Pistos's recent activity
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Comment on Surprising shared word etymologies in ~humanities
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Pistos Link ParentI recommend this. I did this once with someone. We played through Heavy Rain, where I had the controller the entire time, but we talked through all the decisions together. It was definitely...I recommend this. I did this once with someone. We played through Heavy Rain, where I had the controller the entire time, but we talked through all the decisions together. It was definitely enjoyable for the non-controlling "player", maybe because the game is a sort of interactive movie.
Playing through single-player games with more than two people can be fun as well. I remember playing through The Last Guardian as a group of 4, passing along the controller, taking turns. We'd all laugh together, cheer together, get jump scared together, and squeal together as the main character frantically tried to flee monsters. And poke fun at the controller-holding player for parkour fails. Fun times.
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Comment on On password managers in ~comp
Pistos Link ParentIt seems to me like an entirely legitimate concern if a browser extension's UI can be manipulated by a third party (i.e. someone other than the extension's vendor).It seems to me like an entirely legitimate concern if a browser extension's UI can be manipulated by a third party (i.e. someone other than the extension's vendor).
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Comment on On password managers in ~comp
Pistos Link ParentSure, but I don't think that's what the author is arguing for. I think the point of the article is arguing against extension-based solutions used with websites.Sure, but I don't think that's what the author is arguing for. I think the point of the article is arguing against extension-based solutions used with websites.
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On password managers
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Comment on It's vital Sony maintains its PlayStation 4 support in ~games
Pistos Link ParentIndeed. Because of the long(ish) recovery times of the PS3 after an ungraceful power down, I kept the PS3 and PS4 on UPS.Indeed. Because of the long(ish) recovery times of the PS3 after an ungraceful power down, I kept the PS3 and PS4 on UPS.
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Comment on Playdate Update - 6/8/2021 in ~games
Pistos LinkI applaud people trying to innovate, but ... the hand crank looks like it'd be cool for maybe a few minutes, and then it'd be too little ROI on kilojoules spent. Games had better use it sparingly...I applaud people trying to innovate, but ... the hand crank looks like it'd be cool for maybe a few minutes, and then it'd be too little ROI on kilojoules spent. Games had better use it sparingly or UX will be poor, I reckon.
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Comment on Why does a completely local, self-contained html file need to access gstatic.com? in ~comp
Pistos LinkAny browser extensions that might do this? Try in an Incognito window. When I make a local .html file and open it (in Chromium), the Network tab only reports loading the one file, as expected.Any browser extensions that might do this? Try in an Incognito window.
When I make a local .html file and open it (in Chromium), the Network tab only reports loading the one file, as expected.
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Comment on Our digital pasts weren’t supposed to be weaponized like this in ~tech
Pistos Link ParentI applaud and congratulate you on your successful scrubbing. Here's what concerns me in this day and age, though: No matter how strict and vigilant we are about our own data footprint, we can't...I applaud and congratulate you on your successful scrubbing. Here's what concerns me in this day and age, though: No matter how strict and vigilant we are about our own data footprint, we can't reasonably control our network of friends, family, acquaintances and business contacts. We may never enter our phone numbers into any online form field, but we can't stop our contacts from entering our phone number into their own contact lists. Thereby, we become indirectly (or we might even say directly) associated with those contacts, in terms of what the third party services know about us. We may be careful to submit only throwaway email addresses to third-party services, but our contacts can "out" us by submitting our main email addresses to companies via "find/invite your friends" features or "allow App XYZ access to your contacts". Our friends and family might take pictures that include us, and the big social media giants thereby get a growing collection of image data, possibly associated with text data ("Here's me and <your name> having a great time at <tagged location>!"). Or a well-meaning acquaintance will take a image file of you and associate it with your phone number in their phone contact list (to see a pic of you when you call, etc.). Not to mention security cameras, front door cameras (Ring, etc.), increasingly ubiquitous voice assistants.
It's a losing battle.
