Akir's recent activity
-
Comment on Commodore Callback flip phone in ~tech
-
Comment on Why emoji picker default on? in ~comp
Akir Link ParentYeah, that is GNOME in a nutshell for sure. It’s the reason why I hated using it so much. Every packaged DE is going to be opinionated by necessity but GNOME always felt patriarchal in how it...Yeah, that is GNOME in a nutshell for sure. It’s the reason why I hated using it so much. Every packaged DE is going to be opinionated by necessity but GNOME always felt patriarchal in how it implemented all of them, especially given the massive changes between major versions.
-
Comment on Steins;Gate Reboot releasing October 29, 2026 in ~games
Akir Link ParentThe anime was an abnormally good adaptation of the VN, but I’d still say the VN is the better piece of media. That being said I don’t think that remakes are ever really better than the original...The anime was an abnormally good adaptation of the VN, but I’d still say the VN is the better piece of media.
That being said I don’t think that remakes are ever really better than the original when it comes to VNs. Sure, they may bring some quality of life improvements, but Stein’s;Gate was already pretty modern to begin with and there haven’t been much improvements to the genre mechanically for quite some time. Mages also made a Yu-No remake and while I don’t think it’s a bad version of the game, I don’t think the minor improvements actually made it better, and there are good arguments that it is slightly worse for some of the narrative changes it makes.
-
Comment on What about having an LLM teach you to code? in ~comp
Akir Link ParentI actually used Claude to teach myself for an online university class that had no lecture and a practically non-existent professor. It turned out ok, but only because I’m a grown-ass adult and I...I actually used Claude to teach myself for an online university class that had no lecture and a practically non-existent professor. It turned out ok, but only because I’m a grown-ass adult and I knew what I was doing. I had a curriculum which I fed to it as context and had it teach me, but it had problems because it wasn’t really 100% sure about what was in the readings and videos, but it was capable of synthesizing because it knew the topic well.
Claude did a good job of teaching me to a point. This was a class on low level data structures and while I knew some of them I didn’t know all of them and Claude generally preferred a Socratic approach where it would feed me bits of information and have me to synthesize it into greater understanding by asking me questions. Context would always be a problem because it would be asking me questions about things I had already learned about in other days set by other chat sessions. Sometimes it wouldn’t understand that I already knew about the difference between an array and a linked list for instance.
I passed that class and I do credit Claude for being the primary reason why I did, however, I think this is a special case. The reason why I used Claude to begin with is that the course was absolutely terrible. The readings were from books that were written in an Indian dialect of English which made them extremely difficult to parse, and they were from a number of different sources which made them even more disjointed. I didn’t have the support of a professor, and the amount of time I would spend just reading and watching the videos would have taken me something like 8-12 hours depending on how bad they were that week. In previous classes the readings were from technical reference books which required knowledge of mathematical symbols which I had never encountered up to that point, and of course nothing in the readings explained it.
But what would have happened if I didn’t have a curriculum to guide me? To put things simply, I wouldn’t have learned everything I needed to. AI is sycophantic regardless of which model you choose, it seems. It was always congratulating me and telling me I had it, and I was constantly asking me if there were things I hadn’t covered that I should have. There usually was. If I hadn’t been feeding it my curriculum piecemeal, it would have had me going all over the place and probably covering things I didn’t need to know.
While I did pass the final exam, I don’t believe that I really learned the material very well. I couldn’t explain how red-black trees self-balance or organize, or much detail into how the KNP search algorithm works.
With all this in mind I would absolutely caution against making AI your child’s teacher. AI can be a good supplement to a teacher and could be a great tutor, but I don’t think it is good as a teacher who has a far more complex job than just explaining concepts.
-
Comment on US battery industry cuts losses, shifts to new ventures amid electric vehicle bust in ~transport
Akir Link ParentAutomakers are effectively unwilling to produce inexpensive EVs for the US market. There are only two models that I'm aware that are under 30K, the Chevy Bolt and Nissan Leaf, both of which have...Automakers are effectively unwilling to produce inexpensive EVs for the US market. There are only two models that I'm aware that are under 30K, the Chevy Bolt and Nissan Leaf, both of which have less than stellar reputations (The Bolt previously had very slow fast charging and the Leaf started off with terrible capacity). The vast majority of EVs on the market are somewhere around or above the 50K mark.
They're also unwilling to make smaller model cars. The Leaf has gone from a sedan, to a crossover, to an SUV. And in my book, a crossover (which the Bolt is) is essentially just SUV with a different name.
But this isn't unique to EVs. Even for ICE vehicles, they are mainly targeting big expensive vehicles. So while pricing is part of the problem, there's still more to it.
