balooga's recent activity
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Comment on Can I hope to defeat telematics in a new car? in ~transport
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Comment on US President Donald Trump calls Democrat video to troops 'seditious behaviour, punishable by death' in ~society
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Comment on Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with ‘suspicious’ travel patterns in ~society
balooga LinkRelated (Benn Jordan video): We hacked Flock safety cameras in under 30 seconds. I’m hopeful that the good work Jordan’s been doing here will blow the doors off this underreported issue. Not...Related (Benn Jordan video): We hacked Flock safety cameras in under 30 seconds. I’m hopeful that the good work Jordan’s been doing here will blow the doors off this underreported issue. Not nearly enough people are talking about Flock and the real harm it is causing.
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Comment on The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping | Official teaser in ~movies
balooga Link ParentWait, what? 🤯 How embarrassing, I had no idea. Thanks for the info!Wait, what? 🤯
How embarrassing, I had no idea. Thanks for the info!
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Comment on The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping | Official teaser in ~movies
balooga LinkI’ve never read the books but I enjoyed the movies. Now my kiddo is reading the books and we’re watching the trilogy together. It’s really fantastic! The cast, cinematography, music, writing, all...I’ve never read the books but I enjoyed the movies. Now my kiddo is reading the books and we’re watching the trilogy together. It’s really fantastic! The cast, cinematography, music, writing, all of it… chef’s kiss I mean, the overall concept and world building are pretty ridiculous but I can suspend my disbelief.
I didn’t realize that there are also two prequel books! Here’s hoping they can recapture the same magic of the originals. From what I can tell the casting is pretty solid, with strong actors who even resemble their elder counterparts from the originals. That’s promising.
Since I haven’t read the books I don’t know if the story’s any good. Does anyone know why The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, which is meant to precede Sunrise on the Reaping, was passed over?
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Comment on US Senate suddenly passes the Jeffrey Epstein bill just hours after it cleared the House in ~society
balooga Link ParentTrump has been treating her favorably. I feel like it’s in her best interest to play along.Trump has been treating her favorably. I feel like it’s in her best interest to play along.
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Comment on US Senate suddenly passes the Jeffrey Epstein bill just hours after it cleared the House in ~society
balooga Link ParentDoes anyone know how documents like these are actually kept, at a practical logistical level? If I were Trump and knew they incriminated me, I would be pulling every lever to make sure every copy...Does anyone know how documents like these are actually kept, at a practical logistical level? If I were Trump and knew they incriminated me, I would be pulling every lever to make sure every copy is destroyed; maybe a strategy of surgical redactions or outright edits would be more persuasive than for everything to just vanish. Either way, I absolutely wouldn’t be sitting on my hands waiting for them to be made public.
I’m sure there’s a complex system of redundant backups, access controls, and regulations. But I haven’t seen any evidence that Donald Trump would allow any of those things to impede him. His cronies are in charge of the whole machine.
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Comment on Of Oz The Wizard - An alphabetized movie in ~movies
balooga LinkThis is good silly fun. The edits are so tight and precise I thought for sure it must have been produced with the help of AI transcription… but it’s dated 2004. Which makes it all the more...This is good silly fun. The edits are so tight and precise I thought for sure it must have been produced with the help of AI transcription… but it’s dated 2004. Which makes it all the more impressive! The description says he did automate it with some custom tools, but he doesn’t elaborate on how they worked. Interesting!
Honestly the whole thing is an unwatchable novelty, but the hand-made title cards in the beginning are really well done. I was impressed by their faithfulness to the originals.
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Comment on Former PM Katrín Jakobsdóttir has said the Icelandic language could be wiped out in as little as a generation due to the sweeping rise of AI and encroaching English language dominance in ~humanities.languages
balooga LinkHonestly I’m of two minds about this. I absolutely don’t cheer for death of any world cultures or traditions. I think that the homogenization of everything is a harmful colonialist impulse that...Honestly I’m of two minds about this. I absolutely don’t cheer for death of any world cultures or traditions. I think that the homogenization of everything is a harmful colonialist impulse that destroys diversity of thought and severs our connections to the past, and makes the world a blander place, besides.
At the same time, I wonder what we could achieve as a species if language barriers no longer existed.
Obviously the concerns of the former outweigh the benefits of the latter, but I have to recognize both.
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Comment on Shrinking number of free news outlets in ~talk
balooga LinkIt’s not a perfect solution but if you’re comfortable with circumvention technologies I recommend Bypass Paywalls Clean. It’s frequently updated and uses a variety of techniques to get around soft...It’s not a perfect solution but if you’re comfortable with circumvention technologies I recommend Bypass Paywalls Clean. It’s frequently updated and uses a variety of techniques to get around soft paywalls on a ton of sites. Unfortunately it was chased from GitLab and GitHub by DMCA takedowns, and now resides at this Russian site which is out of reach of American law but also gives it the appearance of being rather sketchy. Also there are now a couple hoops to jump through to install it, since the browser extension stores refuse to distribute it.
I’ve been using it for years and I trust magnolia1234 who has been tirelessly maintaining it through all the ups and downs. It works quite well. Obviously use your own discretion and do the necessary due diligence before installing it for yourself.
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Comment on New ‘Star Trek’ movie in works at Paramount from Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) in ~movies
balooga Link ParentWell said. The Orville was everything I could want a modern Star Trek to be, once it wriggled out of Fox’s expectations for it to be a stupid Family Guy style parody show. Those two seasons in...Well said. The Orville was everything I could want a modern Star Trek to be, once it wriggled out of Fox’s expectations for it to be a stupid Family Guy style parody show. Those two seasons in particular were criminally underrated.
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Comment on New ‘Star Trek’ movie in works at Paramount from Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley (Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) in ~movies
balooga Link ParentHasbro Presents: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: A Forgotten Realms Story: Based on the Novel Push by SapphireHasbro Presents: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: A Forgotten Realms Story: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
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Comment on Danish man convicted of sharing nude scenes from copyrighted films and TV series on the social media site Reddit in ~tech
balooga LinkI can’t get behind the idea that decontextualizing a movie scene is somehow a violation of anyone’s rights or a form of abuse against the actors in that scene. A film is fundamentally a recording,...I can’t get behind the idea that decontextualizing a movie scene is somehow a violation of anyone’s rights or a form of abuse against the actors in that scene. A film is fundamentally a recording, and that’s just the nature of the beast. People have been wearing out certain portions of videotape from excessive rewinds since the VHS era. Was that a crime against moral rights? Performers and studios can’t dictate how a movie is supposed to be watched, or how pure the audience’s thoughts are as they watch it.
I get that the “real crime” here (or at least the more widely recognized infraction) is copyright violation. Personally I think that’s a crock too, but the story should at least be centered around that. All this talk of lecherous men making actors uncomfortable just confuses the issue.
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Comment on Enthusiasts bond twelve 56K modems together to set dial-up broadband records in ~tech
balooga LinkCan anybody elucidate this part for me? Were these modems connecting over VOIP?with an ISP that supports digital modems
Can anybody elucidate this part for me? Were these modems connecting over VOIP?
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Comment on Marty Supreme | Official trailer in ~movies
balooga Link ParentAh, interesting. I wasn’t getting that feeling from the trailer. I mean, the premise is outlandish but it seems to be played totally seriously, at least in my eyes.Ah, interesting. I wasn’t getting that feeling from the trailer. I mean, the premise is outlandish but it seems to be played totally seriously, at least in my eyes.
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Comment on Marty Supreme | Official trailer in ~movies
balooga LinkThe trailer looks good! Not sure why this is tagged as comedy though. Also I’m not tripping over myself to finance Gwyneth Paltrow (though at this point I suppose she’s got enough fuck-you money...The trailer looks good! Not sure why this is tagged as comedy though. Also I’m not tripping over myself to finance Gwyneth Paltrow (though at this point I suppose she’s got enough fuck-you money to be uncancelable).
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Comment on Toy Story 5 | Teaser Trailer in ~movies
balooga Link ParentI really don’t like when Pixar takes on sequels, and I’m typically annoyed when numbers larger than 3 start showing up in titles, but credit where it’s due for Pixar continuing to push the...I really don’t like when Pixar takes on sequels, and I’m typically annoyed when numbers larger than 3 start showing up in titles, but credit where it’s due for Pixar continuing to push the technical envelope. Have you seen this video about the camera lens simulation in Toy Story 4? That film stands out to me as being one of the most technically gorgeous animated works I’ve ever seen.
I’m not convinced that we need a Toy Story 5, just as I wasn’t that we needed a 4 (or a 3 before that), but I’m gratified that the artists are doing their thing to make it look spectacular. By all rights it could be a cheap money grab but these are good signs that it won’t.
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Comment on Who can name the bigger number? in ~science
balooga Link ParentI think it was Milton Sirotta who spelled it wrong.I think it was Milton Sirotta who spelled it wrong.
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Comment on The Doobie Brothers: Tiny Desk Concert (2025) in ~music
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Comment on The Doobie Brothers: Tiny Desk Concert (2025) in ~music
balooga Link ParentThat’s funny, I would describe the Doobie Brothers in exactly the same way. My dad was absolutely nuts for these guys. And I’ve come to know a lot of their songs through osmosis as well.This is one of my father's all-time favorite bands
That’s funny, I would describe the Doobie Brothers in exactly the same way. My dad was absolutely nuts for these guys. And I’ve come to know a lot of their songs through osmosis as well.
That seems sketchy, I’m not inclined to send my VIN to an unknown website. Can anyone speak to the reputability of this?