deimosthenes's recent activity
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Comment on How computationally expensive is filtering and ignoring? in ~tildes
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Comment on Is British English actually better than American English? in ~humanities.languages
deimosthenes Link ParentI like this answer a lot, but I was curious about the last paragraph. Would you not say that in many ways spoken language is itself a technology, that much like writing systems there are going to...I like this answer a lot, but I was curious about the last paragraph.
Would you not say that in many ways spoken language is itself a technology, that much like writing systems there are going to be advantages and disadvantages to different languages / language groups for a given set of purposes?
The various dialects of English are much too close to differentiate in this way, and it obviously could get a bit dicey and uncomfortable to try to evaluate other languages thus without it succumbing to sociocultural biases.
It seems to me though that there would be some relatively objective features you could measure, even if I'm not sure what those features would be. Languages that were more information dense perhaps, or those whose structure and lexicon led to greater conciseness or precision or abstract prose.Of course this would still be very different than saying "language X is better than language Y" as a general statement.
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Comment on Babylon 5 S01E09: "Deathwalker" - Episode Discussion in ~tv
deimosthenes Link ParentYeah it hasn't been said outright that the Vorlons are so far ahead of the other races that nobody can stop them, but the attitudes of everyone involved imply it pretty heavily. I guess the...Yeah it hasn't been said outright that the Vorlons are so far ahead of the other races that nobody can stop them, but the attitudes of everyone involved imply it pretty heavily. I guess the concept of an 'elder race' that's both incredibly powerful and equally inscrutable is ingrained in plenty of space opera settings such that you only need to gesture in the direction of the concept.
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Comment on Ted Lasso | Season 4 official teaser in ~tv
deimosthenes LinkNot sure how I feel about a continuation after they left the show in a pretty good place. Hopefully it's still got things to say and isn't just a cash-grab?Not sure how I feel about a continuation after they left the show in a pretty good place.
Hopefully it's still got things to say and isn't just a cash-grab? -
Comment on Babylon 5 S01E07: "The War Prayer" - Episode Discussion in ~tv
deimosthenes Link ParentIt's been a very long time since I've watched the show so mostly speculating based on these few episodes, but I'd tend to agree. In the small amount of time we spent with Takashima they seemed to...It's been a very long time since I've watched the show so mostly speculating based on these few episodes, but I'd tend to agree.
In the small amount of time we spent with Takashima they seemed to want to make it front and center. While it's a pretty mild infraction, there was something funny about giving a speech about how she'd been a bit of a loose cannon in the past and was working so hard to stay on the straight and narrow and stick to the rules while both characters were drinking the fresh coffee she'd just fessed up to.
Ivanova seems all business all the time, so I think they're using these mild exceptions to humanise her as a character, softening the image subtly so we as viewers find her easier to empathise with. That she takes her job very seriously isn't really up for debate, so what we read from it is completely different. -
Comment on Babylon 5 S01E07: "The War Prayer" - Episode Discussion in ~tv
deimosthenes Link ParentSo interestingly the illegal coffee has been mentioned, but it was grown by a different character! The pilot movie for the show had the previous second-in-command Takashima illegally growing...So interestingly the illegal coffee has been mentioned, but it was grown by a different character!
The pilot movie for the show had the previous second-in-command Takashima illegally growing coffee in hydroponics, when she was re-cast for the series I guess they kept that character trait alive for Ivanova?
The whole thing is pretty interesting. The movie is largely treated as canon and comes up in the plot in this very episode, yet they've usually tried to make clear that the cast changes were totally different people who have since been replaced in their postings in the year since.
Maybe Takashima and Ivanova know each other and she passed along knowledge of her little illicit garden to her replacement? -
Comment on What have you been watching / reading this week? (Anime/Manga) in ~anime
deimosthenes Link ParentI watched the Utena movie for the first time a year or two ago and it was quite an experience. I probably wouldn't be able to accurately summarise the plot as it's pretty heavy on the symbolism. I...I watched the Utena movie for the first time a year or two ago and it was quite an experience. I probably wouldn't be able to accurately summarise the plot as it's pretty heavy on the symbolism. I doubt I would have had the patience for it when I was a kid, but I'd certainly recommend it as a fairly unique film now.
I think the show and the movie are loosely both a retelling of the same material? I suspect the series might have been a little easier to follow in places, but I kinda liked the extravagance of going in and experiencing the movie without much in the way of expectations.
