bugsmith's recent activity
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
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Comment on Do you play knock-offs of celebrated indie games? in ~games
bugsmith Link ParentCouldn't have said it better myself. I certainly hate cheap imitations that try to ride on the good name of the original. But if we didn't have derivative work, then many of our favourite games...Couldn't have said it better myself. I certainly hate cheap imitations that try to ride on the good name of the original. But if we didn't have derivative work, then many of our favourite games would simply never exist. Look at the many roguelikes and roguelites that ultimately take their inspiration from, as the name implies, Rogue.
One could argue Rimworld is a "knockoff" of Dwarf Fortress, and even the beloved Factorio was made with inspiratation from the Minecraft mod IndustrialCraft (or BuildCraft).
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Comment on Fitness Weekly Discussion in ~health
bugsmith LinkI ran the London marathon on Sunday. A day of mixed emotions. It was incredible and breathtaking as you might expect. Running across Tower Bridge a little over half way through will be a core...I ran the London marathon on Sunday.
A day of mixed emotions. It was incredible and breathtaking as you might expect. Running across Tower Bridge a little over half way through will be a core memory for the rest of my life.
Sadly, I injured my knee around 20k in due to someone cutting in front of me during a narrow stretch. It wasn't malicious, they were in their own zone and impatient to get past people. But it caused me to stumble and twist my leg in catching myself.
By 30k, my knee was in agony and I was ready to just stop and cry, feeling I'd wasted my chance and all the training.
Fortunately, my wife and lots of my family came to support me and managed to spot me three times during the run. Approaching them to hug them and have them cheer me was like taking a senzu bean. It's hard to describe how good it felt to see them.
My knee didn't really recover but adrenaline and grit kicked on and I managed to finish.
My goal was 4:00 - 4:15, and I finished in 4:58.
I am, of course, a little sad to have fallen short of a goal I'd trained hard to achieve. But this was my first marathon, and crossing that line was one of the sweetest feelings I've ever felt.
London did an incredible job of selling itself during the event. It was incredibly well organised and the atmosphere was second to none.
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Comment on Reddit reports 69% jump in revenue, topping analyst estimates in ~tech
bugsmith Link ParentI still use Reddit to access some communities that don't seem to exist in any meaningful size outside of Facebook, and I refuse to use the latter. I hate being forced to use the app just to have a...I still use Reddit to access some communities that don't seem to exist in any meaningful size outside of Facebook, and I refuse to use the latter.
I hate being forced to use the app just to have a decent mobile experience. Fortunately, on android, Morphe exists. It's made by the old ReVanced team, and it transforms the official Reddit app from something hideous, into something not terrible.
Still nothing on Sync, RiF or Apollo, of course.
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Comment on I love bioparks in ~travel
bugsmith LinkI'm not sure it hits the same flavour as other suggestions here, but Eden Project in Cornwall, UK Is super cool and definitely worth a visit. Then there is Kew Garden in London, which I'm sure is...I'm not sure it hits the same flavour as other suggestions here, but Eden Project in Cornwall, UK Is super cool and definitely worth a visit.
Then there is Kew Garden in London, which I'm sure is the UK's most well known botanical garden.
And for anyone visiting Oxford, there is the Oxford University Botanic Garden. What I love about this one, other than being local to me, is that it's pretty small and easy to squeeze into a day of other tourist activities.
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Comment on What is your favorite dinosaur? in ~talk
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Comment on What is your favorite dinosaur? in ~talk
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Comment on Orbitals | Gameplay reveal trailer in ~games
bugsmith LinkThe art style on this is insane. I've never heard of this until now, but consider me interested for that reason alone.The art style on this is insane. I've never heard of this until now, but consider me interested for that reason alone.
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Comment on Godzilla Minus Zero | First look teaser in ~movies
bugsmith LinkOkay. That's enough to convince me. I need to finally bite the bullet and watch Minus One, because this is looking like it's going to be fantastic. For no reason at all, really, I've been putting...Okay. That's enough to convince me. I need to finally bite the bullet and watch Minus One, because this is looking like it's going to be fantastic. For no reason at all, really, I've been putting off Minus One for years.
