Kind_of_Ben's recent activity

  1. Comment on What are your top two strategy games you play competitively? in ~games

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link Parent
    Hell yeah, +1 for Rise of Nations. I grew up with that game. I'm so glad they've kept it playable after all these years.

    Hell yeah, +1 for Rise of Nations. I grew up with that game. I'm so glad they've kept it playable after all these years.

    1 vote

  2. Comment on Why I recommend against Brave in ~tech

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link Parent
    When was the last time you used Firefox on Android? I use it every day and have zero complaints.

    When was the last time you used Firefox on Android? I use it every day and have zero complaints.

    6 votes

  3. Comment on What are your personal reading "rules?" in ~books

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link Parent
    I'm pretty sure it's "variety is the spice of life" (at least where I live), but I like this too haha!

    you know, variety being the sauce of joy and such

    I'm pretty sure it's "variety is the spice of life" (at least where I live), but I like this too haha!

    3 votes

  4. Comment on Poetry discussion: Everything by Srikanth Reddy in ~books

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link
    I like it a lot, though I don't have much to add, I'm afraid. I don't think either of your AI are particularly close to the mark, though perhaps le chat is closer. I agree with your reading of a...

    I like it a lot, though I don't have much to add, I'm afraid. I don't think either of your AI are particularly close to the mark, though perhaps le chat is closer. I agree with your reading of a lament for a missed connection. I can't make much of the symbols either, but it's incredibly poignant.

    1 vote

  5. Comment on What do you like about your job? in ~talk

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link Parent
    Yeah I gotta imagine it's a similar statistic here. I'm a band director so a lot of the things that weren't good were specific to the programs I was leading or a matter of being stuck doing...

    Yeah I gotta imagine it's a similar statistic here. I'm a band director so a lot of the things that weren't good were specific to the programs I was leading or a matter of being stuck doing something other than band. When I was doing band, I was overwhelmed. At my second gig I was the only band person in the district. And like, plenty of people are in that situation and they make it work, but it's still a lot.

    I had my share of problems with kids too (definitely came home and cried over one little asshole) but the majority of my kids were decent.

    4 votes

  6. Comment on What do you like about your job? in ~talk

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link Parent
    As a teacher in the US currently looking for work, thanks for sharing this. I'm early in my career and both my gigs so far have not been good. But hearing someone talk about all the good stuff,...

    As a teacher in the US currently looking for work, thanks for sharing this. I'm early in my career and both my gigs so far have not been good. But hearing someone talk about all the good stuff, the reasons we all got into this profession, helps a lot.

    5 votes

  7. Comment on US President Donald Trump prepares order dismantling the Education Department in ~society

  8. Comment on Long-term experiences with Google search alternatives? in ~tech

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link Parent
    That's probably fair given the Reddit-Google deal. I don't remember having issues with academic results when I was in grad school, but I also would use an actual academic/library search engine for...

    That's probably fair given the Reddit-Google deal. I don't remember having issues with academic results when I was in grad school, but I also would use an actual academic/library search engine for that stuff instead of DDG/Google.

    1 vote

  9. Comment on Long-term experiences with Google search alternatives? in ~tech

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link Parent
    I remember that article and I haven't felt the impact nearly as much as I expected, if at all honestly. My reddit searches aren't usually for super-recent content however. Good extra info to have...

    I remember that article and I haven't felt the impact nearly as much as I expected, if at all honestly. My reddit searches aren't usually for super-recent content however. Good extra info to have nonetheless.

    2 votes

  10. Comment on Long-term experiences with Google search alternatives? in ~tech

  11. Comment on Long-term experiences with Google search alternatives? in ~tech

    Kind_of_Ben
    (edited )
    Link
    Based purely on your title, I was going to come in and recommend DuckDuckGo 🤷 I didn't have to adjust when coming from Google, and I get very useful results. I've been using DDG for about six...

    Based purely on your title, I was going to come in and recommend DuckDuckGo 🤷 I didn't have to adjust when coming from Google, and I get very useful results. I've been using DDG for about six years now and haven't looked back. Every once in a while I use Google when I just can't find something, but usually Google can't find it either in those cases. Can I ask what you felt wasn't very good about DDG?

    I actually started with Brave (edit: in Brave browser) when switching from Google, but it turned me off with the crypto integration, ads, shady sponsored link swapping, and some other things.

    Kagi seemed good but I also haven't paid for it and haven't used it long-term.

    22 votes

  12. Comment on What is your strangely specific phobia? in ~talk

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link Parent
    Huh! Oddly enough, Subnautica wasn't a problem for me. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was tense for sure, but not the same as real life stuff or pictures of real life stuff. Now, if it had been...

    Huh! Oddly enough, Subnautica wasn't a problem for me. I mean, don't get me wrong, it was tense for sure, but not the same as real life stuff or pictures of real life stuff. Now, if it had been VR, then I would have had some problems haha.

    1 vote

  13. Comment on What is your strangely specific phobia? in ~talk

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link Parent
    Ugh, me too. This is what I thought of as soon as I read the OP. I specifically have the double whammy of submechanophobia and thalassophobia. I once got freaked out by the bottom of the pool...

    Ugh, me too. This is what I thought of as soon as I read the OP. I specifically have the double whammy of submechanophobia and thalassophobia. I once got freaked out by the bottom of the pool during swim team practice when my brain decided it looked like the top of a submarine.

    5 votes

  14. Comment on How would you rate adulthood? in ~life

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link Parent
    This is hard to remember but helpful to hear. I definitely need to try to be more honest with myself about what is within my power to change, and not let things that are difficult or unpleasant...

    we assume certain paths are off limits, or are too hard, so we don't even try them.

    This is hard to remember but helpful to hear. I definitely need to try to be more honest with myself about what is within my power to change, and not let things that are difficult or unpleasant get in the way. Thanks for taking the time to write your response.

    8 votes

  15. Comment on How would you rate adulthood? in ~life

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link
    I'm elder Gen Z in the US, so my legal adulthood started shortly before Trump came on the political scene. I haven't gotten to be an adult without worrying about him yet. So that's great. I hate...

    I'm elder Gen Z in the US, so my legal adulthood started shortly before Trump came on the political scene. I haven't gotten to be an adult without worrying about him yet. So that's great. I hate to bring politics into yet another thread, but it would be dishonest to ignore the effect that modern American fascism has had on my adulthood.

    I've hated both jobs I've had since graduating college (I am/was a band teacher). College and grad school were the only things that felt right to me since reaching adulthood, and even those had a lot of bad times mental-health-wise. I have no idea what to do with my future because I no longer feel sure at all of the field I trained for and can't figure out if it's worth fighting to stay in it.

    I lost proximity to all of my friends each of the three times I've graduated schools. I currently live with my parents because my most recent job was 20 minutes from their house, and because I don't think I would do well mentally living alone. My remaining true friends live 1.5 hours away, 2.5 hours away, and 9 hours away. I sleep 12-14 hours a night and I think it's because of the mental health medication I'm taking. I'm not sure because my therapist is kind of useless.

    I don't want to be a kid again - the freedom is great. The rest, not so much.

    3/10

    11 votes

  16. Comment on Your favorite game OSTs in ~games

  17. Comment on Your favorite game OSTs in ~games

    Kind_of_Ben
    (edited )
    Link
    Can't believe there's not more Halo in here ! All of the Bungie Halo games have fantastic OSTs, and the 343 ones aren't half bad either (4 and 5 are good but just don't feel like Halo IMO, while...

    Can't believe the only there's not more Halo in here so far is one mention of Halo: Reach! All of the Bungie Halo games have fantastic OSTs, and the 343 ones aren't half bad either (4 and 5 are good but just don't feel like Halo IMO, while Infinite is pretty solid). I was going to try to recommend one or two in particular but they're all so good. Combat Evolved is what kicked everything off and established the themes and styles of the music. 2 and 3 are just epic and expansive and emotional. ODST is dark and moody. Reach takes the original themes and injects so much tension and desperation into them. It's incredible how the themes transform over the course of the series, and how they always serve the story so well.

    I grew up with these games and this music so I'm definitely biased but I know from talking to others over the years that I'm not the only one who feels this way. Highly recommend giving them a try!

    4 votes

  18. Comment on Meta scrambles to delete its own AI accounts after backlash intensifies in ~tech

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link Parent
    Wow. Sounds like that was (part of) what drove the CollegeHumor -> Dropout transition. I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing.

    Wow. Sounds like that was (part of) what drove the CollegeHumor -> Dropout transition. I didn't know that. Thanks for sharing.

    2 votes

  19. Comment on Tildes Demographics Survey, year… uh, it’s 2024? in ~tildes

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link Parent
    I'm very rusty, but my master's in data science included dataviz with Python, R, and Tableau. If you don't get any takers, I can take a crack at it!

    I'm very rusty, but my master's in data science included dataviz with Python, R, and Tableau. If you don't get any takers, I can take a crack at it!

    4 votes

  20. Comment on I think I have a broken AT&T route? in ~tech

    Kind_of_Ben
    Link Parent
    Very cool! I know most of those. I love the quotes with the MOTD. We have networks named for authors - our home WiFi is SANDERSON and the little private access point we used to take when traveling...

    Very cool! I know most of those. I love the quotes with the MOTD. We have networks named for authors - our home WiFi is SANDERSON and the little private access point we used to take when traveling was ROTHFUSS.

    3 votes