V17's recent activity
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Comment on Does anyone here enjoy a whisk(e)y ? in ~food
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Comment on Does anyone here enjoy a whisk(e)y ? in ~food
V17 LinkI love smoky peaty whiskies. I grew up thinking I didn't like whisky because I only ever tasted the most common mainstream stuff like Jameson (least bad but still not great), Tullamore Dew, Johnny...I love smoky peaty whiskies. I grew up thinking I didn't like whisky because I only ever tasted the most common mainstream stuff like Jameson (least bad but still not great), Tullamore Dew, Johnny Walker Red or Jack Daniels. Thought it was decent with a coke but that's it. I still dislike most cheap blended whiskies with the exception of Grant's, which I think is surprisingly good for the price.
Then a few years later in a café/bar I randomly decided to order a glass of Laphroaig 10 and immediately fell in love just from the smell. A completely different world. And I just recently got back into it after not drinking at all for a few years so I do have a few discoveries that were new to me, though perhaps well known to real enthusiasts.
I still really like L. 10 and even prefer it to other classics like Lagavulin 16 or Talisker 10, although it is certainly made worse by watering it down to 40%. I love Laphroaig An Cuan Mor, which is kind of like a stronger spinoff, and I bet the cask strength is great as well, but both are too expensive and not really worth it these days. Just like Lagavulin. And Ardbeg is supposedly not nearly as good as it used to be either.
Of the slightly less known stuff I'm a fan of As We Get It, independent cask strength bottling of anonymous distilleries - they buy quality whisky that doesn't really fit a distilery's profile and sell it as is. They do two editions: Highland and Islay. I've tasted three or four different bottles of Islay and while one was noticably better than others, all were great. Obviously very young, carrying a hint of the new make taste, but good quality and interesting. I thought the Highland edition was slightly less interesting, but that may just be my preference.
No idea how well known Ledaig 10 is, but I recommend it to everyone who likes smoke and wants to try something different from known Islay distilleries, it's also one of my favorites. In a local whisky bar it used to be the second most ordered drink after Laphroaig 10 for a while.
I'm also a fan of Glen Scotia 15, which is more expensive than it used to be, but it's one of the few non-peated whiskies that I really enjoy. Next from the non-peated category I recently (slightly less) enjoyed Inchgower 14, which is sadly not InchGrower and does not make your dick bigger, but it still tastes good.
Another recent discovery was AnCnoc, which makes a couple excellent whiskies for a very good price. Supposedly the 12 yo is excellent (I only gave it as a gift to a friend, but he was very happy), non-peated, and the Sherry Cask Finish Peated is really great as a cheapish "everyday" drink as well, not too peaty (and I usually don't enjoy sherry cask).
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Comment on Many lonely people would rather deal with a robot than interact with an actual human, according to research co-led by Newcastle University in ~health.mental
V17 Link ParentIf my post came across as "it's definitely depression", it's only by accident. I interpreted smoontjes' comment as purely a mental health problem and responded not even necessarily to their...If my post came across as "it's definitely depression", it's only by accident. I interpreted smoontjes' comment as purely a mental health problem and responded not even necessarily to their specific issues but also to the quote in the second paragraph. My point is that the mechanism "feel lonely, do actions that seem like they would exacerbate loneliness" seems similar to behavior within depression despite the fact that it's not depression, which I think is interesting.
I have chronic fatigue syndrome, so I'm familiar with doctors making unfounded assumptions about my mental health as well. Quite infuriating when it happens, and with a lot of potential of causing harm. I remember that POTS (maybe in chronic fatigue syndrome specifically) was considered to be psychosomatic, so fainting was categorized as psychogenic syncopes for like 20 years, until in the mid 90s someone used ultrasound probes to measure blood flow into the brain and found out that no, it's not psychogenic, it's the brain not getting enough blood. Infuriating.