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Comment on Things you didn't know about (Postgres) indexes in ~comp
bugsmith LinkThis is a blog post I wrote after having a couple of work projects lead me to learning far more about indexes than I'd ever bothered to in the past. In particular: Functional, Partial and Covering...This is a blog post I wrote after having a couple of work projects lead me to learning far more about indexes than I'd ever bothered to in the past.
In particular: Functional, Partial and Covering indexes had never appeared on my radar. I felt like I couldn't be the only one to have slept on the capabilities of indexes beyond the more obvious single and composite index we use all the time.
I'm sure this is less interesting to seasoned database engineers, but perhaps more so to software engineers that have not yet gone very deep with database optimisation.
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Things you didn't know about (Postgres) indexes
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
bugsmith Link ParentHonestly, this makes Go my absolute favourite language for anything more than a short lived script. Statically linked binaries in a type safe garbage collected language is just magic. Not my...Honestly, this makes Go my absolute favourite language for anything more than a short lived script. Statically linked binaries in a type safe garbage collected language is just magic.
Not my favourite syntax and it breaks me that we can't have (proper) enums or ADTs. But it wins so strongly elsewhere.
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Comment on Proton Meet isn't what they told you it was in ~tech
bugsmith LinkI have to lead with this: I hate this trend of articles using scroll fade. It's horrendous. I couldn't get through this without relying on reader view. I have lost all interest in Proton's email...I have to lead with this: I hate this trend of articles using scroll fade. It's horrendous. I couldn't get through this without relying on reader view.
I have lost all interest in Proton's email products. Early days, I was a huge fan. It was exciting to see a Google competitor picking up steam. And privacy by default too? Chefs kiss.
But I find the whole thing fundamentally flawed. As pointed out here, if you're not receiving from another Proton user (or someone encrypting before send) then you're no more secure from the provider than with any other service.
And when sending to a non-proton user, you must consider anything you said compromised as soon as it hits a Google server (or insert other big tech provider) in plain text.
That all said, I don't actually think Meet is as flawed a product as the article makes out. My understanding is that a government agency would be able to see that you used the product but not who you interacted with. I think Proton could be far more transparent about the limitations.
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Comment on Adding live reload to a static site generator written in Go in ~comp
bugsmith Link ParentThanks talklittle, this was exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping to receive. I really like your suggested approach of writing in plain English without code, before adding examples back in. I...Thanks talklittle, this was exactly the kind of feedback I was hoping to receive.
I really like your suggested approach of writing in plain English without code, before adding examples back in. I might even take that slightly further and have the code snippets collapsed, or condensed with the option to expand for those interested.
I have a link to the full code in a repository at the end. Are you suggesting it might be better to have the full code written directly into an appendix?
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Comment on Adding live reload to a static site generator written in Go in ~comp
bugsmith LinkHey folks. I'm sharing a guide I wrote mostly as a form of self documentation or "Blogumentation", a word I've recently come across and liked. I've never had a blog before, as I've never felt I...Hey folks.
I'm sharing a guide I wrote mostly as a form of self documentation or "Blogumentation", a word I've recently come across and liked.
I've never had a blog before, as I've never felt I had much reason to keep one. But writing more is one of my themes this year, and so, now I have one.
I'd be really keen to hear feedback on any of: my writing style; the technical content of the post; or even the site itself, which is generated with the software I'm writing about (the dreaded "build a static site generator and then write about the process" trope).
I feel a little bit ick about posting a link to my own site here, but it seems to fall within the guidelines and I don't know how else I'd find anyone to read it other than share it on forums I frequent.
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Adding live reload to a static site generator written in Go
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Comment on I'm going to Thailand next week. Looking for advice on clothing. in ~travel
bugsmith Link ParentThanks. A lot of your advice here is the first time I've come across much of it. Particularly the part about speaking against the monarchy and negative reviews. The latter could have really caught...Thanks. A lot of your advice here is the first time I've come across much of it. Particularly the part about speaking against the monarchy and negative reviews. The latter could have really caught me out!
When are you coming?
Today!
cosmetics and moisturizers here in Thailand are skin bleaching
Just, what? This has prompted further research. I didn't know that was a thing.
Finally, welcome and congratulations to you both! Many happy years and smiles.
Thank you!
