Timwi's recent activity
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Comment on New ‘Star Trek’ movie in works at Paramount from Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) in ~movies
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Comment on Advice on Fairphone in ~tech
Timwi Link ParentMany thanks for the information you have provided. It sounds quite hopeful (I don't intend to use the camera much). You talk a lot about alternative operating systems; I'm a little scared of that...Many thanks for the information you have provided. It sounds quite hopeful (I don't intend to use the camera much). You talk a lot about alternative operating systems; I'm a little scared of that personally. I'm liking the open-source idea and I would want to use F-Droid to make use of free software, but I don't know if I can live entirely with F-Droid alone without Google Play.
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Comment on Advice on Fairphone in ~tech
Timwi Link ParentThank you so much for taking the trouble of typing this all out for me. I appreciate your input, although your caveat that it applies to an older product is quite a big one.Thank you so much for taking the trouble of typing this all out for me. I appreciate your input, although your caveat that it applies to an older product is quite a big one.
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Comment on Advice on Fairphone in ~tech
Timwi Link ParentThank you so much for taking the effort to type up this summary. Really appreciate it.Thank you so much for taking the effort to type up this summary. Really appreciate it.
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Comment on New ‘Star Trek’ movie in works at Paramount from Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) in ~movies
Timwi Link ParentI'm with you on Discovery and Picard. My feeling about SNW is like a breath of fresh air after those. I feel that SNW is a worthy new Star Trek show; it's what TOS could have been if it had modern...I'm with you on Discovery and Picard. My feeling about SNW is like a breath of fresh air after those. I feel that SNW is a worthy new Star Trek show; it's what TOS could have been if it had modern visual effects and modern social mores.
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Comment on Advice on Fairphone in ~tech
Timwi Link ParentYou're implying I can't just put the SIM card from my old phone in it? I naively assumed that I could just do that. What's the obstacle there?You're implying I can't just put the SIM card from my old phone in it? I naively assumed that I could just do that. What's the obstacle there?
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Comment on NATO alphabet in ~talk
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Advice on Fairphone
I have been an Android user for a long time, but I never bothered to buy a new phone when I didn't feel I needed one, so my current phone is very old (Android 7.0). There are several annoyances I...
I have been an Android user for a long time, but I never bothered to buy a new phone when I didn't feel I needed one, so my current phone is very old (Android 7.0). There are several annoyances I see in modern smartphones that I'm kinda hoping to avoid, the biggest one being that I want to be able to replace the battery. I'm therefore eyeing the Fairphone for being modular and repairable.
- Has anyone used a Fairphone and can talk a bit about what it's like?
- Does anyone know the best time of year to get the best deal? Should I wait until after Christmas?
- Will I still be able to side-load/use F-Droid? I hear that Google is putting a stop to this but if I get one that allows it now, will it continue to allow it in perpetuity?
Would love to hear some input from fellow nerds who know more about this stuff than I.
Edit to add: I'm in Germany.
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Comment on New ‘Star Trek’ movie in works at Paramount from Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) in ~movies
Timwi Link ParentI liked Enterprise too, but on top of that I'm also loving Star Trek: Strange New Worlds right now. After the total fiasco that was both Discovery and Picard I'm glad I stayed around to discover...I liked Enterprise too, but on top of that I'm also loving Star Trek: Strange New Worlds right now. After the total fiasco that was both Discovery and Picard I'm glad I stayed around to discover this gem among the dredge. (I also happen to think Star Trek Prodigy is decent and I would have loved to see a third season.)
If they are willing to listen to the fan feedback on all these new series, I think they have a decent chance to create something of value.
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Comment on Body time and daylight savings apologetics in ~life
Timwi Link ParentIn addition to what the other commenter said, another unwanted effect of your proposal is that the date rolls over in the middle of the day for many people. Suddenly you can no longer say “let's...In addition to what the other commenter said, another unwanted effect of your proposal is that the date rolls over in the middle of the day for many people. Suddenly you can no longer say “let's meet on Tuesday” because “Tuesday” now encompasses an evening, a night and the following morning.
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Comment on Tildes' Colossal Game Adventure: Inauguration and nominations in ~games
Timwi LinkI'm not too late! I'll nominate two games for two different reasons: Prince of Persia — the one I played is the DOS version, but I'm sure versions for other platforms are equivalent in gameplay....I'm not too late! I'll nominate two games for two different reasons:
Prince of Persia — the one I played is the DOS version, but I'm sure versions for other platforms are equivalent in gameplay. I'm nominating this because of all the games I beat as a child, this is the one that kept me the most hooked relative to the amount of perseverance I needed to actually get the success ending. I was not very patient with any other game!
Alley Cat — because CGA. When you mentioned CGA (blocky graphics) this is the game that came to mind first. For a game this old it holds up surprisingly well even today!
Both of these can be played in DosBox.
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Comment on Could a space traveler accelerate at 1g forever? in ~space
Timwi Link ParentI did not say anything about growing to include new locations, but even if you want to define it that way, that still doesn't let you reach a location outside of it. I don't see how that squares...Also, you argue that by the time we get there, light must have gotten back from there to earth, so the observable universe has grown to include that location in the meantime.
I did not say anything about growing to include new locations, but even if you want to define it that way, that still doesn't let you reach a location outside of it.
However, unintuitively you can outrun light indefinitely while moving slower than c
I don't see how that squares with anything I know about relativity. You have some extraordinary explaining to do if you want to maintain this claim. If you're slower than c, then by definition you do not outrun light.
once you're far enough away from earth, the expansion of the universe is going to make your distance to earth grow faster than light as well.
Yes but that is true of everything, including things that aren't moving, so actually, I don't think that's relevant at all.
