Idalium's recent activity
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Piranesi in ~books
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Comment on Tildes Book Club discussion - Piranesi in ~books
Idalium LinkI really enjoyed this novel. The prose is beautiful, and engenders an appropriate sense of mystery and wonder. The main character is really quite likeable, and the audiobook narrator's soothing...I really enjoyed this novel. The prose is beautiful, and engenders an appropriate sense of mystery and wonder. The main character is really quite likeable, and the audiobook narrator's soothing voice is perfect for him.
I muse that the characters Piranesi and Matthew Rose Sorensen would have written different versions of the story; which different readers might have enjoyed more, depending on genre preference. Once the setting was established, the novel could have focused either on the mystery of the halls themselves (leaning to sci-fi), or on the mystery of our main character's situation (leaning to drama).
I, like the Piranesi persona, wanted to learn more about the house. Why is it the way it is? Why this particular layout, why these statues? Is there a deeper meaning or puzzle to it all? These questions are not answered in the novel to the extent that I yearned for. The house is just a pocket universe where the plot happens. The main character does recognise that real people resemble the statues, but this doesn't seem to be explored any further.
The story focused on character drama instead, which would have been Matthew Rose Sorensen's priority: who is our main character? How did he get here? Who can he trust? Will he ever get home, recover his mind, and reclaim his life? This aspect of the story is fully explored and resolved, and we get a beautiful conclusion for our main character.
The story I wanted wasn't written, but another very good one was written instead. I chose Piranesi's perspective. The author chose Matthew Rose Sorensen's.
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Comment on Where are all the robot trucks? in ~transport
Idalium Link ParentThat post is a fun piece of creative writing, not a carefully-researched manifesto.That post is a fun piece of creative writing, not a carefully-researched manifesto.
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Comment on Where are all the robot trucks? in ~transport
Idalium (edited )LinkYou are the CEO of DeliveryCorp. You have replaced all of your drivers with machines. This is good; everyone knows that they are safer, and fewer accidents means less paperwork. Every time your...You are the CEO of DeliveryCorp. You have replaced all of your drivers with machines. This is good; everyone knows that they are safer, and fewer accidents means less paperwork. Every time your automated vehicles make a delivery, the company makes money. This is all very good.
But you didn't become CEO by being satisfied with 'good'. If you made more deliveries, you'd make even more profit. So why not tweak the AI a little? Make them drive just a little faster, and take just a few more risks. You could make 2% more deliveries per day.
So what if there are also 2% more fatalities? Nobody's really accountable, and it's still better than when you had an overworked, sleep-deprived human workforce. You can just pay the compensation to the victims; you're making more than enough extra money for it.
If it works, why not push it further? 3%, 4%, 5% more deliveries. You can keep going! Eventually, you'll reach a sweet spot where your fatality rate is ever so slightly better than when you had weak, fallible human drivers (according to the studies you funded).
Sure, if anyone actually notices what you're doing, there might be a brief social media storm, but the kind of people who care weren't your biggest customers anyway. You'll blame factors outside your control, like population density, or bad parenting. At worst there might be an inquest, you'll throw a software engineer under a bus (so to speak), and the company will have to pay a fine. You've already ringfenced the fund for that.
After a decade or so, people will forget that human drivers (and the concept of individual accountablity) ever existed. Then you can push your AI to optimise profit as far as you like!
After all, it's not like you'll ever go to jail.
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Comment on The Creator is next-level sci-fi. So why isn't it being promoted that way? in ~movies
Idalium Link ParentI'm glad you enjoyed it! It's interesting that we had such different thoughts on the film. Now that reviews are out, it does indeed seem to have split opinions. Although I wish the story were more...I'm glad you enjoyed it! It's interesting that we had such different thoughts on the film. Now that reviews are out, it does indeed seem to have split opinions.
Although I wish the story were more developed, I think the expert technical filmmaking (such as visual design and directing) did wonders to keep the film engaging. I can see how it would emotionally resonate with people.
