SheepWolf's recent activity

  1. Comment on Two years to save the planet, says UN climate chief in ~enviro

    SheepWolf
    Link Parent
    I don't think it is what you are asking for, but the live-action "not a superhero" part reminds me of the series of Don Cheadle Is Captain Planet skits.

    I don't think it is what you are asking for, but the live-action "not a superhero" part reminds me of the series of Don Cheadle Is Captain Planet skits.

  2. Comment on Honda says making cheap electric vehicles is too hard, ends deal with GM in ~transport

    SheepWolf
    Link Parent
    Regarding that last quoted paragraph (the part about Bolt production ending), I saw this other article: Why GM is reviving the Bolt, the best-selling EV it almost discontinued

    Regarding that last quoted paragraph (the part about Bolt production ending), I saw this other article: Why GM is reviving the Bolt, the best-selling EV it almost discontinued

    To be clear, the Bolt will be on hiatus for a while. GM still plans to end production of the current Bolt at its Michigan factory at the end of this year, and it hasn’t yet said when the revamped model will go on sale — or where it’ll be made. The Bolt’s current factory in Michigan will be retooled to make electric versions of GM’s Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks.

    10 votes

  3. Comment on Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition Starter Box in ~games.tabletop

    SheepWolf
    Link Parent
    I don't know the exact legal situation or how the licensing, etc. works, but I also did not mean boycotting Wizards. I only mean that there is a layer of separation between playing Level Up A5e by...

    I don't know the exact legal situation or how the licensing, etc. works, but I also did not mean boycotting Wizards. I only mean that there is a layer of separation between playing Level Up A5e by EN Publishing and directly playing D&D 5e.

    People don't always make sense, so if they don't feel right about the controversy with the OGL, then maybe they feel better about something adjacent. Using a comparison, it might be like switching to a hybrid vehicle instead of a normal gas car. Probably not the greatest example, but hopefully it helps illustrate my point.

    I was kind of thinking about the podcast episode, Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk #259, regarding the Open5e project with Mike Shea. A5e is or may be heading towards Open Gaming/Creative Commons Content, like Open5e, to ensure independence from Wizards of the Coast's control. This would allow Level Up A5e to have freedom even if WotC becomes an objectionable company.

    1 vote

  4. Comment on Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition Starter Box in ~games.tabletop

    SheepWolf
    Link Parent
    A few things I can think of. If people loved D&D and only knew or only ever played original Fifth Edition by Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro but were a bit turned off by the OGL thing that happened...

    A few things I can think of.

    • If people loved D&D and only knew or only ever played original Fifth Edition by Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro but were a bit turned off by the OGL thing that happened then they could still stick with a system that plays very similarly to it but isn't officially owned/designed/produced by Wizards of the Coast.
    • People who like most of what D&D 5e has to to offer but have played or understand it enough to see some of the flaws of original Fifth Edition and want some of the things that A5e does better. Stuff like some balance changes to classes or getting combat maneuvers for martial classes. Or maybe they've just been playing it for so long but want to try branching out a bit and try something slightly new/refreshing.

    Here are two articles I've read by PJ Coffey (Homebrew and Hacking) that maybe explains it a bit more:

    5 votes

  5. Comment on Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition Starter Box in ~games.tabletop

    SheepWolf
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    What’s In The Box?

    This Kickstarter is for a boxed starter set which takes your 5E core rulebooks and ‘upgrades’ them by introducing you to some of the new rules in Level Up. Unlike the standalone Level Up hardcover core rules, this starter set assumes you know how to play 5E, or have the 5E rules, and we just show you the new stuff!

    What Is Level Up?

    Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition (A5E) launched in 2021 and is a standalone game which enhances the 5E ruleset which you know and love. If you love 5E but would like a little more depth to the rules, Level Up is the new game for you!

    After two years of extensive public playtests and surveys involving thousands of players, and input from our active community, we completely overhauled the 5E game system. From redesigned classes to a full exploration pillar, we revisited every aspect of the game to present this new standalone game, backwards compatible with the 5th Edition core rules.

