Promonk's recent activity
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
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Comment on Which covers did it better than (or put a fresh twist on) the original? in ~music
Promonk Link ParentMore than Disturbed's "Sound of Silence" (with which I also vehemently disagree), I'm surprised you left off what is to me the poster child of "covers better than the original": the Jimi Hendrix...More than Disturbed's "Sound of Silence" (with which I also vehemently disagree), I'm surprised you left off what is to me the poster child of "covers better than the original": the Jimi Hendrix Experience's cover of "All Along the Watchtower." It's so iconic that I'll wager even most Dylan fans think of it as Jimi's song.
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Comment on Esoteric Ebb | Fully Ramblomatic in ~games
Promonk Link ParentDidn't he move to California some years ago?Didn't he move to California some years ago?
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
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Comment on NASA’s Artemis II crew flies around the moon (live broadcast) in ~space
Promonk Link ParentI had forgotten that they already had a target region until you mentioned it. Your comment just reminded me of why they've chosen the southern pole. I was kind of thinking aloud in text, I guess....I had forgotten that they already had a target region until you mentioned it. Your comment just reminded me of why they've chosen the southern pole. I was kind of thinking aloud in text, I guess.
I also remembered that one of the largest impact craters on the near side is around the south pole, so I expect that was another reason.
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Comment on NASA’s Artemis II crew flies around the moon (live broadcast) in ~space
Promonk Link ParentIIRC, the reason for choosing the south pole is because they expect to find water near there. They'll certainly pick a spot with line-of-sight to home.IIRC, the reason for choosing the south pole is because they expect to find water near there. They'll certainly pick a spot with line-of-sight to home.
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Comment on NASA’s Artemis II crew flies around the moon (live broadcast) in ~space
Promonk Link ParentEven then, I wonder whether it would be better to avoid satellite comms altogether, considering the whole benefit to building installations on the far side would be to shield from radio signals...Even then, I wonder whether it would be better to avoid satellite comms altogether, considering the whole benefit to building installations on the far side would be to shield from radio signals from Earth. I'm fairly certain we could filter out known comms signals, but I don't know enough about radio to say whether you lose anything by doing so.
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Comment on NASA’s Artemis II crew flies around the moon (live broadcast) in ~space
Promonk Link ParentProbably not, at least not for a long while. I doubt the first lunar bases will be sited on the "dark side," though there are good reasons to have installations there eventually.If we get a base on the moon then sure, that's probably worth it...
Probably not, at least not for a long while. I doubt the first lunar bases will be sited on the "dark side," though there are good reasons to have installations there eventually.
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Comment on Zombo.com - Now under new management in ~tech
Promonk Link ParentIt's one redditor spinning a yarn without providing any receipts whatsoever. I rate the story only slightly more likely to be true than someone's Harry Potter fanfic in which their OC rescues the...It's one redditor spinning a yarn without providing any receipts whatsoever. I rate the story only slightly more likely to be true than someone's Harry Potter fanfic in which their OC rescues the universe then celebrates with a threesome with Ron and Hermione.
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Comment on Nearly half of the US data centers planned for 2026 are getting delayed or canceled because nobody stockpiled enough transformers and circuit breakers in ~tech
Promonk Link ParentI suppose that's one way to look at it. Another might be that there's a huge rush to build out infrastructure to support an anticipated demand that will very likely never materialize, and...I suppose that's one way to look at it. Another might be that there's a huge rush to build out infrastructure to support an anticipated demand that will very likely never materialize, and externalities like this could be the catalyst that makes the bubble more apparent earlier.
But sure. Let's get them inference models nice and tight for the Big Kablooie. Maybe the inconceivable will happen and they'll accidentally churn out an AGI to make moot the mess the tech bros and trillion-dollar tech conglomerates created. I'm beginning to think that's the real goal anyway.
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Comment on Megathread: April Fools' Day 2026 on the internet in ~talk
Promonk Link ParentIt isn't as though Americans are completely ignorant of the UK usage though, especially when said American is as fond of suggestive wordplay as is LPL.It isn't as though Americans are completely ignorant of the UK usage though, especially when said American is as fond of suggestive wordplay as is LPL.
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Comment on "People are turning themselves into lab rats" – the injectable peptides craze sweeping the US in ~health
Promonk LinkGood Work piece from two weeks ago or so on this very subject. Once again, comedy news spoofs beat the mainstream guys to the punch (or are newsrooms just skimming ideas from the funny folks?).Good Work piece from two weeks ago or so on this very subject. Once again, comedy news spoofs beat the mainstream guys to the punch (or are newsrooms just skimming ideas from the funny folks?).