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Comment on Am I German or autistic? in ~health.mental
deimosthenes Link ParentI got 50% and 51% and I was definitely discomforted by it not adding up cleanly. Which felt fitting in a way.I got 50% and 51% and I was definitely discomforted by it not adding up cleanly. Which felt fitting in a way.
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Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
deimosthenes (edited )Link ParentI'm yet to read DCC although it's been recommended to me a few times so I should really get on it. One litrpg I've thoroughly enjoyed is The Wandering Inn. It experiments with its own genre a...I'm yet to read DCC although it's been recommended to me a few times so I should really get on it.
One litrpg I've thoroughly enjoyed is The Wandering Inn.
It experiments with its own genre a bunch but the core is a mashup of high fantasy adventure and character-driven cosy slice of life stuff. It does a good job of keeping the RPG trappings in service of telling a story, rather than the other way around.
It does have a reputation for being very long, but the prose makes for easy reading and it gives plenty of time to build up an expansive world and a wide cast of fleshed out characters.
The whole thing is available for free on the web, otherwise there are ebooks and audiobooks for sale for those that prefer those formats. -
Comment on Jet Lag Season 17: Taiwan Rail Rush | Trailer in ~hobbies
deimosthenes Link ParentHaving a look at that rail map it's largely a big linear loop with a few offshoots. I am actually curious how that'll change this style of game compared to the Australia season which had much...Having a look at that rail map it's largely a big linear loop with a few offshoots.
I am actually curious how that'll change this style of game compared to the Australia season which had much fewer nodes but more flexible travel between them.
Other than train seasons having an inherent coolness advantage over plane seasons, of course. -
Comment on D&D Beyond will label the 2024 rules as "5.5e" to match the community's naming in ~games.tabletop
deimosthenes Link ParentWhile it's not for every group, I think I'd struggle to go back to DnD 5e after my year or so of running PF2e. The level of character customisation is a lot more satisfying. And while it does have...While it's not for every group, I think I'd struggle to go back to DnD 5e after my year or so of running PF2e.
The level of character customisation is a lot more satisfying. And while it does have some more rules compared to 5e this also translates into a lot more guidance for the GM in how to run things fairly without needing to be a game designer on the side. -
Comment on The death of mass market paperbacks in ~books
deimosthenes Link ParentOr the experience of perusing the local library for cool-looking fantasy or science fiction novels as a kid, literally judging the books by their cover.Or the experience of perusing the local library for cool-looking fantasy or science fiction novels as a kid, literally judging the books by their cover.
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Comment on Taskmaster Australia - Season 4, Episode 1 - 'Wasting a man’s time' | Full episode in ~tv
deimosthenes LinkI think this might be my favourite season of the AU show so far, enjoyed all the contestants but especially how they played off of each other. Waka was a particular standout for me. Also pretty...I think this might be my favourite season of the AU show so far, enjoyed all the contestants but especially how they played off of each other. Waka was a particular standout for me.
Also pretty hyped for season 5 since I found out Celia Pacquola is taking part, I adore her in a bunch of stuff and she's got this infectious enthusiasm that could be really good here.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
deimosthenes Link ParentGood work with the pictures puzzle, that one took me ages. Have you made it to Room 46 yet, out of curiosity? If you're ever feeling a bit aimless and unsure what to work towards I'd say that's a...Good work with the pictures puzzle, that one took me ages.
Have you made it to Room 46 yet, out of curiosity? If you're ever feeling a bit aimless and unsure what to work towards I'd say that's a good objective and it leads into some more threads for you to pull on, it's not the final goal.
Oh, hopefully this isn't spoilery but it's something I would have wanted to know.
The first time you make it there it'll immediately end the day. If you go back to Room 46 on a subsequent day it'll actually let you explore it. -
Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
deimosthenes Link ParentI mean if you've got something working nicely that's what matters. And yeah I'm with you on the social aspect being a challenge. I've got a few friends interested in the hobby that I've been...I mean if you've got something working nicely that's what matters.
And yeah I'm with you on the social aspect being a challenge. I've got a few friends interested in the hobby that I've been playing with which is lucky because I'm not sure that I'd otherwise go through the stress of putting myself out there to find a group that I gelled with. But then there's some fairly disparate tastes within my group so it can be a bit of a balancing act making sure everyone is enjoying themselves. -
Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
deimosthenes Link ParentSo when I first set it up I remember reading some warnings that on the free tier they might terminate instances which were sufficiently idle, to free up resources for others. It might have been...So when I first set it up I remember reading some warnings that on the free tier they might terminate instances which were sufficiently idle, to free up resources for others. It might have been something like that you were hearing about?
