JXM's recent activity

  1. Comment on What was it like for you and your partner when one of you was losing a parent "slowly"? in ~life

    JXM
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    My SO's father died relatively suddenly (over the course of a week) and mine was in and out of the hospital for a few years before he died. So I've experienced both ends of the spectrum. There are...

    My SO's father died relatively suddenly (over the course of a week) and mine was in and out of the hospital for a few years before he died. So I've experienced both ends of the spectrum. There are so many variables that it's hard to give specific advice but I'll offer some general advice that was helpful to me.

    Make it clear to your partner that they can talk to you about their feelings, etc. Don't just assume they know. Tell them directly. @snake_case is right, communication is key. Even if it sucks to talk about, getting it out and not bottling it up will help both of you deal with the situation.

    The long, drawn out illness can spread a dour cloud over your whole life, if you let it. I'm not sure if your SO's parent is married or has anyone else to lean on, but make sure your SO isn't trying to do too much. Make sure that they are still taking care of themselves and not worrying about their parent every second of the day. They'll be no help if they're stressed and fragile. Help them take time to recharge.

    10 votes
  2. Comment on How do you report an entire topic? in ~tildes

    JXM
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    I've seen a few posts locked here over the years, I think. I've also seen mods delete comments or single threads that were completely in bad faith.

    I've seen a few posts locked here over the years, I think. I've also seen mods delete comments or single threads that were completely in bad faith.

    6 votes
  3. Comment on Luxury apartments reduced rent in some big US cities in ~finance

    JXM
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    Let's say your rent is $1,500. 0.18% is $2.70. And that's the largest drop in 15 years? I think I found the problem.

    The US’s average rental rate fell 0.18 percent in November, the largest monthly drop in more than 15 years [...]

    Let's say your rent is $1,500. 0.18% is $2.70. And that's the largest drop in 15 years? I think I found the problem.

    37 votes
  4. Comment on The Muppet Show | Teaser trailer in ~tv

    JXM
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    One of my favorite movies of the past few years.

    One of my favorite movies of the past few years.

  5. Comment on Clicks Communicator: the ultimate communication companion in ~tech

    JXM
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    FWIW, the people behind this have launched several successful products under the Clicks name. I know one is a YouTuber who’s been around for nearly 20 years reviewing tech (Mr. Mobile) and another...

    FWIW, the people behind this have launched several successful products under the Clicks name. I know one is a YouTuber who’s been around for nearly 20 years reviewing tech (Mr. Mobile) and another is the founder of Crackberry (a famous BlackBerry news site back in the day).

    I don’t own one of their keyboards, but everyone who does seems to love them.

    It definitely doesn’t seem like a fly by night operation.

    9 votes
  6. Comment on Leaving Apple behind after eighteen years in ~tech

    JXM
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    The one thing I keep getting stuck on is that if I want to safely use my phone while driving, I want either Android Auto or CarPlay. So you're basically stuck with either Apple or Google hoovering...

    The one thing I keep getting stuck on is that if I want to safely use my phone while driving, I want either Android Auto or CarPlay. So you're basically stuck with either Apple or Google hoovering up your data.

    The decision on my phone was much more straightforward. I wanted the most private and secure OS I could get while also maintaining usability. Based on my research, that meant GrapheneOS on a Google Pixel. I didn't want to give Google money or data because that would be counter-productive. I also want the newest phone I can get because, as with first-party phone OSes, phones stop getting updates as they age.

    Even with GrapheneOS, Google is still sucking up tons of data. So it is sort of jumping from one giant data funnel to another. Especially if you want to use Android Auto, which requires a special, privileged access even on Graphene. It's way better than stock OS, that's for sure. But they can't stop all of Google's data gathering. They do a ton of work to minimize what Google gets but there are limits.

    6 votes
  7. Comment on A new Jolla phone has reached the required pre-order crowd-funding amount in ~tech

    JXM
    Link Parent
    3G has been disabled by all major US carriers to reallocate the bandwidth to 5G and other uses.

    3G has been disabled by all major US carriers to reallocate the bandwidth to 5G and other uses.

    11 votes
  8. Comment on Matthew Perry, Jennifer Aniston and a gaggle of stereotypes introduce Windows 95 features in this time capsule video in ~tech

    JXM
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    I don’t think younger people get just how big of a cultural event the launch of Windows 95 was. It’s a weird thing to say about an operating system but it really was a big moment. In the lead up...

    I don’t think younger people get just how big of a cultural event the launch of Windows 95 was.

    It’s a weird thing to say about an operating system but it really was a big moment. In the lead up to the launch, Windows 95 was everywhere, like a blockbuster movie. Cross media marketing like this was everywhere.

    18 votes
  9. Comment on 1977 theatrical cut of Star Wars coming to theaters in 2027 in ~movies

    JXM
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    I’m not a huge Star Wars fan, but having the original version preserved in as high a quality as possible is important from a film preservation standpoint. That’s what drives a lot of the strong...

    I’m not a huge Star Wars fan, but having the original version preserved in as high a quality as possible is important from a film preservation standpoint.

    That’s what drives a lot of the strong reactions from people. That’s the original isn’t available in any official capacity.

    5 votes
  10. Comment on 1977 theatrical cut of Star Wars coming to theaters in 2027 in ~movies

    JXM
    Link Parent
    4K77 was sourced from an original 35mm release print, I believe. Disney would have access to one step beyond that, with the original master negative that all the 35mm prints would have been struck...

    4K77 was sourced from an original 35mm release print, I believe. Disney would have access to one step beyond that, with the original master negative that all the 35mm prints would have been struck from. If I remember correctly, Lucasfilm has confirmed before that they still have those.

