Krael's recent activity

  1. Comment on Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 1 discussion thread in ~tv

    Krael
    Link Parent
    In a standard primogeniture succession, the crown "looks down" until it hits a dead end before backing up. Rhaegar is dead, but the line continues downward from him through Jon, so Jon would have...

    In a standard primogeniture succession, the crown "looks down" until it hits a dead end before backing up. Rhaegar is dead, but the line continues downward from him through Jon, so Jon would have a stronger claim than any of Aerys' other kids regardless of their gender.

    9 votes
  2. Comment on I want a budget mechanical keyboard. Help me. in ~comp

  3. Comment on “The big error was that she was caught”: The untold story behind the mysterious disappearance of Fan Bingbing, the world’s biggest movie star in ~movies

    Krael
    Link
    That was an absolutely fascinating read, thank you for linking it. I had no clue the Chinese film industry had become so large in recent years, and this article feels like a good insight to how...

    That was an absolutely fascinating read, thank you for linking it. I had no clue the Chinese film industry had become so large in recent years, and this article feels like a good insight to how its developed since the communist takeover.

    That said, the subject matter itself has me very conflicted. On one hand, pay your fucking taxes. Wealth does not spontaneously pop into existence from a vacuum; the country you're in enables it. The least you can do is pay your fair share.

    On the other hand... disappearing people is bad, to say the least.

    1 vote
  4. Comment on What are you an "expert" on? in ~talk

    Krael
    Link Parent
    Thanks for the recommendations, I'll definitely follow up on those! I've always wanted to get a feel for what the Republic was like during its height, but damn near everybody focuses on the...

    Thanks for the recommendations, I'll definitely follow up on those! I've always wanted to get a feel for what the Republic was like during its height, but damn near everybody focuses on the post-Sulla era when everything was in shambles.

  5. Comment on What are you an "expert" on? in ~talk

    Krael
    Link Parent
    I think you misunderstood me. I'm saying that Season 1 specifically is... less than perfect. To the point where you're better off skipping it until you've watched everything else. Once Riker grows...

    I think you misunderstood me. I'm saying that Season 1 specifically is... less than perfect. To the point where you're better off skipping it until you've watched everything else. Once Riker grows his beard out TNG becomes peak scifi, imo.

    For the sake of argument though, I can't help but notice that all the episodes you mentioned are in the later seasons.

    3 votes
  6. Comment on What are you an "expert" on? in ~talk

    Krael
    Link Parent
    What's a good starting point for reading about Sulla? I see his name pop up a lot when talking about the final days of the Republic, and in broad strokes I can tell that he was instrumental in...

    The end of the Roman Republic

    What's a good starting point for reading about Sulla? I see his name pop up a lot when talking about the final days of the Republic, and in broad strokes I can tell that he was instrumental in laying the foundations for Caesar's civil war, but beyond that I know nothing about him.

  7. Comment on What are you an "expert" on? in ~talk

    Krael
    Link Parent
    Knock knock, it's Code of Honor. Most of S01 TNG is the same style as TOS, just with a lot more beige. I'd strongly recommend skipping the majority of it.

    If you don't want to deal with 1960s cheesiness and casual sexism, you start with the first episode of 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' (TNG).

    Knock knock, it's Code of Honor.

    Most of S01 TNG is the same style as TOS, just with a lot more beige. I'd strongly recommend skipping the majority of it.

    5 votes
  8. Comment on What is something you want to gush/talk about but haven't had the chance/audience to? in ~talk

    Krael
    Link Parent
    NPR is extremely credible, and highly respected by a large chunk of the population. They can be a bit... milquetoast when it comes to politicized subjects (very "both sides" about literally...

    NPR is extremely credible, and highly respected by a large chunk of the population. They can be a bit... milquetoast when it comes to politicized subjects (very "both sides" about literally everything), but outside of that NPR is a national treasure.

    16 votes
  9. Comment on What will happen in 2019? in ~talk

    Krael
    Link Parent
    Gonna go ahead and disprove that one right now, because I will never budge from Tildos being my pick.

    Gonna go ahead and disprove that one right now, because I will never budge from Tildos being my pick.

  10. Comment on Discord store will grant developers 90% revenue share starting in 2019 in ~games

    Krael
    Link Parent
    I've ranted about it a dozen times before, but I'll never pass up an opportunity to remind people of the time that they locked the Stardew Valley multiplayer beta behind Galaxy. So much fun...

    I've ranted about it a dozen times before, but I'll never pass up an opportunity to remind people of the time that they locked the Stardew Valley multiplayer beta behind Galaxy. So much fun watching all my friends who bought it on Steam being able to play it just fine while I sat there twiddling my thumbs.

    GOG: DRM Free!

    11 votes
  11. Comment on Doctor Who S11E04 'Arachnids in the UK' discussion thread in ~tv

    Krael
    Link Parent
    Hasn't that been a thing from the very beginning? Never watched much Classic Who, but I distinctly remember 10 throwing a fit over guns on multiple occasions.

    they are continuing with the whole "guns are bad" thing

    Hasn't that been a thing from the very beginning? Never watched much Classic Who, but I distinctly remember 10 throwing a fit over guns on multiple occasions.

    4 votes
  12. Comment on What are you typing on? in ~tech

    Krael
    Link Parent
    Using a Model M here as well, one of the IBM terminal keyboards from 1989. It's just so damn satisfying to type on. The keys are nice and "crunchy", with decent actuation force. Only downside is...

    Using a Model M here as well, one of the IBM terminal keyboards from 1989. It's just so damn satisfying to type on. The keys are nice and "crunchy", with decent actuation force. Only downside is how horrifically loud it is.

