beardedchimp's recent activity
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Comment on We have heard you - Unity says in ~games
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Comment on Your Fitbit is useless – unless you consent to unlawful data sharing in ~tech
beardedchimp Link ParentChrist the hubris of these people. They are selling their data to Meta and in return are provided a service. How dare these people think it isn't selling because they haven't paid cash, as if...previous version of this story included a video caption that said retailers were "selling" data to Meta. In fact, Meta says this data is provided in exchange for market research
Christ the hubris of these people. They are selling their data to Meta and in return are provided a service. How dare these people think it isn't selling because they haven't paid cash, as if illegally providing personal data and being paid in kind with "market research" that is based upon illegal data collection is somehow more palatable than a pure financial transaction.
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Comment on What is your favorite TV show that you rewatch often? in ~tv
beardedchimp Link ParentIt wasn't far out though. TOS started with "five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before!". They were...I remembered just how far out DS9 was, it was more a western frontier town with a sheriff.
It wasn't far out though. TOS started with "five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before!". They were actually far out, going where the Federation had never gone before. TNG continuously entered new regions, had first contact with uncharted civilisations far from federation space. Voyager was entirely about being far out and more akin to a western frontier. Enterprise was earths first real foray into the galaxy, everything was new and distant.
DS9 was the only series that wasn't on a frontier far from home. Bajor was well known, Ensign Ro was even a starfleet officer. It was on the edge of Federation space, not a distant system. On DS9 they were guests of their Government, not owners. Instead of being wild west sheriffs, the story line describes that they should represent the best of starfleet, acting as diplomats for an ally and potential future member.
Not to mention coming off the death of his wife and having to raise a son
That is a reason to be sympathetic to the man, not to excuse his role as a starfleet commander/captain. If his PTSD and wider mental health issues compromised the space station he should have obviously been replaced.
His genocidal chemical war crimes with the Maquis are unrelated to his religious icon status. There is no rationale for him not being immediately arrested and imprisoned. The federation, namely through section 31 have done some horrific things, but ecological genocide via chemical warfare is extreme even for them.
Also, the second he started to have a weird religious status on Bajor they should have reassigned him for conflict of interest. It was obvious that they should have told him he's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy... who committed war crimes.
As I said I struggled to watch it with that context, if they had gone the Babylon 5 route presenting Earth as horrific authoritarian war criminals that'd be fine. But they tried to present him as an honourable courageous starfleet captain. The writing was just bad, particularly any long term story telling. For example Bashir suddenly being genetically enhanced. There was no build up to that and it makes absolutely no sense especially rewatching the prior episodes with that context. The writers just decided it was now a character trait.
Star Trek mainly TNG had spent so much time world building the federation as a post scarcity, post currency society. Then in DS9 suddenly all of starfleet has money, gambles, buys drink/gifts/resources and they pay for services like holodecks. None of it is explained, makes terrible writing and ruins all that prior world building.
But, I still enjoy the series for Garak alone.
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Comment on What browser extensions do you absolutely love to use? in ~tech
beardedchimp Link ParentYeah when the API transition took place I continued to manually install the older extension. The problem was that it wasn't being regularly maintained and so browser updates would often break it....Yeah when the API transition took place I continued to manually install the older extension. The problem was that it wasn't being regularly maintained and so browser updates would often break it.
I also agreed with Mozilla on the sandbox and security implications. When that extension wasn't being properly supported and you had to manually install it using flags that disabled a whole host of security considerations, it didn't feel like a long term solution.
All that said I still miss vimperator and the forks. You used to be able to completely control the entire browser in only a few keystrokes. Not only that, it exposed functionality and filtering that the GUI could never do no matter how many mouse clicks you wasted.
I'll compile random old packages from the internet to solve a purpose. But they are almost never internet facing. More than that they aren't running within your webbrowser, the overwhelmingly most important attack vector.
Manually installing those packages trusted me to pay attention to security updates. I know myself, I can't be trusted like that. In addition, once the community was forced to move to chrome api based extensions, that code base was abandoned. The already tenuous "many eyes" security ideal evaporated.
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Comment on What's your favorite read of 2023 so far? in ~books
beardedchimp Link ParentI have read a few books that discuss the carboniferous and several studies on lignin, its breakdown and the formation of shale/coal. But it has been several years and I don't have anything to...I have read a few books that discuss the carboniferous and several studies on lignin, its breakdown and the formation of shale/coal. But it has been several years and I don't have anything to hand. Feral does cover it.