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Comment on Throwback Thursday: Let's talk old flash and memes! in ~talk
V17 Link ParentThat 30 Rock joke is excellent in how bold it is. Youtube comments claim "There was also Hariet Tubman, changing her last name to Tubgirl." in a post-credits scene in one episode. Incredible.That 30 Rock joke is excellent in how bold it is. Youtube comments claim "There was also Hariet Tubman, changing her last name to Tubgirl." in a post-credits scene in one episode. Incredible.
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Comment on Throwback Thursday: Let's talk old flash and memes! in ~talk
V17 Link ParentWhen the Madness Combat game came out it was the coolest shit ever for a while. I remember it having a modding scene too.When the Madness Combat game came out it was the coolest shit ever for a while. I remember it having a modding scene too.
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Comment on Many lonely people would rather deal with a robot than interact with an actual human, according to research co-led by Newcastle University in ~health.mental
V17 Link ParentHere's a post on the topic with some more reasoning and sources. There isn't a lot - I was deliberate when I called it a hypothesis, we don't really know yet. Note that the author is Scott...Here's a post on the topic with some more reasoning and sources. There isn't a lot - I was deliberate when I called it a hypothesis, we don't really know yet. Note that the author is Scott Alexander who is somewhat controversial among some people around here, mainly due to his opinions on political or social issues, but this topic seems relatively safe as it's within his field - he's a psychiatrist.
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Comment on Wireless earphones: a belated review in ~tech
V17 Link ParentI agree except one thing: almost all bluetooth chips nowadays contain simple digital signal processing capabilities, which allow the manufacturer to improve their frequency response. This is not...I agree except one thing: almost all bluetooth chips nowadays contain simple digital signal processing capabilities, which allow the manufacturer to improve their frequency response. This is not as crucial with earbuds, which can already be made reasonably neutral for a relatively low price, but it still helps, and it can help tremendously with large headphones, which almost all have unwanted resonances and other aberrations on the frequency response because avoiding those is just really difficult and/or expensive.
This has pretty much no downside and frequency response is the most important thing in sound quality, so paradoxically wireless headphones can give you better sound for less money even though you're paying for some additional electronics and batteries instead of just a cable.
That said, I still use wired headphones as well and one of the reasons why I chose the phone that I use is that it has a headphone jack.
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Comment on Probiotics: hype or helpful? An interview with Professor Jens Walter. in ~health
V17 Link ParentI do not work in the field, I spent years studying it in my free time out of necessity (microbiome issues likely at least heavily influencing my chronic illness). Did my best avoiding...I do not work in the field, I spent years studying it in my free time out of necessity (microbiome issues likely at least heavily influencing my chronic illness). Did my best avoiding pseudoscience and outdated information (not easy), my knowledge is relatively deep but very narrow, only related to things that likely directly affect me.
Adding to what Pepetto said, some bacteria do actually produce the same antibiotics that we put into pills, but I think most only produce bacteriocins, which compared to our antibiotics have quite a narrow spectrum of targets and iirc are usually less chemically stable. Bacteria can produce multiple different bacteriocins with different targets, so the effect on the microbiome can still be quite significant.
I think that most if not all of the (not many) probiotics used to affect the oral or nasal microbiome in order to reduce the chances of infections or cavities work on this basis: they introduce a bacterial species that produces 2 - 3 bacteriocins which target common pathogens.
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Comment on Many lonely people would rather deal with a robot than interact with an actual human, according to research co-led by Newcastle University in ~health.mental
V17 Link ParentI have to wonder whether this is somehow related to the "depression is a mood-thermostat issue" hypothesis. The gist is that available research mostly agrees that a depressed person usually feels...I have to wonder whether this is somehow related to the "depression is a mood-thermostat issue" hypothesis.
