fuzzy's recent activity

  1. Comment on Paypal opted you into sharing data without your knowledge in ~tech

    fuzzy
    Link
    Here's a link straight to the setting Thank you for the heads up - I just toggled it off. Those bastards.
    • Exemplary

    Here's a link straight to the setting

    Thank you for the heads up - I just toggled it off. Those bastards.

    62 votes

  2. Comment on Amtrak launching the Floridian, with daily service between Chicago and Miami in ~transport

    fuzzy
    Link
    Do we have any sense of how long different legs of this journey would realistically take? I say realistically since I know Amtrak isn’t known for their on-time performance outside of the Northeast...

    Do we have any sense of how long different legs of this journey would realistically take? I say realistically since I know Amtrak isn’t known for their on-time performance outside of the Northeast corridor.

    6 votes

  3. Comment on United States postal service debuts long-awaited new mail truck in ~transport

    fuzzy
    Link
    They're so goofy looking but ... I kind of love it.

    They're so goofy looking but ... I kind of love it.

    45 votes

  4. Comment on PS5 Pro technical presentation hosted by Mark Cerny - Out November 7th for $699.99 in ~games

    fuzzy
    Link
    $700 is a steep price to begin with. $700 without a disk drive is a disappointing. $700 without even including the vertical stand is just insulting.

    $700 is a steep price to begin with.
    $700 without a disk drive is a disappointing.
    $700 without even including the vertical stand is just insulting.

    37 votes

  5. Comment on Meat and poultry is wildly expensive now — and it could be due to price fixing in ~food

    fuzzy
    Link
    Haven't the last few years seen a humongous outbreak of bird flu affecting poultry prices? There may also be price-fixing happening, but it seems odd that the article does not mention the bird flu...

    Haven't the last few years seen a humongous outbreak of bird flu affecting poultry prices? There may also be price-fixing happening, but it seems odd that the article does not mention the bird flu at all.

    3 votes

  6. Comment on LGBT and marginalized voices are not welcome on Threads in ~lgbt

    fuzzy
    Link Parent
    I would say it’s not a matter of suppressing hatred you’re already rightfully feeling; as you say, there are very legitimate reasons for that hatred, and in general you can fight your feelings...

    I would say it’s not a matter of suppressing hatred you’re already rightfully feeling; as you say, there are very legitimate reasons for that hatred, and in general you can fight your feelings your entire life and never win.

    But modern Twitterified culture encourages us to stoke that hatred in ourselves and others, to throw gasoline on the fire continuously because the fire is righteous and correct. That part is optional. That part used to be frowned upon if not outright shunned, but now it’s celebrated.

    It brings to mind a piece of wisdom I’ve picked up over the past decade: don’t trust anyone who wants you to be angry, upset, or scared all the time, even if you agree with them. It’s not that they’re wrong, it’s that continually stoking those flames takes a toll on you and ultimately leaves you with less fuel and motivation to do the boring-but-important work necessary to work on these issues in a healthy way.

    Feelings are feelings. We have no choice about which ones we feel. Let them in, let them through, always. Talk about them, journal about them, meditate on them, process them.

    We have some control over what we do with them, however.

    9 votes

  7. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~misc

    fuzzy
    Link Parent
    I'm very aware (too aware?) of the issues with Biden's fitness. I personally think he should step down. That does not, however, justify the media's - including the NYT - breathless, wall-to-wall...

    I'm very aware (too aware?) of the issues with Biden's fitness. I personally think he should step down.

    That does not, however, justify the media's - including the NYT - breathless, wall-to-wall coverage of the post-debate fallout, which has come at the expense of substantial coverage of the insane and terrifying things Trump said during the debate and plans to do in a second term.

    They're playing up drama and palace intrigue for clicks, per usual.

    59 votes

  8. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~misc

    fuzzy
    (edited )
    Link
    It feels like the New York Times has dedicated fully 50% of their front page to panicking over Biden’s age and fitness in the past 10 days. Yes, it’s an important story; no, it is not the scandal...

    It feels like the New York Times has dedicated fully 50% of their front page to panicking over Biden’s age and fitness in the past 10 days. Yes, it’s an important story; no, it is not the scandal of the century.

    I guess what I’m saying is stop giving the NYT clicks.

    78 votes

  9. Comment on How do I win at Agricola? in ~games.tabletop

    fuzzy
    Link Parent
    Oh wow! If you played with only two family members the whole way through then I absolutely understand why the game felt inscrutable (if not downright impossible). One tip for an early food engine...

    Oh wow! If you played with only two family members the whole way through then I absolutely understand why the game felt inscrutable (if not downright impossible).

    One tip for an early food engine - use the fact that the animals reproduce to your advantage. Having 3 sheep, for instance, guarantees a "renewable" sheep or two for slaughter every single harvest, and with a cooking hearth that's enough food for several family members. A few sheep + a few grain/vegetables + occasional use of the "go fishing" or similar food spaces is more than enough to feed you early on when the harvests are relatively far apart.

    Vegetables vs grain is something I've never been able to figure out. Grain is available earlier and can convert to food at such a higher rate, but unless you have an occupation or improvement that allows flexibility you're always going to have to visit a "bake bread" space to make use of it. I had an entire game of Agricola go off the rails when the "bake bread" action got blocked both rounds right before a harvest and my family had to beg. (It's my fault for not taking starting player, of course!). I tend to prefer basing my food engine around sheep or vegetables for that reason - more flexibility. But that is by no means the "correct" strategy.

    5 votes

  10. Comment on How do I win at Agricola? in ~games.tabletop

    fuzzy
    Link
    The single most important thing is to grow your family as soon as you can. Agricola is a tight, action-constrained game, and growing your family just from 2 to 3 immediately increases the amount...

