Tuaam's recent activity

  1. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    Tuaam
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    Are those really the best two? I would have assumed Synchronicity and Dazzle Ships would be better (then again Dazzle Ships was panned at the time of it's release) Rock n Soul is a great comp though

    Are those really the best two? I would have assumed Synchronicity and Dazzle Ships would be better

    (then again Dazzle Ships was panned at the time of it's release)

    Rock n Soul is a great comp though

    1 vote

  2. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    Tuaam
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    I've been listening to a whole lot of Bow Wow Wow, picked up their compilation CD which had their hits and plenty of picks from their first two albums and my god they're just a fantastic band...

    I've been listening to a whole lot of Bow Wow Wow, picked up their compilation CD which had their hits and plenty of picks from their first two albums and my god they're just a fantastic band overall. It's basically Adam and the Ants but mixed with alot of African and Latin influences (most of it ripped off, unfortunately). Of course, they're only ever known for their cover of 'I Want Candy', but have much better songs like Do you wanna hold me. They're also known for releasing the first ever cassette single and were famous for being an early example of the piracy culture involving music.

    However, the more you read into the band the more you realize how controversial and exploitative their manager (Malcolm Mclaren) was, especially with their (then underage) lead singer. It eventually led to him ditching the band, where they went forward and made a final LP. When you take all of this into account there's a veneer of "weirdness" around his character; He obviously contributed alot of Punk and New-Wave but most of his work took from alot of other stuff which he didin't really give proper credit for and some of it feels pretentious.

    Overall, great band and they have some fantastic musicmanship, being the former members from Adam Ant's band. Overall fun vibe, their music is extremely light-hearted and less darker and edgier than their new-wave counterparts.

    1 vote

  3. Comment on Generals Zero Hour vs Red Alert 2 in ~games

    Tuaam
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    I never really got into RA2 and to be honest I preferred RA1 more (not to mention OpenRA is a thing), I'd go with Generals. I dunno, Generals just feels memeable, the entire series is memeable but...

    I never really got into RA2 and to be honest I preferred RA1 more (not to mention OpenRA is a thing), I'd go with Generals. I dunno, Generals just feels memeable, the entire series is memeable but Generals has the GLA which is the most hilarious faction ever

    1 vote

  4. Comment on What's a game that you feel like you missed out on? in ~games

    Tuaam
    Link Parent
    I got into it when I was in Middle School (around the same time). At the time everyone used the minecraftforums, I think people still use it but it's shifted attention. It also got me into PC...

    Had I missed it, I probably would have already aged out of being into the game, whenever it got popular around 2011. Still blows my mind how it became one of the biggest games ever

    I got into it when I was in Middle School (around the same time). At the time everyone used the minecraftforums, I think people still use it but it's shifted attention.

    It also got me into PC gaming, it did start a revolution in video gaming similar to stuff like Doom

  5. Comment on What's a game that you feel like you missed out on? in ~games

    Tuaam
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    I missed alot of classic PC games which were hugely popular in the 90s, like Doom, Quake, and duke3D. Obviously you can experience them as played with OG hardware and enjoy them on emulated...

    I missed alot of classic PC games which were hugely popular in the 90s, like Doom, Quake, and duke3D. Obviously you can experience them as played with OG hardware and enjoy them on emulated systems and source ports, but never that original experience of connecting to computer networks and downloading stuff / joining multiplayer matches.

    So for me I think I missed out on alot of classic PC multiplayer gaming, though that in itself was still in it's infancy.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on Is anyone else frustrated with the eBay buying experience? in ~tech

    Tuaam
    Link Parent
    I barely use the site as is, I use the app more. I think the worst offenders are sellers from distant countries who sell you defective merchandise under the guise of it being "tested". But if you...

    I barely use the site as is, I use the app more.

    I think the worst offenders are sellers from distant countries who sell you defective merchandise under the guise of it being "tested". But if you stick to trusted sellers in your own country it seems to work fine.

    1 vote

  7. Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music

    Tuaam
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    I got this 45rpm Squeeze single called "Labeled with Love" from the record store just yesterday. Kinda lame country-ballad which deals with some sort of post-war heartbreak story, it was 2 bucks....

    I got this 45rpm Squeeze single called "Labeled with Love" from the record store just yesterday. Kinda lame country-ballad which deals with some sort of post-war heartbreak story, it was 2 bucks. It was also produced by Elvis Costello which is the only notable thing about it.

    The B-side was this completely awesome mash-up of their previous songs (Cool for Cats, Goodbye Girl, Is this love) which was much, much better. I had a squeeze comp cassette somewhere but I unfortunately returned it back to the store for some reason, wish I kept it.