More recently I have read about the importance of horizontal gene transfer in the rapid adoption of novel genes for things like lignin across the world. When lignin evolved, on evolutionary timescales its spread across widely unrelated species was rapid. There is no real definition of a tree, two trees that seem similar in appearance can be utterly unrelated to each other. Having gone through convergent evolution and horizontal gene transfer they end up looking the same.
It took tens of millions of years before fungi evolved the genes to break down lignin, but when it happened those genes also spread across the world rapidly.
When googling for this reply I came across https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674205222000491 seems fascinating, I've only started reading it. Horizontal gene transfer blows my mind.
From what I can remember, the forest floor was constantly being compacted by the huge weight of fallen trees, sinking it into the ground. If you combine that with the mulch from leaves and other organic matter then you are continuously creating a new forest floor. Ferns I assume would be everywhere.
been a maze of dead wood and plants
Take into consideration it is lignin, not plant matter as a whole. Leaves, shrubs, moss etc. would still die and decompose. From what I can remember that period also had a far higher percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere. When lightning started a fire, the high oxygen and enormous quantities of fallen trees created stupendously impressive wild fires that make today's seem like children's campfire.
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Comment on What are some antiquated things that most people still do out of a force of habit, or that are now unnecessary but have lasted culturally? in ~talk
beardedchimp Link ParentAs I mentioned before, modern surgery started and developed in the UK. It occurred entirely independent of modern medicine and the idea of a modern Doctor. Surgeons were not Doctors and did not go...As I mentioned before, modern surgery started and developed in the UK. It occurred entirely independent of modern medicine and the idea of a modern Doctor.
Surgeons were not Doctors and did not go through the same educational pathway. They also took pride in not being a Doctor but a surgeon. We are talking 250+ years ago.
As modern medicine advanced, Doctors and Surgeons merged such that they had shared education and training with later specialisation. But the surgeons held on to that historic idea of being distinct and a Mr.
As silly and benign as it all seems it is indicative of the elitist horrible all boys club found in surgery, particularly orthopaedics. That elitism prevents change and maintains the status quo.
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Comment on T20 bits and screws, what am I doing wrong? in ~life.home_improvement
beardedchimp Link ParentThe Canadians with us Irish have one shared point of national pride that still has (a very old) cult following, Massey Ferguson. Ferguson like me was from County Down. The man built an F1 car to...The Canadians with us Irish have one shared point of national pride that still has (a very old) cult following, Massey Ferguson.
Ferguson like me was from County Down. The man built an F1 car to demonstrate the superiority of his tractors' transmissions. Sterling Moss describing it as his favourite car he ever drove.
My Da has a 1950's Massey Ferguson, back when roll cages were a fever dream. When I left home for uni in 2005, coming home my Da would say "I just want to show you something, come with me". He'd lead me down the yard, step up to the tractor and it would start perfectly every time. 70 year old machine, thing of beauty.
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Comment on What is your favorite TV show that you rewatch often? in ~tv
beardedchimp Link ParentI walked along it with my sister and her kids in Tollymore for the first time in decades a couple of years ago. When I was growing up my Da was an on call GP for south Down. As a result he was...shimna river
I walked along it with my sister and her kids in Tollymore for the first time in decades a couple of years ago.
When I was growing up my Da was an on call GP for south Down. As a result he was known everywhere he went. As a kid when we went to Tollymore with our caravan, he would be constantly questioned by people about having a weird itch, or what they should do about X problem, what they could do to stop their husbands drinking.
He was meant to be on holiday to get away from being a Doctor, not provide on river health advice. Trying to walk even a short distance on that river was a nightmare. And my Dad being a clinician didn't want to tell them to fuck off and let us enjoy our holiday. Instead we just stopped going.
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Comment on What browser extensions do you absolutely love to use? in ~tech
beardedchimp Link ParentI'm talking about years before vimium was released. If you have only ever used vimium you won't have seen the messy fun preceding.I'm talking about years before vimium was released. If you have only ever used vimium you won't have seen the messy fun preceding.
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Comment on What browser extensions do you absolutely love to use? in ~tech
beardedchimp Link ParentThe vast majority of extensions were ported with full feature parity. But it really sucked for some of the more comprehensive, power user extensions. For example, the new tab page and other...Firefox switched to only supporting chrome-style webextensions
The vast majority of extensions were ported with full feature parity. But it really sucked for some of the more comprehensive, power user extensions.
For example, the new tab page and other internal browser pages are off limits in today's API. You can't press o to navigate the tab. With vimperator that was my work flow, I'd open a new tab then think about what website domain or search I was going to do with it. Helped from getting distracted by content on a tab. Took me quite a while to adapt.