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Comment on Recommend me a podcast app for android in ~tech
Pistos LinkI'm pretty satisfied with https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.danoeh.antennapod/ . Granted, I don't have high expectations from a podcast app.I'm pretty satisfied with https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.danoeh.antennapod/ . Granted, I don't have high expectations from a podcast app.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Pistos LinkPlayed a little bit more Running With Rifles. Still not sure if I like it enough to continue -- yet still not sure if I dislike it enough to stop. xD Randomly fired up Fantasy Strike (an...Played a little bit more Running With Rifles. Still not sure if I like it enough to continue -- yet still not sure if I dislike it enough to stop. xD
Randomly fired up Fantasy Strike (an innovative, F2P 2D fighting game), and played here and there through the week. Still fun, and I still like this game and want to support it and its development studio. I randomly came across a really good player. Saw that they were level 250 (!), and their name was printed in a different colour than usual, so I looked them up, and found out that they're a top-10 player! Ranked in the top 10 in most of the seasons. Wow. So I sent a friend request, hoping to be able to practice against them, in order to get better. (I got steamrolled in our match. I think I won maybe 1 out of 9 rounds. Or maybe it was won 0, which is more likely.) They did accept the friend request, but I haven't sent a challenge yet (need to catch them online).
Started going through Aragami, which I had parked in my to-play queue. Kind of fun. It's maybe a little too arcadey for my tastes, but I'm gonna stick with it a while more and give it a chance to win me over. I'm playing on hard(est) difficulty, and am trying to max out each chapter (mission) with S Rank (rankings are D to A, with S being above A). What's neat about this game is that there are common achievements you can get for the missions, but some are mutually exclusive. For example, you can achieve "kill no one" or "kill all enemies" -- but obviously you can't achieve both of those in the same playthrough. I'm going to try to finish each chapter with these achievements: kill no one; never seen; no suspicion. There are earnable skills you can gain for your character, with some offensive, some defensive. I'm tailoring my picks to help me with the stealth achievements (i.e. not spending on offensive skills). Getting all those achievements is easier than it sounds, because the redo system is good: You can quickly restart from the nearest checkpoint that you passed, and the reload is very, very fast. Probably under 3 seconds. You also get even more bonus points for completing a mission without using any checkpoint respawns. I've done this for the first two missions, but I'm not sure I want to bother doing it going forward as the missions get lengthier or more difficult.
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Comment on How open should I be with potential employers about my mental illness struggles? in ~health
Pistos LinkThis may be too simplistic a view but, if it were me, I'd approach it like this: I wouldn't mention it at all at first, because, as others have said, you have no obligation to, and, indeed, in...This may be too simplistic a view but, if it were me, I'd approach it like this: I wouldn't mention it at all at first, because, as others have said, you have no obligation to, and, indeed, in some regions of the world it's plain prohibited for prospective employers to ask certain kinds of health-related questions. I would just try my best to perform the job at a normal level of effectiveness. Especially considering the current environment of most jobs being done remotely, it could be that nobody will notice anything, especially if you perform to expectations. Then, it's a moot point; you don't need to tell anyone at your workplace.
Even if, once you're working, you yourself think that your performance is under par, it may be wisest to still not say anything, and let your employer be the one to bring it up ("we notice that you're underperforming relative to your teammates"). They still may not ever notice anything (i.e. you could be judging your own self too critically), but if they do, you can have some pre-prepared answers and explanations, divulging some calculated amount of private information re: your health condition. They can decide what to do at that point, but it would serve you well to do some research about your country's and local region's laws regarding what is permissible to do as far as termination goes when there are health concerns involved.
From the sounds of things, you are in need of income, so I don't think you should (or can afford to) be too nice or accommodating about it, at least in the early going. I'm not saying to be outright dishonest, but you owe it to yourself (and any dependants) to give yourself good chances to make a living.
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Comment on What's a cool and not-well-known thing that people can do with their phone/computer? in ~tech
Pistos Link(Not really cool or not-well-known, but...) One thing I quite like about commonplace, modern-day technology is that, as consumers, we have so much more power to control and curate what we watch...(Not really cool or not-well-known, but...)
One thing I quite like about commonplace, modern-day technology is that, as consumers, we have so much more power to control and curate what we watch and listen to compared to the past. It wasn't too many years ago when people were totally at the mercy of the media "powers that be" as far what content we were offered, in what order, and at what frequency. Television and radio were programmed, and watched and listened to live. You subscribed to newspapers and magazines. Now, you choose your viewing content, whether navigating in your favourite streaming services, or surfing around YouTube. You play it any time you want, on your choice of a myriad of possible devices. You can binge watch whole series. You can zero in on whatever topics and genres you want. You can download podcast episodes and bring them with you into the kitchen, on your bike ride, in your car, on a plane ride.