There was advice on keeping the instance small enough that just the background work of keeping Foundry ticking over with no users connected was enough to keep it 'busy' enough for those thresholds.I've got regularly scheduled backups of the instance disk happening within Oracle itself, admittedly I don't have a secondary backup off their platform so if they nuked my account I'd be out of luck.
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Comment on What programming/technical projects have you been working on? in ~comp
deimosthenes Link ParentFoundryVTT is great, as someone else who also used Roll20 for a while and made the switch. The modules can be overwhelming but it's so nice to just be able to tweak stuff to fit your situation....FoundryVTT is great, as someone else who also used Roll20 for a while and made the switch. The modules can be overwhelming but it's so nice to just be able to tweak stuff to fit your situation.
Were you self-hosting or cloud-hosting, out of curiosity? I ran it off my own machine for a while but felt icky not having HTTPS set up properly. Ended up following a guide to set it all up on a little free Oracle cloud instance and that's worked pretty flawlessly since. https://foundryvtt.wiki/en/setup/hosting/always-free-oracle is what I followed if it's of interest.
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Comment on Anime: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~anime
deimosthenes Link ParentOf the sports anime I've seen, Haikyuu is probably second to Ping Pong the Animation. Great coming-of-age story with a super unique art style and a fantastic soundtrack. Only 11 episodes long but...Of the sports anime I've seen, Haikyuu is probably second to Ping Pong the Animation.
Great coming-of-age story with a super unique art style and a fantastic soundtrack. Only 11 episodes long but I'm surprised by how much they pack into that runtime while still pacing it out so that important moments can breathe. -
Comment on The 2025 Steam Winter Sale is live (runs Dec 18 - Jan 5) in ~games
deimosthenes Link ParentSince a number of the others have been talked about, I figured I'd share my thoughts on Astroneer. I'd say it's a fun and novel but sometimes janky addition to the survival crafting genre. The bit...Since a number of the others have been talked about, I figured I'd share my thoughts on Astroneer.
I'd say it's a fun and novel but sometimes janky addition to the survival crafting genre.
The bit that I appreciated is that almost everything is very tactile and in-the-world without a lot of UI elements. Your space suit has little lights to show you your oxygen, power, etc. and you can check out your inventory by what is physically plugged into your backpack. Base-building is very modular, build some foundations and then plug components into it kind of like Lego. Build a chassis of a rover and then plug whatever accessories, seating, etc. you want into the available slots.The game did get a bit grindy at times looking for the right materials and while there was some fun tech tree stuff to unlock it largely felt like you were travelling to new planets to do more of the same with slightly different materials available. I did also die to weird physics glitches multiple times, probably due to being in someone else's hosted multiplayer game. And I've heard they released a big update to coincide with a paid expansion which has been panned as being buggy and unpolished, so it might be a rough time to pick up the game until the worst of that gets sorted.
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Comment on The 2025 Steam Winter Sale is live (runs Dec 18 - Jan 5) in ~games
deimosthenes Link ParentSeconding that it's a fantastic experience. I was impressed with how much weight they managed to pack into a pretty short game and with how human and relatable this high concept science fiction...Seconding that it's a fantastic experience. I was impressed with how much weight they managed to pack into a pretty short game and with how human and relatable this high concept science fiction story was. Over a year later and it's still jostling around in my brain.
I haven't looked at the tildes codebase or infrastructure so the following is more generalised from my experience as a software developer rather than deep knowledge of this particular stack. So anyone who chimes in with more specialised knowledge is probably more correct than I!
It's going to be a completely negligible difference for any remotely real-world usage scenario you might have. The database queries are still going to need to go and check whether or not you have ignored topics / tags even if you don't use the feature. Because it's the 'expected' way for users to use the site, I'd be quite surprised if those queries weren't fairly well optimised with whatever indexes were needed to make it quick and efficient to do so. Depending on how it's set up, maybe if you did something crazy like ignore every single topic that had ever existed that might have more of an impact? But that's not really what you were asking.
If it'll make your experience more pleasant I'd say use it and don't stress about it, I'd be pretty confident it's absolutely dwarfed by other areas of hosting costs and is as you say almost free.