I understand why they adopted chromes API, and more importantly why they didn't want extensions being able to alter internal pages, but I still miss the raw power it gave.
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Comment on Where ya from? in ~talk
beardedchimp Link ParentTell me about it, weird how Rangers Celtic crap expands all the way across Northern Ireland as well.Tell me about it, weird how Rangers Celtic crap expands all the way across Northern Ireland as well.
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Comment on What is your favorite TV show that you rewatch often? in ~tv
beardedchimp Link ParentThat is a perfection description of my watching experience. I'm from Spa outside Ballynahinch, my bedroom window faced Slieve Croob. It was always our mountain, the Mournes are also nice I suppose...I got it. It's more of a sensible chuckle show than a side splitter
That is a perfection description of my watching experience. I'm from Spa outside Ballynahinch, my bedroom window faced Slieve Croob. It was always our mountain, the Mournes are also nice I suppose :P
Where 'bouts are you from?
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Comment on T20 bits and screws, what am I doing wrong? in ~life.home_improvement
beardedchimp Link ParentYeah sorry, I actually mean Phillips and Pozidrive, I was just lazy. You will generally see pozidrive with anything new, but there is oh, oh so much phillips screws in old buildings. Canada being...Yeah sorry, I actually mean Phillips and Pozidrive, I was just lazy. You will generally see pozidrive with anything new, but there is oh, oh so much phillips screws in old buildings.
Canada being a younger country and North America generally having knocked down older buildings and rebuilt is covered in Robertson as far as I understand.
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Comment on T20 bits and screws, what am I doing wrong? in ~life.home_improvement
beardedchimp Link ParentI was almost certain a Canadian would chip in to herald the supremacy of Robertson. You guys are obsessed it is almost like a cult, with that screw standard being a point of national pride. I'm...I was almost certain a Canadian would chip in to herald the supremacy of Robertson. You guys are obsessed it is almost like a cult, with that screw standard being a point of national pride.
I'm not saying you are wrong, Robertson is fantastic particularly compared to phillips. However torx should be less likely to strip the head when you look at how the torque is applied. I'm pretty sure no matter what head was on these screws they would have been stripped.
I've never seen Robertson in the UK, so unfortunately no matter how many times Canadians espouse their virtue, it isn't practical over here. Bloody phillips is everywhere. I'd far prefer if Robertson, Torx or anything other than slotted was common.
Slotted screws are still bloody everywhere in houses. There is this idea that they look better, so any screws visible to people in the house will be slotted.
Evil, evil practice. When you have a house 150 years old, some of those old slotted screws do not take kindly to a screwdriver or impact.
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Comment on T20 bits and screws, what am I doing wrong? in ~life.home_improvement
beardedchimp (edited )Link ParentIf they are using an impact driver, they are far better at not stripping the heads of screws. The force being applied near instantaneously limits any cam out. But their image shows the screw heads...If they are using an impact driver, they are far better at not stripping the heads of screws. The force being applied near instantaneously limits any cam out.
But their image shows the screw heads being totally stripped which is weird for torx. It is hard to see how damaged the bits are. They seem to be coated in metal from the stripped screws along with damage.
If I was to hazard a guess the screws are total crap and bizarrely soft. When they started stripping the heads, I think they might have continued to force the impact driver in spinning at high speed without the hammer engaging. That might have damaged the bits because they weren't engaging the screw, they were bashing against the sides at high speed.
Impact "rated" bits are made of harder alloys. That makes them more brittle. That isn't an issue if they are seated properly, but if spinning rapidly and whacking metal they will chip.
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Comment on What are some antiquated things that most people still do out of a force of habit, or that are now unnecessary but have lasted culturally? in ~talk
beardedchimp Link ParentYep that is exactly the progress. They go Mr->Dr->Mr and are EXTREMELY protective of being a Mr. It isn't short for master or anything else. Becoming a surgeon and a Mr is a point of pride....Yep that is exactly the progress. They go Mr->Dr->Mr and are EXTREMELY protective of being a Mr. It isn't short for master or anything else. Becoming a surgeon and a Mr is a point of pride.
Bizarre right?
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Comment on T20 bits and screws, what am I doing wrong? in ~life.home_improvement
beardedchimp Link ParentTheir problem seems really strange. The whole point of torx is that you are applying force at a near 90 degree angle and can apply huge torque without risk of cam out. Using an impact would also...Their problem seems really strange. The whole point of torx is that you are applying force at a near 90 degree angle and can apply huge torque without risk of cam out.
