granfdad's recent activity

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

    granfdad
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    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
  2. 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?

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

    granfdad
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    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
  4. 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
  5. Comment on Death in D&D 5e, the various revival spells, and their impact on the game in ~games.tabletop

    granfdad
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    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
  6. 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
  7. 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
  8. 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
  9. 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
  10. 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
  11. Comment on GrapheneOS is finally ready to break free from Pixels, and it may never look back in ~tech

    granfdad
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    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
  12. 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
  13. Comment on Updates to Xbox Game Pass: Introducing Essential, Premium, and Ultimate plans in ~games

    granfdad
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    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
  14. 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
  15. 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
  16. Comment on Hot take: 4:3 > 16:9 in ~tv

    granfdad
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    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
  17. Comment on My take on Apple's Liquid Glass in ~tech

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    This is still pretty close to how it works. I didn't do any special setup for my iTunes library, and I just have a "music" folder that separates all the files in my library by...

    One of my favorite things about old time iTunes was that once you put your music in it the software literally arranged it for you into a very sensible directory structure based on the tags on the file.

    This is still pretty close to how it works. I didn't do any special setup for my iTunes library, and I just have a "music" folder that separates all the files in my library by .../artist/album/track.wav

    2 votes
  18. Comment on Kojima's OD | Knock teaser trailer in ~games

    granfdad
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    Video game animations are getting insanely good, the mocap in this trailer was insane. I don't play horror games, but I'm excited for this level of tech to get implemented into more projects.

    Video game animations are getting insanely good, the mocap in this trailer was insane. I don't play horror games, but I'm excited for this level of tech to get implemented into more projects.

    8 votes
  19. Comment on The Buff Scammer, isolation, and the male loneliness epidemic in ~life.men

    granfdad
    Link Parent
    I don't know when this shift happened, but it feels like at some point the list of "acceptable male activities" got hugely reduced. It always seems like if you push far enough back in history the...

    I was friends with a lot of girls, and did “girly” sports like cross country and swimming (??) and “girly” activities like art (??)

    I don't know when this shift happened, but it feels like at some point the list of "acceptable male activities" got hugely reduced. It always seems like if you push far enough back in history the societal norm goes from "man is big strong guy who cut log" to "man is big strong guy who cut log AND also the only gender capable of having nuanced philosophical and artistic expression"... when/why did the patriarchy cut out the arts?

    Anyway, all that to say that the “That’s Gay” thing really fucks up straight men's relationships, and it also fucks up queer men (which is, I guess, the intended audience). I guess that's probably not news to anyone, but it was what I thought of when I read your message (which I rather like and agree with, by the way!).

    I'm very lucky to have been born to/surrounded myself with people who are comparatively progressive about this sort of thing, so I've never had much real interaction with it. I'm also basically at the top of the privilege chart in just about every metric, so if anything I'm much more likely to be an inadvertent perpetrator of these issues than a victim. I'm curious about your age and what years you were in college and whatnot, because I'm relatively young so my experience is also more recent, which I think has a big impact on my lack of firsthand experience with "That's Gay".

    The other thing I thought of is how fucking constantly my brother, dad, and ex-step-dad insist (in private) that they know the sexuality of someone (always another man) based on ridiculous things like their mannerisms or speech patterns

    This kind of surprises me, I would assume that being able to "guess" someone's sexuality would be considered gay in and of itself (did i use that right?), just based on my experience of the gaydar trope in films and TV.

    2 votes
  20. Comment on The Buff Scammer, isolation, and the male loneliness epidemic in ~life.men

    granfdad
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    i love this. every time i see discourse about "how can we solve the manosphere", someone always makes the point that women doing more emotional work to pander to men is a terrible idea. they're...

    so anyway i think one of the most important things we can do as a society, that doesn't even require anyone to take on the burden of Managing Dudes' Feelings For Them, and which is conveniently a much smaller target than Fix Manhood Systemically, is to stop validating the unhinged reactionary narrative that Male Intimacy Is By Definition Gay.

    because like. it's funny when it's fiction. but when a real guy who is not gay, which is statistically gonna be most of them, is getting barraged from both sides of the political aisle with the message that he can't have an emotional connection of any significance with a male friend without Proving that the world Knows Better Than He Does and he's clearly gay and just lying to himself about it.

    i love this. every time i see discourse about "how can we solve the manosphere", someone always makes the point that women doing more emotional work to pander to men is a terrible idea. they're obviously right, but it's never said in good faith and is more used as a way to avoid any critical analysis of left-wing cultural ideals and fall back on "men are bad" rhetoric. this is the first time that i've seen anyone make that argument in an honest way, and it's an incredibly good point.

    i'm a cis man, and i haven't ever experienced the "That's Gay" thing earnestly, but certainly i do not open up to any of my male friends as much as i would to any other friend, and that's already not a lot. that point got me thinking about my own experience, and i think it's touching on something that's a more specific version of the root cause: male friendships are mean.

    there's a stereotype that men are mean to each other's faces (and nice behind their backs) and that women are mean behind each other's backs (but nice to their faces), but that stereotype always comes with some kind of implication that the male mean-ness is... better? like, it's not equally as harmful? sure, there's banter that never actually leaves any emotional damage but when so much friendly male interaction walks that line, it (accidentally) gets crossed a lot and you end up genuinely hurt. when everyone else shrugs it off as just more banter, you're pressured to let the hurtful stuff go as you would with harmless stuff and you build up a distrust for these people, even if you like them!

    this is sort of a stream-of-consciousness comment, and i'm now not so sure which of the two issues comes first: are men mean to each other to not seem gay, or are men scared of being called gay because that's the kind of insult that might get thrown around?

    in my own experience, the "That's Gay" thing actually manifests as the complete opposite: men will act gay for their homies, with the intention of laughing it off. i really don't know what kind of cultural aspects contribute to that but it gives a vibe of "making a facade of male intimacy to get a hit of that security, but still maintaining the low-level homophobia of 'haha no but thats actually fucked if i did that for real' to keep up masculine appearances/affirm my own gender"

    i have no grand point to make, but thought i would say that i liked the post.

    At some point in my transition, the "hate yourself, get an eating disorder, buy product" messaging I get switched from woman flavor to man flavor, and omfg. What the hell is this shit!

    welcome to the club, it sucks in this corner too.

    26 votes