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Comment on Commonly misspelled words quiz in ~humanities.languages
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Comment on Why are we still doing this? in ~tech
Promonk Link ParentSure. My point was just that FlOPS has a specific meaning that isn't synonymous with general compute. It would be like saying "why don't we just call graphics processing 'trigonometry'? That's...Sure. My point was just that FlOPS has a specific meaning that isn't synonymous with general compute. It would be like saying "why don't we just call graphics processing 'trigonometry'? That's most of what it is anyway."
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Comment on Why are we still doing this? in ~tech
Promonk Link ParentCompute isn't just about floating point operations, though.Compute isn't just about floating point operations, though.
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Comment on Let's talk about tropes! in ~books
Promonk Link ParentI think it depends on who you ask, but since you asked me, I'll tell you my own opinion. Are you familiar with the concept of a dead metaphor? They're when an expression is coined as a specific...I think it depends on who you ask, but since you asked me, I'll tell you my own opinion.
Are you familiar with the concept of a dead metaphor? They're when an expression is coined as a specific metaphor, but loses the metaphorical sense along the way for one reason or another until people forget it was ever metaphorical to begin with, and only understand the expression in its idiomatic usage. "Kick the bucket" is one, "red-letter day" is another.
I think of cliches as being akin to that, only instead of a figurative meaning being lost, it's the affective impact of the thing that's been lost along the way.
One literary example I think of often is Holden Caulfield. When Catcher in the Rye was published, the character type of a precociously cynical teenager rejecting the niceties of adulthood as insincere and hollow was fresh, and had immense impact. It was so impactful that you can almost categorize YA literature by whether it was written before or after Catcher (BS: Before Salinger, AS: After Salinger). These days we have a special term for the Holdens of the world: "edgelord." That character type, that trope, has lost a lot of its affective impact. It's still possible for a character like that to be thought-provoking and emotionally impactful, but most often they've degenerated to cliché. "Seen one, seen 'em all."
We tend to use the term "trope" in colloquial usage to mean cliches, but the technical meaning is broader than just familiar plot devices and characters. In its technical sense it includes those as well as rhetorical figures and devices. For instance, periphrasis, metaphor and synecdoche are all rhetorical figures/devices, which are a type of trope. I bet you'd have to look hard to find someone who'd dismiss the use of any simile as being cliche; I submit that would depend on the specific simile employed, and whether that particular simile has been overused and thus has lost affective power.
I don't know if that clears things up any, but I gave it a shot. I wrote this during my work breaks over the course of my day, so apologies if it is a bit disjointed and not very illuminating.
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Comment on Let's talk about tropes! in ~books
Promonk Link ParentI wasn't intending to be condescending or critical, I was curious about what Choco actually liked about the books they were talking about. I should know not to post any kind of comment online for...I wasn't intending to be condescending or critical, I was curious about what Choco actually liked about the books they were talking about.
I should know not to post any kind of comment online for at least an hour after I wake. I guess I need more time to get my textual tone and reading comprehension straight.
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Comment on Let's talk about tropes! in ~books
Promonk Link ParentIt wasn't my intention to criticize, I just noticed that most of what you listed were cliched tropes that you disliked, and I was curious if there were any you did like. I missed the ones you...It wasn't my intention to criticize, I just noticed that most of what you listed were cliched tropes that you disliked, and I was curious if there were any you did like. I missed the ones you expressed appreciation for, so I apologize for my poor reading comprehension this morning. I responded almost the first thing after I woke up, so I wasn't at my sharpest, I guess.
I was mostly using "trope" and "cliche" as synonyms, but there is a distinction. It wasn't my goal to hash that out, but we could if that interests you. I'm usually down for actually making use of my English degree for a change.
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Comment on Let's talk about tropes! in ~books
Promonk Link ParentYou just listed off a bunch of cliches you dislike. Are there any tropes or cliches you do like?You just listed off a bunch of cliches you dislike. Are there any tropes or cliches you do like?
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Comment on IOI Partners, the publishing division of IO Interactive, and Build a Rocket Boy have concluded their publishing agreement for MindsEye in ~games
Promonk LinkSeems like IO got the better end of that partnership. At least it doesn't appear they bankrolled development. If you're going to be attached to a turd of a game, it's better to be the guy holding...Seems like IO got the better end of that partnership. At least it doesn't appear they bankrolled development. If you're going to be attached to a turd of a game, it's better to be the guy holding the scooper rather than the bag.
