granfdad's recent activity

  1. Comment on Affinity V3 is here with a new freemium model in ~design

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    I think that’s part of the reason I’m worried. Going free is a tactic that means they’re going to have to make up that cash somewhere else (or some other time), rather than just providing a...

    their intentions read pure to me. They want to compete with Adobe.

    I think that’s part of the reason I’m worried. Going free is a tactic that means they’re going to have to make up that cash somewhere else (or some other time), rather than just providing a product that is genuinely better than adobe and charging for major updates. I’ve seen too much enshittification of freemium software to be optimistic about this.

    Plus, you can turn off telemetry, and it doesn't phone home on startup, I checked.

    That’s pretty awesome, certainly a selling point for me compared to the adobe suite.

    10 votes
  2. Comment on Affinity V3 is here with a new freemium model in ~design

    granfdad
    Link
    Free software this advanced, owned by Canva, is too good to be true. This is step one in Affinity's enshittification.

    Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die.

    Free software this advanced, owned by Canva, is too good to be true. This is step one in Affinity's enshittification.

    45 votes
  3. Comment on Millennials: How do you feel about nostalgia pandering? in ~talk

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    I cant tell if this is an uplifting statement or a very grim one… two things can be true at once, I suppose.

    I cant tell if this is an uplifting statement or a very grim one… two things can be true at once, I suppose.

    3 votes
  4. Comment on Supermarket rewards card- yes or no? in ~finance

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    That makes sense, and I suppose the last few years has shown that supermarkets don't really care about finding an excuse to raise prices...

    That makes sense, and I suppose the last few years has shown that supermarkets don't really care about finding an excuse to raise prices...

    1 vote
  5. Comment on Supermarket rewards card- yes or no? in ~finance

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    I can't follow this logic... surely this is having the opposite effect of what you want, by indicating that they should increase pricing on vegan food, thus making non-vegan options more appealing?

    I can't follow this logic... surely this is having the opposite effect of what you want, by indicating that they should increase pricing on vegan food, thus making non-vegan options more appealing?

    13 votes
  6. Comment on What is your 'Subway Take'? in ~talk

    granfdad
    Link
    We are holding back New Years Eve from being the best holiday. It's a global, non-religious, and non-environmental - a purely human-devised celebration of time. Had a great year? Reminisce and...

    We are holding back New Years Eve from being the best holiday. It's a global, non-religious, and non-environmental - a purely human-devised celebration of time. Had a great year? Reminisce and raise a toast to the next one! Had a shitty year? Take the night to liberate yourself from the past, and raise a toast to the next one! All this crap about getting blackout drunk and new years resolutions just serve to make the day less enjoyable. Everyone should henceforth make NYE a night of hanging out with the people you want to have in your life next year, and going to watch some fireworks with the rest of your community!

    8 votes
  7. Comment on Death in D&D 5e, the various revival spells, and their impact on the game in ~games.tabletop

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    We were all getting pretty sick of 5e's idiosyncrasies after 5 years, so jumping ship was a great change of pace. It's the first time I've been equally as interested in the mechanics of a game...

    We were all getting pretty sick of 5e's idiosyncrasies after 5 years, so jumping ship was a great change of pace. It's the first time I've been equally as interested in the mechanics of a game compared to the storytelling, everything syncs up so well even at low levels.

    1 vote
  8. Comment on Death in D&D 5e, the various revival spells, and their impact on the game in ~games.tabletop

    granfdad
    Link
    In my recently concluded 5 year campaign, I played a path of the zealot barbarian (kinda, a decent chunk was homebrew after my DM decided he hated 5e). At higher levels (12-13, we ended at 14) if...

    In my recently concluded 5 year campaign, I played a path of the zealot barbarian (kinda, a decent chunk was homebrew after my DM decided he hated 5e). At higher levels (12-13, we ended at 14) if I had a way to heal I could not die. I wove it into the character and it was a lot of fun, but the rest of my team was dropping like flies. Multiple downs per combat, death on occasion (though we always had some revivify on hand) and it never felt like we were breezing through combats. The main thing that gave the game stakes was the long-term: we could survive one bad combat, but not two. That made everything stressful, though I’m not really a fan of war-or-attrition gameplay.

    I think, fundamentally, 5e’s health/death system sucks. I’m currently playing Draw Steel and it is so much better at everything managing health (or stamina) and death. You have your max stamina and your winded value (half your max stamina). If you drop below 0 stamina you are bleeding and lose 1d6 stamina every time you take an action, and if you drop to below negative winded, you die. There’s no unconsciousness so you always feel in control (and therefore responsible) for your survival, and you can go out in a blaze of glory if you want to. A much better interpretation, in my opinion.

    3 votes
  9. Comment on What is your 'Subway Take'? in ~talk

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    From outside the US, “y’all” is a distinctly American contraction and is thus abhorrent. I appreciate the attempt to steal “yous” as well, but the bogans will have a bone to pick with that one,...

    From outside the US, “y’all” is a distinctly American contraction and is thus abhorrent. I appreciate the attempt to steal “yous” as well, but the bogans will have a bone to pick with that one, especially since the evolution of “youses” and “yous guys”. My go-to for a large group is “party people”.

