artvandelay's recent activity

  1. Comment on New Zealand has a new official language — English in ~society

    artvandelay
    Link Parent
    I think the thinking of that having English as an official language would further reinforce it as the default language in the country. It's similar to the US making English the official language...

    I think the thinking of that having English as an official language would further reinforce it as the default language in the country. It's similar to the US making English the official language of the country last year (though this was only through Executive Order). Previously the US had an executive order stating that federal agencies and federally funded programs had to make accomodations to those not speaking English but the 2025 EO undid that and said these must now be done in English (but doesn't explicitly say you can't use other languages).

  2. Comment on Any obscure songs you'd like to share? in ~music

    artvandelay
    Link
    brother by AMHO This is one of my favorite songs in recent memory. It's a six-minute instrumental jazz fusion masterpiece that's only got about 200k views on YouTube. AMHO are a Korean musician...

    brother by AMHO

    This is one of my favorite songs in recent memory. It's a six-minute instrumental jazz fusion masterpiece that's only got about 200k views on YouTube. AMHO are a Korean musician duo and the song was apparently written as a gift from the bassist of the group, Koo Bon-am, to his long-time friend and drummer of the group, Kim Seung-ho. I just love how the piano, bass guitar, and drums come together in this.

    1 vote
  3. Comment on "Over the course of this article, we'll unravel the mysteries of elevators. The way you push their buttons, and how they push yours." in ~engineering

    artvandelay
    Link
    Super interesting article! The two office buildings I've worked in both have this system where you pre-select your floor and it assigns you an elevator. When things are quiet, it works well....

    Super interesting article! The two office buildings I've worked in both have this system where you pre-select your floor and it assigns you an elevator. When things are quiet, it works well. However, on busy days, it really does get on your nerves. For the smaller elevator journeys, it becomes quicker to simply take the stairs rather than relying on the elevator.

    3 votes
  4. Comment on Google just ruined one of its most important tools in ~comp

    artvandelay
    Link Parent
    A lot of articles about big tech companies are like this nowadays unfortunately, ironically because of the algorithms said big tech companies created. Hunting for unbiased, non-clickbaity...

    A lot of articles about big tech companies are like this nowadays unfortunately, ironically because of the algorithms said big tech companies created. Hunting for unbiased, non-clickbaity headlines is near impossible these days.

    4 votes
  5. Comment on Women should be able to open things in ~life.women

    artvandelay
    Link Parent
    For plastic caps, you should be able to also run it under hot water to get it to expand and open

    For plastic caps, you should be able to also run it under hot water to get it to expand and open

    1 vote
  6. Comment on Women should be able to open things in ~life.women

    artvandelay
    Link
    Even as a guy, I sometimes struggle opening certain jars. I know for certain products, like Talenti ice cream jars, the temperature causes the lid to shrink onto the threads. But for others, it...

    Even as a guy, I sometimes struggle opening certain jars. I know for certain products, like Talenti ice cream jars, the temperature causes the lid to shrink onto the threads. But for others, it has to just be poor design. When I lived with my parents, I'd sometimes use my mom's dull coconut blade to just stretch lids enough to break the seal and open certain jars (that we knew we wouldn't close again).

    As the top comment mentions though, the seemingly small problem of poorly designed jars just highlights just how poorly designed the world as a whole still is, especially for women. As a car guy, it both boggles my mind and doesn't surprise me at all that crash tests didn't even have women dummies until fairly recently. There have even been cars that manufacturers claim were designed for women but those have basically only just focused on women stereotypes rather than actually engineering the car for the average woman.

    4 votes
  7. Comment on PC upgrade vs replacement in ~tech

    artvandelay
    Link
    Recommendation would vary based on what you do with your current machine to be honest. I think most straightforward thing you can do is double the RAM since 16GB is pretty standard nowadays and...

    Recommendation would vary based on what you do with your current machine to be honest. I think most straightforward thing you can do is double the RAM since 16GB is pretty standard nowadays and would give you more breathing room. If you needed a tiny bump in power you could go to a 2000 series Ryzen too to keep your upgrade costs low.