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Comment on MDN Plus announcement in ~tech
Pistos (edited )LinkI don't do as much frontend work as I used to, but I'm not seeing much value here. Even if it were priced at $1 a month. I might be more inclined to give money to a cause like "become a Supporter...I don't do as much frontend work as I used to, but I'm not seeing much value here. Even if it were priced at $1 a month. I might be more inclined to give money to a cause like "become a Supporter of Firefox at 2 USD per month".
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Pistos Link Parentre: missing D&D session: You wouldn't be able to participate via video chat?re: missing D&D session: You wouldn't be able to participate via video chat?
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Comment on The end is near: COVID is becoming endemic in ~health.coronavirus
Pistos Link ParentThis is a great mindset that can apply to much of life in general.Now I’m looking at it as each individual choice matters, so even if I made the wrong choice yesterday, I can still make the right one today and that will always be a step in the right direction.
This is a great mindset that can apply to much of life in general.
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Comment on Valve has been secretly building a Switch-like portable PC designed to run a large number of games on the Steam PC platform via Linux in ~games
Pistos Link ParentYeah, so I think it's the must-use-proton-rather-than-native games that have EAC+Linux problems.Yeah, so I think it's the must-use-proton-rather-than-native games that have EAC+Linux problems.
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Comment on Valve has been secretly building a Switch-like portable PC designed to run a large number of games on the Steam PC platform via Linux in ~games
Pistos Link ParentI love how much Proton brings to Linux. That said, Linux gaming is still quite crippled in a certain segment: Most multiplayer FPS anti-cheat mechanisms get triggered when games are run under...I love how much Proton brings to Linux. That said, Linux gaming is still quite crippled in a certain segment: Most multiplayer FPS anti-cheat mechanisms get triggered when games are run under Linux. This is a problem for Easy Anti Cheat (EAC), for example. A couple games I'm wanting to play under Linux but can't: Rainbow Six Siege and Due Process. The games themselves work fine, but you get booted for "cheating" once you get into a match.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Pistos LinkI tried out Running with Rifles . It's a different take on multiplayer army shooter. It's semi 3D, with a casual, almost cute drawing style. You play using a bird's eye view, giving the impression...I tried out Running with Rifles . It's a different take on multiplayer army shooter. It's semi 3D, with a casual, almost cute drawing style. You play using a bird's eye view, giving the impression that it's a 2D game, but it becomes clear after a little play time that the game space is still mostly 3D. There is modest ground elevation and slope, and basic walls, fences, buildings and ladders. A few drivable vehicles, ranging from jeep to ATV.
RWR takes into account line of sight, obstacles and cover. You can't see beyond walls or rocks, or over the crest of a slope. Gameplay is affected by this because even though the map and terrain are shown at all times, soldiers, items, and vehicles are completely hidden from view until you turn to face them and have a clear line of sight. From what I can tell, cover reduces the probability of being shot by a bullet which, in 2D space, is on a direct path to hit you. You can also crouch or go prone to make use of cover strategically, e.g. to duck behind it, then pop up to open fire, then duck behind again to reload.
The game had a little bit of immediate appeal to me, but I'm not sure I'll dedicate a lot of time to it. I haven't tried PVP yet, just PVE and multiplayer PVE. I think the main thing I'm not sure I like about it is that the respawn timer is quite short compared to every other shooter I've played, and, on top of that, your respawn point is very close to the action where you died. You can literally die, wait a few seconds for respawn, and then run back to your exact point of death in under 10 seconds. This opens the door for immediate revenge actions, like taking your freshly-issued-from-respawn anti-tank weapon to the vehicle that just killed you 25 seconds ago. This aspect of the game design provides for quite a casual feel to the game, and I'm not sure I prefer that. I'm used to shooters where dying is a significant disadvantage to your team.
Anyway, let's see how I feel after another week.
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Comment on B.1.617 is quite concerning in ~health.coronavirus
Pistos LinkFor those that didn't know (like me), re: "no. 10" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_Downing_StreetFor those that didn't know (like me), re: "no. 10" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_Downing_Street
10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
I'm pleasantly surprised to see this article reference https://historyofenglishpodcast.com/ . I am a huge fan of this podcast, and highly recommend it.