    I’m sure there is also a legal grey area of who “owns” the 4K77 release since it wasn’t done by a single person. It would be cool though.

    More importantly, I still think it won’t be the exact version that was released in 1977. They use the phrase “newly restored”, which makes me think they’ll do some cleanup. Like I said, the original release has tons of matte lines where you can see the squares around the tie fighters and X wings where the original individual effects shots combined into one frame. The outlines and imperfections on the land speeder also come to mind. ILM was on the bleeding edge and hadn’t perfected things quite yet. Modern audiences won’t like that. Or even understand why they are there. (“Optical effects what the hell are those?!”)

    14 votes
  11. Comment on 1977 theatrical cut of Star Wars coming to theaters in 2027 in ~movies

    JXM
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    Did someone check to see if George Lucas died? I genuinely thought we’d never get an official release of the original version. I’m sure it won’t be the unaltered, true theatrical version à la the...

    On February 19, 2027, we’ll celebrate the 50th anniversary of Star Wars with a re-release of the 1977 original back for a limited time, in theaters everywhere.

    Part of Lucasfilm’s yearlong 50th anniversary celebration, a newly restored version of the classic Star Wars (1977) theatrical release — later renamed Star Wars: A New Hope — will play in theaters for a limited time.

    Did someone check to see if George Lucas died?

    I genuinely thought we’d never get an official release of the original version.

    I’m sure it won’t be the unaltered, true theatrical version à la the 4K77 restoration. I imagine they’ll fix all the minor things like the tons of visible matte lines and color issues.

    18 votes
  12. Comment on Mystery Science Theater 3000 S11E01: Reptilicus in ~tv

    JXM
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    Almost all of the episodes have shown up on their YouTube channel at some point. And they always have at least one live stream of random episodes going at any given time.

    Almost all of the episodes have shown up on their YouTube channel at some point. And they always have at least one live stream of random episodes going at any given time.

    2 votes
  13. Comment on Next ‘Rush Hour’ sequel from Brett Ratner is being distributed by Paramount in ~movies

    JXM
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    Even with all the terrible things that have come out about abuse of power in the entertainment industry, Brett Ratner stands alone as a uniquely persistent and evil person whose behavior was known...

    Even with all the terrible things that have come out about abuse of power in the entertainment industry, Brett Ratner stands alone as a uniquely persistent and evil person whose behavior was known and tolerated for years.

    Fuck him. I hope this movie never gets made.

    21 votes
  14. Comment on Frame of preference: a history of Mac settings, 1984–2004 in ~tech

    JXM
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    I love how easy and understandable the early preferences are. You literally don’t even need words to understand them. Contrast that with the current System Preferences app on iOS or MacOS. It’s...

    I love how easy and understandable the early preferences are. You literally don’t even need words to understand them.

    Contrast that with the current System Preferences app on iOS or MacOS. It’s not a 1:1 comparison because the original Mac pane had what, 15 controls? The current ones have literally hundreds. But it’s a Byzantine mess of sections, menus and jumbled UI paradigms. I mean, changing the default browser on MacOS is in Settings> Desktop and Dock! On what planet does that make sense?

    5 votes
  15. Comment on MIYAGI: The First Karate Kid | What if...? trailer concept in ~movies

    JXM
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    I feel like we get just enough of that in Karate Kid Part II. I’m not a fan of franchises explaining every little detail of the past as a way to generate new content. A great example of how wrong...

    I feel like we get just enough of that in Karate Kid Part II. I’m not a fan of franchises explaining every little detail of the past as a way to generate new content.

    A great example of how wrong that type of thing can go is The Many Saints of Newark.

    2 votes
  16. Comment on "Awareness week" - don't we have enough attention already? in ~lgbt

    JXM
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    I think that blog post is spot on. I've felt very strongly for a while that all of the people who hate those in the LGBTQ+ community just haven't met anyone that isn't a cis person. Maybe they saw...

    I think that blog post is spot on. I've felt very strongly for a while that all of the people who hate those in the LGBTQ+ community just haven't met anyone that isn't a cis person. Maybe they saw them at the coffee shop or had them as a bagger at a grocery store, but they've never had an actual conversation with a queer person.

    Nearly every single person I've met who used to be homophobic has said their mind changed because they found out that their friend or colleague that they knew well turned out to be queer and they realized they weren't any different from everyone else they knew. I've seen some real, true rednecks in the American south come around this way.

    Lack of exposure is a huge reason for so much of the world's homophobia.

    16 votes
  17. Comment on I ran a 50k today, please clap in ~sports

    JXM
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    I’m genuinely impressed. You earned this.

    I’m genuinely impressed. You earned this.

    6 votes
  18. Comment on Mozilla Firefox gets new anti-fingerprinting defenses in ~tech

    JXM
    Link Parent
    Is that based on any actual evidence or just a gut feeling? Because I genuinely don’t think most people want AI anything at this point. Almost all the people I’ve seen who actually want AI stuff...

    I figure they understand that a majority of the population is going to want that included at some point

    Is that based on any actual evidence or just a gut feeling? Because I genuinely don’t think most people want AI anything at this point. Almost all the people I’ve seen who actually want AI stuff are higher ups forcing it on their employees. Most people could care less about it.

    6 votes
  19. Comment on Mozilla Firefox gets new anti-fingerprinting defenses in ~tech

    JXM
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    I’m a big fan of Firefox and I agree that they have been on a good run lately. But I did see earlier today that they are integrating AI into their browser to compete with other “AI browsers”. Not...

    I’m a big fan of Firefox and I agree that they have been on a good run lately. But I did see earlier today that they are integrating AI into their browser to compete with other “AI browsers”. Not a big fan of that.

    7 votes