gwoo's recent activity

  1. Comment on I am a witch. Well, a well witcher... in ~talk

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    Divining the location of water using a couple of sticks is honestly far less believable than a lot of conspiracy theories. Not that it needs to be believed because it has been demonstrated to be...

    Divining the location of water using a couple of sticks is honestly far less believable than a lot of conspiracy theories. Not that it needs to be believed because it has been demonstrated to be fake numerous times, including in experiments designed in collaboration with the dowsers themselves.

    3 votes
  2. Comment on The story of The Oregon Trail in ~games

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    I remember playing it on the BBC Micro in my school (equivalent to elementary) in the UK. It was pretty popular here too as far as I can remember.

    I remember playing it on the BBC Micro in my school (equivalent to elementary) in the UK. It was pretty popular here too as far as I can remember.

    1 vote
  3. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~life

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    Obviously, you are not, and that is very clearly not what is suggested by the post you are replying to.

    Obviously, you are not, and that is very clearly not what is suggested by the post you are replying to.

    16 votes
  4. Comment on <deleted topic> in ~life

    gwoo
    Link
    Just as it's wrong to confuse condemning the actions of the state of Israel with anti-Semitism. Most of the examples cited in the article are no doubt anti-Semitic, but I personally am quite weary...

    it is simply wrong to confuse condemning antisemitism with ignoring the plight of the Palestinians

    Just as it's wrong to confuse condemning the actions of the state of Israel with anti-Semitism.

    Most of the examples cited in the article are no doubt anti-Semitic, but I personally am quite weary of this label being applied to anyone who dares to be critical of Israel. Clearly, the situation is not so black and white, and it is perfectly possible to view Israel as a “murderous, genocidal settler state” (to lift a quote from the article) yet also view the recent actions of Hamas as abhorrent and to recognise that a government's actions do not justify discrimination against citizens.

    12 votes
  5. Comment on The Techno Optimist Manifesto by Marc Andreessen, redacted by Grosser in ~tech

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    I think you are broadly correct, but as someone who yearns to live a simple, off-grid, self sufficient life close to nature, it really isn't that simple, at least where I live (southern England)....

    There are indeed individuals who consciously decide to trade their smartphones for flip phones or embrace an off-grid lifestyle. However, I believe the majority refrain from doing so because they value the conveniences of modern communication, medicine, cooking, housing, and entertainment.

    I think you are broadly correct, but as someone who yearns to live a simple, off-grid, self sufficient life close to nature, it really isn't that simple, at least where I live (southern England). You have to have a certain amount of wealth up-front to achieve this, for example to buy land, and then there are factors such as proximity to family which limit options. It's certainly out of my reach at the moment and I am lucky enough to earn well above average.

    6 votes
  6. Comment on Eight in ten women married to men still take husband’s last name, survey finds in ~life.women

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    Yes can't speak for other countries, but my dad was technically my step father but he met my mum when I was four. I unofficially used his last name until I legally changed it at 18 and by that...

    Yes can't speak for other countries, but my dad was technically my step father but he met my mum when I was four. I unofficially used his last name until I legally changed it at 18 and by that time I had bank accounts, national insurance card (social security ID essentially), even a passport in a name which was not on my birth certificate. I guess I managed to get the bank account just by telling them a name then got all my other documents based on that. No idea if you'd get away with that these days!

    2 votes
  7. Comment on What is your most annoying (minor) movie trope? in ~movies

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    You're right, it doesn't make sense on many levels. If you're cracking a code, you typically don't find one digit at a time; you have to get every digit right at once. But it's especially painful...

    You're right, it doesn't make sense on many levels. If you're cracking a code, you typically don't find one digit at a time; you have to get every digit right at once. But it's especially painful when it takes 10s to get the last digit, particularly when you see all 10 possibilities flash past many times before it finally settles in the right one.

    2 votes
  8. Comment on What is your most annoying (minor) movie trope? in ~movies

    gwoo
    Link
    When an n digit code is being "cracked", with each digit revealed in order, yet it takes just as long to crack the first digit as the last even though there are only 10 possibilities for the last...

    When an n digit code is being "cracked", with each digit revealed in order, yet it takes just as long to crack the first digit as the last even though there are only 10 possibilities for the last digit.

    9 votes
  9. Comment on Requiring ink to scan a document—yet another insult from the printer industry in ~tech

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    I've had two of these in the last 20 years, first one still works, I just upgraded to colour. I think I've changed the toner way less than one a year on average. Never had a single problem with...