-
Comment on Epic Games job listing calls for an applicant to "champion linux anti-cheat capabilities for Epic" in ~games
Akir LinkOut of curiosity, what is the current state of getting the EGS on Linux? I seem to recall them talking about getting their launcher working natively but I have no idea where that went.Out of curiosity, what is the current state of getting the EGS on Linux? I seem to recall them talking about getting their launcher working natively but I have no idea where that went.
-
Comment on Xbox is planning to shutter Peabody Award-winning Compulsion Games (We Happy Few, South of Midnight) in ~games
Akir Link ParentI know that I don’t follow gaming news but I literally have not heard of any of these titles anywhere.I know that I don’t follow gaming news but I literally have not heard of any of these titles anywhere.
-
Comment on Four things to know about the newly approved US sunscreen ingredient in ~health
Akir Link ParentThis is what happens when you have a great institution ruined by decades of neoliberalism. “Why prevent snake oil salesmen from entering the market? It’s billions of dollars being left on the table!”This is what happens when you have a great institution ruined by decades of neoliberalism. “Why prevent snake oil salesmen from entering the market? It’s billions of dollars being left on the table!”
-
Comment on Arch User Repository compromised, 1500+ packages affected in ~tech
Akir Link ParentThis is one of the reasons why developers and distro maintainers are going big on containerized applications like Snap and FlatPack.This is one of the reasons why developers and distro maintainers are going big on containerized applications like Snap and FlatPack.
-
Comment on Any fellow software engineers using paid GitHub copilot? in ~comp
Akir Link ParentHas Codex gotten dramatically better recently? When I use it for work, it seems to make dumb decisions very confidently, and it takes forever to deliberate stupid things before it actually does...Has Codex gotten dramatically better recently? When I use it for work, it seems to make dumb decisions very confidently, and it takes forever to deliberate stupid things before it actually does what you want it to do.
-
Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health
Akir LinkI’ve had lots of interruptions in my routine so I am really happy that I have finally had the need to increase the weight on my seated rows. Finally, I’m back on track on increasing my strength!...I’ve had lots of interruptions in my routine so I am really happy that I have finally had the need to increase the weight on my seated rows. Finally, I’m back on track on increasing my strength! This is the first actual increase I’ve managed since I figured out that I was doing all the exercises wrong, so it’s pretty landmark for me.
-
Comment on "The therapeutic industry is platonic prostitution" in ~health.mental
Akir LinkYou are right that society is sick and our independence is leading people to become mentally ill and spiritually tortured. The focus on self-reliance and emotional detachment is making people...You are right that society is sick and our independence is leading people to become mentally ill and spiritually tortured. The focus on self-reliance and emotional detachment is making people sick, and the fact that people seem unwilling to help or create bonds that would help you is a major problem.
But I have to say that your distaste with therapy is misguided. Frankly it seems like your problem is simply that you’ve had bad therapists who have either been guiding you the wrong way or who have simply been unable or unwilling to meet you where you were. Probably all of these things. Therapists aren’t great at communicating this, but when you notice that therapy isn’t helping, it’s really up to you to speak up and find a solution - either let them know or fire them and find someone who can actually help you. There are many therapists out there who simply will not have the ability to empathize with you enough to be able to guide you to where you need to go. That’s just how things are.
One thing that particularly stood out to me is the idea that therapists are only able to see you once every two weeks, and that seems particularly odd to me. The last time I went to a therapist one of the things we did in our intake was to determine how often I should come, and after that they actually adjusted the frequency several times. It changed from once every two weeks to once a week, and at a point we considered if I needed to go more than once a week. Towards the end we spaced things out again as I was better able to adapt to the situation I was dealing with. There are some forms of talk therapies which do not do well with frequency changes, but the most common forms do.
With that being said I have to say that while society is sick, that doesn’t mean everyone around you is sick in the head. It sounds to me that you need good friends. Even if society around you is broken, making friends is a micro-society in and of itself. By making friends you start to fix society itself. And no, therapy can’t do much to help you with finding and making good friendships.
-
Comment on Queer joy - Share what makes you happy, proud or loved in ~lgbt
Akir LinkA bit over a month ago my husband and I went on a cruise through Virgin Voyages which had a lot of gay people on it. Talking and meeting with them made us realize how insulated we were and how it...A bit over a month ago my husband and I went on a cruise through Virgin Voyages which had a lot of gay people on it. Talking and meeting with them made us realize how insulated we were and how it was affecting us. Even though we both had eachother and we were happy in that, we realized we had a different kind of loneliness from living in a society in which people were tolerant and sympathetic, but not completely understanding of our life experience.
