babypuncher's recent activity
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Comment on Ray Liotta dies: ‘Goodfellas’ star and ‘Field Of Dreams’ actor was 67 in ~movies
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Comment on Introducing: AMD Privacy View in ~tech
babypuncher If someone's eyes are zipping around the screen and you are only able to see little parts of it at a time, how likely are you to actually glean any sensitive information without really paying...If someone's eyes are zipping around the screen and you are only able to see little parts of it at a time, how likely are you to actually glean any sensitive information without really paying attention and piecing together the whole puzzle? Seeing a value in a particular cell in a spreadsheet is not necessarily useful if you don't know the name of the row or column, or other important context.
The goal is not to make spying impossible, but rather very difficult to do inconspicuously.
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Comment on Introducing: AMD Privacy View in ~tech
babypuncher Someone would have to be watching pretty intently waiting for your eyes to look at the sensitive part of the screen long enough to recognize what it is and read it.Someone would have to be watching pretty intently waiting for your eyes to look at the sensitive part of the screen long enough to recognize what it is and read it.
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Comment on Introducing: AMD Privacy View in ~tech
babypuncher I think you are misunderstanding the use case. This is for people who need to use their laptops in a public space, but keep sensitive information away from prying eyes. It is a software...I think you are misunderstanding the use case. This is for people who need to use their laptops in a public space, but keep sensitive information away from prying eyes. It is a software alternative to polarized privacy filters that are often applied to laptops used for sensitive on-site work, leveraging hardware already included for presence detection and Windows Hello.
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Comment on Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One | Official trailer in ~movies
babypuncher Christopher McQuarrie also wrote for Edge of Tomorrow, American Made, Top Gun: Maverick, and The Mummy. Of McQuarrie's last 10 film credits, only one was not also a Tom Cruise project. I am...Christopher McQuarrie also wrote for Edge of Tomorrow, American Made, Top Gun: Maverick, and The Mummy. Of McQuarrie's last 10 film credits, only one was not also a Tom Cruise project. I am starting to think that they really like working together.
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Comment on Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One | Official trailer in ~movies
babypuncher I think Tom Cruise and everyone else with say here has been very hayppy with Christopher McQuarrie, given that he is the only Mission: Impossible director to stick around for multiple entries. I...I think Tom Cruise and everyone else with say here has been very hayppy with Christopher McQuarrie, given that he is the only Mission: Impossible director to stick around for multiple entries.
I kind of miss how the series used to bring in a new director for each film. It gave each one a very unique feel.
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Comment on The Halo TV series is the gold standard for video game adaptations in ~tv
babypuncher The show has its problems, but it has been way better than a lot of the online discourse led me to believe it would be.The show has its problems, but it has been way better than a lot of the online discourse led me to believe it would be.
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Comment on Netflix customers canceling service increasingly includes long-term subscribers in ~tv
babypuncher Growth on the stock market is not mandatory. When hitting a ceiling, a company can transition from focusing on rapid growth to paying dividends. Part of the problem with tech companies is that...Growth on the stock market is not mandatory. When hitting a ceiling, a company can transition from focusing on rapid growth to paying dividends.
Part of the problem with tech companies is that they seem bad at judging how much they can grow, and then transitioning from growing their customer base to profiting off them. If you aren't pulling in enough profit to pay attractive dividends to your stockholders, and you have exhausted your capacity for further growth, then there is not much reason for people to invest in you. I see this being a serious problem for companies like Uber that rarely post a profitable quarter and have seemingly no plan to rectify that beyond "find more customers".
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Comment on Netflix customers canceling service increasingly includes long-term subscribers in ~tv
babypuncher Netflix's strategy of flooding the service with "empty calories" content seems to be backfiring, seeing as they are losing customers. There is clearly a market for that kind of content, Netflix's...Netflix's strategy of flooding the service with "empty calories" content seems to be backfiring, seeing as they are losing customers. There is clearly a market for that kind of content, Netflix's mistake is pricing. People aren't going to pay $20/mo for endless reality TV when Discovery+ offers the same kind of crap for a quarter the price.
If the new Discovery/Warner leadership is smart, they will keep Hobomax and Discovery+ separate. Hobomax should continue to exist as an outlet for high quality scripted content, and not cheapen it by rolling Discovery+ content into its library. I think where the good services are succeeding is in finding their niche, rather than trying to satisfy everyone all at once like Netflix.
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Comment on Netflix customers canceling service increasingly includes long-term subscribers in ~tv
babypuncher (edited )Link ParentI disagree. Some amount of consolidation might be good, but shoving the entire output of the entertainment industry onto a single service a la Spotify would result in either an extremely expensive...but it’s definitely not this “a la carte” streaming situation.
I disagree. Some amount of consolidation might be good, but shoving the entire output of the entertainment industry onto a single service a la Spotify would result in either an extremely expensive service, or a lot less new content getting made. There is simply no feasible way for every movie and TV show getting made right now to be funded from a single $15-20/mo subscription service.
