centurion's recent activity
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Comment on Oblivion Remastered releases today in ~games
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Comment on Pay what you want for every Wheel of Time book (supporting the ACLU) in ~books
centurion LinkLooks like it's only available in certain regions. Just showing as unavailable for me in Europe.Looks like it's only available in certain regions. Just showing as unavailable for me in Europe.
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Comment on Apple TV+ promotion: $3/month for three months in ~tv
centurion Link ParentI see it on this landing page from a private browsing session: https://tv.apple.com/ca Just sticking your country code at the end seems to give regional offers for the few countries I tried.I see it on this landing page from a private browsing session: https://tv.apple.com/ca
Just sticking your country code at the end seems to give regional offers for the few countries I tried.
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Comment on Non-American, English language news sources in ~news
centurion Link ParentJust saw that RTE have quite a few podcast streams available too. I subbed to a few in the past. I've always found the reporting of RTE to be quite thorough. They do have their problems as an...Just saw that RTE have quite a few podcast streams available too. I subbed to a few in the past. I've always found the reporting of RTE to be quite thorough. They do have their problems as an organisation (mostly the salaries paid to the entertainment "stars") but the news, current affairs and documentaries they put out are high quality and very accessible. They never go for the sensationalist angle in my view anyway.
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Comment on Non-American, English language news sources in ~news
centurion Link ParentOn TV, RTE's Six One is the flagship daily news programme that will cover most of the day's events. Upfront with Katie Hannon or The Week in Politics are weekly shows with more opinions and...On TV, RTE's Six One is the flagship daily news programme that will cover most of the day's events. Upfront with Katie Hannon or The Week in Politics are weekly shows with more opinions and commentary about what's going on in the world. Virgin Media's The Tonight Show is similar enough. They're all more with an Irish slant, but sometimes cover international events.
Claire Byrne does a radio show which should cover current affairs - she used to have a TV show covering the same. Morning Ireland on RTE Radio One would also be news and current affairs for the most part.
Newstalk is another Irish radio station with Pat Kenny and Sean Moncrieff being the ones I'd recognise as more current affairs though I don't listen to that station myself. It can be quite biased with its commentary that I never particularly liked.
Overall, I find the news section on the RTE website mostly unbiased, though they get a lot of their international coverage from news agencies like PA or AFP.
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Comment on Steam Spring Sale suggestions in ~games
centurion Link ParentCheers, we won't be short of games after this! Added them to the wishlist / library collection. I'll save them for the next sale or see if they pop up in a bundle in the meantime. I have this...Cheers, we won't be short of games after this! Added them to the wishlist / library collection. I'll save them for the next sale or see if they pop up in a bundle in the meantime. I have this horrible habit of buying games (both video and board) and then never actually playing them. Best to try out what we have first :)
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Comment on Steam Spring Sale suggestions in ~games
centurion Link ParentCheers for the suggestions. We own Vermintide and Towerfall already so added those to the library collection for our MP fun. I'm the one missing Deep Rock Galactic and Boomerang Fu but the latter...Cheers for the suggestions. We own Vermintide and Towerfall already so added those to the library collection for our MP fun. I'm the one missing Deep Rock Galactic and Boomerang Fu but the latter has popped up in a few Fanatical bundles according to ITAD so I'll hold out for that. Remote Play Together might work for it, but we're geographically a bit distant so lag can be an issue.
Dug a bit into the SteamDB filters and surfaced Rubber Bandits and Ultimate Chicken Horse.
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Comment on Steam Spring Sale suggestions in ~games
centurion LinkLooking for suggestions for good multiplayer games that play well with either 2 or 3 people. Not opposed to larger games when you join randomers, but we generally like to play with just us. Silly...Looking for suggestions for good multiplayer games that play well with either 2 or 3 people. Not opposed to larger games when you join randomers, but we generally like to play with just us. Silly party games seem to go down well such as Gang Beasts and Mount Your Friends, if anyone has suggestions along that vein.
We all have pretty large libraries already so it may just be a matter of discovery in our backlogs and making sure we all own the games.
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Comment on How do you feel about your PTO? in ~life
centurion LinkEurope here. 27 days annual leave (grade and age dependent), sick leave is paid for a few weeks. We also have flexible working hours and can compensate overtime with 1:1 time off later (with...Europe here. 27 days annual leave (grade and age dependent), sick leave is paid for a few weeks. We also have flexible working hours and can compensate overtime with 1:1 time off later (with additional compensation for weekend/unsociable hours). There's also a mandatory requirement to take 2 weeks off in a row at some point in the year. It's not a bad idea, but in some years, I'd like to take off more one week breaks here and there and 2 weeks in a row reduces that capability.
