babypuncher's recent activity

  1. Comment on Samsung confirms its $1,800+ fridges will start showing you ads in ~tech

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    or just never connect it to the internet, like with smart TVs

    or just never connect it to the internet, like with smart TVs

    6 votes

  2. Comment on Dear Nintendo, please bring back the Wii Remote in ~games

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    One of the main upgrades in the Switch 2 controllers is a new 9-axis gyroscope that is supposed to nearly eliminate the problem of drift.

    One of the main upgrades in the Switch 2 controllers is a new 9-axis gyroscope that is supposed to nearly eliminate the problem of drift.

    2 votes

  3. Comment on Dear Nintendo, please bring back the Wii Remote in ~games

    babypuncher
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    Pointer functionality with Joy-Cons was provided by the MEMS gyroscope, not the IR transceiver. That's why it worked without a sensor bar. The downside is that the gyroscope isn't super precise;...

    Pointer functionality with Joy-Cons was provided by the MEMS gyroscope, not the IR transceiver. That's why it worked without a sensor bar.

    The downside is that the gyroscope isn't super precise; it drifts, requiring the user to occasionally press a button to recenter it.

    This has improved substantially with the new Joy-Cons on the Switch 2 thanks to a new gyro design. I can't attest to their performance in pointer games, but the new Pro Controller's gyro aiming has been a noticeable upgrade in Splatoon 3.

    2 votes

  4. Comment on It’s the little things that make me not fully jump to linux in ~comp

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    This is also changing with Nova, a new FOSS Nvidia driver written in Rust by Nvidia engineers that was recently accepted into the kernel. It's not yet production ready.

    This is also changing with Nova, a new FOSS Nvidia driver written in Rust by Nvidia engineers that was recently accepted into the kernel. It's not yet production ready.

    2 votes

  5. Comment on Is OpenWRT worthwhile at home? in ~comp

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    Apple's AirPort products were great consumer networking hardware in their heydey. They were an easy recommendation for people who wanted a quality router or access point, but didn't want to get...

    Apple's AirPort products were great consumer networking hardware in their heydey. They were an easy recommendation for people who wanted a quality router or access point, but didn't want to get "hacky". It's a shame Apple discontinued them.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on Is OpenWRT worthwhile at home? in ~comp

    babypuncher
    (edited )
    Link
    DD-WRT and its derivatives were awesome back in the day when there was a big gap between consumer and enterprise grade networking gear. They gave us nerds a bunch of "pro" features without needing...

    DD-WRT and its derivatives were awesome back in the day when there was a big gap between consumer and enterprise grade networking gear. They gave us nerds a bunch of "pro" features without needing to invest in expensive rackmount routing, VPN, and firewall appliances.

    I think these days, if you're technical enough to install OpenWRT on a consumer router, you're technical enough to just buy prosumer/small business grade networking gear from a company like Ubiquiti or Mikrotik for a similar price. Or alternatively, build your own router/firewall with a computer and pfsense.

    30 votes

  7. Comment on My guess and opinion on the common blockers to Linux adoption in ~tech

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    It's never been easier to learn these kinds of things.

    It's never been easier to learn these kinds of things.

  8. Comment on Musings on "Developer Mode" in ~comp

    babypuncher
    Link
    I don't think I would qualify "developers" as a class of people. Literally anyone can be a developer, and doing as little as opening the inspect tool in your browser to mess with some text on the...

    Is there any truth to the notion that "developers", independent of whether or not they are currently testing or programming something, are a class with different needs and rights from normal humans?

    I don't think I would qualify "developers" as a class of people. Literally anyone can be a developer, and doing as little as opening the inspect tool in your browser to mess with some text on the page is a common first step to becoming one. A class or caste system implies that such mobility is difficult or impossible, and not predicated entirely on a single personal choice.

    These features are hidden by default for two main reasons:

    1. The vast majority of users do not need or want them, so the extra buttons just clutter up the UX.
    2. Development tools are often inherently dangerous, lacking protections for sensitive data, and even have the ability to completely break the software they are attached to. "Fixing" these problems would make them less useful to developers.
    6 votes

  9. Comment on Is America ready for Japanese-style 7-Elevens? in ~finance

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    The H Mart by me is a huge grocery store with a bunch of counter service eateries along one of the outer walls.

    The H Mart by me is a huge grocery store with a bunch of counter service eateries along one of the outer walls.

    2 votes

  10. Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    Article was published 2 days ago. It's a coincidence and nothing more.

    Article was published 2 days ago. It's a coincidence and nothing more.

    10 votes

  11. Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    I fail to see how this makes the South Park episode any less funny. Political violence like this is always wrong. But the episode was written and aired weeks before this happened. And Charlie Kirk...

    I fail to see how this makes the South Park episode any less funny.

    Political violence like this is always wrong. But the episode was written and aired weeks before this happened. And Charlie Kirk was such a horrible person that I'm really struggling to actually feel bad for him. In 20 years, the majority of what neurons I still have dedicated to his memory will probably be tied to this South Park episode.

    16 votes

  12. Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    I don't think it's an acceptable consequence. But we are allowed to not feel any empathy over the death of a man who repeatedly argued that empathy is a weakness. It's what he would have wanted...

    I don't think it's an acceptable consequence. But we are allowed to not feel any empathy over the death of a man who repeatedly argued that empathy is a weakness. It's what he would have wanted after all. And I think every Republican throwing a fit over this is a truly massive hypocrite after they pardoned all the J6 insurrectionists.

    23 votes

  13. Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    The match in the powder keg was January 6, and with Republicans granting the perpetrators clemency and holding them up as heroes, they've effectively declared that political violence is totally fine.

    The match in the powder keg was January 6, and with Republicans granting the perpetrators clemency and holding them up as heroes, they've effectively declared that political violence is totally fine.

    34 votes

  14. Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    I don't think pulling these quotes out is necessarily an endorsement of a complete ban on guns. It's just amusing to point out that, by Kirk's own words, his death is an acceptable necessity so we...

    I don't think pulling these quotes out is necessarily an endorsement of a complete ban on guns. It's just amusing to point out that, by Kirk's own words, his death is an acceptable necessity so we probably shouldn't feel to bad about it.

    He also believed empathy is a made up New Age term that "does a lot of damage" so I think it's only fair to respond in kind.

    38 votes

  15. Comment on Conservative activist Charlie Kirk shot and killed at Utah college event in ~society

    babypuncher
    Link
    I won't condone political violence. I hope the perpetrator spends a long time in prison, and I don't know what good they expected to come of this. I will, however, leave some Charlie Kirk quotes...

    I won't condone political violence. I hope the perpetrator spends a long time in prison, and I don't know what good they expected to come of this.

    I will, however, leave some Charlie Kirk quotes that have aged like fine wine:

    • "I think empathy is a made up New Age term that does a lot of damage"
    • "I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights"
    49 votes

  16. Comment on iPhone 17, 17 Pro and Air announced in ~tech

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    I'm not accusing Apple of pulling a Kodak maneuver here. I genuinely think the 12/13 mini iPhones failed in the market place because those of us who like small phones are not as big of a market as...

    I'm not accusing Apple of pulling a Kodak maneuver here. I genuinely think the 12/13 mini iPhones failed in the market place because those of us who like small phones are not as big of a market as we think we are.

    I also don't think Lightning was a major barrier to iPhone adoption. When the port was first introduced in 2012, it was a major improvement over the micro-USB ports common on Android phones at the time. It wasn't until USB-C became ubiquitous that Lightning began to feel like a hindrance. Getting a USB-C iPhone was actually mildly annoying for me because I already had 10 years worth of Lightning cables in all the places I charge my phone.

    1 vote

  17. Comment on iPhone 17, 17 Pro and Air announced in ~tech

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    This is a form factor that would actually get me to consider a foldable

    This is a form factor that would actually get me to consider a foldable

    1 vote

  18. Comment on iPhone 17, 17 Pro and Air announced in ~tech

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    Nokia allegedly killed internal development on a touchscreen smartphone similar to the iPhone in 2005 because they were afraid it would compete too much with their existing products. They thought...

    Nokia allegedly killed internal development on a touchscreen smartphone similar to the iPhone in 2005 because they were afraid it would compete too much with their existing products.

    They thought they were untouchable and stopped innovating. This is pretty much inevitable at any tech company that starts listening more to lawyers and accountants than actual tech people.

    2 votes

  19. Comment on iPhone 17, 17 Pro and Air announced in ~tech

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    They discontinued the mini because sales were terrible. It makes me sad too, I loved my 12 mini. People who like to use their phone with one hand are apparently a very small market.

    They discontinued the mini because sales were terrible. It makes me sad too, I loved my 12 mini. People who like to use their phone with one hand are apparently a very small market.

  20. Comment on The storm hits the art market in ~arts

    babypuncher
    Link Parent
    I suspect these horrible people are primarily to blame. They juiced the market to an untenable position to begin with, and now that they've lost interest, everyone they took along for the ride...

    Many investment-focused art buyers got burned and got out. Their disillusionment then spilled into the broader collecting world, the dealer said, creating “a kind of malaise.”

    I suspect these horrible people are primarily to blame. They juiced the market to an untenable position to begin with, and now that they've lost interest, everyone they took along for the ride gets to suffer. Investors have ruined pretty much every collector's market. They don't actually care about $collectible, they just care about finding a place to park a bunch of money they don't know what to do with.

    42 votes