  7. Comment on Update to Kagi Search pricing in ~tech

    SheepWolf
    Link Parent
    I think 2 main reasons: Kagi is relatively new, and it is relatively small. I'm not involved but to make some guesses. As far as I know, PrivacyTools was originally (maybe still is) an open?,...

    I think 2 main reasons: Kagi is relatively new, and it is relatively small.

    I'm not involved but to make some guesses.

    As far as I know, PrivacyTools was originally (maybe still is) an open?, crowd-sourced, community-oriented project that started on Reddit. It quickly gained a community with other users joining the project. Their GitHub page was originally https://github.com/privacytools/privacytools.io but was archived on June 24, 2022. It is somewhere at this point, maybe a few months before, when a group broke off to become Privacy Guides, and the two groups have a sort of beef between them.

    I am unable to find if there is a public changelog, or a page with all of the PrivacyTools site changes and their dates other than that it is on v19.84 secure. I do believe that in order for a tool/site to be listed however, that it should match their criteria and also be suggested on this other site, so maybe Kagi was never suggested.

    Before June 2022, Kagi was in closed beta and the only way to get access was to sign-up and wait to recieve an email invitation. I had only heard of it because a user here on Tildes recommended it. Kagi was, and still is relatively new and small in comparison to other search engines based on popularity. On A look at search engines with their own indexes - Seirdy it is listed as one of the smaller "Semi-independent indexes" that falls back to Google-Bing-Yandex (GBY) when attempting to find results. To my knowledge, Kagi had always had a free tier but with a limited number of searches.

    1 vote

  8. Comment on Update to Kagi Search pricing in ~tech

    SheepWolf
    Link Parent
    I do extremely similar things, and I'm wondering if all of these trivial or casual searches are why my usage numbers are so high. In addition to having it correct my spelling, I also bet switching...

    I do extremely similar things, and I'm wondering if all of these trivial or casual searches are why my usage numbers are so high. In addition to having it correct my spelling, I also bet switching from the Web results page to the Image then Video results page and going back counts against me.

    I'm not proud to admit it, but since I pretty much always have my browser open my computer, when I need to do some simple math things, I'll usually just enter it into the search bar, have it calculate that, then use that result in the next few calculations. So I definitely need to adjust whatever it is I am doing.

    For now, what I did was just pay for the year plan so that I can at least have the Unlimited searches while I figure out how much I am willing to spend.

    3 votes

  10. Comment on Unpopular opinion: Wikipedia's old look was much better than the new one in ~tech

    SheepWolf
    Link Parent
    I don't really want to argue because I agree and most of what I am writing is just nitpicky, but I also read earlier in this post by @Atvelonis (both posts are the top posts for me) and I just...

    You can dislike it, your opinion is your opinion - but it's an objectively better design. It's more accessible and more usable. The narrower column is more readable. That's not an opinion - UI lab tests prove time and time again that humans read narrower columns more easily than wide ones.

    I don't really want to argue because I agree and most of what I am writing is just nitpicky, but I also read earlier in this post by @Atvelonis

    Wikipedia's readability has always been hampered by its excessive width. It's not even a matter of debate; the Foundation cites a mountain of research indicating that the number of characters per line Vector 2010 supports is not only high, it's way too high—like three times as much as the optimal reading value.

    (both posts are the top posts for me) and I just wanted to point out a few things I found while trying to find more information.

     
    In the discussion page for Vector 2022 on Wikipedia, in response to a user posting the FAQ about the whitespace another user mentions the various sources (e.g. Computer text line lengths affect reading and learning by Peter Orton, Ph.D. IBM Center for Advanced Learning) often used are decades old.

    The article by Peter Orton has been written in 2007; it contains the line "Isn’t reading text on a low resolution computer monitor difficult enough?" that shows that the research is somewhat dated. The articles listed in the Research section of the MediaWiki have been published in the following years: 2005, 2002, 2001, 2013, 2002, 2003, 2004 (the most recent, written ten years ago, addresses the problem of line length in the context of dyslexia). Modern monitors have exceptional resolutions, it seems strange to base one's design choices on decades old research.

