Macha's recent activity
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Comment on What's the biggest YouTube channel still run by just one person? in ~creative
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Comment on The Game Awards nominees 2024: Controversially, DLCs/expansions can now compete for GOTY in ~games
Macha I think there's stuff being released as DLC now that honestly would have been a sequel in the past. Nowadays sequels are more and more reserved for big system updates, and not just "a new story in...I think there's stuff being released as DLC now that honestly would have been a sequel in the past. Nowadays sequels are more and more reserved for big system updates, and not just "a new story in the same game" as some past sequels were.
Like I think shadow of the erdtree or Phantom Liberty have as much right to be nominated as COD N+1 or Persona 5 Royal, even if they're not sold in the same "form factor".
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Comment on Longevity of tech equipment in ~tech
Macha My gaming/workstation PC's hardware slowly gets "retired" into my home server. In some cases that ends up being a little silly, like I had what would have counted as a high end gaming GPU a decade...My gaming/workstation PC's hardware slowly gets "retired" into my home server. In some cases that ends up being a little silly, like I had what would have counted as a high end gaming GPU a decade ago being used to render a text login console twice a year. I did eventually replace that with a new lower-midrange GPU, partly because of codec support and partly because the difference in power usage (especially idle power usage) meant breaking even in about 18 months.
Other than that, I replaced a bunch of old seagate hard drives after failure (avg lifespan a not very impressive 6 years), a bunch of fans (I'd guess a 20% failure rate over 5 years) and a corsair power supply that failed after 10 years, but the rest is still in operation.
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Comment on Where does your username come from? (Following up on last year's thread) in ~tildes
Macha It comes from a character from the anime .hack//sign, which I liked around the time I started setting up internet accounts. It's sort of a legacy username, I don't usually use it for new things,...It comes from a character from the anime .hack//sign, which I liked around the time I started setting up internet accounts. It's sort of a legacy username, I don't usually use it for new things, but I used it here for continuity with my HN/Reddit usernames (well someone bet me to Macha on Reddit, so I'm MachaHack there).
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Comment on What are some good YouTube channels/shows/series related to travel? in ~travel
Macha Not purely a travel channel, but Abroad In Japan does regular enough travel series with Journey Across Japan. As the name suggests, it's mostly focused on Japan, but it's good for seeing some of...Not purely a travel channel, but Abroad In Japan does regular enough travel series with Journey Across Japan. As the name suggests, it's mostly focused on Japan, but it's good for seeing some of the less well known parts.
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Comment on Breaking down my dislike of strategy games | Semi-Ramblomatic in ~games
Macha Is it really that different to Fire Emblem? Especially if you play Fire Emblem with character death on. XCOM is WILDLY different from every other game he mentioned (which to be fair is annoying because no one seems to want to try and make what made the new xcom great, especially with Long war, but I digress).
Is it really that different to Fire Emblem? Especially if you play Fire Emblem with character death on
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Comment on What is happening outside the US? in ~talk
Macha Two parties arguably missing from that chart. The first is the social democrats who are basically labour splitters who quit over labour compromising too much when in government. They'll definitely...Two parties arguably missing from that chart.
The first is the social democrats who are basically labour splitters who quit over labour compromising too much when in government. They'll definitely come out of this election larger than Labour, and probably larger than the Greens too if the Greens get as much fallout from their time in government as Labour and the Greens did before, as a centre left party that got dominated by centre right partners. Currently they're tied with Labour (6 each) and 1 seat ahead of Solidarity-People Before Profit (which is an electoral alliance, not a single party).
The second are Aontu, who are a socially conservative economically left party. They were founded as basically SF-splitters who quit over the parties support of abortion, but they'll probably get a decent amount of votes as they've put an effort at being more respectable than the far right parties while still being more socially right wing that the mainstream parties. It's not clear that it will mean more seats, probably only their party founder will win their seat again, but they'll probably get more first preferences than prior elections.