Overall, I don't think it's enough especially with the amount of public holidays here (up to 10 per year but not very spread out), which are lost if they fall on the weekend - Christmas/New Years being on a Saturday is rough. From August until Christmas, there's no public holiday so work just seems to drag on.
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Comment on What's the best counter argument to "Well, if I don't do it somebody else will" in ~talk
centurion Link ParentThe trouble I've gotten into is becoming the subject matter expert on a few business domains, where the others have left the company. These areas have become more support/maintenance as they're...The trouble I've gotten into is becoming the subject matter expert on a few business domains, where the others have left the company. These areas have become more support/maintenance as they're pretty feature-complete but the occasional bug comes in. It's hard to train up others on it as it does require hands-on experience and documentation/code dives can only go so far. Probably a bit self-fulfilling in that attitude.
It came out in one of our team meetings that we collectively need to learn to push back on external demands. We're not there yet but we're at least aware of where we need to get to. I'm very thankful for our scrum master who has a growth mindset for us, so it does help us avoid dead-end paths for our team - like being stuck on support roles for these feature-complete areas with no learning opportunities.
I'd say it's definitely something I picked up from my mother who also has a very conscientious work ethic and a attitude towards just getting things done. Contrast that with my father where everything gets put on the long finger and left to the last minute (infuriating the rest of us). On the thread topic, I would say "If I don't do it, my mother will have to" is the pattern I learned growing up and I like my mother, so I don't want to make her take on more work.
I forget where I read this but someone made a comment about trying to form a new habit or pattern, and they would ask themselves "Do I want to be the type of person who doesn't do <thing>?". I know myself well enough that I don't want to be the type of person who leaves work for others to do when I am capable of doing it. That would be my argument against the thread title on a personal level. I get satisfaction from being that person, not from being recognised (though that helps in a professional setting), just that I feel I'm doing the moral and right thing.
Someone else mentioned The Good Place on this thread, which helped me solidify some of my opinions. To quote one of the characters, "Why not try? It's better than not trying, right?". Now, I guess it's time for (another) rewatch of that show.
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Comment on What's the best counter argument to "Well, if I don't do it somebody else will" in ~talk
centurion Link ParentI related a lot to that "glue" work talk you linked. It's how I feel I'm slipping in my current job because I'm the only one that cares enough about certain work - others do care, but won't go out...I related a lot to that "glue" work talk you linked. It's how I feel I'm slipping in my current job because I'm the only one that cares enough about certain work - others do care, but won't go out of their way. Although I'm also quite lucky in that it's gotten me recognition and raises, thanks to my department lead and line manager being proactive about getting me those, without me needing to praise myself too much (quite shy naturally).
There is a downside to being the glue that it enables a pattern of it always falling to you, and the people in other parts of the organisation start giving less rope to help you out (mainly thinking of bugs coming in with few details - "the status is wrong on my ticket <EOF>"). I'm glad the speaker mentioned stepping back towards the end. Saying no is an important skill to learn, and sometimes letting the proverbial shit hit the fan highlights how much you actually do, making others step up. It's what I'm trying to do more of, since my scrum master is (lightly) complaining that I'm spending too much time helping others and not enough delivering work.
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Comment on How do you go about learning a new language? in ~humanities.languages
centurion LinkI used a combination of Duolingo and Language Transfer (a collection of free audio lessons) for learning Spanish in preparation for travelling around Latin America a few years ago. I never got to...I used a combination of Duolingo and Language Transfer (a collection of free audio lessons) for learning Spanish in preparation for travelling around Latin America a few years ago. I never got to the point of fluency but my Latino friends were pleasantly surprised at how well I managed to cope speaking to others (who very often had no English, forcing me to immerse).
Language Transfer was quite useful for helping me pick up the way the language works while Duolingo helped to expand my vocabulary and written form. The LT structure is by listening to the instructor teach a beginner how to speak in the target language and the lessons were bite-size so you could dedicate a couple of minutes each day to it. Greek does appear to be offered by it, but I can only speak to the quality of the Spanish lessons.
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Comment on Be aware of the Makefile effect in ~comp
centurion Link ParentAye, using Maven as the build system, which is also abstracted away with the use of a parent pom in all our microservices. There is a certain complexity in our setup with various starters...Aye, using Maven as the build system, which is also abstracted away with the use of a parent pom in all our microservices. There is a certain complexity in our setup with various starters available (like integration with databases and/or Kafka) but a well structured codebase will make things optional.
If your scripts always spin up a postgres Docker to run migration tests, then yeah, it's wasteful to do it on a DB-less microservice pipeline. Most places I've worked at has reached this level to have options available. The only one that didn't was a startup where the idea of templates or parent poms were rejected by the CTO for some reason and everything was copy-pasted to each microservice. Made upgrades so painful and slowed down a lot of development over time.