    Regarding resolutions (as examples), Youtube added 1080p support in 2009, the Wikipedia page for 1080p mentions smartphones getting 1080p FHD on the market in 2012. Netflix in 2013.

     
    Another point that was made is that this article, Myth #28: White space is wasted space - UX Myths, is cited in the MediaWiki FAQ and used frequently as justification but has some issues with it.

    In your link to UX Myth #28, there are no viable sources given, save for one mention of a "lab research PDF" from Wichita State University, and that link is broken. It is plausible the blog post in question was skewed in favor of advertisers to better accommodate ad space, something WMF does not need to concern itself with. Please endeavor to remove this link from the FAQ to prevent the spread of confusion or misinformation.

    In addition, the cited "20% increase in reader comprehension" originates from a 2004 study (Lin, D. Y. M. (2004). ["Evaluating older adults' retention in hypertext perusal: impacts of presentation media as a function of text topology."] Computers in Human Behavior).
    This study was conducted on only 24 participants ranging from 62 to 80 years old (mean 69.67). I would question the pertinence of this study in regards to the wider Wikipedia audience, which obviously spans a more varied age range ; are more comprehensive studies of whitespace's effect on reader comprehension available to support this choice ?

    Actually, after further investigation into this study, it didn't even pertain to whitespace in the first place, only to "multimedia interface in hypertext perusal", that is, the use of images and/or animated graphs to increase retention scores. The cited 20% increase seems to have no reliable source.

     
    While doing my (very limited) amount of research to find what the ideal amount characters or space for readability was, I found there isn't really an agreed upon amount.

    Researchers have suggested that longer lines are better for quick scanning, while shorter lines are better for accuracy. Longer lines would then be better suited for cases when the information will likely be scanned, while shorter lines would be appropriate when the information is meant to be read thoroughly. One proposal advanced that, in order for on-screen text to have the best compromise between reading speed and comprehension, about 55 cpl should be used. On the other hand, there have been studies indicating that digital text at 100 cpl can be read faster than text with lines of 25 characters, while retaining the same level of comprehension.

    I also want to point out here that several times I've come across that longer lines would be better for people who quickly scan Wikipedia vs shorter lines for when that information needs to be thoroughly processed, which directly contradicts any points that state that smaller numbers are objectively better without stating the case it is used for.

    Some other discussion (also fairly old) on Stack Exchange that also has other numbers and links to other sources:
    text - What is the best number of paragraph width for readability? - User Experience Stack Exchange
    website design - Ideal column width for paragraphs online - User Experience Stack Exchange

     
    Lastly, I want to reiterate I am not against the new design and absolutely agree that whitespace is necessary, but something I just found amusing was this discussion on the Talk Page.

    Is there a way to get even more white space?

    I'm not a fan of text, I mostly come to Wikipedia for the white space. So as you can imagine, I was very pleased with the new layout. But the problem still remains that there is a lot of the page which is sadly being taken up by pointless text. Is there a way to shrink down the articles even further? Ideally, I'd like a single column of words, one word wide, down the center of the page. Xyzzyplugh (talk) 11:36, 23 January 2023 (UTC)

    Vector 2023 is scheduled for release on 1 April. By default, it will show just one character per line, but we are assured that there will be a "widescreen" toggle to show a whole word. (Longer words may not be supported initially.) Certes (talk) 11:44, 23 January 2023 (UTC)

    3 votes

  11. Comment on Why the super rich are inevitable? in ~finance

    SheepWolf
    Link Parent
    I imagine it has to do with simplification of history. Assuming I know nothing about the French Revolution and French history, I can at least make some broad assumptions based on what you've...

    I imagine it has to do with simplification of history. Assuming I know nothing about the French Revolution and French history, I can at least make some broad assumptions based on what you've written:

    1. Things are bad in France. France is lead by the monarchy, aristocrats, the rich and powerful, whoever. The common people are angry and blame the ones in charge. They use the guillotine to get rid of those they think are the reason why they are poor and suffering.
    2. A political vacuum is formed. Other people take power (Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety). Are things as bad as they were in 1.? For many the answer is yes, for some maybe the answer is no.
    3. More stuff happens. Maybe we can assume what happened in 1. also happened to Robespierre and the Committee of Public Safety. At some point Napoleon takes charge. Presumably things are better now for a different set of people, and things are bad for other people. Maybe or maybe not they are better than they were in 1. and 2.
    4. Eventually Napoleon becomes emperor, but also eventually he is defeated. Are things better than 1., 2. and 3. now?
    5. Knowing nothing about French history, we jump to present day France. Assuming this long chain of events lead from one thing to another, can we assume that (most?) modern French people are in a better position than they were in 1. when they were starving and angry enough to guillotine their rulers? Maybe we can safely assume so because none of the current rulers are currently being executed.

    Another simplification that might be made is that, Americans are familiar with the American Revolution. The American Revolution is similar in our/their minds in that the common people overthrew the unfair ruler-ship of the monarchy minus the use of guillotines.

    2 votes

  12. Comment on Looking for a very specific kind of submarine video game in ~games

    SheepWolf
    Link Parent
    I'm not sure what piloting a normal sub is like, but I do know the Iron Lung is controlled by a very, extremely simple ("minimalist" according to Wikipedia) panel with buttons you click to change...

    I'm not sure what piloting a normal sub is like, but I do know the Iron Lung is controlled by a very, extremely simple ("minimalist" according to Wikipedia) panel with buttons you click to change the direction of the sub ("the submarine's heading and forward velocity") and not through keyboard or mouse controls.

    I don't consider it a puzzle game of the type like Portal or other typical puzzle games, but there is a mystery and exploration I think is the main feature of the game.

    The game is very short so it probably won't be your main submarine game, but it might slightly scratch the itch.

    5 votes

  13. Comment on Looking for a very specific kind of submarine video game in ~games

    SheepWolf
    Link
    This might be stretching it but, does Iron Lung count? Set entirely within a claustrophobic one-man submarine nicknamed the "Iron Lung," ...you have to navigate purely via an incomplete map,...

    This might be stretching it but, does Iron Lung count?

    What I want is

    1. inside a submarine,

    Set entirely within a claustrophobic one-man submarine nicknamed the "Iron Lung,"

    1. looking at screens full of radar and sensor information,

    ...you have to navigate purely via an incomplete map, proximity sensors, sound, and a primitive external camera which can be used to take the pictures you need to complete your mission, or to get a grainy low resolution visual of what's happening outside.

    1. and letting me control the sub in a realistic manner, only with the information provided in the control room.

    Experimental minimalist gameplay, where your senses are limited and anything could be lurking around you
    Glimpse your surroundings through the lens of a grainy still camera and navigate using an incomplete satellite map and proximity sensors

    1. Ideally, I play on the Xbox. My laptop is a potato, so it's only good for very old or otherwise lightweight games

    System Requirements
    Minimum:
    Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
    OS: Windows 7/8/9/10
    Processor: Any made within the last decade
    Memory: 1 MB RAM
    Graphics: Any made within the last decade
    Storage: 200 MB available space
    Sound Card: Any
    Additional Notes: You can run this

    6 votes

  14. Comment on What's a video game that you really want to exist? in ~games

    SheepWolf
    Link Parent
    Natural Selection and the sequel Natural Selection 2 (previous games by the developers who made Subnautica) has tiny bits of the RTS (commander uses team resources to build structures on a map and...

    Natural Selection and the sequel Natural Selection 2 (previous games by the developers who made Subnautica) has tiny bits of the RTS (commander uses team resources to build structures on a map and take control of the map) and FPS (players as space marines fight other players as alien creatures) elements. A bit similar to some Battlefield games with the commander issuing orders but also with building/upgrading equipment.

    I can't say the games were extremely popular but I did like the unique take they had. I personally prefer single player games vs AI or games that also have a fun campaign (single player or co-op) like Warcraft/Starcraft/Age of Empires as I am in no way good enough to play competitively.