    Well, that and how much of a tremendous pain in the ass it was to get working. See, terminal keyboards aren't regular keyboards. This one in particular uses weird key codes that no computer made since the 70s can understand, and has an RJ45 plug. So right off the bat, I needed a $40 adapter with an onboard microcontroller to translate its calls into something a modern system can read.

    Then, since this one is a regular keyboard instead of one of those massive "mech cockpit" keyboards with a billion keys, the controller made some goofy assumptions about it and wrecked the keymapping. For example, ESC was being read as F23, sysrq was being read as "LANG_4", etc. So I had to use a HID utility to figure out what each and every key was being read as, create a configuration for the controller remapping them all to normal keys, and use a shifty CLI windows-only program to upload it to the controller. So yeah, kind of a pain in the ass.

    With all that taken care of, it's a pretty great keyboard. Not bad for a $10 goodwill find. Damn thing is almost pristine, like somebody bought it and realized "oh fuck this is a terminal keyboard? what the hell am I gonna do with that?!" and stuck it in a closet for ~30 years. The keycaps don't even have any shine on them.

    Anyway, the moral of the story is to always check the connectors. I like my keyboard, but I sure as hell wouldn't get another one when standard Model Ms exist.

    1 vote
  13. Comment on What are some of your favorite "lost" games? in ~games

    Krael
    Link
    City of Heroes. It was a heavily flawed game, but I loved it anyway. The movement powers, the progression system, everything. The game had a healthy RP community, and no game has come even close...

    City of Heroes.

    It was a heavily flawed game, but I loved it anyway. The movement powers, the progression system, everything. The game had a healthy RP community, and no game has come even close to the sheer amount of fashion options that CoH had.

    There's a few emulator/spiritual successor projects underway, but progress on that front is almost non-existent. Champions Online is the closest thing to it still available, but that game is just a poor MTX-ridden imitation of it.

    8 votes
  14. Comment on What are you reading this week? #3 in ~books

    Krael
    Link
    I finished the first Mistborn trilogy last week, so now I'm on the Wax & Wayne trilogy that follows it. I dig the setting, I dig the new characters, I especially dig seeing references to the first...

    I finished the first Mistborn trilogy last week, so now I'm on the Wax & Wayne trilogy that follows it. I dig the setting, I dig the new characters, I especially dig seeing references to the first trilogy sprinkled throughout, but I just can't seem to focus on it. My mind is constantly wandering and it's taking me forever to get through a series that's only half as long as its predecessor.

    2 votes
  15. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tv

    Krael
    Link Parent
    Yeah, the lack of communication with CBS combined with Citter's comments on fan projects makes this a pretty shitty move on their part. I certainly don't agree with it, but I do understand it from...

    Yeah, the lack of communication with CBS combined with Citter's comments on fan projects makes this a pretty shitty move on their part.

    I certainly don't agree with it, but I do understand it from a business perspective. VR is a limited customer base as it is, and anything that even potentially causes a lost sale is a pretty big threat to their VR product.

    3 votes
  16. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tv

    Krael
    Link Parent
    The owners of the franchise apparently disagree with you, and it's their call. That's the risk you run when you work with someone else's property.

    The owners of the franchise apparently disagree with you, and it's their call. That's the risk you run when you work with someone else's property.

    1 vote
  17. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tv

    Krael
    Link Parent
    Oh neat, I was gonna buy Bridge Crew, the officially licensed VR game that financially supports the franchise, but now I don't have to thanks to this free fan project that fills the exact same...

    Oh neat, I was gonna buy Bridge Crew, the officially licensed VR game that financially supports the franchise, but now I don't have to thanks to this free fan project that fills the exact same niche! Thanks for the links, my dude.

        -- The reason this project was shut down

    2 votes
  18. Comment on How Dropbox rolled out one of the largest Python 3 migrations ever in ~comp

    Krael
    Link Parent
    Python 3 is almost ten years old now. While I really hate to blame developers, if your actively maintained codebase isn't compatible with it after having a decade to get your shit in order, that's...

    Python 3 is almost ten years old now. While I really hate to blame developers, if your actively maintained codebase isn't compatible with it after having a decade to get your shit in order, that's your fault.

    That doesn't apply to legacy software, of course. If you've got a reason to stick with Python 2, have at it.

    3 votes
  19. Comment on Siri, Alexa, Google - Who's using and having good experiences with voice commands? in ~tech

    Krael
    Link Parent
    I have the chime enabled on mine, it doesn't matter. I've fired off entire commands before the chime, and it still responded correctly. As long as it catches the wake phrase, it'll start listening...

    I have the chime enabled on mine, it doesn't matter. I've fired off entire commands before the chime, and it still responded correctly.

    As long as it catches the wake phrase, it'll start listening immediately.

    1 vote
  20. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~humanities

    Krael
    Link
    Religious debates are rather pointless, in my opinion. Almost everybody has already made up their mind and won't be swayed for any reason. On top of that, they quickly devolve into shit-slinging...

    Do you think it's actually possible to have a genuine and reasonable debate between these two sides?

    Religious debates are rather pointless, in my opinion. Almost everybody has already made up their mind and won't be swayed for any reason. On top of that, they quickly devolve into shit-slinging matches once everybody gets frustrated with the other side refusing to acknowledge any of their points.

    The theism/atheism argument is based around belief, and beliefs are generally impervious to outside influence. I mean, do you think there is any arrangement of words possible in any language that would sway Richard Dawkins?

    6 votes