dvc's recent activity
-
Comment on The Website Obesity Crisis in ~comp
-
Comment on The Website Obesity Crisis in ~comp
dvc LinkMy 'fix' is to either force reader mode or open the article in Lynx as a contingency. It's too annoying to deal with most websites individually, and too many sites change too many little things...My 'fix' is to either force reader mode or open the article in Lynx as a contingency. It's too annoying to deal with most websites individually, and too many sites change too many little things too often to solve it long-term with Stylus.
-
Comment on What belongs in your "base" hard-copy library? in ~books
dvc LinkA good dictionary, a grammatical/style reference, and one of those one-volume encyclopedias are good things to start. Maybe a world atlas? English isn't my first language, so my recommendations...A good dictionary, a grammatical/style reference, and one of those one-volume encyclopedias are good things to start. Maybe a world atlas? English isn't my first language, so my recommendations are moot. The same extends to other books from my must-haves.
The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Feynman, Leighton and Sands, and Penrose's Road to Reality. The former is likely self-explanatory. The latter, however, is a great overview and tour of mathematics in its connection to physics, beginning with addition and ending with supersymmetric theories. It's hard to find a well-written (text)book with a broader scope, imho.
Sourcery by Pratchett. It's a book equivalent of a joke that - regardless of how often told - can reliably make your inner fifth-grader laugh, and everyone needs that from time to time. My all-purpose pick me up.
Cyberpunk 2020 core rulebook and associated The Guide to Night City. One of my favourite role playing games alongside one of the best expansions to any game I own or read. The entire line is good, even if rough around the edges, but those two are exceptional.
48 Laws of Power by Greene, The Prince by Machiavelli, The Leviathan by Hobbes. I doubt people here will go 'sigma grindset' in response to those books, but still, a reason: they're full of historic trivia, both as commentary and as references.
-
Comment on Anyone else trying out Warhammer 40k for the first time? in ~games.tabletop
dvc Link ParentI'll give TTS a look, thanks. That said, between playing Necromunda with paper cutouts and my IRL group being on board with giving Rogue Trader a chance (finally, I've been beating that drum for...I'll give TTS a look, thanks. That said, between playing Necromunda with paper cutouts and my IRL group being on board with giving Rogue Trader a chance (finally, I've been beating that drum for eight years), it's not exactly a high priority.
Could you, or others for that matter, recommend me an easy beginner's faction for when I get to TTS? I've been thinking of Custodes, since it seems like a low model-count army with rather straight-forward tactics where base troops are on par with others' elites (=easy to manage?). If it matters, my end goal would be advancing to my favourite faction: Imperial Guard/Astra Militarum. -
Comment on <deleted topic> in ~books
dvc Link ParentI'll piggyback a more specialized textbook resource off your comment: The American Institute of Mathematics is a patron to the open textbook initiative that are audited and free.I'll piggyback a more specialized textbook resource off your comment: The American Institute of Mathematics is a patron to the open textbook initiative that are audited and free.
-
Comment on White guy speaks perfect Japanese from watching anime. Here's how he did it. in ~humanities.languages
dvc Link ParentComprehensible input method is also starting to get traction in classical languages. Latin: Lingua Latina per se Illustrata Minecraftium Ancient and Biblical Greek: Ancient Greek in Action Alpha...language learning by (a lot of) input.
Comprehensible input method is also starting to get traction in classical languages.
Latin:
Lingua Latina per se Illustrata
Minecraftium
Ancient and Biblical Greek:
Ancient Greek in Action
Alpha with Angela
Biblical Hebrew:
Aleph with BethI'm interested in learning languages, both process and practice, but currently my priority is improving English (ESL). Fortunately, tildes is full of quality texts, so popping in doesn't have the procrastination vibe.
-
Comment on Go/Baduk/Weiqi in ~games.tabletop
dvc LinkLong-time chess player (cat I), Go beginner. Slowly working my way through Cho Chikun's All About Life and Death, but it's a lot more demanding than I expected. Only played a couple of games...Long-time chess player (cat I), Go beginner. Slowly working my way through Cho Chikun's All About Life and Death, but it's a lot more demanding than I expected. Only played a couple of games online and 1-2 IRL.
I'd like it to become more popular, but it'd probably involve some celebrity reminding the 'wider masses' of the game, like chess got an upsurge last year.
Another thing is availability. Around here (central EU), you can find chessboards even in cafes and waiting rooms, but only know of two places in my city with a Go board.
-
Comment on What was your first programming language, what languages do you know now, and what tips do you have for those trying to learn any of those? in ~comp
dvc (edited )LinkStarted with C and Delphi in middle school, Java in high school. At university, our intro to programming was in OCaml to avoid skill disparity while also introducing functional programming. The...Started with C and Delphi in middle school, Java in high school.