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Comment on Could a space traveler accelerate at 1g forever? in ~space
Timwi Link ParentThis contradicts the definition of observable universe. If you can get there without surpassing the speed of light, then light can get from there to us, so it's observable.you can actually get outside of what is the to us observable universe this way
This contradicts the definition of observable universe. If you can get there without surpassing the speed of light, then light can get from there to us, so it's observable.
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Comment on How many remakes have ever actually lived up to or surpassed the original? in ~movies
Timwi Link ParentThis is fascinating. I'd never heard of Nanban despite being a die-hard fan of 3 Idiots and considering it one of my top favorite movies (and having recommended it to many people). I'd be...This is fascinating. I'd never heard of Nanban despite being a die-hard fan of 3 Idiots and considering it one of my top favorite movies (and having recommended it to many people). I'd be intrigued to give Nanban a shot. However, I am not from India and am wholly unfamiliar with Hindi or Tamil culture, so none of your points in favor of the remake apply to me. Therefore, I suspect that a shot-by-shot remake will seem to me like essentially the same movie just with different actors than the ones I've come to love in those roles.
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Comment on What is the most insane, tedious, difficult, and/or noteworthy gaming achievement you have completed or given up on? in ~games
Timwi (edited )LinkWell, it's clear that you're asking for official achievements programmed into the game, rather than just personal achievements/milestones, but I'll ignore that and brag about my world record...Well, it's clear that you're asking for official achievements programmed into the game, rather than just personal achievements/milestones, but I'll ignore that and brag about my world record anyway.
I had a world record in a video game speedrunning category for over 10 years without knowing it. I posted it on YouTube at the time, unaware of the broader speedrunning community, and then forgot about it. This was at a time when YouTube videos were limited to 10 minutes! Getting the record took months of playing the game on end; today you would call it insane grinding.
I posted it to speedrun.com 4 years ago, after having discovered and binge-watched speedrunning videos from Summoning Salt. I didn't expect to be on top, I thought I was only second place, but to my surprise I was awarded the world record because it was retimed, and the website actually reflected the 10 years I've had the record for.
The previous record holder immediately came out of the woodworks and beat me within a week, and not by a little. There's no way I can ever reclaim the record. The new record is insane.
My record has since been beaten again 4 months ago, which means I'm in third place now.
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Comment on I wrote my first Chrome extension to simplify Wikipedia articles in ~comp
Timwi Link ParentWe must be talking about different LLMs then. I just pressed Random on Wikipedia a couple times and asked ChatGPT about the articles that came up and all of the answers were either “this is not a...We must be talking about different LLMs then. I just pressed Random on Wikipedia a couple times and asked ChatGPT about the articles that came up and all of the answers were either “this is not a famous person” (ChatGPT’s way of saying “I've never heard of them”) or a complete hallucination.
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Comment on ITA was a 1960s schools experiment that created a whole new alphabet – and left thousands of UK children unable to spell in ~humanities.languages
Timwi Link ParentI am fully aware of everything you said. I think you’re falling pray to a false binary choice: either make it completely 100% phonetic, or keep the current atrocity. I think English spelling could...I am fully aware of everything you said. I think you’re falling pray to a false binary choice: either make it completely 100% phonetic, or keep the current atrocity. I think English spelling could be significantly improved without making it 100% phonetic and without making US/UK spelling mutually unintelligible. I mentioned other languages precisely because they did exactly this: standardize on one dialect, sometimes an artificial one, and still end up with a vastly more useful and sensible spelling than English, even for people who speak a different dialect.
The issue described in your first paragraph is the only real reason that makes sense, and of course I’m aware of it too. Despite, it still seems reasonable that small changes could be made without reprinting everything. It should be acceptable to just start writing epitomy instead of epitome and not have everyone decry you for illiteracy. I think this kind of snobbish superiority is the main reason why the spelling is so unbelievably outdated in the first place.
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Comment on ITA was a 1960s schools experiment that created a whole new alphabet – and left thousands of UK children unable to spell in ~humanities.languages
Timwi Link ParentThis is a common objection to spelling reforms but I've always felt it's a total red herring. Firstly, spelling differences already exist between variants of English, so it's not without...they always assume a default or "standard" accent
This is a common objection to spelling reforms but I've always felt it's a total red herring.
Firstly, spelling differences already exist between variants of English, so it's not without precedent. We already teach our children the spelling of our own culture and then gradually introduce the minor differences that exist across the globe. With a phonetic reform, at least those differences would actually tell you about a real difference in pronunciation, unlike color/colour which is just pointless.
Secondly, most other languages manage to create a vastly more logical and consistent writing system than English’s despite the existence of dialects. The ridiculous complexity of English spelling isn't required just because of minor variations like the cot/caught merger or the presence or absence of rhoticity.
I don't think accents/dialects are the real reason for the pushback against spelling reform.
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Comment on The rise of Whatever in ~tech
Timwi Link ParentLLM hallucinations happen even if the training corpus doesn't contain any BS. LLMs are only mimicking the text in the training corpus, not the thought or sentiment behind the text. The training...LLM hallucinations happen even if the training corpus doesn't contain any BS. LLMs are only mimicking the text in the training corpus, not the thought or sentiment behind the text. The training process doesn't teach the LLM to self-reflect to determine whether it “knows” something or not.
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Comment on I wrote my first Chrome extension to simplify Wikipedia articles in ~comp
Timwi Link ParentSurely that'll depend on the article. There are plenty topics on Wikipedia obscure enough that an LLM won't have heard of, but there are also plenty where an LLM could shine.The LLM would probably do a pretty good job
Surely that'll depend on the article. There are plenty topics on Wikipedia obscure enough that an LLM won't have heard of, but there are also plenty where an LLM could shine.
You put me a bit on the spot there! It's not clear that I can judge season 3 for you if we already disagree on season 2.