    The single most important thing is to grow your family as soon as you can. Agricola is a tight, action-constrained game, and growing your family just from 2 to 3 immediately increases the amount of actions you can take per round by 50%, making accomplishing anything else way, way easier.

    Basically I'd think of the game in three phases:

    • First you need to set up a basic food engine (crops, cooking hearth, sheep) and build 1-2 rooms.
    • Then you need to grow your family as much as you can (both in terms of rooms & food), ideally as soon as the action is available. 4 family members is a good spot to aim for initially.
    • Finally with this additional breathing room you can focus on maximizing points by diversifying livestock, plowing/fencing unused spots, building improvements, upgrading your home to clay/stone, and so on. Plus continuing to grow your family to the maximum if it makes sense.

    Minor improvements and other players' actions will obviously change the exact route you take to these goals, so as semsevfor said you must remain flexible. You simply can't do everything in Agricola - you'll always have some points you left on the table, and that's okay. But if you can build a food engine and raise the action cap with family members the game really opens up.

    6 votes

  11. Comment on What can be done about the Supreme Court of the United States? in ~society

    fuzzy
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    The topic of this thread is a pattern of extremely far-right, pro-corporate, and pro-authoritarian rulings by SCOTUS over the past few years, and how they’re a big problem. Participating in the...

    The topic of this thread is a pattern of extremely far-right, pro-corporate, and pro-authoritarian rulings by SCOTUS over the past few years, and how they’re a big problem. Participating in the discussion without disputing that premise implies that one agrees that those decisions are objectionable.

    For anyone that holds that value base, the “better” and “worse” choices for every election of the past 25 years are extremely self-evident. Five of the Supreme Court justices who issued these rulings were appointed by the “worse” candidates, George W Bush and Trump. Zero were appointed by Democrats.

    Public favorability polling has no bearing on this values judgement.

    I agree that a McCain victory was far less scary than a Trump victory. He recognized climate change, for one. But his party has moved far, far to the right since then, and the better and worse choices are starker than ever.

    2 votes

  12. Comment on What can be done about the Supreme Court of the United States? in ~society

    fuzzy
    Link Parent
    I’m well aware that the system is broken. The statement I was responding to was “the only course of action is vote for better candidates when there are none.” There are better candidates....

    I’m well aware that the system is broken. The statement I was responding to was “the only course of action is vote for better candidates when there are none.”

    There are better candidates. Unfortunately because of our broken system the power to choose them disproportionately runs through a few states.

    2 votes

  13. Comment on What can be done about the Supreme Court of the United States? in ~society

    fuzzy
    Link Parent
    That simply further demonstrates the point that an accelerationist mindset where one allows greater suffering now in order to gamble on a future outcome is folly. Nobody knows how history will...

    That simply further demonstrates the point that an accelerationist mindset where one allows greater suffering now in order to gamble on a future outcome is folly. Nobody knows how history will unfold, and most of the time it won’t unfold in the ways we hope or want.

    2 votes

  14. Comment on What can be done about the Supreme Court of the United States? in ~society

    fuzzy
    Link Parent
    There has been a very clearly better and very clearly worse candidate in every election for at least the past 25 years. The past week’s rulings were carried out by a majority made up of the worse...

    There has been a very clearly better and very clearly worse candidate in every election for at least the past 25 years.

    The past week’s rulings were carried out by a majority made up of the worse candidates judicial appointments.

    So while Democrats are not good enough there very clearly are better candidates and we are suffering because they were not chosen.

    11 votes

  15. Comment on After a shaky debate performance top US Democrats talk about replacing Joe Biden on the ticket in ~society

    fuzzy
    Link Parent
    Biden gave several snappy comebacks in the second half of the debate.

    Biden gave several snappy comebacks in the second half of the debate.

    3 votes

  16. Comment on Co-op game recommendations in ~games

    fuzzy
    Link Parent
    Spiritfarer is stellar in co-op. It really helps ease some of the late game grind.

    Spiritfarer is stellar in co-op. It really helps ease some of the late game grind.

    1 vote

  17. Comment on What have you done to conquer your fear? in ~health.mental

    fuzzy
    Link Parent
    If you like European art the Legion of Honor is a great, medium-sized museum in a beautiful location.

    If you like European art the Legion of Honor is a great, medium-sized museum in a beautiful location.

  18. Comment on Introducing the Light Phone III in ~tech

    fuzzy
    Link Parent
    The lack of support for Signal is the single biggest reservation I have with the dumbphone concept. I can go back to logging my workouts by hand, using a standalone GPS or even digital camera, but...

    The lack of support for Signal is the single biggest reservation I have with the dumbphone concept. I can go back to logging my workouts by hand, using a standalone GPS or even digital camera, but I just can't go from Signal back to SMS.

    I'm aware of the Punkt phone supporting Signal, but when I looked up impressions a few years ago they were mixed.

    6 votes

  19. Comment on Nebula strikes deal with Spotify to stream video content in ~tech

    fuzzy
    Link Parent
    Game Makers Toolkit is a wonderful channel. If you have any interest in video games and what goes into designing them I recommend it.

    Game Makers Toolkit is a wonderful channel. If you have any interest in video games and what goes into designing them I recommend it.

    12 votes

  20. Comment on San Francisco Bay Area tech leaders jump to Donald Trump's defense, donate funds following conviction in ~society

    fuzzy
    Link
    “Tech leaders” refers to Elon Musk, his ally David Sacks, and one guy at Sequoia Capital. Nothing terribly surprising here.

    “Tech leaders” refers to Elon Musk, his ally David Sacks, and one guy at Sequoia Capital.

    Nothing terribly surprising here.

    80 votes