donn's recent activity
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Comment on Flush with cash and soaring with hubris, Donald Trump appointees are supersizing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in ~society
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Comment on Google details Android developer certification requirement, and it’s as bad as we feared in ~tech
donn Link ParentThey and Apple always could via backdoored updates via the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. They broadly cannot force this using out-of-store distribution methods for a number of reasons: for...Google could replace the binary with a compromised one for specific users at the direction of governments and surely will be compelled to in secret courts.
They and Apple always could via backdoored updates via the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
They broadly cannot force this using out-of-store distribution methods for a number of reasons: for example while they can pretend to be Signal and sign it, unless Google messes with this which is a non-zero chance, Signal and similar apps can also independently sign their APK and require you to verify them somehow.
But trusting trust is a whole can of worms: how do you trust your operating system isn't intercepting your openssl
execs and such. There is always some risk. -
Comment on Funcom, the Oslo-based studio behind the recently released Dune: Awakening, has announced it will be laying off staff in ~games
donn (edited )Link ParentThere already is, East Asia is full of "support studios" that you can just hire as an extra resource during development. The support studios keep full-time employees on payroll with stable jobs,...There already is, East Asia is full of "support studios" that you can just hire as an extra resource during development. The support studios keep full-time employees on payroll with stable jobs, and they just keep lining up new contracts to keep said employees busy. A commonly cited example is Tose. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tose_(company)
It's just, you know, a middleman. When hiring a temp and firing them later obviously saves money.
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Comment on White House in a bind as soybean sales to China plummet to zero in ~society
donn LinkI really, really encourage people to watch this video by YouTuber "Farm to Taber": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=badGHJLDpP8 She's a Democratic-voting farmer. She covers why her peers voted for...I really, really encourage people to watch this video by YouTuber "Farm to Taber": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=badGHJLDpP8
She's a Democratic-voting farmer. She covers why her peers voted for Trump despite it being financial suicide. tl;dr farm owners are mostly millionaires who are counting on corporate welfare
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Comment on What game is your personal "Silksong"? in ~games
donn Link ParentAl is a love him or hate him character for sure. Though he did give everyone the "How's it poppin'" brainworm for a while there. But yes, in general I don't actually disagree with you. It felt a...Al is a love him or hate him character for sure. Though he did give everyone the "How's it poppin'" brainworm for a while there.
But yes, in general I don't actually disagree with you. It felt a bit hamfisted. I still walked away mostly satisfied (the final area was as you mentioned pretty fun, and it was still closure in some way.) I also did have an out of body moment once Elma started reciting Revelations though. That was the good kind of unexpected.
Spoilers for the entire series
After Xenoblade 2 and 3's epilogue I kind of guessed the multiverse crap would happen. I didn't think it was necessary for THIS story though, per se. I don't mind the dimensional cloud/collective consciousness thing, it's a Takahashi trademark, but I think the multiverse itself was kind of pointless. The whole story could have taken place in the same universe more or less like Xenosaga with very little changes. The Samaarians and Elma's planet and Earth and Mira didn't need to be in separate universe or whatever. Ghost being this biblical universal correction entity could have been localized to planets and not a universe-ending force. Etc. -
Comment on What game is your personal "Silksong"? in ~games
donn LinkThis is a weird one but some kind of follow-up to Xenoblade Chronicles X. Xenoblade X was a game from 2015 on the Wii U. I was in university at the time. I fell in love with the game and its...This is a weird one but some kind of follow-up to Xenoblade Chronicles X.
Xenoblade X was a game from 2015 on the Wii U. I was in university at the time. I fell in love with the game and its world. It was controversial at the time: original Xenoblade fans didn't like it, some people felt it dragged on, but it was my first big open world game of this kind! The game notoriously also ended on a major cliffhanger.
Unfortunately it kind of got the spinoff treatment afterwards and the following Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and 3 more or less ignored its existence. So I just kept waiting…
Then out of nowhere 9 years later, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition came out on Switch, which included a new ~5 hour chapter concluding the story.
