Macha's recent activity
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Comment on The effect of physical fitness on mortality is overestimated in ~science
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Comment on Eurovision 2025: Austria's JJ wins with "Wasted Love" in ~music
Macha Link ParentI think if it survived last year with the Israeli song being initially overtly political then hastily rewritten, Israel also using ads to promote last year too, along with the Joost...I think if it survived last year with the Israeli song being initially overtly political then hastily rewritten, Israel also using ads to promote last year too, along with the Joost disqualification scandal, I think this year is not going to have as big an impact on Eurovision's credibility.
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Comment on How do you decide *when* to buy a new computer, smartphone, etc.? in ~tech
Macha LinkFor phones, it tends to be about 4-5 years. After that, the battery life is usually quite noticeably diminished, security updates are stopped and also the cosmetic wear and tear starts to become...For phones, it tends to be about 4-5 years. After that, the battery life is usually quite noticeably diminished, security updates are stopped and also the cosmetic wear and tear starts to become quite noticeable.
For laptops my last purchases were in 2012, 2017, 2022 and 2024. However, I now have two laptops in service. The 2022 laptop was a framework 13, which is light, decent battery, I've installed Linux on it, and is still my primary laptop. However, the one thing it doesn't have is any gaming horsepower, since it just has the Intel 12th gen igpu. So the 2024 laptop is a sort of single purpose device for gaming. I guess that means I'm basically on a 5 year cycle for laptops too, as I don't see an urgent need to replace the framework any time soon.
For desktops, I'm basically on two alternating 5 years cycles. On one cycle I upgrade my CPU/motherboard/RAM and the other cycle I upgrade my GPU. With that said, my 5900X is coming up on 5 years and I'm not super in a rush to upgrade this soon. The 9950X3D is nice and tempting, but I don't really need it, so I'm probably going to give it another generation there.
Also my old CPU/RAM/etc get recycled into my home server anyway.
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Comment on Kingdom Hearts Missing Link is cancelled in ~games
Macha Link ParentMy experience of CoM is really Re:COM. Honestly, my biggest problems were (a) the combat and (b) how slow the plot is I could imagine CoM being better than Re:COM with just a basic card battle system.My experience of CoM is really Re:COM. Honestly, my biggest problems were (a) the combat and (b) how slow the plot is
I could imagine CoM being better than Re:COM with just a basic card battle system.
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Comment on Kingdom Hearts Missing Link is cancelled in ~games
Macha Link ParentKHUX was also the game that killed gachas for me. I didn't have a life ruining amount of money being spent, but there definitely was a realisation after about 2 months and €100 that I could have...KHUX was also the game that killed gachas for me. I didn't have a life ruining amount of money being spent, but there definitely was a realisation after about 2 months and €100 that I could have had two games with more detailed gameplay than swipe the character portraits occasionally for that, and the story I'd gotten through was still 90% retreading the OG game just with your OC instead of Sora.
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Comment on Kingdom Hearts Missing Link is cancelled in ~games
Macha Link ParentThe first three games being KH1, Chain of Memories and KH2? Because Chain of Memories really doesn't hold a candle to birth by sleep and ddd, which are basically mainline entries in all but name.I feel the same way about Kingdom Hearts in regards to the first three games being the best
The first three games being KH1, Chain of Memories and KH2?
Because Chain of Memories really doesn't hold a candle to birth by sleep and ddd, which are basically mainline entries in all but name.
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Comment on [SOLVED] How can I mark a comment as read if I dont want to interact with it? in ~tildes
Macha Link ParentI always thought it was a nudge to "vote if you found it helpful", since voting also clears the notification and is less friction.I always thought it was a nudge to "vote if you found it helpful", since voting also clears the notification and is less friction.
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Comment on End of 10: Replace Windows 10 with Linux in ~tech
Macha Link ParentOn Linux Pulseaudio and now Pipewire do a lot of the audio routing stuff that I used Voicemeter for on Windows, and even have some nice extra features like being able to just reassign different...On Linux Pulseaudio and now Pipewire do a lot of the audio routing stuff that I used Voicemeter for on Windows, and even have some nice extra features like being able to just reassign different applications to different audio inputs/outputs in the sound controls.
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Comment on End of 10: Replace Windows 10 with Linux in ~tech
Macha Link ParentThis sounds like his setup wasn't running TRIM, rather than anything to do with defragmentation (unless your friend was still using spinning rust hard drives). If you use any of the "user...This sounds like his setup wasn't running TRIM, rather than anything to do with defragmentation (unless your friend was still using spinning rust hard drives). If you use any of the "user friendly" distros, TRIM should be enabled automatically. If you use any of the more DIY setups, and you setup full disk encryption, you might have to manually enable it. The guides for this come with rather scary warnings about how using TRIM and disk encryption can hurt deniability as it will make it clear which sectors are actually part of the encrypted data over time. This is true, but also a little overblown. Windows and the more user-friendly Linux distros happily combine TRIM and disk encryption without asking, so it's no less secure than Bitlocker, even if it could be theoretically more secure at the cost of performance.
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Comment on What defines an extraction shooter, and why does the gaming community generally dislike it? in ~games
Macha Link ParentAlso the name of the film was itself inspired by the boxing/wrestling format of a battle royal: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_royal Though the format died off in boxing in the early 20th...Also the name of the film was itself inspired by the boxing/wrestling format of a battle royal:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_royal
Though the format died off in boxing in the early 20th century and in wrestling is mostly known by the wwe brand name of royal rumble these days.