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Comment on Be aware of the Makefile effect in ~comp
centurion Link ParentI wholeheartedly agree. As a software engineer who focuses more on Java dev, I want my CI/CD pipelines to just work and let me focus on writing business logic code. Will I ever be an expert at...I wholeheartedly agree. As a software engineer who focuses more on Java dev, I want my CI/CD pipelines to just work and let me focus on writing business logic code. Will I ever be an expert at writing Gitlab CI yamls? No, but it's not what I'm primarily paid for.
Maybe if my job involved managing the pipelines across multiple teams, I'd put in the effort to learn this stuff from scratch and truly understand the deep internals. But reinventing the wheel for the sake of it just doesn't seem like a beneficial use of my time. I'll pick up the understanding over time as I need to make changes to the configuration, but for creating a new repo for a new microservice, I'm going to use what's in place already.
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Comment on Ryanair sues passenger for €15,000 after flight was diverted due to ‘inexcusable behaviour’ in ~transport
centurion Link ParentI have occasionally seen articles on RTE (like this one) where flights have had to be diverted and police called to deal with an unruly passenger. I don't think it's all that rare, but suing the...I have occasionally seen articles on RTE (like this one) where flights have had to be diverted and police called to deal with an unruly passenger. I don't think it's all that rare, but suing the passenger is definitely a first.
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Comment on Ryanair sues passenger for €15,000 after flight was diverted due to ‘inexcusable behaviour’ in ~transport
centurion Link ParentHaving been on some Ryanair flights going to the sun holiday destinations, it's typically passengers who get shitfaced drunk at the airport bar, then are loud and aggressive on the plane for the 2...Having been on some Ryanair flights going to the sun holiday destinations, it's typically passengers who get shitfaced drunk at the airport bar, then are loud and aggressive on the plane for the 2 or 3 hour flight.
It's not uncommon to see the same kind of behaviour on a night out in Ireland and the UK.
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Comment on What long book series is worth its page count? in ~books
centurion Link ParentI think it'd be confusing just to pick up on Book 7, having only watched the show. As you say, TV Drummer is an amalgamation of other book characters so it would be quite a big whiplash. Not to...I think it'd be confusing just to pick up on Book 7, having only watched the show. As you say, TV Drummer is an amalgamation of other book characters so it would be quite a big whiplash. Not to mention the other big difference between the show and the books.
TV Season 5 spoilers
The death of Alex due to the actor being fired.I personally found the books quite a light read, easy to get through them in a short space of time to get to the same point in the show. You'd also miss out on some of the novellas (such as The Churn), which deserve to be read too.
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Comment on I'm visiting the region you're from, what's your favorite food I should try? in ~food
centurion Link ParentI remember being in Guayaquil and a friend decided to basically heap ají into his encebollado (an amazing fish stew for those unaware) and regretted it immediately. His European mouth was not...I remember being in Guayaquil and a friend decided to basically heap ají into his encebollado (an amazing fish stew for those unaware) and regretted it immediately. His European mouth was not prepared for how spicy this particular restaurant made it. Our Ecuadorian hosts were telling him to go easy on it and weren't surprised at his reaction.
Definitely have a soft spot for Ecuadorian cuisine, I occasionally make seco de pollo and bolón de queso/chiccarón, at least as good as I can with the ingredients available here in Europe. Tamales are amazing but too much effort for me to attempt.
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Comment on In Norway, children walk to school aged six, or even travel across the country. Why do these kids have so much independence, while other countries are so risk-averse? in ~life
centurion Link ParentPeeing standing up is not against the law. Making excessive noise after 10pm is, but you can't be punished for peeing standing up. You may get a passive aggressive note on your door by a...Peeing standing up is not against the law. Making excessive noise after 10pm is, but you can't be punished for peeing standing up. You may get a passive aggressive note on your door by a overzealous neighbour.
But yeah you see kids here walking to kindergarten or school from 4 or 5, especially in villages. In bigger cities, there's usually a parent or two accompanying a group of children.
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Comment on Help me ditch Chrome's password manager! in ~tech
centurion Link ParentFor multi-user usage, I can see syncing issues happening with KeePass but thankfully I haven't had any. I think the apps/programs I use for it can merge external changes for it and last saved...For multi-user usage, I can see syncing issues happening with KeePass but thankfully I haven't had any. I think the apps/programs I use for it can merge external changes for it and last saved entry wins. As a lone user, I don't get conflicts frequently (can't remember if I ever actually got one).
Ultimately it's great to have options for everyone and not have to rely on a single application that may not cover everyone's particular use case.
According to the Fanatical page: