sparksbet's recent activity
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Comment on Denmark has recalled several spicy ramen noodle products by South Korean company Samyang, claiming that the capsaicin levels in them could poison consumers in ~food
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Comment on Less than a month after the highly anticipated life sim Life By You was delayed without a new release date, Paradox has announced that the whole project has been cancelled in ~games
sparksbet Link ParentParalives is being funded in a... non-traditional way, which I think is a big part of the "no DLC ever!" stance.Paralives is being funded in a... non-traditional way, which I think is a big part of the "no DLC ever!" stance.
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Comment on Pride Month at Tildes: #6 - What media representation resonated with you personally? in ~lgbt
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Comment on I toured a 'pocket community' of tiny home - the builders are trying to help solve the housing crisis in Canada in ~life
sparksbet Link ParentI'm not going to claim the size of the country is completely inconsequential, but I just don't think it's the main factor when a relatively tiny country like Ireland also has high rates of people...I'm not going to claim the size of the country is completely inconsequential, but I just don't think it's the main factor when a relatively tiny country like Ireland also has high rates of people living in homes instead of apartments.
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Comment on I toured a 'pocket community' of tiny home - the builders are trying to help solve the housing crisis in Canada in ~life
sparksbet Link ParentI don't think it makes sense to equate the size of a country with how many people live in flats vs apartments -- this certainly doesn't hold when you compare countries within the EU with one...I don't think it makes sense to equate the size of a country with how many people live in flats vs apartments -- this certainly doesn't hold when you compare countries within the EU with one another, since there's such wide variation between them. Ireland and the Netherlands both have lower percentages among EU countries, and neither has huge swaths of empty land at the scale of someplace like Canada. There's obviously a rural/urban divide in it -- obviously far more people live in apartments in big cities and very few do in rural areas -- but I don't think the size of the country is to blame for differences in how small towns and suburbs are constructed, at least not principally. I suspect that's far more cultural than it is practical, at least on North America's end.
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Comment on I toured a 'pocket community' of tiny home - the builders are trying to help solve the housing crisis in Canada in ~life
sparksbet Link ParentAs of 2021, 46.4% of EU residents lived in apartments. This is averaged across the entire EU, so in some countries it's an even higher proportion -- here in Germany it's 56.4%, and in Spain it's...As of 2021, 46.4% of EU residents lived in apartments. This is averaged across the entire EU, so in some countries it's an even higher proportion -- here in Germany it's 56.4%, and in Spain it's 65.7% -- and in others it's a lower proportion (in Ireland it's 10%). I'm having trouble finding a hard percentage on this for the US, but I did find a stat that 39% of US renters live in apartments. This means that the rate when including all Americans is almost certainly MUCH lower, since the home ownership rate in the US is relatively high (~66% of homes in the US are occupied by their owner). So I think it's safe to say that in most of Europe, a far larger proportion of the population lives in apartments compared to in the US.
It is also definitely far less uncommon for families with kids to live in apartments here in Europe than it is in the US. I got sick of googling, but for my anecdotal experience: My apartment is 84 m^2 (and that includes a huge balcony, so the floorplan without that is almost certainly smaller than these tiny houses) and I have neighbors with kids in units with the same floorplan or only marginally larger ones.
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Comment on Science fiction or fantasy recommendations for children in ~books
sparksbet LinkLooking back on what I liked reading at that age, most of it's covered. The only thing I have to add is that my favorite author when I was her age (and your description of her reminds me of a lot...Looking back on what I liked reading at that age, most of it's covered. The only thing I have to add is that my favorite author when I was her age (and your description of her reminds me of a lot of me at that age) was Gail Carson Levine. She seems like a pretty precocious reader, so they'll be pretty easy reads for her. They have largely happy endings, but the plots are interesting and they have well-written female protagonists without being overly focused on romance like a lot of the books aimed slightly over are. I still enjoy a nostalgic re-read of them, and I'm in my late 20s now.
Off the topic of my head after skimming the comments I'll echo the following recommendations: Mortal Engines, the Inheritance Cycle, Percy Jackson (and the other related books), maybe Hunger Games.
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Comment on Science fiction or fantasy recommendations for children in ~books
sparksbet Link ParentI loved The Hobbit at about this age when I read it, but didn't get much enjoyment out of reading LotR at around 12 (though tbf I was barreling through bc my parents insisted I had to read the...I loved The Hobbit at about this age when I read it, but didn't get much enjoyment out of reading LotR at around 12 (though tbf I was barreling through bc my parents insisted I had to read the books before we could watch the movies).
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Comment on The Steam Deck now has over 5,000 Verified games in ~games
sparksbet Link ParentWorth noting that there's a Decky plugin to add badges from and links to ProtonDB to games on the Steam deck! Highly recommend it.Worth noting that there's a Decky plugin to add badges from and links to ProtonDB to games on the Steam deck! Highly recommend it.
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Comment on The Steam Deck now has over 5,000 Verified games in ~games
sparksbet Link ParentOh wow, I didn't know Steam added the verification tags without input from the devs! That explains a lot in this case. I'm not surprised the dev replied to your email tbh, he's super responsive in...Oh wow, I didn't know Steam added the verification tags without input from the devs! That explains a lot in this case. I'm not surprised the dev replied to your email tbh, he's super responsive in general. I may try to email Steam customer support myself sometime in the future if I have a slow day at work, because it really annoys me that it's verified as well.
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Comment on What have we liberals done to the US west coast? in ~misc
sparksbet Link ParentIn general, there just aren't coalitions in US congress, presumably since presidential elections are separate from electing representatives in congress. In a parliamentary system the government...In general, there just aren't coalitions in US congress, presumably since presidential elections are separate from electing representatives in congress. In a parliamentary system the government comes from whatever party is in power in parliament, and smaller parties will help dominant parties form a coalition in order to have their say in some of that government's policies, in return for their votes when passing legislation. But since the appointees in and policies of the executive branch are largely independent of the legislative branch in the US, this kind of deal doesn't work out.
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Comment on Why we should buff more than nerf in ~games
sparksbet Link ParentI've played League of Legends maybe a handful of times over ten years ago and even I know that League has jungling.I've played League of Legends maybe a handful of times over ten years ago and even I know that League has jungling.
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Comment on The Steam Deck now has over 5,000 Verified games in ~games
sparksbet Link ParentFwiw, the DLC can be made to work on Linux (with some finagling to make it run within the same wine prefix as the main game -- iirc I got it to work following instructions from someone's review on...A game called "Who's's Lila" requires you install a DLC (which is a separate program) to progress the story, and the DLC doesn't work on Linux.
Fwiw, the DLC can be made to work on Linux (with some finagling to make it run within the same wine prefix as the main game -- iirc I got it to work following instructions from someone's review on protondb). The problem is that you can't run both at the same time (which is necessary to get the additional content from the separate program) unless you run the game in desktop mode in addition to finagling with wine to get the DLC program to run, which is just not sensible on the Deck. Who's Lila is a game with ARG elements, so you also need to visit particular websites to progress in the game and some content even requires editing your save files using a text editor. So it's a bit of a weird case when it comes to stuff like Steam verification, but 100% agree it should not have "Verified" status and if there were a method to report it, I would. I definitely recommend you try it out on your desktop sometime, though -- it's a great game.
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Comment on What have we liberals done to the US west coast? in ~misc
sparksbet Link ParentWell, I'm a trans person who has a period, and I thus think that your subjective assessment of the utility of this measure is based on a failure to really consider the perspective of those it...What I will say is if I had $5 million of onetime funds with the task of best supporting trans youth into the future for the state of Oregon, I would have spent the funds differently. And that is the crux of the issue and why I feel some of this is more for performance for the electorate than a deep desire to advance public health.
And this is an area I do have some expertise as I oversee a portfolio of public health initiatives, and we never have enough dollars to do all the good we would like.
Well, I'm a trans person who has a period, and I thus think that your subjective assessment of the utility of this measure is based on a failure to really consider the perspective of those it actually affects. But in any case, I think we'll have to agree to disagree on the bulk of this.
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Comment on What have we liberals done to the US west coast? in ~misc
sparksbet Link ParentYour initial complaint was that this was purely performative (and that's also even more brazenly the complaint in the article). When it was pointed out by others in these comments that, no, this...Your initial complaint was that this was purely performative (and that's also even more brazenly the complaint in the article). When it was pointed out by others in these comments that, no, this policy is something that would concretely help trans boys at these schools, thereby making it not merely performative, the argument then becomes "it's a waste of money, they should have spent that money running surveys figuring out how we can actually help trans kids instead". Heck, you don't even know for sure that they didn't consult some survey or statistics here. There's plenty of stats on period poverty, and it's not hard to find trans people talking about how important period inclusivity is. You're just assuming that the state government didn't consider the issue holistically because you disagree with what they chose to do.
Having period products available in school bathrooms is something that we already know concretely benefits kids -- that's why advocates campaign to have them available for free for students in schools. Is this always a waste of money, despite the fact that period poverty has well-documented negative effects on students? Or is it only a waste of money when it concerns trans kids, because we don't care when those negative effects disproportionately affect them?