One wonders how much IOI influenced the timing of the launch of this obviously unfinished joke of a game, though. I doubt highly that given enough time and resources the devs could've made it into a blockbuster, considering the lead is woefully and clearly out of his depth when it comes to actual game design beyond the visuals, but I bet their QA could've squashed a few more bugs and made the thing playable if they weren't crunched to release by an arbitrary and unrealistic deadline. That could've been down to the lead running his mouth, but it might also have been the fear of losing the publishing deal, too. Seems like publishers/marketing are always the ones hucking sabots into the gears, even if they aren't writing the checks.
Bought Chants of Senaar on Friday on a whim because it was on sale. Played through it over the weekend.
On the whole, I'd say it's worth the $12 sale price. There's pretty much zero replayability, but that's to be expected of a deductive puzzler like this.
The linguistic puzzles are pretty well thought out and the progression of clues you receive is mostly well-organized, and leads to a organic-feeling process of discovery. The "languages" themselves are generally pretty logical and regular in their rules, enough so that you can make inductive leaps with some confidence, but not to such an extent that it trivializes the puzzles. For example, you can infer certain features that distinguish a place name glyph from a glyph denoting a type of person, or one denoting an object from one that serves a grammatical function within a construction (such as pluralization etc).
I do have a few minor gripes, however. One is that the PC's walk speed is just the tiniest bit slow for the amount of ground you're expected to cover. That's not unusual for this sort of high-concept, artsy-fartsy game, but I feel there's just a bit too much backtracking in the expected progression path for it to not be at least a small friction point. There's an impressive sense of scale to the thing– you're essentially climbing the Tower of Babel, after all–and I can understand slowing things down in spots with interesting vistas for the player to drink in, but then don't make me cross the same forced vista at a snail's pace four times in the main progression path. Just don't. I shouldn't ever think to myself, "huh. That's interesting, now I'd really like to play the game. Please just let me play the game."
Another minor gripe is the manner in which you lock in translations. The game uses an Obra Din-style journal with illustrated items that you can associate with specific glyphs. Once you've correctly associated all the glyphs for a page with their respective illustrations, all glyphs for that page are confirmed and are then auto-translated in dialogues. That would be a fine way to go about it, except for a few problems: for one, you have to have encountered every glyph on a page in the world before that page becomes available for you to even see, let alone notate. In more than one case, I had finished with one linguistic group's region and moved on in the main path long before I ever found the specific gate to trigger the last translation page for their language. That means that the last word for those specific languages are never used anywhere else, and only exist to gate translation completion for other glyphs. To make matters worse, expressions in the game world aren't translated into the player's native syntax and grammar until all the glyphs within them are marked as completed, even if you know what they mean. So it could happen that a key expression that could elucidate the next step in progression is syntactical gobbledegook because you haven't encountered a completely unrelated glyph that's only ever used once, and thus can't complete the translation page. It would be like not being able to make sense of the word "want" because you've never encountered the word "fire" before. The logic of it is goofy, but could be overlooked as being in the nature of a video game were it not for the fact that certain side puzzles are very difficult to solve without the game acknowledging mastery of a "language." Again, not a game-breaking hurdle, but a friction point nonetheless.
The other minor gripe is that some of the illustrations of concepts represented by glyphs are only vaguely related to the concepts the glyphs represent in actual speech/expressions, and are not strictly consistent. One example that springs to mind is the image of a person looking in a hand mirror. Twice in the game world you see this same exact image used to denote "searching," while the translation journal uses it to mean "beauty." To be fair, the image is used once in the game world to denote "beauty" as well, and quite prominently too, but stricter consistency would've been nice. Again, not game-breaking, but a little annoying.
The last criticism I have is really a matter of individual preference, or maybe it's down to how I specifically played through the game. There are five "languages" in the game that require translation. The first four require a lot of exploration and experimentation to figure out, but the last one lacked challenge almost completely. Without giving too much away, the process for translating just the final script requires some understanding of the others scripts. I suspect they were trying to incentivize mastery of earlier scripts/languages, but if you've completed every translation prior to reaching the final zone like I did, the last language becomes trivially easy to decode. I get what they were going for, but as you're strongly incentivized to complete translations before reaching that zone, it all kind of falls flat (for that one zone, at least).
Still, it's a fine game with some interesting visuals and a unique approach to puzzles. I essentially 100%ed it in just under 12 hours, so I feel the $12 I spent on it was justified. I don't know whether I'd spring for the $20 MSRP, though.