    Besides this I also found a Bryan Ferry album (His debut), Heaven 17 (How Men Are), and a Cars album (Panorama). Pretty good selection, and it was all under 15 bucks.

    1 vote

  8. Comment on Swiss church installs AI-powered Jesus in ~humanities

    Tuaam
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    This sorta reminds me of a suggestion which once popped up in a muslim friend group about an "AI Fatwa Generator" and that it could generate fatwas in real-time for a wide variety of situations....

    This sorta reminds me of a suggestion which once popped up in a muslim friend group about an "AI Fatwa Generator" and that it could generate fatwas in real-time for a wide variety of situations. Obviously there would be no AI depictions of any religious figures here due to the restrictions imposed by iconoclasm (which makes sense given the context) but I'm assuming the bot would be trained on a wide variety of historical and modern fiqh manuals (Fiqh is similar to Jewish Halaka, btw).

    I think the problem here is that we have Fatwa websites which exist and they're always controversial because they're only good for generic questions (I.e, which direction to pray if you don't have a compass), but anything really specific or related to domestic issues is not something you should go to a website for. Secondly, many Fiqh manuals are historically-context sensitive because they're obviously centered around the culture they were written in (People in 8th century Iraq live differently than people in 21st century Iraq, for instance). Having a robot just get random answers from century-old books doesn't make sense, and it underlines the fact that you should really just be going to a real-life person for this sort of stuff.

    Technology helps us in numerous ways, but sometimes it's experiments like this which make me think that it's not to be used for everything.

    7 votes

  9. Comment on Framework’s first desktop is a strange—but unique—mini ITX gaming PC in ~tech

    Tuaam
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    This looks really nice, I think the problem is that Desktop PC's have been long-standardized into a market of custom-built PC's since the OEM market got shot a decade ago (it was their own fault),...

    This looks really nice, I think the problem is that Desktop PC's have been long-standardized into a market of custom-built PC's since the OEM market got shot a decade ago (it was their own fault), or mini-itx computers with semi-modular components which are common in office spaces. People buy desktop computers because they expect a lasting product, if the product doesn't afford upgrade-ability then there isn't much of a point.

    I'll say that the chassis is remarkably small, normally for computers this size they'd have to make it larger to contain the DVD-rom drive and (at the time) a floppy drive.

    1 vote

  10. Comment on What is a book that every 13-year-old boy should read? in ~books

    Tuaam
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    I can't really recommend anything seriously heavy like The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath but I deeply recommend that for anyone who is much older (That is, in their early 20s). But I would recommend...

    I can't really recommend anything seriously heavy like The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath but I deeply recommend that for anyone who is much older (That is, in their early 20s). But I would recommend "Flowers For Algernon" if you're looking for something that deals with mental health.

    As for books for a 13-year old, I think "Of Mice and Men" and "The Outsiders" are perfect. "The Outsiders" is an excellent coming of age novel which deals with numerous themes like friendship and the loss of innocence. Of Mice and Men is a book about companionship, a depressing one but it signifies the friendship between two unlikely people in a time period where there is complete animosity.

    For Wartime novels this is a much difficult question, but I read Night when I was 12. The ending fucked me up because... Well I mean it's obvious due to it's themes of complete annihilation and the concept of god, but if a kid can stomach that then I'd suggest it.

    1 vote

  11. Comment on Playing DOS and Windows 98 games on a retro PC (real hardware) in ~games

    Tuaam
    Link Parent
    This is actually a very good point. And people underestimate how well old technology can work given you take care of it. For instance, my 486 from 30 years ago works totally fine, just as if it...

    What's not so good is that recycling is a distant regime of energy efficiency from simply keeping your shit working and not buying a new device quite so often. We can refine our infrastructure and processes to be more efficient, but we'll never reach the efficiency of doing it right in the first place. It takes energy–and at present, that means fossil fuels to a great extent–to recycle materials. It takes trucks to transport, machinery and human labor to sort, and electricity to run smelters. It takes much less energy to have someone replace a component on a main board, or the display on a phone. It's just not as monetarily efficient for huge corporations, so they don't even bother.

    This is actually a very good point. And people underestimate how well old technology can work given you take care of it. For instance, my 486 from 30 years ago works totally fine, just as if it were 1995. We're stuck in this constant loop of buying new technology which yeah, makes sense if you want new technology or new graphics hardware, but there's no incentive to keep a product when you don't need anything else.

    Maybe we will break out of this vicious cycle when we run into problems with our current workflow.