As is fated for Xenoblade X apparently, it was also controversial. The story was something of an attempt to turn what was supposed to be a multi-game story into a relatively self-contained package. I appreciated the closure after such a long time, but many others didn't and thought it was not adequately reverent to its own worldbuilding. I feel like it overall delivered for me more than it didn't.
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Comment on Flight fares surge after US President Donald Trump's surprising H-1B visa move; ‘Extremely bad situation’ in ~society
donn (edited )LinkI was struggling to break the news to a prospective US employer that I've since become even more scared to move to the US. This makes things a lot easier lmaoI was struggling to break the news to a prospective US employer that I've since become even more scared to move to the US. This makes things a lot easier lmao
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Comment on iOS 26 is here in ~tech
donn LinkNgl, going against the grain with this one and I kind of like the fresh look. It's a bit of whimsy I was missing in my tech and reminds me of the Wii U's interface of all things. I was toying with...Ngl, going against the grain with this one and I kind of like the fresh look. It's a bit of whimsy I was missing in my tech and reminds me of the Wii U's interface of all things. I was toying with my iPad like a child again just to see some of the animations.
Speaking of actually, iPad now has full windowing even on non-M-series devices which is super cool! My Air 4 has barely any RAM and I can do a fair bit of multitasking.
I'm sure I'll get over it in a couple days (esp when '26 is on my Mac which I use for work) but for now, I don't hate it.
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Comment on Dear Nintendo, please bring back the Wii Remote in ~games
donn Link ParentI mean, frankly, I've found the ability to be pointing anywhere and recentering by just pressing R/+ to be far more ergonomic. So I'm always miffed by people who want the IR pointer back.I mean, frankly, I've found the ability to be pointing anywhere and recentering by just pressing R/+ to be far more ergonomic. So I'm always miffed by people who want the IR pointer back.
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Comment on I built my own phone... because innovation is sad rn in ~tech
donn Link ParentY'know what? Fair enough. I guess Face ID is indeed better if you go outside a lot. Doubly so in colder countries where you need gloves in the winter.Y'know what? Fair enough. I guess Face ID is indeed better if you go outside a lot. Doubly so in colder countries where you need gloves in the winter.
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Comment on Deportation fears are fueling money transfers to Latin America in ~society
donn Linklove regressive taxes that explicitly target the poorCongressional Republicans have also targeted money transfers through a new tax on remittances they say will raise revenue and discourage illegal immigration. Mr. Trump signed the tax into law as part of a sweeping policy bill in July, and it is set to take effect next year.
love regressive taxes that explicitly target the poor
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Comment on My guess and opinion on the common blockers to Linux adoption in ~tech
donn Link ParentOn macOS nothing really does, you have to use the aging XQuartz and open the relevant network ports yourself. On Windows Subsystem for Linux an X11 server is included and just works™.On macOS nothing really does, you have to use the aging XQuartz and open the relevant network ports yourself.
On Windows Subsystem for Linux an X11 server is included and just works™.
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Comment on iPhone 17, 17 Pro and Air announced in ~tech
donn Link Parentoh no the lightning was a me problem. i absolutely hated how they dragged that particular corpse all the way to 2023 when every other portable thing i had used USB Coh no the lightning was a me problem. i absolutely hated how they dragged that particular corpse all the way to 2023 when every other portable thing i had used USB C
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Comment on iPhone 17, 17 Pro and Air announced in ~tech
donn Link ParentThere's a markedly big difference between the Kodak maneuver Nokia did (Kodak also killed their digital cameras to stop them from cannibalizing film sales) and the iPhone minis literally being...There's a markedly big difference between the Kodak maneuver Nokia did (Kodak also killed their digital cameras to stop them from cannibalizing film sales) and the iPhone minis literally being released for two years and selling by far the worst.
Trust me, if the iPhone 13 mini had USB-C I would have bought that in a heartbeat. But they were still using lightning. So here I am with a 15 Pro.