    3 votes
  8. Comment on JAECOO 7 becomes the UK’s best-selling car in 2026 after hitting number one spot in March in ~transport

    artvandelay
    Link Parent
    Yeah I'm being quite hopeful for Western brands since competition is good but they're basically all big behemoths nowadays that are bleeding fast as they try to pivot. I'm holding out hope for...

    Yeah I'm being quite hopeful for Western brands since competition is good but they're basically all big behemoths nowadays that are bleeding fast as they try to pivot. I'm holding out hope for Ford, even as someone who's never been a fan of American brands. Ford's current EV offering both came out before they revealed that the CEO drives around in a Xiaomi. I've heard Ford has a "skunkworks" EV team in California that's been tasked with developing an EV and platform from the ground up isolated from the rest of Ford. I think rumors say they're revealing what they've been working on in 2027 and they seem to be taking lessons from the Chinese brands around vertical integration and simplifying the engineering of the vehicle without compromising quality.

    1 vote
  9. Comment on Exploring the mind bending simplicity of Baba Is You in ~games

    artvandelay
    Link
    Got into Baba is You earlier in the year and its kinda crazy how quickly the game goes from simple and easy to being simple on the surface but quite difficult, its a really fun game.

    Got into Baba is You earlier in the year and its kinda crazy how quickly the game goes from simple and easy to being simple on the surface but quite difficult, its a really fun game.

    4 votes
  10. Comment on JAECOO 7 becomes the UK’s best-selling car in 2026 after hitting number one spot in March in ~transport

    artvandelay
    Link
    Not too surprised to see China dominate like this, I feel western automakers both American and European alike have been on a steady decline since COVID hit. It wasn’t uncommon to hear “they’re...

    Not too surprised to see China dominate like this, I feel western automakers both American and European alike have been on a steady decline since COVID hit. It wasn’t uncommon to hear “they’re doing XYZ for the Chinese market” when seeing the new designs they were putting out.

    Hopefully this is a wake up call to western automakers to actually compete. I have little faith in the American brands, I feel they’ve always struggled with foreign competition. The Japanese, Europeans, Koreans all came successively in the 70s, 80s, 90s and early 2000s and sorta took over.

    8 votes
  11. Comment on Reminder to myself that my employer does not give a shit about me in ~life

    artvandelay
    Link Parent
    My job has this and I honestly find it a bit amusing. I was technically in "PTO Debt" earlier in the year since I had some travel I had booked before I joined the company and didn't have enough...

    My job has this and I honestly find it a bit amusing. I was technically in "PTO Debt" earlier in the year since I had some travel I had booked before I joined the company and didn't have enough PTO to cover it. My manager said it was fine so for a short while I had a big red negative PTO days showing up for me.

    4 votes
  12. Comment on Reminder to myself that my employer does not give a shit about me in ~life

    artvandelay
    Link Parent
    Yeah it's kind of sad seeing that in practice. At that "unlimited PTO" job I mentioned in the other comment, I was a junior engineer and I took the most time off out of anybody. Average person on...

    Yeah it's kind of sad seeing that in practice. At that "unlimited PTO" job I mentioned in the other comment, I was a junior engineer and I took the most time off out of anybody. Average person on the team would take maybe 1-2 weeks off and our Australian teammate located in Sydney would always take <1 week off. They both hated taking time off and were too important to take time off.

    4 votes
  13. Comment on Reminder to myself that my employer does not give a shit about me in ~life

    artvandelay
    Link Parent
    I've done the same as an American. Last job I worked at had "unlimited PTO" so I made sure to take off 4-5 weeks each year. Would book my travel in advance and then just mark it on the team...

    I've done the same as an American. Last job I worked at had "unlimited PTO" so I made sure to take off 4-5 weeks each year. Would book my travel in advance and then just mark it on the team calendar about 1-2 months out. Even at my new job where I have to accrue PTO, I've booked my travel for the remainder of the year and will slowly update our status tool to reflect it.

    19 votes
  14. Comment on YouTube Premium to come with Peacock, NBCSports to stream events on YouTube in ~tv

    artvandelay
    Link
    Live sports being included here is huge! Even though I'm not a big sports guy, I've missed out on a lot of sports things that my friends have been interested in purely because I didn't have...