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Comment on What's an achievable technological, scientific, or computational breakthrough that you're really looking forward in the next fifteen years? in ~tech
babypuncher Yep, they burned in. The phosphors wear out with use just like they do in plasma TVs. It is why screen-savers used to be popular on computers, running 15 minutes of moving images on the screen...Yep, they burned in. The phosphors wear out with use just like they do in plasma TVs. It is why screen-savers used to be popular on computers, running 15 minutes of moving images on the screen could help limit the effects of burn-in and clear temporary image retention.
I think burn-in on CRTs is just about as bad as on a plasma, however it is probably less noticeable because your typical CRT is a lot smaller than your typical plasma.
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Comment on What's an achievable technological, scientific, or computational breakthrough that you're really looking forward in the next fifteen years? in ~tech
babypuncher Unfortinately, SEDs reliance on phosphors would give it the same burn in problems experienced by CRTs and plasmas. I wish Hisense's ULED TVs took off, 2021 was their first and last model year. It...Unfortinately, SEDs reliance on phosphors would give it the same burn in problems experienced by CRTs and plasmas.
I wish Hisense's ULED TVs took off, 2021 was their first and last model year. It is a shame their first model had some 60 ms of input lag minimum, since that ruins them for games.
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Comment on What's an achievable technological, scientific, or computational breakthrough that you're really looking forward in the next fifteen years? in ~tech
babypuncher Having discrete pixels eliminates many of the key advantages CRTs had, so I'm not sure SED displays would be all that exciting for retro gaming. I think the resulting product would be similar to a...Having discrete pixels eliminates many of the key advantages CRTs had, so I'm not sure SED displays would be all that exciting for retro gaming. I think the resulting product would be similar to a plasma TV. I'm guessing research fell off a cliff because OLED was on the horizon.
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Comment on Ten dead in Buffalo supermarket shooting in ~news
babypuncher We should call these events what they are: Terrorist attacks. I wonder how much calling these events "terrorist attacks" instead of "shootings" in headlines would change the discourse surrounding...We should call these events what they are: Terrorist attacks. I wonder how much calling these events "terrorist attacks" instead of "shootings" in headlines would change the discourse surrounding them.
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Comment on German state elections show populism in decline on left and right in ~news
babypuncher Fascinating. The optimist in me sees this as a sign of things to come throughout western democracies but deep down I feel like this may just be an aberration. The deterioration of political...Fascinating. The optimist in me sees this as a sign of things to come throughout western democracies but deep down I feel like this may just be an aberration. The deterioration of political discourse throughout the West over the last 6-7 years does not feel like it is ready to let up, and I'm afraid it will already be too late by the time it does.
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Comment on Bill Gates is so over this pandemic in ~health.coronavirus
babypuncher I don't know about that. What is stopping the various common cold viruses from randomly mutating hyper-deadly variants? I think being deadly puts a virus at an evolutionary disadvantage. Severely...If a random COVID mutation just started causing heart attacks in otherwise asymptomatic patients, it would not impact its ability to spread short of killing off vast quantities of the planet.
I don't know about that. What is stopping the various common cold viruses from randomly mutating hyper-deadly variants? I think being deadly puts a virus at an evolutionary disadvantage. Severely ill and/or dead hosts seem less likely to spread the virus to new hosts than those who just have the sniffles. The typical course for pandemics we've observed is for the disease to eventually become less severe to the point where it is no longer a major concern.
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Comment on Bill Gates is so over this pandemic in ~health.coronavirus
babypuncher I'm kind of with him on this. Vaccines and new treatments have considerably blunted the risks posed by COVID. And frankly, I am uninterested in living the rest of my life as a hermit as I have for...I'm kind of with him on this. Vaccines and new treatments have considerably blunted the risks posed by COVID. And frankly, I am uninterested in living the rest of my life as a hermit as I have for the last two years. At some point we have to accept the fact that COVID is not going away, it is simply becoming endemic.
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Comment on Avatar: The Way of Water | Official teaser trailer in ~movies
babypuncher The plot was average, but the film had exceptional worldbuilding. I came out of the theater feeling like Pandora was a real place and not just some dressed up soundstages in Burbank and CGI backdrops.The plot was average, but the film had exceptional worldbuilding. I came out of the theater feeling like Pandora was a real place and not just some dressed up soundstages in Burbank and CGI backdrops.
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Comment on Avatar: The Way of Water | Official teaser trailer in ~movies
babypuncher The releases of Titanic and Avatar were both preceded by widespread predictions of box-office failure. Maybe the third time is the charm, or maybe people are just really bad about underestimating...The releases of Titanic and Avatar were both preceded by widespread predictions of box-office failure. Maybe the third time is the charm, or maybe people are just really bad about underestimating James Cameron.
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Comment on Avatar: The Way of Water | Official teaser trailer in ~movies
babypuncher Or they simply do not care. I doubt many will actually see the marketing for this movie and think it has anything to do with the similarly named cartoon. The same potential for confusion existed...Or they simply do not care. I doubt many will actually see the marketing for this movie and think it has anything to do with the similarly named cartoon. The same potential for confusion existed in 2009 with the first movie.
He also played Tommy Vercetti in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.