel like a PC game to me. Sometimes it is because it is a console port, but not always. I just tried playing VAMBRACE, and got...

    I often starts playing a game, then quit because it simply doesn't feel like a PC game to me. Sometimes it is because it is a console port, but not always.

    I just tried playing VAMBRACE, and got stuck when trying to open a door. There was an "open door" icon right at the door, but clicking it had no effect. Turns out I had to press the action button, which was the E on the keyboard. What's more, all the icons in the game works like this, having assigned a key you have to press. With me having a mouse which is designed especially to click on things on the screen, this makes little sense. It reminded me of the way early homemade DOS games let you use keyboard input, typically in this format:
    <P>lay <M>anual <Q>uit
    Obviously, VAMBRACE was designed to be played with an Xbox controller. But the end result is a control scheme which grew out of fashion thirty years ago.

    I quite hate the Xbox controller. That wobbly thumbstick are just so so uncomfortable, with the forward direction forcing you to move your thumb forward and slightly left in the most awkward of movements. Despite most humans having 10 fingers, the majority of actions are performed by the right thumb which have to move between 4 different buttons. In the Xbox controllers defence, it had to have the wobbly thumbstick as a replacement from WASD + mouse first person shooter movement. But this doesn't change that I'm never going to like this silly gadget.

    I can't say exactly what the difference is between PC games and console games. There are of course the controls, keyboard and mouse VS gamepad, but I also feel like there are also some differences in the basic feeling of the game. A lot of consolish games feel a bit like a tech demo with some light interaction throughout, sort of like a rollercoaster ride.

    This was something I liked about NOITA. It is designed for PC from the ground up. The aiming requires a mouse cursor, and the wand tinkering would be pretty much impossible without a mouse.

    34 votes

  14. Comment on I have a bit of trouble figuring out the stages in pencil drawing in ~creative

    Halfdan
    Link Parent
    Started on Bret Eviston at Skillshare and loving it! Thanks for the recommendation. (just did the scrub jay drawing, but somehow managed to make the legs turn the wrong way. I though I was smart...

    Started on Bret Eviston at Skillshare and loving it! Thanks for the recommendation. (just did the scrub jay drawing, but somehow managed to make the legs turn the wrong way. I though I was smart when I first looked at the bird and took written notes, then put it away and started drawing.)

    1 vote

  15. Comment on Israel is a strategic liability for the United States. The special relationship does not benefit Washington and is endangering US interests across the globe. in ~misc

    Halfdan
    Link Parent
    Yeah, hard to tell at times.

    Yeah, hard to tell at times.

  16. Comment on Israel is a strategic liability for the United States. The special relationship does not benefit Washington and is endangering US interests across the globe. in ~misc

    Halfdan
    Link Parent
    If you in all seriousness try to paint Israel as the pinnacle of humanitarian values, at this point in time, I honestly don't know what to tell you.

    If you in all seriousness try to paint Israel as the pinnacle of humanitarian values, at this point in time, I honestly don't know what to tell you.

    2 votes

  17. Comment on Beetlejuice Beetlejuice | Official teaser trailer in ~movies

    Halfdan
    Link
    That teaser is ever so sweet. Sure, I'm of the endless nostalgia recycling in our culture (almost seems like this is all our culture are) but this one looks very promising. Think I'll try avoiding...

    That teaser is ever so sweet. Sure, I'm of the endless nostalgia recycling in our culture (almost seems like this is all our culture are) but this one looks very promising. Think I'll try avoiding any further details and just see it when it hit the big screen.

    1 vote

  18. Comment on More ways to play your GOG games – we’re teaming up with Luna cloud streaming service! in ~games

    Halfdan
    Link Parent
    Not as extreme as it has been, though. I remember when when the installers shadow-installed Galaxy without my knowledge (it could be turned off, but that requred you to remember to click Advanced...

    There's definitely been subtle pushes away from the DRM-free installers to Galaxy. It's harder to get installers and updates than it used to be.

    Not as extreme as it has been, though. I remember when when the installers shadow-installed Galaxy without my knowledge (it could be turned off, but that requred you to remember to click Advanced beforehand. And you had to remember this each time you tried to install a game.)

    5 votes

  19. Comment on Anyone else who don't care much for their past? in ~health.mental

    Halfdan
    Link Parent
    Sounds wonderful! I don't have a place I go back to like that. But if I had, I think it would been my boarding school. I know they have a bad rep, but this one was pretty nice. I remember I said,...

    Sounds wonderful!

    I don't have a place I go back to like that. But if I had, I think it would been my boarding school. I know they have a bad rep, but this one was pretty nice. I remember I said, quite seriously, that I wanted to be burried there.

    4 votes

  20. Comment on Anyone else who don't care much for their past? in ~health.mental

    Halfdan
    Link Parent
    Thanks, that's some good angles. I don't really feel positive emotions about actual memories, but if, say, a song is seen in isoluation from my life, I can feel nostalgia. As you said, smell and...

    Thanks, that's some good angles.

    I don't really feel positive emotions about actual memories, but if, say, a song is seen in isoluation from my life, I can feel nostalgia. As you said, smell and music is big-time nostalgia triggers. Don't know about emotions, though. I mean, I guess I have those, but are those nostalgia triggers?

    "unpleasent" pretty much covers how I feel. Now that I think about it, I think that even though some memories are pretty nice in themselves, they're still tainted by being my past. So the overall effect is still in negative.

    Curiosly enough, when I dream, I sometimes dive into my past with really rose-tinted glasses.

    5 votes