    1 vote

  12. Comment on US Department of Housing and Urban Development workers greeted by AI video of Donald Trump licking 'Real King' Elon Musk's (two left) feet in ~society

    Tuaam
    Link Parent
    I ought to watch this. Thanks for the mention

    I ought to watch this. Thanks for the mention

  13. Comment on US Department of Housing and Urban Development workers greeted by AI video of Donald Trump licking 'Real King' Elon Musk's (two left) feet in ~society

    Tuaam
    Link
    Why does everything feel like a South Park / Family Guy episode all of a sudden. I don't even think I know what's going on in my country's government anymore

    Why does everything feel like a South Park / Family Guy episode all of a sudden. I don't even think I know what's going on in my country's government anymore

    18 votes

  14. Comment on Audio enthusiasts share your audio setups in ~hobbies

    Tuaam
    Link Parent
    I think Equalizers are totally fine in a few instances - my EQ is a 4 band EQ and I only use it for pressings or headphones which require some sort of EQ to enjoy. For instance, alot of older...

    I think Equalizers are totally fine in a few instances - my EQ is a 4 band EQ and I only use it for pressings or headphones which require some sort of EQ to enjoy. For instance, alot of older records are very distorted and can lack bass, adding in EQ can fix this (though obviously you don't want to go overboard). Headphones like the Breyerdynamics are notoriously detailed, so having EQ where you decrease the treble and increase the bass will make your listening experience more palpable, and this is especially true for records as they can have alot of problems with the high-range (As in, tracking and sibilance).

    I think for speakers they're more or less a necessity to equalize your listening experience (get it), but for headphones they're loved or hated.

    1 vote

  15. Comment on Playing DOS and Windows 98 games on a retro PC (real hardware) in ~games

    Tuaam
    Link Parent
    Ah if it were a Core 2 Duo system that's probably not worth so much It's sad that we go through recycling so much without looking at what it's worth beforehand.

    Ah if it were a Core 2 Duo system that's probably not worth so much

    It's sad that we go through recycling so much without looking at what it's worth beforehand.

    1 vote

  16. Comment on Playing DOS and Windows 98 games on a retro PC (real hardware) in ~games

    Tuaam
    Link Parent
    Jesus Christ at that point you might as well just bin the system or pray for divine intervention What was it, a 2000s OEM pc or something older?

    Jesus Christ at that point you might as well just bin the system or pray for divine intervention

    What was it, a 2000s OEM pc or something older?

    1 vote

  17. Comment on Playing DOS and Windows 98 games on a retro PC (real hardware) in ~games

    Tuaam
    Link Parent
    Yep. Had a Gateway 486 33c with a busted barrel battery and that leaked all over the mainboard, destroying the keyboard encoder (long IC responsible for decoding and encoding keystrokes) and an...

    Yep. Had a Gateway 486 33c with a busted barrel battery and that leaked all over the mainboard, destroying the keyboard encoder (long IC responsible for decoding and encoding keystrokes) and an ISA slot. Replacing the IC socket it damaged was bad enough, and I was lucky the chip survived (which replacing it made the keyboard work), but getting a new replacement CR2022 battery was tough luck. I luckily have another 486 with a socketed dallas RTC chip.

    Other issues like bad capacitors is only inherent with motherboards and graphics cards made during the 2000s. Most 90s stuff tends to be higher quality, unless it's something notorious like pcchips. When you ignore all that though and like, have a working 486 in a nice AT case that you've fixed then there's a sense of pride and accomplishment which is somehow more satisfying than building a modern computer.

    1 vote

  18. Comment on Valve releases Team Fortress 2 source code in ~games

    Tuaam
    Link Parent
    It was one of the first games I got into when I built a PC. I also got into mapping and would frequent TF2Maps, now I've kinda stopped due to Hammer being very unweildly to use but it's a good...

    It was one of the first games I got into when I built a PC. I also got into mapping and would frequent TF2Maps, now I've kinda stopped due to Hammer being very unweildly to use but it's a good game, and honestly I'd love to dig into the source code.

    4 votes

  20. Comment on I'm alarmed by the apparent lack of an actual deep state in ~society

    Tuaam
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    I think the closest analogue to a Deep State would be intelligence services which are so clearly deep into the operation of a specific nation that they superceed anything. Contrary to popular...

    I think the closest analogue to a Deep State would be intelligence services which are so clearly deep into the operation of a specific nation that they superceed anything. Contrary to popular belief, I do not believe this is the CIA. Then again, I guess we don't really know.

    The only example I could think about is maybe the East German Stasi. But I think a genuine example would be Pakistan's ISI.

    8 votes