The gist is that available research mostly agrees that a depressed person usually feels better after they exercise, socialize or listen to happy music, but depression makes it extremely difficult to push themselves to actually do those things - on the contrary, they usually seek out the opposite (solitude, rest, unhappy music), which makes them worse. "Mood-thermostat" is an abstract concept used because the process seems similar to when a person is ill and gets a fever: a fever is very unpleasant and they don't want to have it, but their body set its internal thermostat to 39° C and firmly tells them "no, I want to have a fever, you need to warm up, get another 3 blankets".
Being a chronically ill person I do know and understand the reduced desire to interact with people when my condition gets worse, but at the same time it does sound kind of like "I am lonely and feel bad, therefore I don't have the energy to interact with other people, which will make me feel lonelier and worse".
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Comment on Modos debuts an open-source e-paper with a 75-Hz refresh rate in ~tech
V17 Link ParentThis is what I'm hoping for since the driver already uses different refresh modes for different parts of the screen and it can also switch refresh modes for the whole display. I have little...(I hope it can step down from 75Hz when displaying a static text document, I would love for my device to be very energy efficient most of the time, but still be capable of displaying videos occasionnaly if I need it to, at the price of efficiency during viewing)
This is what I'm hoping for since the driver already uses different refresh modes for different parts of the screen and it can also switch refresh modes for the whole display. I have little knowledge of HW development, but it feels like checking in the DRAM buffer that certain parts of the display have not changed and not refreshing them at all would be one of the most basic things to do.
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Comment on Modos debuts an open-source e-paper with a 75-Hz refresh rate in ~tech
V17 LinkExtremely cool. I'm very interested to see how efficient it is - surely much less than an e-ink reader with half a second refresh rate, but perhaps still considerably more than an OLED display.Extremely cool. I'm very interested to see how efficient it is - surely much less than an e-ink reader with half a second refresh rate, but perhaps still considerably more than an OLED display.
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Comment on Probiotics: hype or helpful? An interview with Professor Jens Walter. in ~health
V17 LinkGreat video! Every time I read some popsci article about the gut microbiome (even in reputable media like recently National Geographic), there are inevitably either incorrect things or concepts...Great video! Every time I read some popsci article about the gut microbiome (even in reputable media like recently National Geographic), there are inevitably either incorrect things or concepts simplified way too much to the point of being wrong. I see nothing wrong here and I just wish the video was 4 times as long.
I want to say I fucking love the idea of participating in a gut microbiome restore study where a PhD researcher prepares literally all my food for several weeks, lol. I'd do that in a heartbeat.
These are some interesting additions to the topics in the video that they did not talk about, probably because there wasn't enough time:
Probiotics: the metabolites that bacteria produce can also literally be antibiotics that they create to destroy other bacteria in your gut. This can be useful when the other bacteria are pathogenic, but in that case taking the probiotic in the long term is not a good idea because the pathogenic bacteria can become resistant, just like with antibiotics you take in pill form. If you do find probiotics that make you feel better in some way but they stop working after a month or two, this can be the reason.
Fecal microbiome transplant: The question is not just "for which conditions does it work?" but also "how to do it?" The reason why it's successful for c. diff is because a small microbiome shift from any healthy donor microbiome is usually enough to restore balance and cure it. For more complicated illnesses we seem to require much bigger shifts using multiple (sometimes many) transplants done every day from a compatible donor, possibly with prep using antibiotics etc. How to select good compatible donors? What is the best overall treatment protocol? We don't know yet. This is one of the big reasons for conflicting data.
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Comment on OTC nasal spray seemed to cut COVID infections by 67% in mid-sized trial in ~health
V17 Link ParentDoes it really? I'm not aware of that and couldn't quickly find anything on google. Decongestant sprays are known to do that, but azelastine is not (primarily) a decongestant. There is no warning...which is known to cause rebound congestion
Does it really? I'm not aware of that and couldn't quickly find anything on google. Decongestant sprays are known to do that, but azelastine is not (primarily) a decongestant. There is no warning in the official information sheet either, whereas there is a very clear warning included with sprays like Afrin.
Standard dose is 2 times daily and that is as far as I know well tolerated even in the long term (months).