Since then we have actually found ourselves hanging with the wilder crowd. We’ve gone to bars, we’ve gone to clubs, we’ve gone to Palm Springs, we’ve gone to a circuit party… just about the only thing we haven’t done yet is an orgy. And through it all I am happy to say that it has made my relationship with my husband stronger than ever. It’s made both of us communicate in new ways and has triggered a tremendous wave of personal growth for both of us. For me personally it has made me much more confident, especially in terms of my body image, which is something I had been working on constantly for the past few years. My husband confided his fears of being broken for not making friends and now he’s facing that part of himself head-on.
-
Comment on "Teachers are going to hate it": How social media apps hooked teens at school in ~tech
Akir Link ParentWe really shouldn’t be limiting the damages to children. Adults can be and are harmed by social media addiction. I deleted TikTok because I could see that it was having negative effects on me, and...We really shouldn’t be limiting the damages to children. Adults can be and are harmed by social media addiction. I deleted TikTok because I could see that it was having negative effects on me, and just imagine how much worse things could be if I had an addictive personality. Even without the addiction aspect there is the fact that they will push the more sensational stories because they increase engagement, which encourages reactionary thought, anger, and depression. I honestly believe that we would not have our current fascist movements if it were not for social media algorithms fucking with society.
The shitty thing is that the reason why these companies are pushing engagement so hard is because of advertising dollars. Advertising is fucking evil and making it illegal to market to children is literally the least we could do to rein it in.
-
Comment on Apple unveils their new operating systems for 2027: iOS 27, macOS 27 Golden Gate, and more in ~tech
Akir LinkThis all sounds really great. I have been wishing for Siri to become smart - particularly, conversationally smart - for a while now, and I would be oh-so-happy for it to be able to do so as...This all sounds really great. I have been wishing for Siri to become smart - particularly, conversationally smart - for a while now, and I would be oh-so-happy for it to be able to do so as locally as possible.
I’ve also been really nervous about Rosetta 2 being discontinued and it looks like 27 will keep it around for the time being. Until I bother to update some stupid tools I still use I will be sticking to 27.
-
Comment on Persona 6 | Teaser trailer in ~games
Akir Link ParentTo my knowledge basically every Persona game since 3 has done this. 3 had the original release, then Persona 3 Portable with extra content, then Persona 3 FES which had the extra content ported...To my knowledge basically every Persona game since 3 has done this. 3 had the original release, then Persona 3 Portable with extra content, then Persona 3 FES which had the extra content ported back to PS2. And of course there’s the new remake.
-
Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health
Akir Link ParentI’m on my second year. They’re pretty good but not the best by any means. It’s important to know that they are franchised so some can be better than others. YMMV. The one thing to know is that for...I’m on my second year. They’re pretty good but not the best by any means. It’s important to know that they are franchised so some can be better than others. YMMV.
The one thing to know is that for the summer break they are letting kids in for free, so that might make you want to hold off for now.
-
Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health
Akir Link ParentThey do have smith machines which can do most of the things that you can do with barbells in a somewhat more safe way.They do have smith machines which can do most of the things that you can do with barbells in a somewhat more safe way.
-
Comment on My partner says our relationship has always felt suffocating, but she does not know what she wants. What would you do? in ~life
Akir LinkOne thing worth saying is that you cannot control how your partner thinks, feels, or acts. What you can control is how you react to those things she does. I think this is worth saying because...One thing worth saying is that you cannot control how your partner thinks, feels, or acts. What you can control is how you react to those things she does. I think this is worth saying because there is another option you didn’t list - you could open the relationship to other people.
This may end up being a terrible piece of advice, and in practice it may be one of the most painful depending on how you two feel about eachother. One thing I notice with her chat app is that you seem to be concerned about her having sex with other people. But that sounds like something she may want to do but perhaps cannot come to terms with herself.
The only reason why I think you should consider this is because you are stuck in a relationship that seems to be wanting to end but both of you have reasons holding you back from it. That doesn’t seem to be healthy for either of you. It sounds like your partner would benefit from it the most. But I think you would still benefit from being able to see sides of her you currently can’t, and it’ll potentially let you see sides of yourself you didn’t know were there as well.
It’s important to know that this a hard road that will require constant communication and cause heartache for sure. There’s a good chance this will cause your breakup. But if I’m honest I think that would probably be the best of your three options. Staying the course seems like throwing fuel onto the fire, and I think you might be too worried about her cheating on you while you’re separated. On the other hand, an open relationship might cause you to fight and hate eachother sometimes, but you’ll be closer to understanding eachother.
-
Comment on The Power of Pride Bundle 2026 in ~lgbt
Akir LinkIt is very kind of them to offer a pay-what-you-can version. I am in the red right now and my work has slowed because of the summer school break - I haven’t taught any classes since last Saturday.It is very kind of them to offer a pay-what-you-can version. I am in the red right now and my work has slowed because of the summer school break - I haven’t taught any classes since last Saturday.
To be fair it was bought by a YouTuber.