halfmanhalfdonut's recent activity
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Comment on The Gemini protocol in ~comp
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Comment on The Gemini protocol in ~comp
halfmanhalfdonut LinkThe web is popular because of its interactivity and complexity, not in spite of it. Gemini is interesting in a hobby sense but offers very little in terms of practicality. I get it, you hate...The web is popular because of its interactivity and complexity, not in spite of it. Gemini is interesting in a hobby sense but offers very little in terms of practicality. I get it, you hate JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. This isn't a step in the right direction and will always be incredibly niche.
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Comment on Self-taught guitar players: How did you do it? What do you wish you could go back and do differently when you were learning? in ~music
halfmanhalfdonut LinkI didn't read the other responses but I'll give my perspective. I started learning when I was 12 which was .. 28 years ago. Starting out was not about theory or scales or soloing for me, it was...I didn't read the other responses but I'll give my perspective. I started learning when I was 12 which was .. 28 years ago. Starting out was not about theory or scales or soloing for me, it was about being able to play to songs I liked and trying to figure things out by ear. This was obviously before the internet had so much available, so it was a different world. I didn't have access to things like tabs, youtube with theory a click away, tutorials, etc. It was so much trial and error.
If I were to start over now I probably wouldn't end up sticking with it. I think there are too many opinions on the "right" way to do it. You must learn chords. You must learn scales. You must learn X. I am not a great theory learner, I need to tinker and figure things out on my own. That said, I have learned theory over the years as I had interest in doing so, but the way I went about it is against what almost everyone says to do.
The place you're at now sounds like you just need to keep practicing. It also helps to try to record some music and listen back to how you play. You'll be able to pick out mistakes, clunkiness, or weird bits WAY easier than while you're playing. You can use something as simple as Audacity with a computer mic and it'll go a long way to helping you. For solos, you just need to work your fingers out.
Put simply, it's repetition. You have to play a lot for a long time to get good. That's just the reality of it (and pretty much anything).
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Comment on Spotify is raising the price of its single-account premium plan for the first time since 2011 and hiking other services as well in ~tech
halfmanhalfdonut Link ParentI switched from Spotify to YT Premium last year due to cost. I also watch a load of YT videos, so it works out well for me. Personally, I think YT Music has come a long way from where it started,...I switched from Spotify to YT Premium last year due to cost. I also watch a load of YT videos, so it works out well for me. Personally, I think YT Music has come a long way from where it started, with recent UI changes that look far more like Spotify and a great recommendation engine for finding new stuff. There are still some features that aren't quite parity, but it's not worth switching back to Spotify.
As another data point (from my side), I have music up on most streaming platforms and get paid basically nothing from Spotify despite it having the most plays. I get full split and it's ridiculously small. For April sales, 1 play gives me $0.004898996437 from Spotify. That same 1 play is $0.014451227495 from Youtube Music. 33% of the payout for the same song in the same month. From the musician's perspective, Spotify is kind of a joke. To make minimum wage for my state (a paltry $12/hr or $24960/year), I'd need 5,094,922 plays per year (or 424,577 per month OR 2450 streams per hour). And that's minimum wage. Imagine trying to make a living off of that. Also keep in mind that I am getting 100% of the money Spotify saves for the payout. For people on a label, with a manager, etc, they get far less of a cut.
I think your argument is working against your thesis. The fact that people preferred web apps (once they were capable) to desktop apps is proof that the web's popularity grew because of those interactions. Yes, the internet was gaining users, but it would've been a weird and quirky way to do your own thing rather than what it has become where the browser is basically an entire operating system that people don't leave.
The fact that people download phone apps instead of web apps has more to do with the initial immaturity of mobile browsers and the locked down nature that doesn't give them native access to phone hardware. That's changing over time, and I'm sure it'll happen where phone apps go the way of desktop apps. Some big ones will still be there, but most people will just use their browser. This already happens with tons of apps being wrapped HTML/JS that aren't visibly "web."
Flash took off not because it was a "workaround," but because it was easy to make games and the web was an easy distribution platform.