At university, our intro to programming was in OCaml to avoid skill disparity while also introducing functional programming. The course roughly paralleled SICP. My major was mathematics but transferred to physics after the third semester. There I got back to C, had to take a course in C++ for programme requirements, and later used self-taught Python for almost everything from automating measurements in the lab to thesis simulations.
After graduation, a friend said he'd help me get a job, but I must show interviewers some SQL and R. There, by observation and osmosis, I picked up Wolfram/Mathematica and some Haskell (annoyingly similar to OCaml, which was the source of most confusions and mistakes). Still use them for stuff like Project Euler.
Since then, and it's been almost a decade now, I've been really comfortable with just Python. I don't really have a tip beyond an assureance that learning your first language will be the hardest, because you learn how to teach yourself. This sounds glib, but as long as you practice and compare work with more knowledgeable people, you can learn anything.
-
Comment on What's your favorite TTRPG system that isn't DnD or Pathfinder/Starfinder? in ~games.tabletop
dvc (edited )Link ParentRegarding Traveller, it's perfectly fine for theme to evolve and change with the game's goings-on. Your group can travel to a very different part of the galaxy (par for the course) or lose their...Regarding Traveller, it's perfectly fine for theme to evolve and change with the game's goings-on. Your group can travel to a very different part of the galaxy (par for the course) or lose their stuff (happens, from piracy to losing an ill-conceived bet) and this can put you in very different circumstances. I had a group go from jaded mercs shafted by life and command to thwarting a narco cartel, and it felt seamless.
-
Comment on What are you reading these days? in ~books
dvc (edited )LinkHow to Read a Book by Adler and van Doren. It's a general guide on improving one's ability in critical reading, and it serves me well to consolidate what I knew with what I learn. Greek - An...How to Read a Book by Adler and van Doren. It's a general guide on improving one's ability in critical reading, and it serves me well to consolidate what I knew with what I learn.
Greek - An Intensive Course by Hansen and Quinn. It's a grammar-heavy course in Classical (Attic) Greek. I tried learning from comprehensible input and graded readers, but the language a really odd beast. There's stuff I never encountered before (middle voice, optatives, presence of accent being an only difference between two verbs etc.), neither in Latin nor in any living language.
Equal Rites by Pratchett - One of Terry's shorter and more charming books. Discworld is one of those places I try to revisit at least once a year.
-
Comment on What's your favorite TTRPG system that isn't DnD or Pathfinder/Starfinder? in ~games.tabletop
dvc LinkWarhammer Fantasy (1st and 2nd edition), Cyberpunk 2020, Traveller (Mangoose), Delta Green. Warhammer Fantasy - Blackadder-esque world that sometimes dips into Lovecraft. What's not to love?...Warhammer Fantasy (1st and 2nd edition), Cyberpunk 2020, Traveller (Mangoose), Delta Green.
Warhammer Fantasy - Blackadder-esque world that sometimes dips into Lovecraft. What's not to love?
Cyberpunk 2020 - Outside the usual allure of cyberpunk as a genre, It's one of few games that really (i.e. mechanically) rewards being aggressive in combat. It's also almost impossible to make a non-viable character.
Traveller - A superb game that offers almost too many options of playing. Both in tone and in execution, from Star Trek to Futurama, you can make it work if everyone in the group is on board.
Delta Green - You're a cell of federal agents formed as an extra-governmental conspiracy to keep Lovecraftian mythos at bay a while longer. Think Call of Cthulhu, but player characters are somewhat aware of what's up and have a good reason to work together from the beginning. I prefer the '90s edition because it feels more like X-Files than MIB, but both are fun.
I love that so many people mentioned Earthdawn, but despite many fun memories, it's not my favourite.
-
Comment on Anyone else trying out Warhammer 40k for the first time? in ~games.tabletop
dvc LinkDespite 20 years of 40k books and even longer Warhammer Fantasy RPGs, I never got into eithers' tabletop. Between price and horrible LFGS dwellers, just don't have the patience for painting and...Despite 20 years of 40k books and even longer Warhammer Fantasy RPGs, I never got into eithers' tabletop. Between price and horrible LFGS dwellers, just don't have the patience for painting and army. I do play everything from the Fantasy Flight Games' RPG line, and recently picked up old editions of Necromunda (a smaller scale gang war simulator), though.
Absolutely. If you aren't opposed to Emacs, it also has web browsing/emailing extensions that can even be integrated with a text-to-speech program. Not for everyone or for every day, but this distractionless BS-minimising setup really helped me during concussion recovery.