    I've had two of these in the last 20 years, first one still works, I just upgraded to colour. I think I've changed the toner way less than one a year on average. Never had a single problem with them with Windows, Linux or OSX, they just work.

  10. Comment on Iraq tells Sweden it will cut ties if Quran burned again in ~humanities

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    People have a right to not be vilified for who they are; the same isn't true for what they believe.

    gay people deserve rights and they have a right to live their lives in peace as much as you do to your religious beliefs

    People have a right to not be vilified for who they are; the same isn't true for what they believe.

    9 votes
  11. Comment on Plex lays off more than 20% of staff in ~comp

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    It works really well with Kodi since all the clients can share the same library, watched status etc (if you want them to, you can also use separate accounts).

    It works really well with Kodi since all the clients can share the same library, watched status etc (if you want them to, you can also use separate accounts).

    2 votes
  12. Comment on Plex lays off more than 20% of staff in ~comp

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    Yes that's correct, I use it as a centralised media server on my lan. It can monitor directories for new files, pull in metadata, subs etc and expose the media over the network with transcoding if...

    Yes that's correct, I use it as a centralised media server on my lan. It can monitor directories for new files, pull in metadata, subs etc and expose the media over the network with transcoding if required. I use Kodi clients myself but it supports DLNA etc.

    5 votes
  13. Comment on What weird food combo did you not realise was weird? in ~food

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    This was pretty popular in the UK in the 80s too, at least the part I'm from. Also sugar sandwiches and banana sandwiches. My partner eats buttered, dry Weetabix which is frankly deranged.

    This was pretty popular in the UK in the 80s too, at least the part I'm from. Also sugar sandwiches and banana sandwiches.

    My partner eats buttered, dry Weetabix which is frankly deranged.

    1 vote
  14. Comment on Quote-only orphan comments: useful context or noisy clutter? in ~tildes

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    If there's consensus that this is the right way (I agree it is) I'm happy to have a stab at a PR.

    I'm certain Deimos has bigger things to deal with right now

    If there's consensus that this is the right way (I agree it is) I'm happy to have a stab at a PR.

    5 votes
  15. Comment on More say birth gender should dictate sports participation in ~lgbt

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    There is an article on Wired which covers the gender separation in professional football. One thing I found interesting with regard to the study referenced in the article is the impact of...

    There is an article on Wired which covers the gender separation in professional football. One thing I found interesting with regard to the study referenced in the article is the impact of environmental and social factors as well as the physical aspect. I'd not really considered that before. It makes me wonder how much that has a part to play, and whether the rising popularity of women's football might lead to changes in policy from some governing bodies.

    3 votes
  16. Comment on “Which group should this go to?”, “Which tags should I use?”, and other posting anxieties. in ~tildes

    gwoo
    Link
    Thanks for this perspective, I think it's great that the focus is on quality, well-organised content. I assume that currently, due to the size of the community, that cross-posting isn't really a...

    Thanks for this perspective, I think it's great that the focus is on quality, well-organised content.

    I assume that currently, due to the size of the community, that cross-posting isn't really a thing - a submission lands in a single group even where it may fit multiple, but that's ok because chances are that everyone who is interested will see it anyway. Are there any thoughts or plans on whether this might change as we grow, and if so what that might look like? One thing which occurs to me is the value in having a central place for discussion, so am option might be to reference the primary submission from other groups to ensure visibility, but only allow discussion on the primary - so effectively just a link.

    12 votes
  17. Comment on People who have visited Reddit over the past few days, what's it like over there right now? in ~tech

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    I noticed the same thing. I use Sync and basically only ever browse the feed containing my list of subs. I had a peek today and it looked like about 50% my subs, most of which are dark, and 50%...

    I noticed the same thing. I use Sync and basically only ever browse the feed containing my list of subs. I had a peek today and it looked like about 50% my subs, most of which are dark, and 50% random public subs.

  18. Comment on Not entirely sure how to fill the void Reddit has left in ~talk

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    Agreed, there's also the question of how they will successfully moderate force-opened subreddits. Lack of good quality submissions plus an increase in spam and low-effort content seems likely.

    Agreed, there's also the question of how they will successfully moderate force-opened subreddits. Lack of good quality submissions plus an increase in spam and low-effort content seems likely.

    1 vote
  19. Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    I've only heard of this game but never seen it before. I'll have to try it, that video is amazing.

    I've only heard of this game but never seen it before. I'll have to try it, that video is amazing.

    1 vote
  20. Comment on Introductions | June 2023, part 2 in ~talk

    gwoo
    Link Parent
    Will it be published in English? I think it sounds interesting too.

    Will it be published in English? I think it sounds interesting too.

    2 votes