    2 votes

  15. Comment on What's a video game that you really want to exist? in ~games

    SheepWolf
    Link Parent
    This answer definitely had me go on a little journey to find good successors for Spore. Most are either abandoned or still in Early Access.

    This answer definitely had me go on a little journey to find good successors for Spore. Most are either abandoned or still in Early Access.

    2 votes

  16. Comment on Guild Wars 2 Steam launch and tenth anniversary is tomorrow in ~games

    SheepWolf
    Link Parent
    If you do decide to go through the Steam route, you'll have to use a brand new account which will resolve your inventory problems. The downside obviously is that you'll have none of the...

    (Note: Existing Guild Wars 2 accounts can’t be linked to Steam and vice versa. Please visit our knowledge base for more info

    If you do decide to go through the Steam route, you'll have to use a brand new account which will resolve your inventory problems. The downside obviously is that you'll have none of the potentially valuable items that have accumulated nor any of the progress in the game you've made so far. I'm in a similar (but more likely vastly smaller) boat.

    I think you get at least some of the same benefits if you manually add GW2 as a Non-Steam Game to Steam but I'm sure there's still some features that will be missing (I'm not sure what exactly though).

    4 votes

  17. Comment on Avatar: The Way of Water | Official teaser trailer in ~movies

  18. Comment on ‘Avatar 2’ is officially ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’: James Cameron debuts first footage at CinemaCon in ~movies

    SheepWolf
    Link Parent
    No clearly it's, "Avatar 5: The Last Air Bender" just to make everything more confusing.

    No clearly it's, "Avatar 5: The Last Air Bender" just to make everything more confusing.

    5 votes

  19. Comment on 64-year old finds the ejection handle in an impromptu fighter jet ride. He survives and now hates his co-workers. in ~transport

    SheepWolf
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    This was a fun little story. I'm sure there were many lessons learned. Maybe this will allow them to find and fix the potential flaw in the jet and other jets, and at the very least they didn't...

    This was a fun little story. I'm sure there were many lessons learned.

    Maybe this will allow them to find and fix the potential flaw in the jet and other jets, and at the very least they didn't lose the entire plane (brief look at Wikipedia mentions maybe €101.1 million or €160.5 million each?).

    3 votes

  20. Comment on Tens of millions of filthy, used medical gloves imported into the US in ~health

    SheepWolf
    Link
    An interesting thing from the article I only looked a tiny bit into is the story about Louis Ziskin. The article mentions Ziskin, CEO of AirQueen, one of the companies that got the counterfeit...

    An interesting thing from the article I only looked a tiny bit into is the story about Louis Ziskin. The article mentions Ziskin, CEO of AirQueen, one of the companies that got the counterfeit gloves:

    Louis Ziskin decided to go to Thailand in an effort to recover his company's lost $2.7 million, but things quickly went wrong.
    Ziskin and several others were arrested and charged with assault and kidnapping after a confrontation in a Bangkok restaurant.
    Ziskin says he wasn't there and strenuously denied the charges.

    I've only briefly searched online, but I think the story is more interesting than it first appeared. This press release from DropIn, another company Ziskin founded and was CEO of, explains he was actually in Thailand, not to recover some of the money AirQueen lost, but to

    file a criminal fraud complaint with the Economic Crimes Division of the Royal Thai Police

    The press release mentioned several news articles falsely reported or gave misleading/incorrect facts about when he was arrested in Thailand. For example this Daily Mail article (archive link, since it's a source I've heard that is not particularly reputable) says Ziskin was a former US marine but DropIn says he was never a marine nor enlisted in any military service. I also found other articles/news sources with images and videos, and the situation does sound a bit like a movie plot.

    I'm not sure if Ziskin had anything to do with the kidnapping/attempted murder/ransom case, but there actually is footage of a person that looks like they are being dragged out of a restaurant against their will. Some stuff about an Israeli private detective being hired, a different person who actually was a former US marine and other foreign collaborators (some still on the hunt from Thailand’s Crime Suppression Division), and a Taiwanese businessman being forced to call his employers for a ransom all sounds to me like something from a Taken film or other action flick.

    6 votes