    Live sports being included here is huge! Even though I'm not a big sports guy, I've missed out on a lot of sports things that my friends have been interested in purely because I didn't have access. YouTube Premium is one of the few subscriptions that I do have so I'm glad they're creating this bundle.

    If anyone is considering YouTube Premium, they have an annual plan that is ~15% cheaper than the standard monthly price and I think is well worth it.

  15. Comment on Survey: The temperature in my room now is _____ and it feels _____ in ~talk

    artvandelay
    Link
    Probably high 60s/low 70s/low 20s in C in my apartment and it feels pleasant. I don’t have an AC nor a thermometer so I can’t really measure the temperature. It was a bit warmer in my city this...

    Probably high 60s/low 70s/low 20s in C in my apartment and it feels pleasant. I don’t have an AC nor a thermometer so I can’t really measure the temperature. It was a bit warmer in my city this week so it was a little warmer than I’d like at night but nothing too crazy.

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

    artvandelay
    Link Parent
    Masayoshi Takanaka is one of my faves! He is actually the artist that kickstarted my jazz/jazz-fusion period I'm in at the moment! Can listen to his albums Takanaka, Seychelles, Saudade, Brasilian...

    Masayoshi Takanaka is one of my faves! He is actually the artist that kickstarted my jazz/jazz-fusion period I'm in at the moment! Can listen to his albums Takanaka, Seychelles, Saudade, Brasilian Skies, and more on repeat.

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

    artvandelay
    Link
    I've been continuing my jazz/jazz-fusion period of my life with a couple of great songs that I've got on repeat. Step Up Action by Masato Honda Classic jazz fusion song from Honda's Real-Fusion...

    I've been continuing my jazz/jazz-fusion period of my life with a couple of great songs that I've got on repeat.

    1. Step Up Action by Masato Honda

    Classic jazz fusion song from Honda's Real-Fusion album. I had previously had the songs After School Like Sunday and Good Moon from this album on repeat but I somehow managed to miss this song earlier. Had this song stuck in my head over the last few days now.

    1. One Track Mind by Reggie Codrington

    Absolutely beautiful smooth jazz song that blends jazz instrumentation with R&B-infused rhythms. The song is just perfect for relaxing as you drive. Hard to think about your stress as this plays in the background.

    1. Down East by Sadao Watanabe

    Another bright, uplifting track with a joyful (idk how else to describe it) saxophone combined with a smooth rhythm. Also perfect for relaxing drives.

    3 votes
  18. Comment on Introducing XBOX backward compatibility on PC in ~games

    artvandelay
    Link Parent
    As a racing game kiddo, it'd be cool to see the original Forza Motorsport and Project Gotham Racing 2 again. Both have soundtracks that I still listen to even now and I feel they still hold up...

    As a racing game kiddo, it'd be cool to see the original Forza Motorsport and Project Gotham Racing 2 again. Both have soundtracks that I still listen to even now and I feel they still hold up decently well.

    3 votes
  19. Comment on Boox Go 10.3 (gen II) Lumi: An Android tablet that's also, on top of that, an E-ink screen in ~tech

    artvandelay
    Link Parent
    Yeah cross-ecosystem interactions are always hit-or-miss unfortunately. There are apps to replicate the conveniences you may be used to but they never work as well as something natively built in.

    Yeah cross-ecosystem interactions are always hit-or-miss unfortunately. There are apps to replicate the conveniences you may be used to but they never work as well as something natively built in.

    1 vote
  20. Comment on Boox Go 10.3 (gen II) Lumi: An Android tablet that's also, on top of that, an E-ink screen in ~tech

    artvandelay
    Link Parent
    Yep haha, it's been a rocky road for Android tablets in general. I remember it was looking pretty bleak just a few years ago since Samsung were seemingly the only ones keeping it alive. It...

    Yep haha, it's been a rocky road for Android tablets in general. I remember it was looking pretty bleak just a few years ago since Samsung were seemingly the only ones keeping it alive. It definitely still has a long way to go (given the sort of chicken-and-egg problem there is for apps) but at least its improving.

    1 vote