I do think that using it 3 times daily for the whole of autumn and winter is likely a bad idea, I'm going to be limiting my use to the most high risk occassions or situations where I feel like I'm getting sick. The key with any antiviral medication is to start using it as soon as possible, because when your symptoms already fully develop it's too late and it won't help. But if you learn to be sensitive to signs of a starting viral infection and start using the medication immediately, that seems to be good enough.
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Comment on OTC nasal spray seemed to cut COVID infections by 67% in mid-sized trial in ~health
V17 LinkIt's azelastine HCL, in my country commonly sold for about 8€. Apart from prevention it may have also shortened the duration or severity of the illness and it seems to have a broad antiviral...It's azelastine HCL, in my country commonly sold for about 8€. Apart from prevention it may have also shortened the duration or severity of the illness and it seems to have a broad antiviral effect that also functions against rhinoviruses and RSV at least.
The interesting thing is that azelastine has been talked about in semi-conspiratorial circles as covid prevention for a long time, in a very similar way as I remember ivermectin being talked about before several major studies that failed to find any effect dropped. But in this case the opposite happened - the study looks solid, it was done by a university in a western country and previous research agrees. The precise percentage may still be imprecise, hopefully a study with a big sample size is coming.
Anecdotally I already have past experience with VirX, a spray that works chemically very differently but has the same goal - eradicate viruses in the nasal passage. It did work when I started using it immediately after I started feeling the very first symptoms, whether it was covid or a common cold. But it felt like even though it definitely stopped the progression of the illness and didn't let it develop, I was still tired for a while (but much less than when fully sick) with the symptoms being frozen in place, and it took me longer to recover to normal. The latter is clearly an issue, however I am not a healthy person, I have chronic fatigue syndrome with a mild immune dysfunction, it may not be the same for you.
I would probably still be using VirX regardless, but apart from being more expensive and having a short shelf life it's not available here anymore due to some issues with regulations. So when last week in the evening I felt a cold coming on (since then tested as non-covid) I ran to a pharmacy that was still open and bought a bottle of azelastine spray. So far it seems like it works. I am more tired, but I've been able to mostly function and the illness did not develop.
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OTC nasal spray seemed to cut COVID infections by 67% in mid-sized trial
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Comment on What's an RPG? (video game) in ~games
V17 (edited )Link ParentI didn't have to, it just makes it easier. I don't want to spend the time specifying all the common RPG systems, but I already specified that it's not just evolving character stats, I mentioned...Exactly, you had to introduce that "primary genre" filter to keep games like FIFA and XCOM out of the RPG category.
I didn't have to, it just makes it easier. I don't want to spend the time specifying all the common RPG systems, but I already specified that it's not just evolving character stats, I mentioned inventory management and resource management. If, as a start, we look at the systems in early D&D edit: part of this sentence fell out for some reason, the ending was something like "than that filters out most of the "uses stats" examples like FIFA or Football Manager".
But that filter relies on the same kind of judgment calls you found problematic with my role-playing approach.
I don't understand. My argument is that saying specifically "RPGs are games that focus on role-playing" is a bad idea because it doesn't cover many RPGs including foundational ones and does cover some non-RPGs. I don't think my argument applies to other genre definitions or extrapolates in general.
I'm not saying that genre definitions in general can be defined exactly, I'm saying that focusing on systems withing the definition of an RPG covers the actual games with fewer false negatives and false positives than focusing on role playing. I think what I already wrote does either explicitly state or implies that imprecision and some necessity to do subjective judgment calls exist, yes. That has nothing to do with the fact that one description can be more precise than the other.
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Comment on What's an RPG? (video game) in ~games
V17 Link ParentI don't think so because those are all primarily different genres - their features associated to other genres are much stronger than their features associated to RPGs. They also have so few...I don't think so because those are all primarily different genres - their features associated to other genres are much stronger than their features associated to RPGs. They also have so few systems specifically associated to RPGs that we could still draw a line between them and Mass Effect with relative ease I think, maybe with the exception of XCOM - there is kind of a sliding scale between party based RPGs, tactical turn based games and some strategy games based mostly on tactical turn based party combat. When San Andreas came out (iirc the one that introduced character stats that could be levelled and put the most focus on them), reviewers said it "added some RPG elements", which seems descriptive enough.
