Valis's recent activity
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Comment on The trend of "my girlfriend isn't hungry" items on restaurant menus in ~food
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Comment on What have you done lately that you're proud of? in ~talk
Valis LinkAfter about 7 years of not programming, I've started dipping my feet in again. I've been working with The Odin Project and so far I like it. I had a bad experience a few years back after a year in...After about 7 years of not programming, I've started dipping my feet in again. I've been working with The Odin Project and so far I like it. I had a bad experience a few years back after a year in college and I assumed it just wasn't for me, but after all this time it's still something I want to learn to competently do and the webdev side is something I had never approached before. I'm not very far yet but I've already learned new stuff. I'm really trying to approach it from a growth mentality perspective and trying to just enjoy the learning rather than trying to make the cleanest/best code in the world. I am trying to not be such a perfectionist.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
Valis Link ParentI don't think it's rose-colored glasses. I remember back just a few years ago when I did 90% of communication using the built-in chat on gmail. It worked great for both business and education. I...I don't think it's rose-colored glasses. I remember back just a few years ago when I did 90% of communication using the built-in chat on gmail. It worked great for both business and education. I saw my contacts, saw who was on, could easily add/delete people, and could go invisible easily and hide from that guy who was always on. No clunky system, not overly creepy privacy-wise, non-invasive. It was great. Then they messed it up with 'hangouts' which is just a mess. Nobody uses it, it doesn't have any of my contact info I want and has all of the info I don't want. Google is one of the most popular web-based email systems for businesses, universities, and the general population, but they are painfully bad at less formal communication.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~tech
Valis Link ParentI'm with you. I am the only android user in a family of iPhone users and it is no fun. Every video anybody sends me is compressed and destroyed because they all send it via MMS. I have tried to...I'm with you. I am the only android user in a family of iPhone users and it is no fun. Every video anybody sends me is compressed and destroyed because they all send it via MMS. I have tried to tell them why it does this but iMessage has made things too easy for them they refuse to get a new app so they can send one person a video. I understand but it's no fun and I wish there was a better solution
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Comment on WarnerMedia to shut down FilmStruck subscription-streaming service in ~movies
Valis LinkSad to hear about this. I was so excited for it when they first announced it. I was never in a place to financially commit to it but I thought about subscribing just a week ago. It's a shame that...Sad to hear about this. I was so excited for it when they first announced it. I was never in a place to financially commit to it but I thought about subscribing just a week ago. It's a shame that it's going away. Hopefully Criterion will put their stuff back on hulu or something again.
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Comment on Telltale Games has laid off approximately 90% of their employees, leaving a staff of about twenty-five people in ~games
Valis (edited )LinkWhen the first Walking Dead game came out I couldn't play it on PC, it was so buggy, graphics would tear to unplayable degrees. I waited a few years and tried it on PS3. It crashed within the...When the first Walking Dead game came out I couldn't play it on PC, it was so buggy, graphics would tear to unplayable degrees. I waited a few years and tried it on PS3. It crashed within the first hour. A few years ago I had a new computer and figured TTG would have fixed any issues with their engine. I put money down on Poker Night at the Inventory 2 and the game could hardly play. Despite all of their licenses, I'm not going to pay for consistently broken games.
I was so surprised when they kept getting license after license considering my experience with them. I am still sad to hear about such a massive layoff. That is the stuff of nightmares.
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Comment on What to do about reddit and trolls? in ~talk
Valis LinkI would love to see another website fall the way Digg did. Websites need a kind of "slash-and-burn" period for something else to grow out of but I fear that so many websites now hold such a firm...I would love to see another website fall the way Digg did. Websites need a kind of "slash-and-burn" period for something else to grow out of but I fear that so many websites now hold such a firm grasp we won't see it happen. Instead of something new coming, it will just be copied, replicated, or bought up but a bigger corp. I was on reddit from the very early days and it's a bloated mess of what it used to be and it needs to burn (figuratively of course).
I've met some cool people on reddit, learned new things, commissioned art, but outside of these few interactions the majority of my time spent on the site in the past 4 years has been so disheartening. 18/20 posts on /r/popular are pictures/gifs/videos/instagram. 1 is a drama post. 1 is a news story. I think that explains most of my issues. Even if you filter subreddits (100 isn't enough and the feature is hidden on the resign) and subscribe to more text-based subreddits the culture of the site has changed. Even smaller band-related subreddits are filled with low effort posts.
I hope most of the "web 2.0" sites of the mid 00s die soon, they've outstayed their welcome.
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Comment on How do you pronounce "NES"? Nintendo throws a wrench in the debate in ~games
Valis Link ParentI'm sorry. I grew up calling it a N-E-S and S-N-E-S. Sness just never sounded natural. Sometimes I'll say Ness but never Sness. That one I just can't get behind.I'm sorry. I grew up calling it a N-E-S and S-N-E-S. Sness just never sounded natural. Sometimes I'll say Ness but never Sness. That one I just can't get behind.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~books
Valis LinkShocked that I haven't seen anybody talk Philip K Dick yet. Obviously, I'm a bit of a fan (see username) but I think his work is some of the most important sci-fi to have ever been published. You...Shocked that I haven't seen anybody talk Philip K Dick yet. Obviously, I'm a bit of a fan (see username) but I think his work is some of the most important sci-fi to have ever been published. You can point to nearly any sci-fi film/series made today and see it rooted in the works of Philip K Dick. He was obsessed with Platonism and it comes through in all of his work. He was a schizophrenic who dealt with some real issues of anxiety and paranoia and it all comes through. His writing isn't the strongest but his ideas are so wonderful that I can't help but get excited any time somebody brings his work up.