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Comment on The Creator is next-level sci-fi. So why isn't it being promoted that way? in ~movies
Idalium LinkNon-specific spoilers: I just watched this film. It... really isn't that good. It's entertaining, but I'm surprised that anyone is calling it 'next level' anything. The film contains a number of...Non-specific spoilers:
I just watched this film. It... really isn't that good. It's entertaining, but I'm surprised that anyone is calling it 'next level' anything.
The film contains a number of interesting sci-fi concepts and classic ethical quandaries. It's nothing novel; if you're passingly familiar with the genre, you'll have seen these ideas before. That's okay; every piece of art is inspired by something that came before, after all.
Unfortunately, the film doesn't really explore any of its ideas to a satisfying depth. They're just there. Maybe that's okay too. Not every sci-fi story needs to be a philosophical treatise. Sometimes the setting can just be a backdrop to a good story.
Unfortunately, The Creator's story itself is unsatisfying. The characters are not well-developed or relatable, the plot is predictable and full of holes, and the film undermines it's own apparent moral lesson.
The special effects (visual and aural), are incredible, I must say. The technical aspects of the film, like the directing and editing are done well, and keep it entertaining.
It would be sad indeed if this were 'the best sci-fi film if the year', but I watched Across the Spider-Verse recently, which was spectacular.
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Comment on Text editing on mobile isn’t ok. It’s actually much worse than you think, an invisible problem no one appreciates. in ~comp
Idalium LinkAn interesting quote from the article: I wonder how much the quality of online discourse (and our brain development) as a whole is affected by poor mobile typing interfaces. Imagine if every...An interesting quote from the article:
But keep in mind that most text created on mobile is short and low effort, usually messages and social media comments.
I wonder how much the quality of online discourse (and our brain development) as a whole is affected by poor mobile typing interfaces.
Imagine if every message had to be painstakingly carved into a stone tablet, and editing required chipping away at your work. Wouldn't you keep your messages as short as possible? Wouldn't you be more inclined to leave errors in rather than correct them? Would your frustration at the process affect the emotional tone of your wording? Would you even bother to make a thoughtful, well-organised post if you weren't seriously invested?
Imagine if the majority of the people in your community communicated that way most of the time. Would that affect your perception of 'normal' language and communication?
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Comment on What is your most annoying (minor) movie trope? in ~movies
Idalium LinkFight scene, scenario 1: The battered hero lies helpless on the floor, utterly outmatched by his opponent. The extremely muscular and lethal henchman lumbers over to him with murderous intent. The...Fight scene, scenario 1:
The battered hero lies helpless on the floor, utterly outmatched by his opponent. The extremely muscular and lethal henchman lumbers over to him with murderous intent. The hero tries to crawl away, but there is no escape.
In a display of awesome physical strength, the henchman reaches down, picks up the hero with ease, and then... throws him across the room, to safety.
Fight scene, scenario 2:
The expert martial artist weaves effortlessly around the hero, using fists and blunt weapons to repeatedly deliver powerful blows with pinpont precision. No matter how valiantly the hero defends, each non-lethal strike lands true.
The martial artist has toyed with the hero enough. It's time to finish this. He picks up a bladed weapon, and... misses every time.
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Comment on What is your favourite cutscene/cinematic in any game? in ~games
Idalium Link ParentYou're in for a great time! The dedicated fan community has made upgrades to make the original Freespace campaigns run well (and look good) on modern PCs. Of course, there are also many excellent...You're in for a great time!
The dedicated fan community has made upgrades to make the original Freespace campaigns run well (and look good) on modern PCs. Of course, there are also many excellent mods.
Here's a link:
https://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=91849.0
I think the ending was the 'best' possible outcome for Piranesi.
In a pragmatic sense, Piranesi had no choice but to rejoin the real world, or at least visit it regularly. He would not have survived in the Halls without material support (meagre though it was) from the Other. It would not have been fair to make 16 fetch him equipment for the rest of his life.
Piranesi did seem content with his life of subsistence, exploration, and learning. Like growing up, the loss of innocence is sad, but for the best.
Piranesi / Matthew turns out to be a genuinely good person in the end, in his interactions with James Ritter.