Using an impact would also limit the risk the stripping the head. But I have never stripped a torx screw using a drill. I have snapped them by applying too much torque. That shows really that the head can handle so much force that the screw will snap before being stripped.
For the torx bits, they should only really experience damage if you are using an impact when they are not rated for it.
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Comment on What’s a genre or style you wish was explored more in games? in ~games
beardedchimp Link ParentI had memorised and internalised all the jump points in Freelancer. I didn't have to look for them, I knew where I was in a system and exactly where to reach a jump point at all times. I didn't do...I had memorised and internalised all the jump points in Freelancer. I didn't have to look for them, I knew where I was in a system and exactly where to reach a jump point at all times.
I didn't do this on purpose, it just sort of happened from playing the game so much. I felt like I was in that universe.
I used to play on oh so many servers, particularly the RP ones. My brother was also obsessed. That game is like an unreachable pinnacle that no other game has ever come close to.
I just started on the tutorial for Everspace 2, I loved the first but again it wasn't freelancer. I'll see how this goes!
When I booted up Everspace 2 I was too excited, so I stopped and immediately rewatched the intro (directors cut with all the alien stuff) for Freelancer. Man that intro is just unbelievably outstanding. The narrators voice holds such weight and gravitas as well. I can hear his voice in my head as he lists the Bretonia, the Rheinland, the Hispania, the Kusari, the Liberty.
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Comment on What’s a genre or style you wish was explored more in games? in ~games
beardedchimp Link ParentYeah his explanations are really helpful. I did a physics degree a long time ago. Relativity and quantum mechanics are best defined by how counter intuitive they are. The deeper you go, the more...Yeah his explanations are really helpful. I did a physics degree a long time ago. Relativity and quantum mechanics are best defined by how counter intuitive they are.
The deeper you go, the more you learn the more weird and more counter intuitive reality appears.
That video is a great example. How you'd think Lorentz contractions would appear in real life close to c is actually totally inverted. Really incredible, our minds can't handle it, but we try our very best anyway. Having that in a game might completely break players brains.
Oh also, if you are going to Andromeda, as you have picked up speed you may as well go beyond the virgo supercluster. At that point I'd guess it wouldn't add that many years. Unless you wanted to stop of course :P
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Comment on What is your favorite TV show that you rewatch often? in ~tv
beardedchimp Link ParentI love TNG, I can enjoy watching DS9 but I struggle with Sisko being a war criminal. When he used chemical weapons against the Maquis, he committed an absolutely horrific war crime. I was shocked....I love TNG, I can enjoy watching DS9 but I struggle with Sisko being a war criminal. When he used chemical weapons against the Maquis, he committed an absolutely horrific war crime.
I was shocked. When it first aired I thought the Federation would arrest him and try him for not just committing war crimes but for violating almost every principle the Federation was founded on.
After that I struggled with him in command, every scene all I could think was this man should be in prison. Really hard to watch after that, and his actions later continued to be awful.
For example in The Search, regardless of it being a simulation which Sisko didn't know. He decided he was so high and mighty that he committed an act of war on the Federations behalf that would have started a bloody conflict. It doesn't matter if he was right about the Dominion. The man basically considered himself above all of the Federation and would have forced a conflict.
I can understand his abhorrent behaviour being tolerated once total war had started with the dominion. But there was absolutely no reason for him not to be locked for for his Maquis war crimes.
How was your degree viewed post uni? I remember back in ~2008 speaking to a mate who was working for Bizarre in Liverpool, now lead engine dev for Ubisoft. He graduated with a double first in mathematics from Cambridge but what got him his first job was a platformer he wrote with my mate many years before.
He said that every year they received a stack of job applications from game dev graduates but they threw them all in the bin with barely a glance. I couldn't understand why, but he explained that the graduates submitted exactly the same game as their portfolio, it having been an exact set of requirements to fulfil the course.
He proved it to me and loaded up a dozen of their submissions. Every single one was exactly the same FPS with minor differences, it was obviously pointless to review any of them. He said that creativity and creating your own utterly crappy game was far more valuable than building a preconceived concept dictated by their game dev course.
Back then I felt really sad about it, these people who had gone to uni for game dev only to fall at the first hurdle, even though it was fully justified. That was the really early days of any unis offering game dev degrees and I figured that in years to come things would change.
I wasn't trying to be disparaging with that comment, I'm really hoping those degrees have earned their place, the students deserve it. How has your own experience with a game dev degree gone. Considering the ever increasing complexity of engines it make sense that it would require years, i.e. a degree, to become competent and a highly valued future employee.