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Comment on iPhone 17, 17 Pro and Air announced in ~tech
donn Link Parentlots of people on the internet think that the epitome of activism is being angry at premium toys for not being cheap enough this applies to video games as welllots of people on the internet think that the epitome of activism is being angry at premium toys for not being cheap enough
this applies to video games as well
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Comment on I built my own phone... because innovation is sad rn in ~tech
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Comment on I built my own phone... because innovation is sad rn in ~tech
donn Link ParentYeah, but not enough people bought the iPhone 12/13 mini or the ASUS ZenPhone 9. You're preaching to the choir about small phones here, it's just that there aren't enough of us by the looks of it....Yeah, but not enough people bought the iPhone 12/13 mini or the ASUS ZenPhone 9. You're preaching to the choir about small phones here, it's just that there aren't enough of us by the looks of it. My perfect phone was the 2016 SE and I dream of a version of that with an up-to-date chip and USB-C. But it will never happen.
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Comment on I built my own phone... because innovation is sad rn in ~tech
donn Link ParentI don't really know, when I'm hugging a pillow in bed or whatever the phone's a nightmare to unlock. By contrast my Laptop and iPad Air's Touch ID works perfectly, faster, every time.I don't really know, when I'm hugging a pillow in bed or whatever the phone's a nightmare to unlock. By contrast my Laptop and iPad Air's Touch ID works perfectly, faster, every time.
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Comment on I built my own phone... because innovation is sad rn in ~tech
donn LinkThis is tangential on the concept of "innovation in smartphones" but I feel like we're already at "peak phone" and people claiming some lack of innovation in smartphones kind of just want to see...This is tangential on the concept of "innovation in smartphones" but I feel like we're already at "peak phone" and people claiming some lack of innovation in smartphones kind of just want to see something new for the sake of being new, instead of for the sake of being useful. Smartphones have all coalesced into 6" all-screen cuboids with better internals every year because that's what the public at large wants.
Innovation should be in screen technologies, battery technologies, silicon processes and fast charging at this point, which is what the industry is doing. I get that it's boring, but by far the most meaningful upgrade to my smartphone experience in the last decade is how fast the bloody things charge now. Everything else is a nicety. Face ID actually sucks and never should have existed, and is an "innovation for the sake of innovation" IMO
Not to denigrate this YouTuber or their skills at all. I'm sure it's a good video. Just that the title got me thinking about something.
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Comment on Will we ever see some kind of Korean reunification, perhaps akin to Germany? in ~society
donn LinkI should preface this by saying my knowledge of East Asian geopolitics is very limited and this just what I understand. North Korea is no longer pursuing reunification (take this source with a...I should preface this by saying my knowledge of East Asian geopolitics is very limited and this just what I understand.
North Korea is no longer pursuing reunification (take this source with a grain of salt, South Korea reporting on North Korea and all) after Yoon Suk Yeol's presidency was markedly more hawkish on North Korea and younger South Koreans increasingly aren't into the idea either. The two states have diverged so far culturally and this will only get worse with time.
Materially, North Korea's existence is an important buffer for China, their largest benefactor, against US military bases at their border and South Korea wouldn't have much to gain from conquering it. North Korea would have something to gain from conquering the richer South with massive sea access on the other hand but it involves alienating China who wouldn't want such a GDP-disruptive war AND fighting the United States, most likely getting decimated in the process.
The best that can be hoped for now is the two states peacefully coexisting.
The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 did grant existing illegal immigrants broad amnesty. More arrived later. It'd be kicking the can down the road.
With the US especially though a lot of the economy is generally propped up by a lot of cheap labor and the political will to streamline the process to hire these people legally isn't there. It's a broken system.
Some leftists contend that it's left this way so vulnerable illegal immigrants are beholden to their employers and behave under the constant threat of deportation. Though legal immigrants now face the same thing more or less so lmao, which is why I declined a pretty lucrative recent US job offer and negotiated to just work remotely (for a bit lower, but not dealing with bay area cost of living cancels that out.)
Of course it's much easier for politicians to just go to the most expedient solutions which is "deputize ICE as a quasi-gestapo and treat uprooting people like an arcade game" or "call for legal pathways to residency and kick the can down the road."