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Comment on What's an RPG? (video game) in ~games
V17 Link ParentNot really imo. Fair point, though it is not stat-less, it does have many of the systems including resource management and item management, only simplified, and it is sometimes, imo accurately,...But fast-forward to now: tons of RPGs toss stats out the window
Not really imo.
Think of games where you barely see stats, like Mass Effect
Fair point, though it is not stat-less, it does have many of the systems including resource management and item management, only simplified, and it is sometimes, imo accurately, called a third person shooter with RPG elements (surprisingly this is what Wikipedia says).
Disco Elysium
There has been a lot of discussion in enthusiast circles about whether Disco Elysium can still be called an RPG or not. Saying that it's not is a bit extreme, but I think a non-controversial consensus is that it is clearly an edge case.
Pentiment
I don't know this game, but none of its Steam tags say RPG.
Genres evolve. At this point I think that "RPG genre definition" is a can of worms and always will be, not only because of the evolution itself but also thanks to its own (non-helpful) name "Role Playing Game".
I agree with this. But I think that focusing on role playing itself is clearly incorrect because it excludes not only games that defined the genre but also many RPGs that are still coming out now, and it includes some visual novels that almost nobody calls RPGs. Whereas when you focus on stats and leveling and other systems ("RPG elements"), with a wide net (not needing to have all of them in depth) you still catch even most of today's edge cases, so while the definition does not describe the depth of the genre as it currently is either, it at least does cover most of the games.
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Comment on What's an RPG? (video game) in ~games
V17 Link ParentThis is a complete red herring though and it's one of the sources of these sometimes highly explosive debates on what RPG even means. It's a holdover from tabletop RPGs, but even there some games...I always interpreted it by its "literal" meaning: any game that lets me roleplay
This is a complete red herring though and it's one of the sources of these sometimes highly explosive debates on what RPG even means. It's a holdover from tabletop RPGs, but even there some games focus almost exclusively on the roleplaying itself and others put a lot of focus on complex gameplay systems - character stats, fighting systems, magic systems and many others. Most of the OG tabletops were closer to the latter, the former only came later.
And most of the early attempts to transfer tabletop RPGs into videogames, establishing the videogame RPG genre, focused on the systems, because that's what was easily doable and actually brought some improvements to the formula (being faster and managing the complexity for the player), not on the roleplaying. You pretty much had roguelikes, dungeon crawlers and some open-world RPGs like Ultima, which were the only ones to feature some actual role-playing systems (virtues and alignment), and that was iirc only in Ultima IV.
Since then (and even just 10 - 15 years after the first games) the genre has expanded greatly, but the core of RPGs were always the systems and not roleplaying itself, and that applies today as well.
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Comment on Most Ukrainians now favor ending the war with Russia through negotiations, as support for fighting until victory has dropped sharply since the early days of the conflict in ~society
V17 Link ParentAnd iirc an interesting detail on this is that there was relative political unity in these matters, opinions were roughly the same among both Zelensky supporters and supporters of the opposition....The major polls in years past that asked about that in particular showed that a large percentage of people who were willing to negotiate weren't actually willing to concede the major points that Russia was unwilling to bend on, like complete control of territories they don't actually hold in full.
And iirc an interesting detail on this is that there was relative political unity in these matters, opinions were roughly the same among both Zelensky supporters and supporters of the opposition. So it's unlikely to change even if an election happens and Zelensky loses.
Do share. It's nice when one just wants to bring an okay bottle to a party. My vote normally goes to Grant's. According to some awards Queen Margot 5 is really well done, but I haven't had the opportunity to try it.