Based on recent polls, the two centre-right parties are likely to increase their vote share, so will likely jettison the Greens from their coalition as they won't need them any more. The Greens haven't really succeeded in getting much left wing economic policy passed, so the people who voted for them for that are probably going to scatter amongst the other centre-left and left parties. They have actually done a decent job on environment and local transport though, so it may not be the total wipe out that e.g. Labour in 2016 or the Greens in 2011 had. The aforementioned Aontu and the far right parties are likely to get more votes than last time, but if the local elections are anything to go by, not the same increase that has happened in the rest of Europe. Sinn Fein, the largest left wing parties are likely to lose votes as they have had a bad year and their base is splintering between their left wing and nationalist factions.
So the most likely outcome is a Fine Gael and Fianna Fail centre-right coalition, with the opposition much more divided.
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Comment on Elections: ultimately, it’s going to be okay in ~society
Macha I don't think republicans will take long about bypassing the filibuster, which will hopefully cause the dems to do likewise when they're next in power.I don't think republicans will take long about bypassing the filibuster, which will hopefully cause the dems to do likewise when they're next in power.
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Comment on Weekly US politics news and updates thread - week of November 4 in ~society
Macha I'm nervous because it's hard to be sure what the outcome will be, but my gut feeling says Kamala has this, given signs like the early voter turnout of women and the last set of polls. I'm not an...I'm nervous because it's hard to be sure what the outcome will be, but my gut feeling says Kamala has this, given signs like the early voter turnout of women and the last set of polls.
I'm not an American, so my personal stake as a European is that trump will leave Ukraine out to dry, but I'm hoping for the sake of Americans I know as well that he doesn't get back in.
Brexit also seemed to have an inoculating effect on the worst of the ideas for the Brits also, so here's hoping Trumps first term proved the same way for Americans.
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Comment on Are Feeds - like RSS or Atom feeds - Really Worth It For A Personal Blog? in ~comp
Macha I provide RSS feeds on my blog, but judging by substack etc. there are a lot of users who use the email feeds so I'd almost want a service that does the reverse. Provide it my RSS feeds and people...I provide RSS feeds on my blog, but judging by substack etc. there are a lot of users who use the email feeds so I'd almost want a service that does the reverse. Provide it my RSS feeds and people can sign up for it as an email newsletter if they want.
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Comment on Vivaldi 7.0 has been released in ~tech
Macha There used to be an ecosystem of Gecko based browsers but over time they all switched to WebKit and then chromium as Gecko is too tied with Firefox for that to be a pleasant experience.There used to be an ecosystem of Gecko based browsers but over time they all switched to WebKit and then chromium as Gecko is too tied with Firefox for that to be a pleasant experience.
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Comment on Passwords have problems, but passkeys have more in ~tech
Macha https://github.com/keepassxreboot/keepassxc/issues/10407#issuecomment-1994299617 https://github.com/keepassxreboot/keepassxc/issues/10406 -
Comment on Passwords have problems, but passkeys have more in ~tech
Macha Because of two things - attestation and spec writers hesitancy to allowing secrets to be exported. Attestation means that a website can require specific vendors of passkeys. A good idea for a...Why is there no universally adopted passkey syncing service/protocol?
Because of two things - attestation and spec writers hesitancy to allowing secrets to be exported.
Attestation means that a website can require specific vendors of passkeys. A good idea for a corporate IT department supplying centrally managed hardware dongles, but not so good for the general user who might want something to change vendors and isn't organised enough to find and replace all their passkeys.
The second kind of goes in hand with the first, but keepassxc's run ins with the spec writers objecting to their ability to export passwords shows that the spec writers don't want the users to be able to take the secret out in a portable manner, lest they get phished into sending it to a bad guy. They'd rather a P2P protocol for specific trusted vendors which significantly limits new entrants and open source solutions. The attestation mechanism can then be used to lock out those that don't play ball with that vision.
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Comment on Passwords have problems, but passkeys have more in ~tech
Macha So high impact financial services, infrequently accessed? Seems like a great case for prioritising security over a frictionless login. I'm not sure e.g. Tildes deserves the same tradeoff. If every...literally all government services, banks, insurance
So high impact financial services, infrequently accessed? Seems like a great case for prioritising security over a frictionless login.
I'm not sure e.g. Tildes deserves the same tradeoff. If every site did this and you were doing it ten times a day, it would get more frustrating. Also would you remember to take care to transfer your passkeys for that app you use twice a month when switching phone brand?