Most other steps to improve trans students' lives at school are not things that you install or spend money on directly, but rather grander scale issues of school culture and support from teachers and administration. These are not the types of things you can just throw money at and solve. By contrast, providing period products in both girl's and boy's bathrooms is comparatively cheap andow effort compared to the positive effects it can have on affected students. If someone thinks providing period products for trans boys is "performative", I don't trust them to support the state putting time and effort into pretty much any other trans issue, because very few of them are as straightforward as this one.
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Comment on Why tackling accent bias matters at work in ~humanities.languages
sparksbet Link ParentThis isn't even something limited to the media or upper-classes. I'm white and from the suburbs in Northeast Ohio, so my dialect is very close to the "standard" in ways that mean I don't have to...This isn't even something limited to the media or upper-classes. I'm white and from the suburbs in Northeast Ohio, so my dialect is very close to the "standard" in ways that mean I don't have to consciously unlearn the dialect I grew up with. But even I have been subtly influenced by those around me in order to sound less regional -- when I moved to a city where people said "soda" rather than "pop", I mostly switched over. My dialect pronounces the "short a" sound (as in "cat") in a particularly distinctive way, which I've toned down since moving away.
And I'm a linguist, so I've had "all dialects are equally valid and only culture and prejudice is why some are seen as better or worse" drilled into my head. Imagine how hard it is for a poor black kid who grew up speaking AAVE (short for "African American Vernacular English"), who's gone through their whole life being told that way of speaking is wrong and makes them stupid.
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Comment on Making another pickproof lock (but better) in ~engineering
sparksbet Link ParentYeah this is part of what I meant about legitimate reasons and impeding normal function of the lock -- if the lock breaks you do usually want to be able to get it open and remove it! This is why...Yeah this is part of what I meant about legitimate reasons and impeding normal function of the lock -- if the lock breaks you do usually want to be able to get it open and remove it! This is why even a pick-proof lock like this one probably isn't fit for most purposes (what if you get locked out of your apartment? It's cheaper to get back in if the locksmith can pick the lock!) Similar with preventing key-copying -- you usually want to be able to make additional keys!
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Comment on What have we liberals done to the US west coast? in ~misc
sparksbet Link ParentWhile FPTP voting is responsible for two dominant parties, it's not the only reason when it comes to the US that any third parties are so non-existent. You can see this by comparing it to the UK,...While FPTP voting is responsible for two dominant parties, it's not the only reason when it comes to the US that any third parties are so non-existent. You can see this by comparing it to the UK, which also uses FPTP (and thus has two dominant parties) but which does have other parties with significant enough presence that coalitions in parliament to form a government are a thing.
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Comment on What have we liberals done to the US west coast? in ~misc
sparksbet Link ParentWhile technically there are other parties, in practice the US has two parties. In the current congress, there are 4 independent members in the Senate (of a total of 100) and 0 independent members...While technically there are other parties, in practice the US has two parties. In the current congress, there are 4 independent members in the Senate (of a total of 100) and 0 independent members in the House (of a total of 435). While there may be some places where a third party has some sway at a very local level, at a national level any third party is virtually non-existent and any serious presidential candidate will run with one of the two dominant parties (for instance, Bernie Sanders is an independent in the Senate but ran in the Democratic party primaries).
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Comment on What have we liberals done to the US west coast? in ~misc
sparksbet Link ParentThis reads like "anything that could possibly help trans kids is something we should criticize even when it's been pointed out to be generally cheap and beneficial" in the context of the rest of...When we are talking about <3% of 25% of 50% of the youth population under 12, I think it is valid to debate the ways to roll out roles and programs to maximize short and long term benefits.
This reads like "anything that could possibly help trans kids is something we should criticize even when it's been pointed out to be generally cheap and beneficial" in the context of the rest of this conversation.
Given that Samyang Buldak ramen doesn't include either capsaicin content OR Scoville units on their packaging, it seems like the DTU research was based on extrapolating from something that was already a guess (I highly doubt Danish retailers were determining their advertised Scoville units through any sort of rigorous testing). Furthermore, even if the Scoville units for the noodles were accurate, it's not really possible to accurately estimate capsaicin content directly from them. The human perception of spiciness, which is what Scoville units measure, is influenced by a TON of factors other than capsaicin content. For instance, people online will give different Scoville units for the Buldak sauce on its own vs the sauce as part of a whole bowl of ramen, even though they obviously contain the exact same amount of capsaicin, because dilution and the presence of other ingredients are a huge factor in human perception of spiciness.