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Comment on I'm going to Thailand next week. Looking for advice on clothing. in ~travel
bugsmith Link ParentA scarf is something I'd never have considered. Thank you!A scarf is something I'd never have considered. Thank you!
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Comment on I'm going to Thailand next week. Looking for advice on clothing. in ~travel
bugsmith Link ParentAnd somehow, I didn't stop to consider I could actually buy some clothes out there. Honestly though, I'd rather avoid going shopping whilst we're there. I don't like shopping at the best of times,...There’s also Uniqlo, H&M and decathlon in Bangkok.
And somehow, I didn't stop to consider I could actually buy some clothes out there. Honestly though, I'd rather avoid going shopping whilst we're there. I don't like shopping at the best of times, let alone whilst on holiday! But this is very handy to know.
As for clothes, there’s a very slim chance you need long pants except for visiting temples
This is the only reason I'm packing my linen trousers.
There’s laundry services all around, you either pay per load and hang dry yourself or you just hand your clothes in and get them back the next day (or that evening)
Great to know. I've been told it's very difficult to dry clothes for the next day, thanks to the humidity, so planning to do the overnight service where available.
I would not wear synthetic clothes because from my experience they make me sweat too much.
I will sweat horrendously either way. If I wear cotton, the clothes will just remain sweat soaked, where the synthetics will dry out at least. I would vastly prefer to wear organic materials, but I think it will be a disaster.
I really appreciate the advice.
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I'm going to Thailand next week. Looking for advice on clothing.
I'm very excited to be taking a trip to Thailand with my wife for our honeymoon. I'm going to do some clothes shopping this week and keen to take advice from those who live in or have travelled to...
I'm very excited to be taking a trip to Thailand with my wife for our honeymoon.
I'm going to do some clothes shopping this week and keen to take advice from those who live in or have travelled to SEA or specifically Thailand before.
I'm going for a minimal approach, so I'll be taking as few clothes as possible and having them laundered whilst I'm there.
For underwear, I'm settled on stocking up on Uniqlo's airism boxers as they're already the most comfortable I've ever owned and I'm certain they'll hold up well to the tropics.
In that vein, I'm not sure if I should also go for the airism t-shirts, or if there's an obviously better choice. I hear lots of mixed opinions on cotton vs merino vs synthetics. I sweat too much for cotton, and have never got on that well with merino (outside of jumpers/sweaters). Given I'll only be there for a couple of weaks, I'm feeling that synthetics are the way to go. But I'm happy to be convinced otherwise.
For footwear I'm going to wear my Altra Escalantes. I'm currently training for a marathon and will have to do at least a few runs while I'm out there, so these will serve as my running shoes and for anywhere I might appreciate plain black shoes (or something more supportive than sandals). Otherwise, I'll be living in my Birkenstock arizonas.
I'll be packing two linen shirts, one linen trousers and then a couple of very lightweight shorts. Again, I'm avoiding cotton with the shorts. I have some ABC WovenAir pull-on shorts from Lululemon that I think will be very comfortable, but I'd be keen for recommendation for another pair or two. I've been told the pacebreakers from Lululemon are great, but not sure if an order from there will arrive on time.
I'm based in the UK, so any recommendations would ideally before for shops we have here, or international brands like Decathlon, Uniqlo, H&M etc.
I understand this is all very personal, but I like hearing different preferences.
18 votes
Shoplifters by Hirokazu Kore-eda
This was my introduction to films by this director and I'm going to go down the rabbit hole, because this film was exceptional.
I stumbled across it when looking for something with a similar vibe to Parasite. I specifically wanted something set in East Asia, as I've become fascinated with the aesthetic and cultural differences to the west. This did tick the box, but without the thriller elements - which I was happy for.
The film explores what it means to be a family. The story is warm and cosy, but with a constant background dread that everything will inevitably go wrong. Not in a horrific way. Just knowing that a nice but tenuous situation just can't last. Nice is probably not the right word. From an outside perspective characters are in a very dire situation living in poverty. But they are happy.
It is a character lead plot, with superb acting and a tight narrative. Sakura Ando's performance, in particular, was stellar. There are several scenes with her that have stuck with me and left me pondering.
Strong recommendation to anyone who enjoys character driven stories.