For suggestions, I would say 'Ubik' is my go-to intro book. Then 'A Scanner Darkly' and then 'Valis'. I think between these three you get a great scope running from fiction to semi-autobiographical and then to a work of biography turn post-modern head-trip. But really there are so many more. 'Man in the High Castle' for alternate history. 'Maritain Time Slip' for LSD inspired strange. 'Counter Clock World' for some fun time travel meets biblical rapture. And his most well-known 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep' the basis for Blade Runner but IMO Blade Runner is better and DADoES is one of his weaker works that the film elevated.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~books
Valis Link Parent2nd for Heinlein but I'd say also consider checking out Job: A Comedy of Justice. I think it's one of his underrated books and is really a fun read and a little bit lighter than some of his other...2nd for Heinlein but I'd say also consider checking out Job: A Comedy of Justice. I think it's one of his underrated books and is really a fun read and a little bit lighter than some of his other stuff. It's especially fun for people who have an interest in religious ideologies and mixing lore. Cannot recommend it enough.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~books
Valis LinkWhile I don't know if I would say the book is inferior, I saw 'Annihilation' recently and I thought it was a perfect example of an adaption that captured the spirit of the work while being...While I don't know if I would say the book is inferior, I saw 'Annihilation' recently and I thought it was a perfect example of an adaption that captured the spirit of the work while being substantially different. Many film adaptations struggle with toeing the line when it comes to being faithful to a book vs. being an adaptation. Lots of fans of the book will be upset over artistic changes while lots of producers recognize that not everything that works in a book can translate into such a visual medium. I watched the adaptation of 'The Great Gatsby' starring Robert Redford recently and that film works so hard not to stray from the novel with rather mixed results. 'Annihilation' feels more like a half-remembered adaptation of the novel that was fleshed out to make it work. As if you read it a year ago and out of the blue were asked to write a script based on what you did remember. I think all of the important conceptual points were still hit while allowing it to use the strengths of film as a medium.
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Comment on Daily Tildes discussion - thoughts about the site's activity level in ~tildes.official
Valis LinkI think something that I like about tildes is the kind of forum-like nature of it that is very different to reddit. I like being able to come back and see it develop over the course of a few days...I think something that I like about tildes is the kind of forum-like nature of it that is very different to reddit. I like being able to come back and see it develop over the course of a few days rather than a few hours as it is on reddit. If I see a discussion on reddit rarely does it go on longer than a few hours before it is dead. I like being able to come back here and revisit threads and seeing what is new.
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Comment on How has your first few days on tildes been? in ~talk
Valis LinkI really don't want there to be many posts of pics/gifs/etc or perhaps even allowed. I think that it makes everything go the way of quick little web-narco hits of fun instead of provoking any real...I really don't want there to be many posts of pics/gifs/etc or perhaps even allowed. I think that it makes everything go the way of quick little web-narco hits of fun instead of provoking any real discussion.
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Comment on What books are you reading right now? in ~talk
Valis LinkI just got Dune from the library. In no way will I be able to read it in the 2 weeks (11 days now been a busy few days) but I am really interested in it though I don't know much about it. Does...I just got Dune from the library. In no way will I be able to read it in the 2 weeks (11 days now been a busy few days) but I am really interested in it though I don't know much about it. Does anybody have any thoughts on it?
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Comment on What hobby do you wish you could do but can't? in ~hobbies
Valis Link ParentI had a bit of a personal crisis and it lead to me dropping out of college at the time. I did a decent amount in Java and a very modest amount in C++ and C before I left. There was some problem I...I had a bit of a personal crisis and it lead to me dropping out of college at the time. I did a decent amount in Java and a very modest amount in C++ and C before I left. There was some problem I was working on and I was having issues with it. I went in for office hours and got rebuffed for asking for help. Maybe that's why I'm so afraid to go back haha. I remember that feeling of epiphany when I would be doing something completely unrelated and out of the blue a solution to some program I was working on just struck. I liked that feeling and what you are saying reminds me of it. I never gave python an honest try so I'll check out your links. Thanks
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Comment on What hobby do you wish you could do but can't? in ~hobbies
Valis LinkI think programming would be a fun one to find fun. I used to study CS for a few semesters and I was okay at it but I didn't really have the mind that some students had when it came to clicking...I think programming would be a fun one to find fun. I used to study CS for a few semesters and I was okay at it but I didn't really have the mind that some students had when it came to clicking with it. I always felt like I wanted to study under somebody just to have that sort of guidance. Maybe one day I'll go back but I don't think it's in the cards for me.
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Comment on What's a binge-worthy show? in ~tv
Valis Link ParentI have to 2nd Better Call Saul. BrBa was huge but Better Call Saul is also fantastic and more character driven and softer than Breaking Bad. It seems like this season could be getting dark but the...I have to 2nd Better Call Saul. BrBa was huge but Better Call Saul is also fantastic and more character driven and softer than Breaking Bad. It seems like this season could be getting dark but the honest relationship between Jimmy and Kim is going to be tough to watch if/when things go south.
I just caught wind of the original "story" about these types of menu times a few days ago from my wife who is about a foot and a half shorter than I am, and eats a good deal less than me when we go out. She showed me, said "this would be perfect for me" we both shared a laugh and we moved on with our day. I'm struggling to find the connection between saying "I'm not really hungry right now" and ordering a small meal becomes "men are looking for sex after every meal and believe that women who are coy at the time of ordering food are 'looking for it'". I can't imagine seeing the world through such a lens as this.