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Comment on SuperCard X enables contactless ATM fraud in real-time in ~tech
Macha Link ParentThere's a whole family of these terms these days. I've also seen vishing for phishing by voice calls for exampleThere's a whole family of these terms these days. I've also seen vishing for phishing by voice calls for example
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Comment on What's a game that you feel like you missed out on? in ~games
Macha Link ParentYou can have multiple characters per account and most of the items you get with the deluxe editions are account wide so every character gets a copy. So you could start a new character under your...You can have multiple characters per account and most of the items you get with the deluxe editions are account wide so every character gets a copy. So you could start a new character under your current account if you wanted to begin from scratch, or switch over to your prior character when you catch up if you have any character specific items you really want to keep.
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
Macha LinkI've recently started learning how to play the keyboard so I've been building some small web apps that use webmidi to help with that. There's options out there but they're either above my current...I've recently started learning how to play the keyboard so I've been building some small web apps that use webmidi to help with that. There's options out there but they're either above my current level of knowledge or covered with ads and frankly I just wanted a project to play around with.
The first one I did over the last few weeks was just to remember the notes by name, it prompts me the note name and times how long it takes me to press the corresponding key on my midi keyboard and gives me some stats to track progress.
It's mostly evolving as my very basic level of piano knowledge improves so the next two enhancements are kind of in line with that:
- I want to add prompts in music notation rather than just note names (e.g. show a staff with a G# note on it rather than just prompt G#4)
- Also prompt with keys. First phase would probably be: "Using E major, press the F key" so that I can e.g. remember that E major actually uses F#, and then later on integrate that with the music notation so I get a staff with a key signature on it and a note.
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Comment on Leaker claims that a PlayStation 6 Portable is in the pipeline in ~games
Macha Link ParentSome of it is marketing (the switch 2 will be "new", the ps5 will be "old" once the switch 2 ships). Some of it is profit motive (an excuse to bump game price points, resell ports and enhanced...Some of it is marketing (the switch 2 will be "new", the ps5 will be "old" once the switch 2 ships). Some of it is profit motive (an excuse to bump game price points, resell ports and enhanced editions). Some of it is competition (what if Microsoft develops a new console and they don't?). And finally some of it is staffing. It's hard to just turn off and on hardware, software and SDK design teams every 10 years. You get to spend some of that time on a mid-cycle refresh these days like the PS5 pro, but then you gotta have a product to justify to your shareholders why you employ these people, or if you stop employing these people then you won't be able to react when it is time for another go around.
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Comment on George R.R. Martin says 'The Winds of Winter' is 'the curse of my life' in ~books
Macha Link ParentI think his reaction in the past to writers block was to introduce more. A new region of the setting, new characters, etc. But since the series is pitched and built as a singular story rather than...I think his reaction in the past to writers block was to introduce more. A new region of the setting, new characters, etc. But since the series is pitched and built as a singular story rather than a series of disconnected novels, that comes with the implication that they'll be wrapped up and concluded. So each time he's done that, the number of plot threads has increased and made delivering a satisfying ending harder.
Add to that that the one attempt at an ending, which I'm pretty sure did have some of GRRM's original plan's DNA in there, was solidly unpopular, and that's got to add to the fear and writers block of actually writing an ending.
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Comment on I'm tired of dismissive anti-AI bias in ~tech
Macha Link ParentIt's a solved problem which the AI companies ignored the solution to in their rush to gobble up as much data as possible before their competitors got their first or regulators could slow them...It's a solved problem which the AI companies ignored the solution to in their rush to gobble up as much data as possible before their competitors got their first or regulators could slow them down.
I'm not sure how anyone can be surprised that that leads to resentment or a lack of faith that AI companies will ever be motivated to fix their crawlers
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Comment on Bluesky’s quest to build nontoxic social media in ~tech
Macha Link ParentEventually they no longer care about growth though. Once you're locked in, they figure they can extract some money from you and sell the site onto the next sucker before it comes crumbling down....Eventually they no longer care about growth though. Once you're locked in, they figure they can extract some money from you and sell the site onto the next sucker before it comes crumbling down. It takes effort to uplift your social circle to another platform, so it's usually a decent way into enshittification before users actually start leaving.
How are Tumblr, Deviantart and even Twitter doing in terms of user satisfaction amongst the groups that used them at their peaks these days?
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Comment on Bluesky’s quest to build nontoxic social media in ~tech
Macha Link ParentThe mistake here is assuming that venture capitalists care about value for users in the long run. They care about value for users only long enough to pump the user numbers, then they care about...The mistake here is assuming that venture capitalists care about value for users in the long run. They care about value for users only long enough to pump the user numbers, then they care about revenue at the expense of users, then they care about how much they can sell it for at IPO, and then at that point it's not their problem anymore.
Execs similarly are compensated based on what the market did this quarter, and not what the ~2 year outlook for their user counts is when they switch the squeeze on.
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Comment on What's an opportunity that you missed? in ~talk
Macha Link ParentOf course, even if you had obtained some, probably you would not have held until the current market value and instead sold at like $10/$100/whatever, and then this post would end up being wishing...Of course, even if you had obtained some, probably you would not have held until the current market value and instead sold at like $10/$100/whatever, and then this post would end up being wishing you hadn't sold. So I think I'm at peace with a similar situation for myself, since nobody had a crystal ball.
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Comment on Megathread: April Fools' Day 2025 on the internet in ~talk
Macha Link ParentI don't have them often, but is the covering not just regular sugar? The flavouring is part of the jellies themselves I thougtI don't have them often, but is the covering not just regular sugar? The flavouring is part of the jellies themselves I thougt
Personally I would expect fit people to die in accidents more frequently - it's harder to get run over or involved in a traffic collision or fall off a cliff or drown while swimming if you stay indoors all day.