    3 votes
  10. Comment on GrapheneOS is finally ready to break free from Pixels, and it may never look back in ~tech

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    Do you use Lineage? I'm not super informed about alternative android ROMs (currently on iOS), but I was drawn to Graphene because of it seeming more plug-and-play than Lineage. I'm curious about...

    Do you use Lineage? I'm not super informed about alternative android ROMs (currently on iOS), but I was drawn to Graphene because of it seeming more plug-and-play than Lineage. I'm curious about other's experience with alternatives.

    2 votes
  11. Comment on GrapheneOS is finally ready to break free from Pixels, and it may never look back in ~tech

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    That's very disappointing, though I don't think it's enough to stop me from making the switch at some point... very much a "least of all evils" situation.

    That's very disappointing, though I don't think it's enough to stop me from making the switch at some point... very much a "least of all evils" situation.

    7 votes
  12. Comment on GrapheneOS is finally ready to break free from Pixels, and it may never look back in ~tech

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    I'm looking at the 9a since it's got basically zero camera bump, but it's still ~$850 here. CMF phones are in the 400-500 range which is much more tempting, but it's got stock android, hence my...

    I'm looking at the 9a since it's got basically zero camera bump, but it's still ~$850 here. CMF phones are in the 400-500 range which is much more tempting, but it's got stock android, hence my crossed fingers. I think that the price will probably be closer to non-a Pixels considering the relatively small potential customer base of Graphene.

    2 votes
  13. Comment on GrapheneOS is finally ready to break free from Pixels, and it may never look back in ~tech

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    I watched a Louis Rossmann video about the guy, but I thought the Graphene team cut ties with him a while ago…?

    I watched a Louis Rossmann video about the guy, but I thought the Graphene team cut ties with him a while ago…?

    5 votes
  14. Comment on GrapheneOS is finally ready to break free from Pixels, and it may never look back in ~tech

    granfdad
    Link
    I’m excited and hope it’s affordable. My dream device would be a CMF phone with Graphene, Pixels are very expensive and don’t seem to be worth the price. EDIT: Damn!

    I’m excited and hope it’s affordable. My dream device would be a CMF phone with Graphene, Pixels are very expensive and don’t seem to be worth the price.

    EDIT:

    GrapheneOS also hinted that the mysterious partner’s devices will be “priced similarly to Pixels” and available globally

    Damn!

    4 votes
  15. Comment on Denmark plans social media ban for under-15s – PM Mette Frederiksen links social media use to anxiety, depression and lack of concentration in ~tech

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    I haven't thought about this before! It's an interesting idea, to get rid of the object rather than restrict its use. It would probably require heavy restriction/definition on what counts as a...

    I haven't thought about this before! It's an interesting idea, to get rid of the object rather than restrict its use. It would probably require heavy restriction/definition on what counts as a "smartphone", though.

    5 votes
  16. Comment on Updates to Xbox Game Pass: Introducing Essential, Premium, and Ultimate plans in ~games

    granfdad
    Link
    Completely off-topic, but why does Tildes show the favicon of xbox.com to be the 360 logo, when the site itself uses the up-to-date flat version?

    Completely off-topic, but why does Tildes show the favicon of xbox.com to be the 360 logo, when the site itself uses the up-to-date flat version?

    5 votes
  17. Comment on Elon Musk plans to take on Wikipedia with 'Grokipedia' in ~tech

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    I love Wikipedia, but whenever I get a popup to donate, it serves as a nice reminder for me to donate to the Internet Archive instead.
    • Exemplary

    Wikipedia is how often they beg for donations like the site is about to shut down when the company generates insane amounts of revenue and the vast majority of their money goes to doing stuff other than running the site.

    I love Wikipedia, but whenever I get a popup to donate, it serves as a nice reminder for me to donate to the Internet Archive instead.

    13 votes
  18. Comment on Updates to Xbox Game Pass: Introducing Essential, Premium, and Ultimate plans in ~games

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    this is the logic that makes me absolutely sure that microsoft has no interest in consoles anymore, their vested interest in PC gaming means they can never make xbox a truly compelling package...

    it massively devalues the console because there will be practically no console exclusives

    this is the logic that makes me absolutely sure that microsoft has no interest in consoles anymore, their vested interest in PC gaming means they can never make xbox a truly compelling package like sony or nintendo can. i assume that they're looking to make xbox closer to "windows for gamers", which would work with their conflict-of-interest.

    4 votes
  19. Comment on Hot take: 4:3 > 16:9 in ~tv

    granfdad
    Link
    My understanding (someone correct me, please!) is that 16:9 was designed to be a middle ground between 4:3 and cinematic widescreen. I don't think that any aspect ratio is inherently better than...

    My understanding (someone correct me, please!) is that 16:9 was designed to be a middle ground between 4:3 and cinematic widescreen. I don't think that any aspect ratio is inherently better than any other (relevant CD video), but I certainly believe that intended ratio > any post-creation adjustment. I often play old games in 4:3 and with letterboxing on my widescreen display, just because it's the ratio that the game devs would have designed the game around (not that it really matters, though).

    EDIT: I just realised that my source for that 16:9 middleground fact was the CD video I linked!

    11 votes