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Comment on The disappearance of an internet domain in ~tech
Macha Note that for all the exceptions (.eu, .uk, .su), they also have exceptions in ISO-3166-1 (the standard list of country codes), so I think Mariitius would have to petition ISO to give them an...Note that for all the exceptions (.eu, .uk, .su), they also have exceptions in ISO-3166-1 (the standard list of country codes), so I think Mariitius would have to petition ISO to give them an extra reservation. On the one hand, they have done it for France, the UK and Spain a few times, but on the other hand, these are usually based on long standing codes used in other standards bodies.
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Comment on The disappearance of an internet domain in ~tech
Macha My own country's TLD is relatively reliable, but they had some paperwork in the past to prove you were a citizen or otherwise connected to the country that made most registrars skip over...My own country's TLD is relatively reliable, but they had some paperwork in the past to prove you were a citizen or otherwise connected to the country that made most registrars skip over supporting them. Although that changed a couple of years ago, in terms of major registrar support there is basically Gandi. Which was fine while Gandi were a trustable company, but after their 100+% price hikes last year, I've moved all my other domains away from Gandi to Porkbun.
I do have one at my country's TLD though, but most of the registrars that support it other than Gandi are local businesses that may as well be operating out of a shed for how long term reliable they appear, along with a couple that exist to gouge IT departments of local non-tech companies.
Ironically, one of the few exceptions is my ISP, but if you'd told me 5 years ago I would be seriously considering transferring domains from Gandi to my ISP, I would have laughed.
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Comment on Israeli military announces ground invasion of Southern Lebanon in ~society
Macha Oh, I read that as them retreating to more defensible positions (or at least behind UNIFIL). If you're the Lebanese in this situation, would you have any faith in Israel being better at separating...Oh, I read that as them retreating to more defensible positions (or at least behind UNIFIL). If you're the Lebanese in this situation, would you have any faith in Israel being better at separating Lebanese and Hezbollah than they are at separating Palestinians and Hamas?
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Comment on You're running for office on a somewhat petty, yet univerally-understood single issue. What is it? in ~talk
Macha I do wonder if US currency being the same size and broadly similar shades of yellow-green across denominations contributes to that. My local currency uses much more different sizes and colours to...You have to organize them and fold them into your wallet,
I do wonder if US currency being the same size and broadly similar shades of yellow-green across denominations contributes to that. My local currency uses much more different sizes and colours to differentiate currency so as long as they're not folded, there's no real issue quickly picking out the correct note.
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Comment on How do I sync my dotfiles between PC and laptop? in ~tech
Macha I've been slowly migrating more to home-manager and nix but my old solution was to have a dotfiles repo and a shell script to symlink/mkdir as appropriate.I've been slowly migrating more to home-manager and nix but my old solution was to have a dotfiles repo and a shell script to symlink/mkdir as appropriate.
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Comment on Prison inmates in Finland are being employed as data labellers to improve accuracy of AI models in ~tech
Macha So in the first version of FFXIV that was released, there was the fatigue system to discourage grinding too much..your XP would start at 100% and reduce the longer you played, so you were getting...So in the first version of FFXIV that was released, there was the fatigue system to discourage grinding too much..your XP would start at 100% and reduce the longer you played, so you were getting less xp as play sessions get longer. It was very unpopular.
In the current version of FFXIV, there is the rested XP system, where XP starts at 200% and reduces the longer you play to a baseline that's now called 100%. It's framed as a bonus on login, but of course all the XP sources are balanced to consider that most players are getting 200% xp most of the time.
It's the same system, just reframed as "a bonus on a new day" rather than "a penalty for playing too long".
This is also how I basically see "they're not penalised for not doing it" vs "doing it looks good on their application for early release"
I think hello internet was more Brady and Gray splitting the work, while Cortex was initially Grey to set expectations, then Myke as part of the deal was Mike gets a bigger share in exchange for doing the leg work, and nowadays is mostly delegated by Myke to an editor Myke or Relay pays.
This might be part of why Cortex is continuing while Hello Internet is on indefinite hiatus.